Page 13

Five years jail for Anwar as Malaysia upholds sodomy verdict

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

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

16 Pages Number 387th year

e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.

Price: Rp 3.000,-

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

DPs 23 - 32WEATHER FORECAsT

Obama, Merkel rally behind diplomacy in Ukraine conflictPage 6 Page 8

Genoa beats 10-man Lazio 1-0 in Serie A to halt slide

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.

BEIJING — Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi who gained interna-tional fame for her role in “Crouch-ing Tiger, Hidden Dragon” has accepted a marriage proposal deliv-ered by drone. Zhang, who turned 36 on Monday, was celebrating her upcoming birthday on Saturday when a white drone flew toward her at the party.

Her boyfriend Wang Feng, a Chi-nese rock singer and composer, re-trieved an engagement ring from inside the drone and then got down on one knee and popped the question to Zhang, who was standing by a three-tier, pastel-colored birthday cake and dressed in a one-shoulder red gown.

“Witnessed by all, we have expe-rienced happiness and sorrow. I hope Ziyi can always have the happiest time. If we both are old, I can still take care of you,” said Wang, ac-cording to Chinese media reports.

Zhang welled up and said “I do,” before the newly engaged couple kissed and embraced as the night sky lit up with fireworks, according to Chinese media reports.

Zhang’s manager, Ji Lingling,

confirmed the engagement news in a text message to The Associated Press on Monday.

Zhang shared her answer on her microblogging account on Sunday, with a photo of glittering fireworks in the shape of a heart.

Wang, 43, reposted Zhang’s an-swer five hours later on his own microblog and wrote: “Thank you for giving me a complete life. All the hardships are bygones. From now on, we will grow old hand in hand.”

The actress catapulted to stardom in the West with the Oscar-nominat-ed “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Drag-on.” Her subsequent English credits include “Rush Hour 2,” ‘’Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Horsemen.” She also starred in the 2013 Hong Kong-Chinese acclaimed martial-arts epic “The Grandmaster,” which led to several “Best Actress” trophies across Asia.

Wang became a household name in China after appearing as a judge of the “Voice of China” singing show in 2013. It will be Zhang’s first marriage and Wang’s third. (ap)

According to the release, other characters from the Marvel Cin-ematic Universe, such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, may also be integrated into future Spider-Man movies.

This announcement is a sig-nificant partnership between rival studios Disney, who owns Marvel, and Sony, who holds rights to the Spider-Man charac-ter. Marvel’s schedule has also

been significantly altered by the new partnership, with scheduled films such as “Black Panther,” ‘’Captain Marvel” and “Thor: Ragnarok” moving back five to six months. (ap)

NEW YORK - The Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin on Monday announced a tour of arenas around North America to accompany his first studio album in four years.

Martin on Tuesday releases “A Quien Quiera Escuchar” (“To Whoever Wants to Listen”), which features his single “Adios” (“Good-bye”) that is inspired by 1930s burlesque.

The 43-year-old will tour for more than a month starting on Sep-tember 15 in Las Vegas and closing in Orlando, Florida, with venues

to include New York’s Madison Square Garden, promoters said in a statement.

Despite his recent break from re-cording, Martin late last year toured Mexico and in April has shows scheduled around New Zealand and Australia, where he has been a judge on a television talent show.

Martin has sold millions of albums and proven to be of the most popular Latin crossover acts, winning a broad audience with songs such as “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” “Maria” and “La Copa de la Vida.” (afp)

LOS ANGELES — The Back-street Boys are back as grown men, ready to share a documentary about their rise to fame. “Backstreet Boys: Show ‘em What You’re Made Of,” now in U.S. theaters, started off as a small project, filming the guys during a three-week recording ses-sion. After finishing a 20-minute promo, the band decided to make a full-length film.

“Our story, our life after 22 years,” said Nick Carter. “It wasn’t like we need to do this movie right now and it has to happen, it just organically did.”

The Backstreet Boys have expe-rienced highs and lows. They say making a comeback 20 years later and introducing themselves to new fans as grown men in a “boy band” is scary.

“In general every album we’ve made even when we were on top of the world and on top of the charts, that was a scary process, and it still is to this day,” said Kevin Rich-ardson.

The band talked in depth about Lou Pearlman, the mastermind behind the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, who operated an investment

scam and was sentenced to prison.“It really wasn’t being taken care

of until you open your eyes and go, ‘Damn. We should have looked out for one another, we should’ve helped one another,’” says Brian Littrell. “I think this is the story that really plays true to where we are today, basically boys to men, and we get to show the world what we are made of.”

The movie also talks about how the guys lost their youth to fame and the struggles that A.J. McLean and Nick Carter both encountered before entering rehab. (ap)

Zhang Ziyi accepts drone proposal

AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File

Casey Curry/Invision/AP, File

In this Jan. 27, 2015 file photo, AJ McLean, from left, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, and Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys pose for a portrait in promotion of their upcoming theatrical documentary “Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of” in Los Angeles.

Ricky Martin plans arena tour for new album

Sony and Marvel team up for the

future of Spider-ManLOS ANGELES — Sony is bringing Marvel back into Spider-Man’s world. The studio an-

nounced Monday that the next chapter of its $4 billion franchise will be co-produced by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige along with Sony’s Amy Pascal for a July 28, 2017, release. Spider-Man will also appear in a Marvel film prior to the stand-alone.

Backstreet Boys are back as men In the 1990s through the end of 2000, the length of stay could reach 12 to 15 days. Currently, it

had decreased to 5 to 8 days.“It happened because the tour-

ism with special interest or qual-

ity tourism has been abandoned. So, it has something to do with competition among the industry

(hotels—Ed), so that their cost (travelers—Ed) for a vacation declines. They come here on vacation for relatively short time since the price is also cheap,” he said in Denpasar.

IBP/Yudi Karnaedi

Women carried offerings during Hindu ceremony celebration in Kuta Beach. Amidst the increasing tourist arrivals to Bali, the average occupancy rate is even decreasing. A legislator of Commission II of the Bali House, A.A. Ngurah Adhi Ardhana, also observed if the tourist’s length of stay also decreased.

Lack of budget, cultural tourism at risk of disappearingDENPASAR - Amidst the increasing tourist arrivals to Bali, the average occupancy rate is

even decreasing. A legislator of Commission II of the Bali House, A.A. Ngurah Adhi Ardhana, also observed if the tourist’s length of stay also decreased.

International2 Wednesday, February 11, 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

Wednesday, February 11, 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

Visitors and guests at InterConti-nental Bali Resort will now have the opportunity to experience a choice of unique events hosted by Chef Fabio, in-cluding some exclusive cooking classes, gastronomic dinners, Frescobaldi wine seminars, and a Frescobaldi wine din-ner, all of which will be taking place at Bella Cucina Restaurant from 4th to 8th March 2015.

Chef Fabio’s gastronomic dinner at Bella Cucina will offer the choice of both à la carte and a set gastronomic menu.

Each will feature stunningly presented dishes such as Marinated Scallops; Red Mullet; ‘Veal Tonnato and Red Cow Par-migiano with Reggiano Sauce;’‘Ravioli del Plin filled with Baccalà and Sicilian Pecorino Cheese;’ and ‘Loin of Lamb with Hazelnut Crust.’ Additionally the à la carte menu will include smoked lo-cal lobster; risotto; ravioli; gnocchi; and more, as well as ‘Calamarata Shellfish, Roman Zucchini, Lemon Balm and Sun-dried VesuvioPiennolo Tomatoes’, which is a specialty that sums up the

Italian region where this innovative chef lives. Finally, Chef Fabio’s mouthwater-ing desserts will include ‘Tiramisu with a Twist of Modernity.’

Experience, learn, and delight in the fruits of your labour at one of Chef Fa-bio Ciervo’s personally hosted cooking classes, on either Friday 7th March 2015 or Saturday 8th March 2015 from 10am – 1.30 pm. Price starts at Rp 800,000 ++ onwards, per person, including lunch. All of the events will take place at Bella Cucina Restaurant.

Persistence and never giving up is the key to success for I Nyoman Wijana as the chef of the Bale Udang Mang Engking. This man from Batuan village, Sukawati, Gianyar, is always making an innovation, so that a variety of menus presented are always interesting, but not to change the taste.

This calm man of two sons is very creative. He is always trying to pack in and create local food to remain in their basic flavor, but can be enjoyed by foreign tourists. The in-gredients remain to use seafood becoming the characteristic of the Bale Udang, and of course it has halal standard.

“I will present a menu of betutu chicken, twisted satay, or maybe fish clear soup, so that visitors can feel the unique-ness of Balinese traditional food in the Bale Udang,” said Nyoman Wijana leading the kitchen department consisting of about 30 people while smiling.

Wijana admitted that during his service with the Bale Udang he got a very beautiful impression. “This is the workplace having the most crowded guests. It makes me and the team very busy, as well as getting a challenge. Moreover, I lead numerous men with different background,” he explained.

Wijana began his career at the Santika Beach Hotel (Santika Group) as a cook helper to sous chef. He has ever worked at Santika Villas currently known as The Samaya. With high vivacity, Wijana had an opportunity to go to Rus-sia to lead an Indonesian restaurant named the ‘Sukawati Restaurant.’

After returning to Bali, he then joined the Avilla Group at the Le Jardin Villa under the leadership of Darma Suyasa. At that time, he filled the position as GM at Le Jardin for 4 years and then was assigned to Bale Udang Mang Engking to lead the kitchen department. (kmb)

IBP/Courtesy of InterContinental

Michelin star chef Fabio Ciervo at InterContinental Bali

JIMBArAN - InterContinental Bali resort is proud to present the celebrated Italian Chef, Fabio Ciervo. Executive Chef of the Michelin starred La Terrazza restaurant at the Hotel Eden in rome. Fabio studied and practised at one of the world’s leading Haute Cuisine institutions –Ecole Lenôtre, French school of gastronomy, and then further enhanced his knowledge and experience in some of the world’s most presti-gious restaurants. These have included the Grosvenor House restaurant at the Grosvenor Hotel in London, the two-star Michelin Cracco in Milan, Chez Nico in Innsbruck, and at Martin Berastegui’s three-Star Michelin restaurant in the Spanish city of San Sebastian. This brilliant young chef then perfected his trade in the UK as Michel roux’s Sous Chef at the Waterside Inn in Bray, which is famous for achieving three stars in the Michelin Guide for 25 straight years. Chef Fabio’s philosophy is to explore the world of Haute Cuisine to create dishes that combine ingredients in an unusual but harmonious way, while also seeking inspiration from all cultures. Early on, in his native Italy, he learned the virtues of Italian food. From the Orient, he learned how to pay special attention to the choice of spices and the importance of delicate cooking, and France taught him the art of making wonderful sauces. He then explored futuristic developments in Haute Cuisine, and now this passionate professional combines all this into the unique blend of gastronomy that has become his signature.

Profile

I Nyoman WijanaA chef never gives up

IBP/kmb

TABANAN - The discourse on food self-sufficiency targeted by the govern-ment over the next three years sounds interesting but is not easy to achieve. The most fundamental challenge faced today is the absence of successors or young people who want to become farmers. Moreover, farmers -especially in Tabanan are nearly all 60 years old or older. If their are no successors, the threat of land conversion becomes very large and looming. Chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) of Tabanan, Nyoman Sukania spoke about this issue recently.

According to Sukania, the government should be more effective in attracting young people to become farmers. Cur-rently, he said, the phrase ‘hero with no medal’ is no longer used for teachers but instead for farmers. “At the moment, farm-ing is not considered as an option to most young people”, he said wistfully.

Young people”s lack of interest in be-coming farmers, said Sukania, is caused by the declining prices of agricultural products on the market that does not help make farming look like a promising line of work compared to other fields. In the face of this challenge, the government was asked to not just to make repairs and provide facilities but also to foster human resources. He said that Tabanan itself bears the unofficial title of the rice granary of Bali yet is still unable to provide maximum facilities for agriculture as seen by teh damaged irrigation cannals.

Sukania said that approximately 40 percent of the agricultural irrigation facili-ties in Tabanan were damaged, especially in the area of Megati, Kerambitan and Baturiti. “This is because most of the ir-rigation infrastructures is still traditional so that 60 percent of the water is wasted back into the river,” said Sukania.

On the other hand, the government has a program for hand tractor assistance to farmers. He said that although this was a good breakthrough there is still a short-age of human manpower. The program is useless if the tractors have no operators. “Our farmers are old. This problem must be considered by government in order to further encourage the interest in the younger generation in becoming tractor operators by providing protection during working hours and promising income”, he warned.

To attract younger generations to farm-ing, Sukania expects the government to make improvement to the market prices of agricultural products. Farmers should not only be taught about how to farm, but also about how to market their products. “The current government should provide a market for farmers to sell their products. Besides, the prices set by the government must also be increased”, he said.

With the certainty of decent prices and other facilities such as land tax exemption, Sukania was optimistic that the profession of farming could stand a good chance of being chosen by young people as a line of work. (kmb24)

It was revealed in the meeting between the Commission II of the Denpasar House with five agencies such as the Revenue Services, In-tegrated Licensing and Investment Services (BPPTSP and PM), Trans-portation Agency, Urban Planning and Housing Agency (DTRP), and Wangaya Hospital, Monday (Feb 9). The working meeting led by Chairman of Commission II, I.B. Kompyang Wiranata, was attended by a number of members.

Chief of Denpasar Revenue Services, Dewa Nyoman Semadi, on the occasion delivered the local tax revenue achieved by his party in 2014. Of the eight local taxes man-aged, two of which did not reach the target. The two local taxes missing the target consisted of the advertise-ment tax and the acquisition of land and building tax (BPHTB).

The advertisement tax was drafted to get IDR 5.7 billion, but could only attain IDR 1.6 billion. Similarly, the BPHTB tax targeted to reach IDR 145 billion last year

could only achieve IDR 141.2 bil-lion. It happened due to decrease in the number of transactions compared to 2013. The transac-tion in 2013 reached 10,800 times, while in 2014 only reached 8,000 times. As for the tax target for this year, it was set at IDR 113 billion for hotel tax, IDR 62.9 billion for restaurant tax, IDR 10.8 billion for entertainment tax, IDR 6.1 billion for advertisement tax and IDR 66.1 for street lighting tax. As for the underground water tax (ABT) was drafted to reach IDR 8.5 billion, land and property tax (IDR 100.8 billion) and the BPHTB tax (IDR 155.3 billion).

A member of Commission II of the Denpasar House, Kadek Agus Arya Wibawa, expected there would be socialization to advertising entrepreneurs related to the new policy made by the Den-pasar Municipality. He guessed the moratorium policy was not known for certain by the advertisers in Denpasar because some of them

complained about the new policy.To this question, the Head of the

DTRP Denpasar, I Made Kusuma Diputra, said that from the begin-ning his party already involved the advertising boards. Even, at the beginning there had been at least 10 meetings and all involved the man-agement of the advertising associa-tions. “Maybe the socialization to its members was not less intensive because we have always involved the association in the discussion of this moratorium,” he explained.

Kusuma Diputra said the mora-torium policy was enforced to beautify the urban look. At least 24 points of main road had the moratorium on advertising based on Mayoral Regulation No. 3/2014. The moratorium had been revoked as per May 15, 2014 by the May-oral Decree No.568/2014. Cur-rently, the number of billboard that could be installed at the 24 points of main roads amounted to 204 pieces, while before the moratorium reached 700 pieces. (kmb12)

IBP/File Photo

Big billboard erected along Jl. Teuku Umar, Denpasar City. Implementation of billboard moratorium in Denpasar has significant impact on the acquisition of regional tax. As evidence, of the target specified for advertisement tax of IDR 5.7 billion in 2014, it could only be realized as much as IDR 1.6 billion.

Impact of moratorium

Revenue of advertisement tax drops

DENPASAR - Implementation of billboard moratorium in Denpasar has significant impact on the acquisition of regional tax. As evidence, of the target specified for advertise-ment tax of IDr 5.7 billion in 2014, it could only be realized as much as IDr 1.6 billion. The drop in advertisement tax revenue has occurred due to policy of temporary suspension for billboard installation at several strategic points in Denpasar since 2013.

IBP/File Photo

The discourse on food self-sufficiency targeted by the government over the next three years sounds interesting but is not easy to achieve. The most fundamental challenge faced today is the absence of successors or young people who want to become farmers.

Young generation reluctant to farm Tabanan agriculture threatened

of having no successor

3Wednesday, February 11, 201514 InternationalInternational Bali NewsTechnology Wednesday, February 11, 2015

The Boston Consulting Group predicts that investment in industrial robots will grow 10 percent a year in the world’s 25-biggest export nations through 2025, up from 2 percent to 3 percent a year now. The invest-ment will pay off in lower costs and increased efficiency.

Robots will cut labor costs by 33 percent in South Korea, 25 percent in Japan, 24 percent in Canada and 22 percent in the United States and Tai-wan. Only 10 percent of jobs that can

be automated have already been taken by robots. By 2025, the machines will have more than 23 percent, Boston Consulting forecasts.

Robots are getting cheaper. The cost of owning and operating a ro-botic spot welder, for instance, has tumbled from $182,000 in 2005 to $133,000 last year, and will drop to $103,000 by 2025, Boston Consult-ing says.

And the new machines can do more things. Old robots could only

operate in predictable environments. The newer ones use improved sensors to react to the unexpected.

In a separate report, RBC Global Asset Management notes that robots can be reprogrammed far faster and more efficiently than humans can be retrained when products are updated or replaced — a crucial advantage at a time when smartphones and other products quickly fade into obsoles-cence.

“As labor costs rise around the

SEOUL — Watch what you say in your living room. Samsung’s smart TV could be listening. And sharing. Voice recognition technol-ogy in the South Korean company’s Internet connected TVs can capture and transmit nearby conversa-tions.

The potential for TVs to eaves-drop is revealed in Samsung’s smart TV privacy policy available on its website.

“Please be aware that if your spoken works include personal or other sensitive information, that

information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition,” the policy said.

For the voice command feature to work, third party software translates speech into text and sends the com-mand back to the TV.

Users can give commands to the TV’s built-in microphone such as “find me an action movie,” which causes the TV to search as instructed. As the TV collects voice commands, it also transmits other information as its individual ID.

Samsung said data collection is aimed at improving TV performance but users can disable it.

It is not the first time that smart TVs sparked privacy concerns. In 2013, a user revealed that LG Elec-tronics smart TV was sending infor-mation about his viewing habits back to the company without consent and without encrypting data.

LG has also experimented with displaying targeted ads on its smart TVs, which requires collecting and utilizing user data, such as their loca-tion, age and gender. (ap)

TOKYO - High school girls in Japan spend an average of seven hours a day on their mobile phones, a new survey has found, with nearly 10 percent of them putting in at least 15 hours.

Boys of the same age average just over four hours mobile phone use a day, the survey by information security firm Digital Arts, published Monday, said.

Teenagers tend to use their phones for social media, such as Line, a Japanese messaging and net-working app, as well as smartphone games, making movies and other sharing apps like Instagram.

The poll comes amid growing

concern over youngsters getting addicted to their portable technol-ogy, with Chinese research showing heavy phone use provokes the same kind of neurological changes as alcohol or cocaine dependency.

A total 96 percent of Japanese high schoolers have a mobile phone, against 60 percent of ju-nior high school students, Digital Arts said. Almost four in every ten children in the upper years of elementary school -- from the age of 10 -- use a mobile.

The survey, which was carried out online, quizzed 618 children from schools across Japan. (afp)15 hours.

Robots replacing human factory workers at faster pace

WASHINGTON — Cheaper, better robots will replace human workers in the world’s factories at a faster pace over the next decade, pushing labor costs down 16 percent, a report Tuesday said.

AP Photo/Koji Sasahara

A woman looks at her smartphone in front of an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. High school girls in Japan spend an average of seven hours a day on their mobile phones, a new survey has found, with nearly 10 percent of them putting in at least

Japan high school girls on mobiles 7 hours a day

Samsung reveals potential for smart TVs to eavesdrop

AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon

In this Jan. 5, 2015 photo, models pose with a Samsung Electronics Co.’ SUHD 4K smart TV during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea. Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday, Feb, 10, 2015, said voice recognition technology in its Internet connected TVs can capture and transmit nearby conversations.

world, it is becoming increasingly critical that manufacturers rapidly take steps to improve their output per worker to stay competitive,” said Harold Sirkin, a senior partner at Boston Consulting and co-author of the report. “Companies are finding that advances in robotics and other manufacturing technologies offer some of the best opportunities to sharply improve productivity.”

Boston Consulting studied 21 industries in 25 countries last year, interviewing experts and clients and consulting government and industry reports.

The rise of robots won’t be limited

to developed countries with their ag-ing, high-cost workforces. Even low-wage China will use robots to slash labor costs by 18 percent, Boston consulting predicts.

Increasing automation is likely to change the way companies evaluate where to open and expand factories. Boston Consulting expects that manufacturers will “no longer simply chase cheap labor.” Factories will employ fewer people, and those that remain are more likely to be highly skilled. That could lure more manu-facturers back to the United States from lower-wage emerging market countries. (ap)

Such response was surprising the Deputy Chairman of the Karangasem House, Made Wirta, a few days ago after hearing the explanation of the Ministry of Transportation in Jakarta. “Apparently it is still complicated,” he said regarding the discussion on the cruise ship harbor in the Ministry of Transportation. Therefore, the House leadership definitely captured the impression of uncertainty and would be hard to continue the harbor development. It was contrary to the previous statement of the Regent of Karangasem, I Wayan Geredeg. He dared to ensure if the cruise ship harbor development would be resumed in the near future, so that the cruise ship pier could be operated immediately.

Wirta said the obstacle all this time as revealed in the meeting in Jakarta attended by Regent Geredeg and leadership of the Karangasem House was related to uncertainty of the public-private partnership (KPS) that would manage the harbor. All this time, the private party winning the tender of the public-private partner-ship was said to be from the Bakrie Group. However, even though the tender was already held, there was no

indication on the continuation of the project development. The response of the private sector was unclear. As a result, the public-private partnership was unclear and the pier development started with the central budget in 2008 could not be determined when would be continued. “The private sector must provide certainty and firm answer if it is willing and able to continue the harbor development immediately. Otherwise, it can be submitted to the other parties,” said Wirta.

Deputy Chairman of the Karan-gasem House doubling as the cadre of the PDI-P said his party supported and encouraged the government to continue the construction of the cruise ship harbor until it could be operated because very considerable budget had been invested. The harbor construction using the state budget had spent hundreds of billions, while Bali government had also invested in the building for transit or passenger lounge and harbor administration up to billions of rupiahs. Then, Karan-gasem government had investment in the construction of ring roads and land acquisition. Meanwhile, residents of Tanah Ampo customary

BANGLI - Water crisis hitting Bangli lately had an impact on the cultivation of food crops. Shortage of water for paddy fields made farmers that previously cultivated rice switch to other com-modities. One of them occurred at Subak Jelekungkang, Taman Bali village. Some farmers chose to grow papaya and coconut in their paddy field with the intention of reducing the use of water.

One of the local farmers, Gusti Suteja, recently said the non-rice cultivation was carried out in responding to water crisis at the local subak area from some time ago. It made farmers switch to keep getting results from their land. “Due to restricted water availability, farmers switch to non-rice cultivation so as not to need much water,” he said.

Besides, due to such water crisis some subak areas had to use irrigation water in turn to grow rice. As a result, some few paddy fields remained to look dormant. Farmers were still waiting to get their turn to use water.

In reality, currently the government had launched a program of food self-sufficiency. Asynchronous rice cultivation and the shifting of agricultural commodities were feared to have an impact on rice production. Previously, the Head of Bangli Food Security, I Wayan Sarma, said that Bangli was still shortage of 193 tons of rice.

Such deficiencies made this region to still bring in rice from other counties such as Buleleng, Klungkung and Tabanan and even from outside Bali. The shortage of foodstuff would be increasingly felt if the water crisis continued to hit paddy fields, and farmers themselves switched to other commodities. (sos)

IBP/File Photo

Continuation of the Tanah Ampo cruise harbor in Manggis subdistrict, Karangasem, has got no clarity yet. The answer of central government still indicates uncertainty.

Unclear, continuation of Tanah Ampo cruise harborAMLAPURA - Continuation of the Tanah Ampo cruise har-

bor in Manggis subdistrict, Karangasem, has got no clarity yet. The answer of central government still indicates uncertainty. When urged by the leadership of the Karangasem House some time ago in a meeting that discussed about the harbor, the Ministry of Transportation said if the department would still attempt it.

village, especially landowners, also supported the land acquisition for the building and ring road. Even, the 22 owners of the land having been released or partially used for road body had not received the certificate of splitting, whereas it had been promised that the certificate would be administered by the Karangasem government.

Meanwhile, the Regent of Karan-gasem, I Wayan Geredeg, said the biggest cruise ship pier project and the only one in Indonesia would continue.

He was confident if the harbor could be operated and be beneficial not only for Karangasem people but also for the increase in the economic growth in Bali. He said that jetty ramp door would be built this year with the fund worth around IDR 8 billion from cen-tral government. Jetty ramp door was considered better and more permanent than the two previous pontoon bridge where they were already destroyed after once or twice use due the fero-cious waves.

Based on observation, four cruise

ships had already been tasted with anchoring in the middle of the sea of Padangbai for four times. They did not anchor on the pier. From the middle of the sea, the cruise ship pas-sengers commonly consisting of the elderly were transported by lifeboats. The lifeboats then anchored at the pontoon bridge. Later on, the cruise ship captains apparently did not dare to take the risk by transferring their passengers at sea. After that, a num-ber of cruise ships preferred to anchor at Benoa Harbor. (013)

Water crisis, farmers switch to cultivate papaya

IBP/Sos

Water crisis hitting Bangli lately had an impact on the cultivation of food crops. Shortage of water for paddy fields made farmers that previously cultivated rice switch to other commodities.

International4 Wednesday, February 11, 2015 Wednesday, February 11, 2015 13InternationalBali News

“Benoa Bay is always included in the conservation area based on the regional bylaw draft on the Detailed Spatial Plan as a bylaw of the Regional Spatial Plan. In the Regional Spatial Plan, it is clearly stated that Benoa Bay falls within the conservation area”, said Chair-man of the Special Committee on the Detailed Spatial Plan of South Badung, I Gusti Anom Gumanti, in the Badung Civic Center.

He said that if there was a high-er rule than the regional bylaw on the Badung Regional Spatial Plan governing the status of Benoa Bay -referring to Presidential Decree No.51/014, it was not the domain of the special committee. The spe-cial committee, he said, wishes to

abide by the appropriate hierarchy wherein the Detailed Spatial Plan still adheres to the higher rules, namely the Badung Bylaw on the Regional Spatial Plan.

Similarly, regarding worries about the annulment of the Region-al Bylaw on the Badung Detailed Spatial Plan at the national level, based on the implication of Presi-dential Decree No. 51/2014 that states that Benoa Bay no longer belongs to the conservation area but rather is zoned as available for public utilization, Anom Gumanti did not want to respond in a hurry. He reiterated his stance, referring to the Detailed Spatial Plan that resulted from the Regional Spatial Plan. If the regional bylaw on the

Badung Detailed Spatial Plan is not passed, his party is ready to consult with the central government on the matter.

“We already consulted with the central government, but the consultation was limited to the substance and material of the regional bylaw draft, and did not specifically address the conse-quences of the implementation of Presidential Regulation No. 51. But once again, we in the special committee and I personally still want the Detailed Spatial Plan to run according to the Regional Spatial Plan”, he said while add-ing that the special committee would resume the discussions this March. (kmb25)

TABANAN - The main harvest of sugar snakefruit in Pupuan, Tabanan, was delayed until Febuary compared to last years January harvest. Due to extreme weather, fruit production declined about 50 percent from the previous year. Such declining production makes the sugar snakefruit a scarce commodity on the market and following the laws of economics, more expensive. However the price of snake fruit has, conversely, slumped.

The price slump was announced the Chairman of the National Farmers Contact (KTNA) of Pupuan, Suardika, on Thursday (Feb 5). According to him, the selling price of sugar snakefruit was currently in the range of IDR 6,000 to IDR 15,000 per kilogram. “The lesser quality or those fruit that do not qualify for modern market selection are being sold for IDR 6,000 per kilogram”, he said.

The cheap price of the sugar snakefruit is due to the fact that because are not accustomed to consuming local fruits. According to Suardika, although the government had limited the import of fruits and promoted local fruits, only a few people in Bali love and consume local fruits. “The purchase of local fruits in Bali only shows an increase during religious festivals. Otherwise the price is quite low”, he explained.

As a farmer of sugar snakefruit, Suardika hopes that other than restricting imports, the government will also encourage local fruit consumption by local people so that the demand for local fruits will increase even on non-holydays.

Decline in this years sugar snakefruit harvest, according to Suardika, was caused by the recent drought. The reduc-tion of fruit was not only in terms of quantity, but also in terms of the quality of the snakefruit seed that were smaller. Most of them did not have shoots, which made it hard for farmer to acquire seeds. The decline in the total amount of f sugar snakefruit produced in Pupuan caused farmers to be unable to meet even the small demand of modern markets. (kmb24)

Sugar snakefruitProduction declines,

price slumps

IBP/File Photo

The main harvest of sugar snakefruit in Pupuan, Ta-banan, was delayed until Febuary compared to last years January harvest. Due to extreme weather, fruit production declined about 50 percent from the previ-ous year.

IBP/File Photo

The Special Committee of the Badung Detailed Spatial Plan (RDTR) consistently includes Benoa Bay within the conservation area.

Badung insisting on including Benoa Bay in

conservation areaMANGUPURA – The Special Committee of the Badung Detailed Spatial Plan (RDTR) consis-

tently includes Benoa Bay within the conservation area. The Special Committee will not change the status of the Bay because the designation of Benoa Bay as part of the conservation area is stated in the Regional Bylaw on Badung Regional Spatial Plan (RTRW).

Sodomy is punishable by up to 20 years in prison in Muslim-majority Malaysia and Anwar was expected to begin his sentence im-mediately.

Arifin read his judgements out to a stunned courtroom packed with journalists, opposition figures, and Anwar’s family and supporters, many of whom wept quietly.

Anwar later took to the dock and attacked the Federal Court panel of justices for taking part in a “politi-cal conspiracy” by Malaysia’s rul-ing regime.

“In bowing to the dictates of your political masters, you have become partners to the crime,” he said.

“You have chosen to be on the dark side.”

Angered, the judges abruptly got up to leave, with Anwar shouting at them as they exited.

“I will not be silenced! I will never surrender!”

Government critics say the case is part of a long-running campaign to destroy Anwar, a former deputy premier who was ousted from the ruling party in the late 1990s and later helped unite a previously di-vided and hapless opposition into a formidable force.

“It’s a day of infamy. It’s a shocking decision,” senior op-position parliamentarian Lim Kit Siang said.

The decision is a heavy blow to both Anwar and the opposition. Now 67, Anwar might not emerge from prison until the age of 72 if he serves the full term. The decision

strips Anwar of his parliamentary seat and disqualifies him from run-ning in the next elections due by 2018.

Several prominent legal observ-ers had said they felt that Anwar’s defence had successfully raised sufficient reasonable doubt over the charge that he sodomised Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.

Human Rights Watch condemned the case as “politically motivated” persecution.

“Allowing this travesty of justice to stand will further undermine respect for rights and democracy in Malaysia,” the group’s Asia director Phil Robertson said.

Hundreds of Anwar support-ers had gathered outside the court since before the ruling, chanting “Reformasi!”, the longtime clarion call of the movement to unseat the country’s 58-year-old government, and “Free Anwar!”.

They were watched warily by a security cordon around the court building manned by scores of po-lice, as mounted police on horse-back also patrolled.

There were no immediate signs of unrest. It marks the second sodomy conviction for Anwar in a career marked by sharp ups and downs.

He was a popular top leader of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) until his sensational ouster in a bitter 1998 power struggle. Arrested and beaten by police, his spent six years in prison on earlier sodomy and cor-ruption charges.

The case was widely viewed as tainted by politics and the sodomy conviction was eventually thrown out.

With Anwar now leading the opposition, its three-party coalition has threatened to unseat UMNO, one of the world’s longest-ruling governments. But the alliance is

flirting with possible break-up over deep policy and personality differences, and Anwar’s removal from the fray could sow further disarray.

UMNO has a history of using police and judicial organs to pres-sure opponents. The current charges were filed in 2008 shortly after Anwar led the opposition to the first of two historic general election showings.

He was acquitted in 2012, but an appeals court controversially overturned that last March, con-

victing Anwar and sentencing him to five years. He had been free pending his own appeal until Tuesday’s ruling. “We have over-whelming evidence that (Saiful) was sodomised,” Arifin said in his judgement.

He also said Anwar’s allegations of a political conspiracy “remain unsubstantiated”. Malaysia’s han-dling of the case has drawn inter-national criticism, including from the United States, which has said it raised concerns over the rule of law. (afp)

BANGKOK - Thai police Tuesday said they had dismantled an anti-monarchy network that published audio recordings defam-ing the royal family following the arrest of its ringleader. Hasadin Uraipraiwan, the alleged leader of a group calling itself the Banpodj Network, had been on the run for nearly two weeks with po-lice offering a widely publicised 200,000 baht ($6,100) reward for his capture.

He was tracked down to a hotel in Bangkok on Monday night and charged under the country’s strict and controversial lese majeste legislation, a senior police official

said. “Hasadin is the mastermind of

this gang but we found no link with other groups,” national police spokesman Lieutenant General Prawut Thavornsiri told reporters, adding he had been handed over to military custody.

Local media reports said Hasa-din had been affiliated with the “Red Shirt” movement loyal to fugitive premier Thaksin Shina-watra and his sister Yingluck, who was dumped from office as prime minister shortly before last May’s coup.

Police last week charged a Red Shirt member with lese majeste

for allegedly forwarding a widely circulated forged document on the revered king’s health, which went viral.

The movement has also fallen under official suspicion for a small pipe bomb attack outside a Bangkok shopping mall earlier this month.

In response, Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan accused the junta of trying to provoke the movement into a “fight” by point-ing the finger of blame at them.

The group -- that falls under the umbrella of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) -- has been a powerful

force in Thailand’s near-decade of sometimes deadly political turmoil.

Thai authorities say the Band-podj Network distributed audio recordings on CDs that insulted the Thai monarchy.

Six people allegedly belonging to the network were arrested late last month -- but Hasadin evaded police until Monday night.

The group’s Facebook page, which has more than 100,000 follow-ers, describes itself as a place where “the mask is ripped from the face of Thai high-society and the elite”.

Both Thai and international media must heavily self-censor

when covering Thailand’s monar-chy, including the contentious lese majeste rules.

Even repeating details of the charges could mean breaking the law, known as article 112 of the penal code, which states that any-one convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.

Rights groups say there has been a rise in both charges and convictions under Thailand’s royal slur law since the army seized power, with many observers saying that the law has been politicised to target opponents of the coup. (afp)

AP Photo/Joshua Paul

Supporters of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim march towards the Palace of Jus-tice at Putrajaya, Malaysia, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. Malaysia’s top court has rejected a final appeal from Anwar and sent him back to jail in a case seen at home and aboard as politically motivated to eliminate any threats to the government.

Thai cops arrest ringleader of ‘anti-monarchy’ network

Five years jail for Anwar as Malaysia upholds sodomy verdict

PUTRAJAYA - Malaysia’s highest court on Tuesday upheld a sodomy conviction and five-year jail term for Anwar Ibrahim, throwing the opposition leader’s political future into peril with a decision that he angrily denounced as a conspiracy. Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria dismissed An-war’s challenge against last year’s conviction for sodomising a young male former aide, saying the court found “overwhelming evidence” of the crime.

Indonesia Today Wednesday, February 11, 2015 5InternationalWednesday, February 11, 201512 International

BUSINESS

GENEVA - The former HSBC employee who leaked sensational secret documents alleging the bank helped wealthy customers dodge millions of dollars in taxes warned Tuesday that the revelations are just the “tip of the iceberg”. The files created global shockwaves on Monday, spotlighting the financial dealings of the world’s ultra-rich and prompting British lawmakers to launch an inquiry into the London-based bank.

The cache of files made public in the so-called SwissLeaks case includes the names of celebrities, alleged arms dealers and politicians -- though inclusion on the list does not necessarily imply wrongdo-ing. Published at the weekend, the files claim HSBC’s Swiss division helped clients in more than 200 countries evade taxes on accounts containing $119 billion (104 billion euros).

Herve Falciani, an IT worker turned whistleblower, stole the files in 2007 and passed them to French authorities, but they had not been previously made public.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) obtained the files via French news-paper Le Monde and shared them with more than 45 other media organisations worldwide.

But Falciani said the media reports on the documents’ contents were based on just a fraction of the files he gave to the French state.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” the Franco-Italian told France’s Le Parisien newspaper in an interview published Tuesday.

“There’s more than what the journalists have. Several million transactions (between banks) are also in the documents I transmit-ted. These figures could give an idea of what lies at the bottom of the iceberg.”

The files were used by the French government to track down tax evaders and shared with other states in 2010, leading to a series of prosecutions.

Dubbed the “Snowden of tax evasion” and “the man who terrifies

the rich”, Falciani remains wanted on data theft charges, but France and Spain have offered him protec-tion by refusing to extradite him to Switzerland.

Margaret Hodge, chairwoman of the British parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, told the BBC that lawmakers were launching an “urgent inquiry” and would order HSBC to give evidence if neces-sary.

“Today’s shocking revelations about HSBC further expose a se-cretive global industry serving a wealthy elite,” she told the broad-caster on Monday.

The documents show that HSBC opened Swiss accounts for inter-national criminals, businessmen, politicians and celebrities, accord-ing to the ICIJ. The revelations renewed calls for a crackdown on sophisticated tax avoidance by the wealthy and multinational compa-nies. Tax avoidance is legal, but tax evasion is not.

“HSBC profited from doing business with arms dealers who channelled mortar bombs to child soldiers in Africa, bag men for Third World dictators, traffick-ers in blood diamonds and other international outlaws,” the ICIJ said.

HSBC’s reputation has been tarnished in recent years by a string of high-profile controver-sies, including oversight failures which meant Mexican drug traf-fickers could launder money through its accounts. Shares in the bank were down 1.64 percent at the close of trading in London on Monday.

HSBC’s Swiss banking arm insisted it has undergone a “radical transformation”. Franco Morra, the head of HSBC’s Swiss unit, said the bank had closed the accounts of clients “who did not meet our high standards”. HSBC now has “strong compliance controls in place”, he told AFP in an email, adding that the revelations are “a reminder that the old business model of Swiss private banking is no longer accept-able”. (afp)

CANBERRA — Australia con-tinued to make high-level appeals to Indonesia to spare the lives of two Australian drug traffickers on death row despite the Indonesian president rejecting their requests for clemency, the foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Prime Minister Tony Abbott was also appealing to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to save Australians Myuran Sukumaran,

33, and Andrew Chan, 31.“We are doing all we can. We’re

making representations, privately and publicly, to stay the execu-tions,” Bishop told Nine Network television on Tuesday.

“And we will not give up. We continue to do that on a daily basis,” she added.

Bishop said she had spoken on Monday night to the pair’s devastated families who were in Indonesia pleading for their lives.

The prisoners are being held in Ker-obokan Penitentiary on the tourist island of Bali.

Sukumaran and Chan learned last week that their applications for judicial reviews of their death sentences have been rejected.

Australia has abolished capital punishment and opposes executions of any Australian overseas.

Abbott will not say whether he will recall Australia’s ambassador from Jakarta if the executions go

ahead.Indonesia said last week it was

preparing to execute by firing squad eight drug smugglers, including the two Australians. The pair were the ringleaders of a group of nine Australians who were arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle 8.3 kilograms (18.3 pounds) of heroin to Australia from Bali.

The group has been dubbed the “Bali Nine” by Australian media. All have been convicted of drug

smuggling but only two were sen-tenced to death.

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws. On Jan. 18, it executed six drug convicts including foreign-ers from Brazil, Malawi, Nigeria, the Netherlands and Vietnam, brushing aside last-minute appeals by foreign leaders.

More than 130 people are on death row, including 57 drug con-victs and two convicted terrorists. (ap)

“5,986 people are taking shelter in 14 locations. The number might increase because we are still wait-ing for more data from the field officers,” BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated.

The Jakarta disaster mitigation office (BPBD) reported that floods have affected 307 neighborhoods located in 97 urban villages in 33 sub-districts.

“The floods have affected 4,830 families comprising 15,517 people as their houses are inundated. Some 5,986 people are taking refuge in temporary shelters,” he stated.

Of the total flood-affected neigh-borhoods, some 108 neighborhoods in 23 urban villages in eight sub-

districts are located in West Jakarta. Some 8,237 inhabitants of 2,738 families are affected by the floods.

“Around 1,668 people have been evacuated in two locations. In Central Jakarta, 11 neighborhoods in eight urban villages in six sub-districts are inundated, but there is no evacuee,” he revealed.

In South Jakarta, floods hit 38 neighborhoods in 21 urban villages in seven sub-districts, with the num-ber of flood victims reaching 7,280 people of 2,092 families.

In East Jakarta, 60 neighbor-hoods in 27 urban villages in seven sub-districts are flooded. Currently, 1.8 thousand refugees are being accommodated at six temporary

shelters.At least 89 neighborhoods in 18

urban villages in five sub-districts are flooded in North Jakarta, forc-ing 2,518 people to seek shelter in six locations.

Incessant heavy downpours have triggered floods in parts of Jakarta since Sunday.

Floods in Jakarta are not only due to the overflowing rivers but also as a consequence of the poor drainage system and bad land spa-tial planning, according to BPBD.

The work in several business and commercial centers in Jakarta such as at Mangga Dua and Kelapa Gad-ing areas has been paralyzed due to the flooding. (ant)

HONG KONG - A Hong Kong woman was convicted Tuesday of beating and starving her Indonesian maid, keeping her prisoner in a “torture” case that sparked interna-tional outrage and spotlighted the plight of migrant domestic workers. The verdict, read out to a packed courtroom, was met with cheers by activists and supporters of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, a former domestic helper who has become the face of a campaign for improved workers’ rights in the financial hub.

Pictures of the injuries sustained by the 24-year-old, who was admit-ted to hospital in her home country emaciated and in a critical condi-tion, at the hands of mother-of-two Law Wan-tung fuelled anger in Indonesia and shocked Hong Kong. Sulistyaningsih hailed the ruling but called for reforms to ensure Hong Kong employers no longer treated domestic workers “like slaves”.

She said that while she forgave her abuser, she hoped Law would receive the maximum seven year jail term when sentencing is an-nounced on February 27.

“She was, for want of a better word, a prisoner in those premises,” Judge Amanda Woodcock said, referring to Sulistyaningsih.

“She was completely isolated,

and (this) helps explain why this abuse could go on for so long without her retaliating or anyone knowing.”

“When Erwiana left Hong Kong she was a shadow of her former self.”

Law, 44, was found guilty of 18 of the 20 charges laid against her, including grievous bodily harm, assault, criminal intimidation and failure to pay wages.

She lowered her head but ap-peared to be calm as the verdict was announced, while a jubilant Sulistyaningsih, clad in a black t-shirt with her face and the word “justice” emblazoned on it, hugged activists.

“I hope they will start treating migrant workers as workers and human beings, and stop treating us like slaves,” she told a news confer-ence after the verdict.

She called for reform in Hong Kong, and said her native Indonesia must not shirk its responsibilities to protect its citizens who travelled abroad to work.

Sulistyaningsih said that while she forgave Law, she hoped her former employer would receive the greatest possible sentence, “even though for me, that is still not enough compared to what she did to me and other victims.” (afp)

That level is considerably be-low the more than $100 price tags reached before they began to fall last June. “The global oil market looks set to begin a new chapter of its history, with markedly changing demand dynamics, sweeping shifts in crude trade and product supply, and dramatically different roles for OPEC and non-OPEC producers in regulating upstream supply,” the IEA said.

Ample supply and subdued de-mand caused oil prices to tumble as much as 60 percent, but the IEA said it sees market rebalancing occurring “relatively swiftly” with increases in inventories halting mid-year and the market tightening.

However the IEA foresees “pric-es stabilising at levels higher than recent lows but substantially below the highs of the last three years”.

The sharp fall in oil prices has cheered oil-consuming nations as lower fuel prices usually translate into stronger economic growth.

But the IEA said the net impact “will be more modest than might be expected” because of a linger-ing hangover from the global economic crisis in 2008 and weak investment.

“Oil price declines against a backdrop of slowing demand growth will not be as potent an economic stimulus as they would be in a context of strong underlying income gains,” said the Paris-based agency, which advises industrial nations on energy policies.

It noted that despite the oil price decline the IMF last month revised downward its forecast for global growth this year to 3.5 percent from the 3.8 percent it predicted in Octo-ber. It lowered its 2016 forecast to 3.7 percent from 4.0 percent.

The drop in oil prices was ac-celerated by OPEC’s decision in November not to cut production, saying it did not want to cede mar-ket share. Analysts saw this as an attempt to drive out higher priced

competitors, particularly US shale or “LTO” oil output that has been the largest source of new supply to the market in recent years.

It was uncharacteristic as the 12-nation cartel that supplies 30 percent of global crude has usually played the role of swing producer, reducing output in case of excess supplies on the market so that prices stabilise.

“OPEC’s move to let the market rebalance itself is a reflection of... how shale oil has changed the mar-ket,” said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven.

“It may have effectively turned LTO into the new swing producer, but it will not drive it out of the market,” she said. “LTO might in fact come out stronger.”

However Russia is unlikely to emerge unscathed. “Russia, facing a perfect storm of collapsing prices, international sanctions and currency depreciation, will likely emerge as the industry’s top loser,” the IEA said. (afp)

ISTANBUL - The United States strongly underlined the need to stick to commitments on exchange rate policy during a G20 meeting in Istanbul, urging countries not to use currencies to boost their ex-ports, a U.S. Treasury official said

on Tuesday.“(Treasury) Secretary (Jack)

Lew strongly emphasised ... that we are highly focused on ensuring that U.S. workers and firms play on a level playing field and no country should use their exchange rate to

increase exports,” the official said.A bipartisan group of U.S. law-

makers is expected to unveil legis-lation on Tuesday aimed at stopping trading partners from manipulating their exchange rates to gain a com-petitive edge.

The legislation, which is similar to bills introduced in previous years, would treat currency undervaluation as similar to subsidies provided by foreign governments and allow U.S. companies to seek compensatory duties on imported goods.

A non-U.S. official present at the talks in Istanbul said earlier that U.S. officials had warned of the risks of countries manipulating their currencies and said that there was evidence that such activity was already going on. (rtr)

U.S. urges against using exchange rates to boost exports

HSBC ‘tax dodge’ revelations are just tip of iceberg

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file

This Jan. 16, 2015, file photo shows pumpjacks operating at the Kern River Oil Field in Bakers-field, Calif. Global oil prices will recover only partially from their spectacular lows of last year, which can be expected neither to spur economic growth nor kill off US shale production, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.

Only partial rebound in oil prices, feeble growth boost

PARIS - Global oil prices will recover only partially from their spectacular lows of last year, which can be expected neither to spur economic growth nor kill off US shale production, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. Citing a major shakeup in the oil markets, the IEA said in its five-year forecast that crude prices will recover from current levels of around $50-55 per barrel to $73 per barrel in 2020.

Australia lobbies Indonesia to save 2 death row prisoners

Hong Kong woman guilty in Indonesian maid ‘torture’ case

AP Photo/Kin Cheung

A supporter of Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, holds a placard as Sulistyaningsih arrives at a court in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. A Hong Kong woman was convicted Tuesday of beating and starving her Indonesian maid, keeping her prisoner in a “torture” case that sparked international out-rage and spotlighted the plight of migrant domestic workers.

REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

Motorists ride their motorcycles through a flooded intersection after continues heavy seasonal rains have flooded parts of Jakarta February 10, 2015.

Jakarta floods force nearly 6,000 people to evacuateJAKARTA - Some 5,986 Jakarta residents have been forced to evacuate to safer places as

the floods continue to inundate the capital city on Tuesday, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

Wednesday, February 11, 20156 International

From page 1

W RLD 11International Wednesday, February 11, 2015

During a joint White House news conference, Obama dangled the prospect that the U.S. could for the first time send anti-tank weapons and other defensive arms to Ukraine. While no decision has been made, the president said he had ordered his team to consider “whether there are additional things we can do to help Ukraine bolster its defenses in the face of Russian aggression.”

Merkel staunchly opposes arming Ukraine’s beleaguered military. The German chancellor, who has perhaps the most productive relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, made clear she had not given up on the possibility that diplomatic negotiations could produce an elu-sive peace plan.

“It has always proved to be right

to try again and again to sort such a conflict,” Merkel said through a translator.

Later on Monday, during a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa, Merkel reiterated, “I hope that we shall be able to solve this conflict by diplomatic means be-cause I think by military means it cannot be solved.”

Harper said he admires the efforts by Germany and France to bring about a peaceful solution but added: “Unfortunately at this time Mr. Putin has rejected diplomatic means. He seems to move his agenda through military violence.”

The U.S. and Europe have fo-cused on economic sanctions in their punitive actions against Russia. The

penalties, along with plummeting oil prices, have caused significant damage to Russia’s economy. The European Union decided Monday to temporarily hold off on ordering more sanctions on the Russians and Ukrainian separatists while awaiting the outcome of this week’s peace talks.

The U.S. and Europe have largely been in agreement on their response to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, raising the possibility that a public split over lethal aid is merely a tactic to push Putin to strike a deal to end the fighting. Obama and Merkel both repeatedly said Monday that the U.S. and Europe would stay united in efforts to stop Russian provoca-tions. (ap)

WASHINGTON - The United States added German former rapper Denis Cuspert to its list of “terrorists” over his role as a fighter with the Is-lamic State group in Syria and Iraq, the State Department said Monday.

The 39-year-old, who used to rap in Berlin and now goes by the name Abu Talha al-Almani, is one of the most famous Western fighters for IS. He is already listed as an Al-Qaeda supporter by the United Nations.

The US listing as a “global ter-rorist” freezes all of Cuspert’s assets under US control and prohibits trans-actions with him.

Cuspert joined IS in 2012 and has appeared in numerous videos from the group, including one in November “in which he appears holding a severed head he claims belongs to a man

executed for opposing ISIL (IS),” the State Department said.

The rise of foreign fighters in the ranks of IS has alarmed many Western nations.

“Cuspert is emblematic of the type of foreign recruit ISIL seeks for its ranks -– individuals who have engaged in criminal activity in their home countries who then travel to Iraq and Syria to commit far worse crimes against the people of those countries,” the State Department said.

Cuspert has pledged an oath of loyalty to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and is a chief recruiter of German fighters.

German prosecutors have launched an investigation into Cuspert as well as other foreign fighters. (afp)

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel participate in a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 9, 2015.

Obama, Merkel rally behind diplomacy in Ukraine conflict

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ral-lied behind efforts to reach a long-shot diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine Monday, but they offered no clear path for how the West would proceed if talks this week fail.

US blacklists German rapper featured in grisly IS videos

He added that lack of promotion of the tourist destinations carried out by Bali caused the reduction in the length of stay. His party even already filed a complaint to governor because the promotional funds allocated in the regional budget 2015 was very small so that it kindled an increase in the promotion cost of the industry.

“Quality of tourism must be fo-cused first on the destination and well promoted, and then they would just look for the industry. For example, when visiting Yogya, we do not know which hotel to go, but when others want to go to Bali they have known which hotel to go. It shows if the industry has played dominant role in the campaign,” he explained.

Another implication, added Adhi, the tariff competition was unavoidable and the hotel room rate continued to fall. He said he was worried that Bali would gradually no longer become a tourist destination because of its cultural distinctiveness. Actually, the tourism potential of the Balinese culture was still very strong, espe-cially when all the stakeholders were willing to discover further potential of Bali with the equalization of infra-structure.

“If our infrastructure in Bali has been complete, then we can explore their potential and we can promote. Even, every year we can have a new destination to be promoted. Unfortu-nately, this condition is neglected, so that it will obviously lead to the death of Bali cultural tourism and the local actors will be depleted due to powerful large capital, namely the large tourism industry from outside Bali that invad-ing Bali. In the long run, it will erode everything,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Bali Government Tourism Office, A.A.

Gede Yuniartha Putra, admitted that Bali tourism promotion fund was very small at IDR 900 million, though central government this year injected a fund of IDR 100 billion for the campaign, where fifty percent would be used for re-branding of Bali tourism. However, his party did not dismiss if the decline in hotel room occupancy and length of stay were also caused by the presence of too many hotels.

“This Bali only contains hotels and unlicensed villas. In other words, the villas are owned by people from outside Bali. Even, some of them are owned by foreigners who have been mentioned on behalf of Indo-nesian resident and the he sells the room directly to their home country. The decline in room occupancy rate happened due to a lot of hotels,” he said.

Nevertheless, Yuniartha claimed that he could not do much because the authority to restrict hotels lay in the county or municipality. According to him, the province could only make coordination with the county or mu-nicipality so that they could not easily issue a permit on the establishment of new hotel. From his record, so far Bali had owned nearly 4,000 hotels with a total of 50,000 rooms.

“Competition turns unfair. But the authority lies in the county or municipality, so that we just appeal to them how to slow down the rapid hotel growth,” he said. Likewise, as for tourist destinations in the county or municipality, his party could only appeal in order the county and municipality could pay attention to the infrastructure and overcome bottlenecks occurred as well as maintain the sanitation of the tourist attraction. (kmb32)

Lack...

Wednesday, February 11, 2015 7SportsWednesday, February 11, 201510 InternationalInternationalDestination

Ubud Waiter,Bar,Cook,Chef,Shopdecko@decko.com Sms

0811399375B.BP.004.02.15.0000180

Urgently Need Laundry Staff(Male),And Engineer,For Hotel Sunset,E:balikarir@losarihotel.co

m Jl.Sunset Road 169Ph. 0361 8480986 Ext HRD

A.BP.005.02.15.0001616

Indonesia Holidays DMC is Expa

nding Travel Agent Address inJl.Tukad Balian333A is seekingcandidate for a chief accounting,and a reservation staff.If

you put interest on thisposition,Send Your CV to above

address or email to:contact@indonesiaholidaysdmc.

A.BP.001.02.15.0001797

Loker Spa Keluar Negeri FreeTraining 085953893380/8497558

A.BP.014.01.15.0003464

Need Sales Marketing Personuntuk int’l Courier service

H.Yosi 0361759740/03614012197A.BP.802.02.15.0000693

New French Rest. in Kerobokanneed Chef & Cook with exp.min.1 yr. Pls send your CV ASAP to

hrd@lesbuku.comA.BP.004.02.15.0001775

Resort Near Ubud Looking forRest Mgr/Sup,Waiter/Waitres

Call 08123800859B.BP.104.02.15.0000938

Dcr:Fashion Shop staff in UbudGood English,Experience

Call:082145510777A.BP.001.02.15.0000901

Rest Jpn NeedWaitress,Steward,Cook,Marketing,Desain Grafis

Send CV to Sama Sama RestJl By Pass Ngr Rai 128 ND,

HP.08123841129

B.BP.811.02.15.0001015

A Cook for a private houseExperience in cooking

Indonesian and InternationalFood Preferably Female,single,

able to travel overseas.Please send your resume to

Dhanie@bali66.comB.BP.004.02.15.0000286

Spa Urgent:Dubai,Rusia,dll(R-esmi)081337327057/081999913777

A.BP.001.01.15.0005801

BANGLI - This bamboo forest spreads across an area of about 45 hectares and is used as a water catchment area. Here you will see thousands of towering bamboo trees forming a canopy. When blown by the wind, thousands of the bamboos will rub against each other causing a distinctive sound. In addition, the air here also feels

very refreshing.Everyone who visits the bamboo

forest is forbidden to cut down indis-criminately and the cutting is only al-lowed selectively on specified days. The majority of Balinese people practicing Hinduism considered the bamboo has not been replaced as a means of religious

ceremonies. Therefore, every citizen is obliged to obey the rules to preserve the bamboo grove. Location of the bamboo forest is at Kubu village, Bangli County or approximately 5 km from the town of Bangli. From the Denpasar it is about 50 km and can be reached within an hour drive.

IBP/File Photo

Bamboo Forest INDIANAPOLIS - The Spurs

came back from a 14-point hole in the fourth quarter to help coach Gregg Popovich win his 1,000th NBA game, as San Antonio downed the Indiana Pacers 95-93 on Monday.

Marco Belinelli’s 18-foot baseline jumper with 2.1 seconds left capped the win.

Popovich celebrated in his typi-cal low-key manner. He walked to midcourt, put an arm around Pacers coach Frank Vogel, hugged one of his former players, and stoically strolled into the Spurs’ locker room.

Only two coaches, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, reached 1,000 wins faster than Popovich. Only one other coach, Jerry Sloan, achieved the feat with one team. Sloan won 1,127 games with Utah. Popovich is 1,000-462 in 19 NBA seasons, all with San Antonio.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 19 points. Tim Duncan had 15.

Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 40 points and Russell West-brook had 26 as the Thunder beat the Nuggets 124-114 to hand Denver its sixth loss in a row.

Durant matched a career best by hitting seven 3-pointers and fin-ished 13 of 19 from the floor. Mitch McGary added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder.

The Nuggets, who have lost 13 of 14, were led by Wilson Chandler’s 23 points.

Stephen Curry scored 20 points for Golden State and Leandro Bar-bosa had 16 off the bench as the War-riors ended the Philadelphia 76ers’ four-game home winning streak.

Klay Thompson and former Sixer Andre Iguodala added 13 points

apiece for the Warriors (41-9), who have won four of five and two straight after opening their four-game road trip with a loss to the Hawks on Friday.

In Minneapolis, Al Horford scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and DeMarre Carroll added a career-best 26 points to lift the Atlanta Hawks over the Minne-sota Timberwolves 117-105.

Paul Millsap had 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks (43-10), who bounced back from a loss to Memphis the previous night. The NBA-leading Hawks still have not lost back-to-back games since Nov. 18. They shot 51 percent and outscored Minnesota 58-44 in the paint.

Kevin Martin scored 21 points and Shabazz Muhammad had 18 points and eight rebounds for Minnesota.

The Washington Wizards downed the Orlando Magic 96-80 after John Wall fell one point short of his first triple-double of the season, and Marcin Gortat had 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Wall hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter — the first shot made from beyond the arc by either team — to open an 11-0 run that put Washington in control. He wound up with nine points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds after missing a floater with about 50 seconds left.

In other games Chris Bosh scored 32 points and Mario Chalmers added 18 as the Miami Heat defeated the New York Knicks 109-95, the Mil-waukee Bucks beat the Brooklyn Nets 103-97 and the Utah Jazz were 100-96 winners over the New Or-leans Pelicans. (ap)

MOSCOW — Pole vault world-record holder Yelena Isinbayeva is planning to make a comeback ahead of next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The two-time Olympic gold med-alist has not competed since winning her third world championship title in Moscow in 2013, taking time out to have her first child. Her daughter was born in June 2014.

On Tuesday, Moscow’s CSKA athletics club celebrated “the return of an Olympic champion,” adding that Isinbayeva would compete for the club and work as an “instruc-tor.”

In comments reported by the Tass agency, Isinbayeva said she would focus on fitness training for the rest of 2015 before starting to vault next year, with the aim of competing at her fourth Olympics.

Isinbayeva vaulted a world re-cord 5.06 meters in 2009. (ap)

AP Photo/Darron Cummings

Indiana Pacers’ George Hill (3) congratulates San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich following an NBA basket-ball game Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, in Indianapolis. San Antonio won the game 95-93. With the win Popvicch joined the 1000-win club.

Popovich earns win No. 1,000 as Spurs

get past Pacers 95-93

The British-Japanese team man-aged only 79 laps in pre-season testing last week as a series of glitches cast concerns over their performance at the season-opener in Melbourne.

But Yasuhisa Arai, chief officer of Honda’s motor sport division, said the team should prepare to vie with Mercedes, who won the 2014 drivers and constructors titles.

“As long as we participate in the race, we should prepare to be competitive with the top team Mercedes,” Arai said, as he showed

off an exhibition model of the new MP4-30 car with drivers Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso in Tokyo.

“Other than that, there is neither significance nor meaning,” he added.

Alonso said: “There is a very challenging time for all of us, but... we are ready for some victory hope-fully soon.”

Honda is returning to Formula One this season as an engine sup-plier to McLaren, in a bid to revive a partnership which conquered

F1 from 1988 to 1991 with Ayr-ton Senna and Alain Prost at the wheel.

The Japanese automaker pulled out of F1 after the 2008 season, ending an involvement that began in the 1960s, to cut costs during the economic downturn.

Ron Dennis, head of McLaren Technology Group, said: “We will have success because history shows that Honda always succeeds and Honda-McLaren partnership of the 80s is something that we intend to reproduce.” (afp)

AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti

Fernando Alonso of Spain and McLaren-Honda drives during the 2015 Formula One Testing at the Circuito de Jerez on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

McLaren-Honda vow to overcome

problemsLONDON - McLaren-Honda on Tuesday vowed to overcome a worrying start to their new For-

mula One partnership and challenge champions Mercedes when the season starts next month.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013, file photo, Russia’s Yel-ena Isinbayeva competes in the women’s pole vault final at the World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia. Pole vault world-record holder Yelena Isin-bayeva is planning to make a comeback ahead of next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Isinbayeva to make comeback ahead of Rio Olympics

98 InternationalWednesday, February 11, 2015 International Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Sp rt

The capital side remained sixth following a second successive defeat, two points and a place above Genoa, which arrested its slide down the table with its first win in eight rounds.

“Results aren’t going our way at the moment,” Lazio coach Stefano Pioli said. “I can’t reproach the lads at all for their performances. Now’s the moment to be united and to believe in what we are doing because we have good qualities.

“It was a balanced match, we had 10 players but we could still have drawn. I’m upset for the team because they wanted to forget last Sunday’s defeat at Cesena, but we come out of this with a lot of de-termination.”

The match turned shortly before the half-hour mark when Lazio goalkeeper Federico Marchetti was sent off following a rash challenge on M’Baye Niang.

Replacement keeper Etrit Berisha’s first act was to pick the ball out of his net after Diego Perotti coolly slotted the penalty into the bottom right corner.

Genoa should have sealed the match early in the second half when Niang sent Iago Falque clear on goal, but the Spaniard fired narrowly past the right upright.

It was almost made to rue its missed opportunities as Lazio went close to leveling when Stefano Mauri was sent through by Miroslav Klose, but the captain hit the right post.

“We played well but we weren’t very clinical and in the future we need to be if we want to remain up there,” Genoa coach Giampiero Gasperini said. “It was an important win after picking up so few points in the last few matches.” (ap)

ABIDJAN - Hundreds of thousands of sup-porters at the airport and on the streets of Ivory Coast’s commercial capital Abidjan welcomed home the national football team on Monday after its victory at the African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea.

The West African state won its first Nations Cup title in nearly a quarter of a century on Sunday, edging neighbours Ghana 9-8 in a dra-matic penalty shootout after extra time ended in a goalless draw.

Supporters, who had watched their Elephants team lose in two finals during a decade that saw their country descend into political turmoil and two civil wars, poured into the streets follow-ing the win in a party that lasted much of the night.

“This cup must bring us peace. The politi-cians must be like the players. They must be united and create peace for us, their people!” said supporter Bakary Diomande.

President Alassane Ouattara, who travelled

in his motorcade through the celebrating crowds Sunday night, declared Monday a national holiday and called upon Ivorians to come to the lagoon-side national stadium to show their appreciation for the team.

“It’s wonderful. We had an fantastic team and a coach without equal ... The Ivorian people are proud,” Ouattara said following the victory.

Cheering crowds decked out in Ivory Coast’s national colours - orange, white and green - swamped the airport and packed the 15-km (9 miles) route that brought the team from the airport to the city centre.

Monday morning, hours before the play-ers were due to arrive there, the 45,000-seat stadium was full and police officials broadcast messages ordering fans to stay at home for security reasons.

“I haven’t slept since yesterday. I’m tired but I’ve been there at the stadium since 6 a.m. (0600 GMT) to wait and to see the players,” Fatou Kouyate said as she waited. (rtr)

PARIS - Swedish football great Zlatan Ibrahimovic professed him-self to be extremely proud to have his waxwork model unveiled at the Grevin Museum in central Paris on Monday.

The 33-year-old striker -- who was honoured for his goalscoring exploits for champions Paris Saint Germain since he joined in 2012 -- is portrayed in a PSG shirt with his arms raised to the sky.

“It is really incredible to be here,” beamed Ibrahimovic.

“It is a huge honour. Don’t forget to take plenty of photos of me!” added the charismatic Swede, who neverthe-

less appeared for once to be a little intimidated by the occasion and was far from the cheeky chappie he often is on and off the pitch.

The waxwork model of Ibrahimov-ic, who has played over 100 times for his national side, has been placed close to the player widely believed to be the greatest ever footballer Brazilian maestro Pele, France’s multiple rally world champion Sebastien Loeb and another French sporting great Judoka Teddy Riner.

Among the dignitaries present to celebrate the occasion with the former AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus and Barcelona marksman was the Swedish

Ambassador to France as well as PSG’s Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

Ibrahimovic -- whose statue took six months to complete -- was a unani-mous choice by the Grevin Acad-emy presided over by the journalist Stephane Bern, who saluted him for being a ‘football icon’.

“We love your cheeky side which contributes to your legend,” gushed Bern.

Ibrahimovic did not go away emp-ty-handed, though, instead of a match ball he is used to keeping after several hat-tricks he took with him a replica of a sculpture of his head created by Eric Saint Chaffray. (afp)

ZURICH - A FIFA electoral committee on Monday approved incumbent Sepp Blatter and three rivals for an election for the presi-dency of football’s global govern-ing body to be held on May 29.

Blatter, who has been in the post since 1998, is opposed by Dutch federation president Mi-chael van Praag, Jordanian Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, a FIFA vice-president, and Portuguese football great and former Ballon d’Or win-ner Luis Figo.

A FIFA statement said all four had passed “integrity checks” so they could be allowed into the election.

At the FIFA Congress the win-ner has to get the majority of the 205 FIFA members.

Blatter, who will be 79 by the time of the vote, is strong favou-rite to win a fifth term but faces a strong European-led opposition, largely over the controversial vote to give Qatar the 2022 World Cup and the subsequent fallout over the report into the bid.

However, the Swiss official -- who revised his original pledge not to run for a fifth term -- has had strong public backing from the African and Asian continental

confederations.His reign has notably been tar-

nished by accusations of corrup-tion stemming from the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the former being awarded to Russia.

The controversies have seri-ously eroded his support and tarnished his reputation in Euro-pean strongholds like England, Germany and the Netherlands.

However, the success of last summer’s World Cup in Brazil, despite earlier fears over the state of the organisation, has further boosted his status.

Figo, 42, and 67-year-old van Praag both announced their can-didatures a fortnight ago while Prince Ali, 39, launched his cam-paign at the start of the year.

All three were successful in getting the minimum of five na-tional associations to back their bids.

Two others who had been considering standing - former France international forward Da-vid Ginola and ex-FIFA executive official Jerome Champagne - both failed to get the necessary backing and were eliminated from the final reckoning last week. (afp)

MONTEVIDEO - Uruguayan soccer player Diego Forlan on Mon-day denied evading taxes by hiding money in Swiss accounts with the British bank HSBC Holdings PLC.

Forlan was among a list of rock stars, Hollywood actors, royalty and arms dealers named by the Interna-tional Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) as having been helped by HSBC to dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars in assets.

The ICIJ said Forlan became an HSBC client in 2006 while playing in Spain for Villarreal. The report said Forlan was connected to two client accounts that together listed

four bank accounts, and which held as much as $1.4 million in 2006/7.

“I want to make clear that my finances are and have always been in order, in a way that complies with all the tax jurisdictions of the differ-ent place in which I have worked, lived and have assets,” Forlan said in a statement on his website www.diegoforlan.com.

Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes.

Late on Sunday, HSBC acknowl-edged “past compliance and control failures.”

The HSBC client data were sup-plied by Herve Falciani, a former IT

employee of HSBC’s Swiss private bank, HSBC said. HSBC said Fal-ciani downloaded details of accounts and clients at the end of 2006 and early 2007.

French authorities have obtained data on thousands of the customers and shared them with tax authorities elsewhere, including Argentina.

Forlan’s name was one of 61 revealed by the ICIJ, a strategy the former Manchester United and Atletico Madrid player said was aimed at creating headlines.

“I am not part of this alleged investigation ... my name was simply used as a ‘hook’,” Forlan said. (afp)

REUTERS/Toru Hanai/Files

FIFA President Sepp Blatter speaks during a news conference following their executive committee meeting in Tokyo in this December 15, 2012 file photo.

Blatter faces three rivals in FIFA election

Uruguay soccer star Diego Forlan denies cheating taxes

REUTERS/Charles Platiau

Soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic (L) of French Ligue 1 team Paris St Germain, stands next to his figure at the Grevin wax museum during the presentation of his waxwork in Paris February 9, 2015.

Ibrahimovic proud as punch to be cast in wax

REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon

Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara (centre L) sits with Ivory Coast’s soccer team captain Yaya Toure, at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium in Abidjan February 9, 2015. Hundreds of thousands of supporters at the airport and on the streets of Ivory Coast’s commercial capital Abidjan welcomed home the national football team on Monday after its victory at the African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea.

Massive crowds welcome home Ivory Coast’s victorious Elephants

AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

Lazio’s Marco Parolo, top, and Genoa’s Andrea Bertolacci fight for the ball during their Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Genoa at Rome’s Olympic stadium, Monday, Feb. 9, 2015.

Genoa beats 10-man Lazio 1-0 in Serie A to halt slide

ROME — Lazio fell to a 1-0 loss at home to Genoa and missed the chance to move fourth in Serie A on Monday after playing most of the match in 10 men.

98 InternationalWednesday, February 11, 2015 International Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Sp rt

The capital side remained sixth following a second successive defeat, two points and a place above Genoa, which arrested its slide down the table with its first win in eight rounds.

“Results aren’t going our way at the moment,” Lazio coach Stefano Pioli said. “I can’t reproach the lads at all for their performances. Now’s the moment to be united and to believe in what we are doing because we have good qualities.

“It was a balanced match, we had 10 players but we could still have drawn. I’m upset for the team because they wanted to forget last Sunday’s defeat at Cesena, but we come out of this with a lot of de-termination.”

The match turned shortly before the half-hour mark when Lazio goalkeeper Federico Marchetti was sent off following a rash challenge on M’Baye Niang.

Replacement keeper Etrit Berisha’s first act was to pick the ball out of his net after Diego Perotti coolly slotted the penalty into the bottom right corner.

Genoa should have sealed the match early in the second half when Niang sent Iago Falque clear on goal, but the Spaniard fired narrowly past the right upright.

It was almost made to rue its missed opportunities as Lazio went close to leveling when Stefano Mauri was sent through by Miroslav Klose, but the captain hit the right post.

“We played well but we weren’t very clinical and in the future we need to be if we want to remain up there,” Genoa coach Giampiero Gasperini said. “It was an important win after picking up so few points in the last few matches.” (ap)

ABIDJAN - Hundreds of thousands of sup-porters at the airport and on the streets of Ivory Coast’s commercial capital Abidjan welcomed home the national football team on Monday after its victory at the African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea.

The West African state won its first Nations Cup title in nearly a quarter of a century on Sunday, edging neighbours Ghana 9-8 in a dra-matic penalty shootout after extra time ended in a goalless draw.

Supporters, who had watched their Elephants team lose in two finals during a decade that saw their country descend into political turmoil and two civil wars, poured into the streets follow-ing the win in a party that lasted much of the night.

“This cup must bring us peace. The politi-cians must be like the players. They must be united and create peace for us, their people!” said supporter Bakary Diomande.

President Alassane Ouattara, who travelled

in his motorcade through the celebrating crowds Sunday night, declared Monday a national holiday and called upon Ivorians to come to the lagoon-side national stadium to show their appreciation for the team.

“It’s wonderful. We had an fantastic team and a coach without equal ... The Ivorian people are proud,” Ouattara said following the victory.

Cheering crowds decked out in Ivory Coast’s national colours - orange, white and green - swamped the airport and packed the 15-km (9 miles) route that brought the team from the airport to the city centre.

Monday morning, hours before the play-ers were due to arrive there, the 45,000-seat stadium was full and police officials broadcast messages ordering fans to stay at home for security reasons.

“I haven’t slept since yesterday. I’m tired but I’ve been there at the stadium since 6 a.m. (0600 GMT) to wait and to see the players,” Fatou Kouyate said as she waited. (rtr)

PARIS - Swedish football great Zlatan Ibrahimovic professed him-self to be extremely proud to have his waxwork model unveiled at the Grevin Museum in central Paris on Monday.

The 33-year-old striker -- who was honoured for his goalscoring exploits for champions Paris Saint Germain since he joined in 2012 -- is portrayed in a PSG shirt with his arms raised to the sky.

“It is really incredible to be here,” beamed Ibrahimovic.

“It is a huge honour. Don’t forget to take plenty of photos of me!” added the charismatic Swede, who neverthe-

less appeared for once to be a little intimidated by the occasion and was far from the cheeky chappie he often is on and off the pitch.

The waxwork model of Ibrahimov-ic, who has played over 100 times for his national side, has been placed close to the player widely believed to be the greatest ever footballer Brazilian maestro Pele, France’s multiple rally world champion Sebastien Loeb and another French sporting great Judoka Teddy Riner.

Among the dignitaries present to celebrate the occasion with the former AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus and Barcelona marksman was the Swedish

Ambassador to France as well as PSG’s Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

Ibrahimovic -- whose statue took six months to complete -- was a unani-mous choice by the Grevin Acad-emy presided over by the journalist Stephane Bern, who saluted him for being a ‘football icon’.

“We love your cheeky side which contributes to your legend,” gushed Bern.

Ibrahimovic did not go away emp-ty-handed, though, instead of a match ball he is used to keeping after several hat-tricks he took with him a replica of a sculpture of his head created by Eric Saint Chaffray. (afp)

ZURICH - A FIFA electoral committee on Monday approved incumbent Sepp Blatter and three rivals for an election for the presi-dency of football’s global govern-ing body to be held on May 29.

Blatter, who has been in the post since 1998, is opposed by Dutch federation president Mi-chael van Praag, Jordanian Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, a FIFA vice-president, and Portuguese football great and former Ballon d’Or win-ner Luis Figo.

A FIFA statement said all four had passed “integrity checks” so they could be allowed into the election.

At the FIFA Congress the win-ner has to get the majority of the 205 FIFA members.

Blatter, who will be 79 by the time of the vote, is strong favou-rite to win a fifth term but faces a strong European-led opposition, largely over the controversial vote to give Qatar the 2022 World Cup and the subsequent fallout over the report into the bid.

However, the Swiss official -- who revised his original pledge not to run for a fifth term -- has had strong public backing from the African and Asian continental

confederations.His reign has notably been tar-

nished by accusations of corrup-tion stemming from the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the former being awarded to Russia.

The controversies have seri-ously eroded his support and tarnished his reputation in Euro-pean strongholds like England, Germany and the Netherlands.

However, the success of last summer’s World Cup in Brazil, despite earlier fears over the state of the organisation, has further boosted his status.

Figo, 42, and 67-year-old van Praag both announced their can-didatures a fortnight ago while Prince Ali, 39, launched his cam-paign at the start of the year.

All three were successful in getting the minimum of five na-tional associations to back their bids.

Two others who had been considering standing - former France international forward Da-vid Ginola and ex-FIFA executive official Jerome Champagne - both failed to get the necessary backing and were eliminated from the final reckoning last week. (afp)

MONTEVIDEO - Uruguayan soccer player Diego Forlan on Mon-day denied evading taxes by hiding money in Swiss accounts with the British bank HSBC Holdings PLC.

Forlan was among a list of rock stars, Hollywood actors, royalty and arms dealers named by the Interna-tional Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) as having been helped by HSBC to dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars in assets.

The ICIJ said Forlan became an HSBC client in 2006 while playing in Spain for Villarreal. The report said Forlan was connected to two client accounts that together listed

four bank accounts, and which held as much as $1.4 million in 2006/7.

“I want to make clear that my finances are and have always been in order, in a way that complies with all the tax jurisdictions of the differ-ent place in which I have worked, lived and have assets,” Forlan said in a statement on his website www.diegoforlan.com.

Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes.

Late on Sunday, HSBC acknowl-edged “past compliance and control failures.”

The HSBC client data were sup-plied by Herve Falciani, a former IT

employee of HSBC’s Swiss private bank, HSBC said. HSBC said Fal-ciani downloaded details of accounts and clients at the end of 2006 and early 2007.

French authorities have obtained data on thousands of the customers and shared them with tax authorities elsewhere, including Argentina.

Forlan’s name was one of 61 revealed by the ICIJ, a strategy the former Manchester United and Atletico Madrid player said was aimed at creating headlines.

“I am not part of this alleged investigation ... my name was simply used as a ‘hook’,” Forlan said. (afp)

REUTERS/Toru Hanai/Files

FIFA President Sepp Blatter speaks during a news conference following their executive committee meeting in Tokyo in this December 15, 2012 file photo.

Blatter faces three rivals in FIFA election

Uruguay soccer star Diego Forlan denies cheating taxes

REUTERS/Charles Platiau

Soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic (L) of French Ligue 1 team Paris St Germain, stands next to his figure at the Grevin wax museum during the presentation of his waxwork in Paris February 9, 2015.

Ibrahimovic proud as punch to be cast in wax

REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon

Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara (centre L) sits with Ivory Coast’s soccer team captain Yaya Toure, at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium in Abidjan February 9, 2015. Hundreds of thousands of supporters at the airport and on the streets of Ivory Coast’s commercial capital Abidjan welcomed home the national football team on Monday after its victory at the African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea.

Massive crowds welcome home Ivory Coast’s victorious Elephants

AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

Lazio’s Marco Parolo, top, and Genoa’s Andrea Bertolacci fight for the ball during their Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Genoa at Rome’s Olympic stadium, Monday, Feb. 9, 2015.

Genoa beats 10-man Lazio 1-0 in Serie A to halt slide

ROME — Lazio fell to a 1-0 loss at home to Genoa and missed the chance to move fourth in Serie A on Monday after playing most of the match in 10 men.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015 7SportsWednesday, February 11, 201510 InternationalInternationalDestination

Ubud Waiter,Bar,Cook,Chef,Shopdecko@decko.com Sms

0811399375B.BP.004.02.15.0000180

Urgently Need Laundry Staff(Male),And Engineer,For Hotel Sunset,E:balikarir@losarihotel.co

m Jl.Sunset Road 169Ph. 0361 8480986 Ext HRD

A.BP.005.02.15.0001616

Indonesia Holidays DMC is Expa

nding Travel Agent Address inJl.Tukad Balian333A is seekingcandidate for a chief accounting,and a reservation staff.If

you put interest on thisposition,Send Your CV to above

address or email to:contact@indonesiaholidaysdmc.

A.BP.001.02.15.0001797

Loker Spa Keluar Negeri FreeTraining 085953893380/8497558

A.BP.014.01.15.0003464

Need Sales Marketing Personuntuk int’l Courier service

H.Yosi 0361759740/03614012197A.BP.802.02.15.0000693

New French Rest. in Kerobokanneed Chef & Cook with exp.min.1 yr. Pls send your CV ASAP to

hrd@lesbuku.comA.BP.004.02.15.0001775

Resort Near Ubud Looking forRest Mgr/Sup,Waiter/Waitres

Call 08123800859B.BP.104.02.15.0000938

Dcr:Fashion Shop staff in UbudGood English,Experience

Call:082145510777A.BP.001.02.15.0000901

Rest Jpn NeedWaitress,Steward,Cook,Marketing,Desain Grafis

Send CV to Sama Sama RestJl By Pass Ngr Rai 128 ND,

HP.08123841129

B.BP.811.02.15.0001015

A Cook for a private houseExperience in cooking

Indonesian and InternationalFood Preferably Female,single,

able to travel overseas.Please send your resume to

Dhanie@bali66.comB.BP.004.02.15.0000286

Spa Urgent:Dubai,Rusia,dll(R-esmi)081337327057/081999913777

A.BP.001.01.15.0005801

BANGLI - This bamboo forest spreads across an area of about 45 hectares and is used as a water catchment area. Here you will see thousands of towering bamboo trees forming a canopy. When blown by the wind, thousands of the bamboos will rub against each other causing a distinctive sound. In addition, the air here also feels

very refreshing.Everyone who visits the bamboo

forest is forbidden to cut down indis-criminately and the cutting is only al-lowed selectively on specified days. The majority of Balinese people practicing Hinduism considered the bamboo has not been replaced as a means of religious

ceremonies. Therefore, every citizen is obliged to obey the rules to preserve the bamboo grove. Location of the bamboo forest is at Kubu village, Bangli County or approximately 5 km from the town of Bangli. From the Denpasar it is about 50 km and can be reached within an hour drive.

IBP/File Photo

Bamboo Forest INDIANAPOLIS - The Spurs

came back from a 14-point hole in the fourth quarter to help coach Gregg Popovich win his 1,000th NBA game, as San Antonio downed the Indiana Pacers 95-93 on Monday.

Marco Belinelli’s 18-foot baseline jumper with 2.1 seconds left capped the win.

Popovich celebrated in his typi-cal low-key manner. He walked to midcourt, put an arm around Pacers coach Frank Vogel, hugged one of his former players, and stoically strolled into the Spurs’ locker room.

Only two coaches, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, reached 1,000 wins faster than Popovich. Only one other coach, Jerry Sloan, achieved the feat with one team. Sloan won 1,127 games with Utah. Popovich is 1,000-462 in 19 NBA seasons, all with San Antonio.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 19 points. Tim Duncan had 15.

Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 40 points and Russell West-brook had 26 as the Thunder beat the Nuggets 124-114 to hand Denver its sixth loss in a row.

Durant matched a career best by hitting seven 3-pointers and fin-ished 13 of 19 from the floor. Mitch McGary added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder.

The Nuggets, who have lost 13 of 14, were led by Wilson Chandler’s 23 points.

Stephen Curry scored 20 points for Golden State and Leandro Bar-bosa had 16 off the bench as the War-riors ended the Philadelphia 76ers’ four-game home winning streak.

Klay Thompson and former Sixer Andre Iguodala added 13 points

apiece for the Warriors (41-9), who have won four of five and two straight after opening their four-game road trip with a loss to the Hawks on Friday.

In Minneapolis, Al Horford scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and DeMarre Carroll added a career-best 26 points to lift the Atlanta Hawks over the Minne-sota Timberwolves 117-105.

Paul Millsap had 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks (43-10), who bounced back from a loss to Memphis the previous night. The NBA-leading Hawks still have not lost back-to-back games since Nov. 18. They shot 51 percent and outscored Minnesota 58-44 in the paint.

Kevin Martin scored 21 points and Shabazz Muhammad had 18 points and eight rebounds for Minnesota.

The Washington Wizards downed the Orlando Magic 96-80 after John Wall fell one point short of his first triple-double of the season, and Marcin Gortat had 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Wall hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter — the first shot made from beyond the arc by either team — to open an 11-0 run that put Washington in control. He wound up with nine points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds after missing a floater with about 50 seconds left.

In other games Chris Bosh scored 32 points and Mario Chalmers added 18 as the Miami Heat defeated the New York Knicks 109-95, the Mil-waukee Bucks beat the Brooklyn Nets 103-97 and the Utah Jazz were 100-96 winners over the New Or-leans Pelicans. (ap)

MOSCOW — Pole vault world-record holder Yelena Isinbayeva is planning to make a comeback ahead of next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The two-time Olympic gold med-alist has not competed since winning her third world championship title in Moscow in 2013, taking time out to have her first child. Her daughter was born in June 2014.

On Tuesday, Moscow’s CSKA athletics club celebrated “the return of an Olympic champion,” adding that Isinbayeva would compete for the club and work as an “instruc-tor.”

In comments reported by the Tass agency, Isinbayeva said she would focus on fitness training for the rest of 2015 before starting to vault next year, with the aim of competing at her fourth Olympics.

Isinbayeva vaulted a world re-cord 5.06 meters in 2009. (ap)

AP Photo/Darron Cummings

Indiana Pacers’ George Hill (3) congratulates San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich following an NBA basket-ball game Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, in Indianapolis. San Antonio won the game 95-93. With the win Popvicch joined the 1000-win club.

Popovich earns win No. 1,000 as Spurs

get past Pacers 95-93

The British-Japanese team man-aged only 79 laps in pre-season testing last week as a series of glitches cast concerns over their performance at the season-opener in Melbourne.

But Yasuhisa Arai, chief officer of Honda’s motor sport division, said the team should prepare to vie with Mercedes, who won the 2014 drivers and constructors titles.

“As long as we participate in the race, we should prepare to be competitive with the top team Mercedes,” Arai said, as he showed

off an exhibition model of the new MP4-30 car with drivers Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso in Tokyo.

“Other than that, there is neither significance nor meaning,” he added.

Alonso said: “There is a very challenging time for all of us, but... we are ready for some victory hope-fully soon.”

Honda is returning to Formula One this season as an engine sup-plier to McLaren, in a bid to revive a partnership which conquered

F1 from 1988 to 1991 with Ayr-ton Senna and Alain Prost at the wheel.

The Japanese automaker pulled out of F1 after the 2008 season, ending an involvement that began in the 1960s, to cut costs during the economic downturn.

Ron Dennis, head of McLaren Technology Group, said: “We will have success because history shows that Honda always succeeds and Honda-McLaren partnership of the 80s is something that we intend to reproduce.” (afp)

AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti

Fernando Alonso of Spain and McLaren-Honda drives during the 2015 Formula One Testing at the Circuito de Jerez on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

McLaren-Honda vow to overcome

problemsLONDON - McLaren-Honda on Tuesday vowed to overcome a worrying start to their new For-

mula One partnership and challenge champions Mercedes when the season starts next month.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013, file photo, Russia’s Yel-ena Isinbayeva competes in the women’s pole vault final at the World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia. Pole vault world-record holder Yelena Isin-bayeva is planning to make a comeback ahead of next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Isinbayeva to make comeback ahead of Rio Olympics

Wednesday, February 11, 20156 International

From page 1

W RLD 11International Wednesday, February 11, 2015

During a joint White House news conference, Obama dangled the prospect that the U.S. could for the first time send anti-tank weapons and other defensive arms to Ukraine. While no decision has been made, the president said he had ordered his team to consider “whether there are additional things we can do to help Ukraine bolster its defenses in the face of Russian aggression.”

Merkel staunchly opposes arming Ukraine’s beleaguered military. The German chancellor, who has perhaps the most productive relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, made clear she had not given up on the possibility that diplomatic negotiations could produce an elu-sive peace plan.

“It has always proved to be right

to try again and again to sort such a conflict,” Merkel said through a translator.

Later on Monday, during a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa, Merkel reiterated, “I hope that we shall be able to solve this conflict by diplomatic means be-cause I think by military means it cannot be solved.”

Harper said he admires the efforts by Germany and France to bring about a peaceful solution but added: “Unfortunately at this time Mr. Putin has rejected diplomatic means. He seems to move his agenda through military violence.”

The U.S. and Europe have fo-cused on economic sanctions in their punitive actions against Russia. The

penalties, along with plummeting oil prices, have caused significant damage to Russia’s economy. The European Union decided Monday to temporarily hold off on ordering more sanctions on the Russians and Ukrainian separatists while awaiting the outcome of this week’s peace talks.

The U.S. and Europe have largely been in agreement on their response to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, raising the possibility that a public split over lethal aid is merely a tactic to push Putin to strike a deal to end the fighting. Obama and Merkel both repeatedly said Monday that the U.S. and Europe would stay united in efforts to stop Russian provoca-tions. (ap)

WASHINGTON - The United States added German former rapper Denis Cuspert to its list of “terrorists” over his role as a fighter with the Is-lamic State group in Syria and Iraq, the State Department said Monday.

The 39-year-old, who used to rap in Berlin and now goes by the name Abu Talha al-Almani, is one of the most famous Western fighters for IS. He is already listed as an Al-Qaeda supporter by the United Nations.

The US listing as a “global ter-rorist” freezes all of Cuspert’s assets under US control and prohibits trans-actions with him.

Cuspert joined IS in 2012 and has appeared in numerous videos from the group, including one in November “in which he appears holding a severed head he claims belongs to a man

executed for opposing ISIL (IS),” the State Department said.

The rise of foreign fighters in the ranks of IS has alarmed many Western nations.

“Cuspert is emblematic of the type of foreign recruit ISIL seeks for its ranks -– individuals who have engaged in criminal activity in their home countries who then travel to Iraq and Syria to commit far worse crimes against the people of those countries,” the State Department said.

Cuspert has pledged an oath of loyalty to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and is a chief recruiter of German fighters.

German prosecutors have launched an investigation into Cuspert as well as other foreign fighters. (afp)

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel participate in a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 9, 2015.

Obama, Merkel rally behind diplomacy in Ukraine conflict

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ral-lied behind efforts to reach a long-shot diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine Monday, but they offered no clear path for how the West would proceed if talks this week fail.

US blacklists German rapper featured in grisly IS videos

He added that lack of promotion of the tourist destinations carried out by Bali caused the reduction in the length of stay. His party even already filed a complaint to governor because the promotional funds allocated in the regional budget 2015 was very small so that it kindled an increase in the promotion cost of the industry.

“Quality of tourism must be fo-cused first on the destination and well promoted, and then they would just look for the industry. For example, when visiting Yogya, we do not know which hotel to go, but when others want to go to Bali they have known which hotel to go. It shows if the industry has played dominant role in the campaign,” he explained.

Another implication, added Adhi, the tariff competition was unavoidable and the hotel room rate continued to fall. He said he was worried that Bali would gradually no longer become a tourist destination because of its cultural distinctiveness. Actually, the tourism potential of the Balinese culture was still very strong, espe-cially when all the stakeholders were willing to discover further potential of Bali with the equalization of infra-structure.

“If our infrastructure in Bali has been complete, then we can explore their potential and we can promote. Even, every year we can have a new destination to be promoted. Unfortu-nately, this condition is neglected, so that it will obviously lead to the death of Bali cultural tourism and the local actors will be depleted due to powerful large capital, namely the large tourism industry from outside Bali that invad-ing Bali. In the long run, it will erode everything,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Bali Government Tourism Office, A.A.

Gede Yuniartha Putra, admitted that Bali tourism promotion fund was very small at IDR 900 million, though central government this year injected a fund of IDR 100 billion for the campaign, where fifty percent would be used for re-branding of Bali tourism. However, his party did not dismiss if the decline in hotel room occupancy and length of stay were also caused by the presence of too many hotels.

“This Bali only contains hotels and unlicensed villas. In other words, the villas are owned by people from outside Bali. Even, some of them are owned by foreigners who have been mentioned on behalf of Indo-nesian resident and the he sells the room directly to their home country. The decline in room occupancy rate happened due to a lot of hotels,” he said.

Nevertheless, Yuniartha claimed that he could not do much because the authority to restrict hotels lay in the county or municipality. According to him, the province could only make coordination with the county or mu-nicipality so that they could not easily issue a permit on the establishment of new hotel. From his record, so far Bali had owned nearly 4,000 hotels with a total of 50,000 rooms.

“Competition turns unfair. But the authority lies in the county or municipality, so that we just appeal to them how to slow down the rapid hotel growth,” he said. Likewise, as for tourist destinations in the county or municipality, his party could only appeal in order the county and municipality could pay attention to the infrastructure and overcome bottlenecks occurred as well as maintain the sanitation of the tourist attraction. (kmb32)

Lack...

Indonesia Today Wednesday, February 11, 2015 5InternationalWednesday, February 11, 201512 International

BUSINESS

GENEVA - The former HSBC employee who leaked sensational secret documents alleging the bank helped wealthy customers dodge millions of dollars in taxes warned Tuesday that the revelations are just the “tip of the iceberg”. The files created global shockwaves on Monday, spotlighting the financial dealings of the world’s ultra-rich and prompting British lawmakers to launch an inquiry into the London-based bank.

The cache of files made public in the so-called SwissLeaks case includes the names of celebrities, alleged arms dealers and politicians -- though inclusion on the list does not necessarily imply wrongdo-ing. Published at the weekend, the files claim HSBC’s Swiss division helped clients in more than 200 countries evade taxes on accounts containing $119 billion (104 billion euros).

Herve Falciani, an IT worker turned whistleblower, stole the files in 2007 and passed them to French authorities, but they had not been previously made public.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) obtained the files via French news-paper Le Monde and shared them with more than 45 other media organisations worldwide.

But Falciani said the media reports on the documents’ contents were based on just a fraction of the files he gave to the French state.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” the Franco-Italian told France’s Le Parisien newspaper in an interview published Tuesday.

“There’s more than what the journalists have. Several million transactions (between banks) are also in the documents I transmit-ted. These figures could give an idea of what lies at the bottom of the iceberg.”

The files were used by the French government to track down tax evaders and shared with other states in 2010, leading to a series of prosecutions.

Dubbed the “Snowden of tax evasion” and “the man who terrifies

the rich”, Falciani remains wanted on data theft charges, but France and Spain have offered him protec-tion by refusing to extradite him to Switzerland.

Margaret Hodge, chairwoman of the British parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, told the BBC that lawmakers were launching an “urgent inquiry” and would order HSBC to give evidence if neces-sary.

“Today’s shocking revelations about HSBC further expose a se-cretive global industry serving a wealthy elite,” she told the broad-caster on Monday.

The documents show that HSBC opened Swiss accounts for inter-national criminals, businessmen, politicians and celebrities, accord-ing to the ICIJ. The revelations renewed calls for a crackdown on sophisticated tax avoidance by the wealthy and multinational compa-nies. Tax avoidance is legal, but tax evasion is not.

“HSBC profited from doing business with arms dealers who channelled mortar bombs to child soldiers in Africa, bag men for Third World dictators, traffick-ers in blood diamonds and other international outlaws,” the ICIJ said.

HSBC’s reputation has been tarnished in recent years by a string of high-profile controver-sies, including oversight failures which meant Mexican drug traf-fickers could launder money through its accounts. Shares in the bank were down 1.64 percent at the close of trading in London on Monday.

HSBC’s Swiss banking arm insisted it has undergone a “radical transformation”. Franco Morra, the head of HSBC’s Swiss unit, said the bank had closed the accounts of clients “who did not meet our high standards”. HSBC now has “strong compliance controls in place”, he told AFP in an email, adding that the revelations are “a reminder that the old business model of Swiss private banking is no longer accept-able”. (afp)

CANBERRA — Australia con-tinued to make high-level appeals to Indonesia to spare the lives of two Australian drug traffickers on death row despite the Indonesian president rejecting their requests for clemency, the foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Prime Minister Tony Abbott was also appealing to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to save Australians Myuran Sukumaran,

33, and Andrew Chan, 31.“We are doing all we can. We’re

making representations, privately and publicly, to stay the execu-tions,” Bishop told Nine Network television on Tuesday.

“And we will not give up. We continue to do that on a daily basis,” she added.

Bishop said she had spoken on Monday night to the pair’s devastated families who were in Indonesia pleading for their lives.

The prisoners are being held in Ker-obokan Penitentiary on the tourist island of Bali.

Sukumaran and Chan learned last week that their applications for judicial reviews of their death sentences have been rejected.

Australia has abolished capital punishment and opposes executions of any Australian overseas.

Abbott will not say whether he will recall Australia’s ambassador from Jakarta if the executions go

ahead.Indonesia said last week it was

preparing to execute by firing squad eight drug smugglers, including the two Australians. The pair were the ringleaders of a group of nine Australians who were arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle 8.3 kilograms (18.3 pounds) of heroin to Australia from Bali.

The group has been dubbed the “Bali Nine” by Australian media. All have been convicted of drug

smuggling but only two were sen-tenced to death.

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws. On Jan. 18, it executed six drug convicts including foreign-ers from Brazil, Malawi, Nigeria, the Netherlands and Vietnam, brushing aside last-minute appeals by foreign leaders.

More than 130 people are on death row, including 57 drug con-victs and two convicted terrorists. (ap)

“5,986 people are taking shelter in 14 locations. The number might increase because we are still wait-ing for more data from the field officers,” BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated.

The Jakarta disaster mitigation office (BPBD) reported that floods have affected 307 neighborhoods located in 97 urban villages in 33 sub-districts.

“The floods have affected 4,830 families comprising 15,517 people as their houses are inundated. Some 5,986 people are taking refuge in temporary shelters,” he stated.

Of the total flood-affected neigh-borhoods, some 108 neighborhoods in 23 urban villages in eight sub-

districts are located in West Jakarta. Some 8,237 inhabitants of 2,738 families are affected by the floods.

“Around 1,668 people have been evacuated in two locations. In Central Jakarta, 11 neighborhoods in eight urban villages in six sub-districts are inundated, but there is no evacuee,” he revealed.

In South Jakarta, floods hit 38 neighborhoods in 21 urban villages in seven sub-districts, with the num-ber of flood victims reaching 7,280 people of 2,092 families.

In East Jakarta, 60 neighbor-hoods in 27 urban villages in seven sub-districts are flooded. Currently, 1.8 thousand refugees are being accommodated at six temporary

shelters.At least 89 neighborhoods in 18

urban villages in five sub-districts are flooded in North Jakarta, forc-ing 2,518 people to seek shelter in six locations.

Incessant heavy downpours have triggered floods in parts of Jakarta since Sunday.

Floods in Jakarta are not only due to the overflowing rivers but also as a consequence of the poor drainage system and bad land spa-tial planning, according to BPBD.

The work in several business and commercial centers in Jakarta such as at Mangga Dua and Kelapa Gad-ing areas has been paralyzed due to the flooding. (ant)

HONG KONG - A Hong Kong woman was convicted Tuesday of beating and starving her Indonesian maid, keeping her prisoner in a “torture” case that sparked interna-tional outrage and spotlighted the plight of migrant domestic workers. The verdict, read out to a packed courtroom, was met with cheers by activists and supporters of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, a former domestic helper who has become the face of a campaign for improved workers’ rights in the financial hub.

Pictures of the injuries sustained by the 24-year-old, who was admit-ted to hospital in her home country emaciated and in a critical condi-tion, at the hands of mother-of-two Law Wan-tung fuelled anger in Indonesia and shocked Hong Kong. Sulistyaningsih hailed the ruling but called for reforms to ensure Hong Kong employers no longer treated domestic workers “like slaves”.

She said that while she forgave her abuser, she hoped Law would receive the maximum seven year jail term when sentencing is an-nounced on February 27.

“She was, for want of a better word, a prisoner in those premises,” Judge Amanda Woodcock said, referring to Sulistyaningsih.

“She was completely isolated,

and (this) helps explain why this abuse could go on for so long without her retaliating or anyone knowing.”

“When Erwiana left Hong Kong she was a shadow of her former self.”

Law, 44, was found guilty of 18 of the 20 charges laid against her, including grievous bodily harm, assault, criminal intimidation and failure to pay wages.

She lowered her head but ap-peared to be calm as the verdict was announced, while a jubilant Sulistyaningsih, clad in a black t-shirt with her face and the word “justice” emblazoned on it, hugged activists.

“I hope they will start treating migrant workers as workers and human beings, and stop treating us like slaves,” she told a news confer-ence after the verdict.

She called for reform in Hong Kong, and said her native Indonesia must not shirk its responsibilities to protect its citizens who travelled abroad to work.

Sulistyaningsih said that while she forgave Law, she hoped her former employer would receive the greatest possible sentence, “even though for me, that is still not enough compared to what she did to me and other victims.” (afp)

That level is considerably be-low the more than $100 price tags reached before they began to fall last June. “The global oil market looks set to begin a new chapter of its history, with markedly changing demand dynamics, sweeping shifts in crude trade and product supply, and dramatically different roles for OPEC and non-OPEC producers in regulating upstream supply,” the IEA said.

Ample supply and subdued de-mand caused oil prices to tumble as much as 60 percent, but the IEA said it sees market rebalancing occurring “relatively swiftly” with increases in inventories halting mid-year and the market tightening.

However the IEA foresees “pric-es stabilising at levels higher than recent lows but substantially below the highs of the last three years”.

The sharp fall in oil prices has cheered oil-consuming nations as lower fuel prices usually translate into stronger economic growth.

But the IEA said the net impact “will be more modest than might be expected” because of a linger-ing hangover from the global economic crisis in 2008 and weak investment.

“Oil price declines against a backdrop of slowing demand growth will not be as potent an economic stimulus as they would be in a context of strong underlying income gains,” said the Paris-based agency, which advises industrial nations on energy policies.

It noted that despite the oil price decline the IMF last month revised downward its forecast for global growth this year to 3.5 percent from the 3.8 percent it predicted in Octo-ber. It lowered its 2016 forecast to 3.7 percent from 4.0 percent.

The drop in oil prices was ac-celerated by OPEC’s decision in November not to cut production, saying it did not want to cede mar-ket share. Analysts saw this as an attempt to drive out higher priced

competitors, particularly US shale or “LTO” oil output that has been the largest source of new supply to the market in recent years.

It was uncharacteristic as the 12-nation cartel that supplies 30 percent of global crude has usually played the role of swing producer, reducing output in case of excess supplies on the market so that prices stabilise.

“OPEC’s move to let the market rebalance itself is a reflection of... how shale oil has changed the mar-ket,” said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven.

“It may have effectively turned LTO into the new swing producer, but it will not drive it out of the market,” she said. “LTO might in fact come out stronger.”

However Russia is unlikely to emerge unscathed. “Russia, facing a perfect storm of collapsing prices, international sanctions and currency depreciation, will likely emerge as the industry’s top loser,” the IEA said. (afp)

ISTANBUL - The United States strongly underlined the need to stick to commitments on exchange rate policy during a G20 meeting in Istanbul, urging countries not to use currencies to boost their ex-ports, a U.S. Treasury official said

on Tuesday.“(Treasury) Secretary (Jack)

Lew strongly emphasised ... that we are highly focused on ensuring that U.S. workers and firms play on a level playing field and no country should use their exchange rate to

increase exports,” the official said.A bipartisan group of U.S. law-

makers is expected to unveil legis-lation on Tuesday aimed at stopping trading partners from manipulating their exchange rates to gain a com-petitive edge.

The legislation, which is similar to bills introduced in previous years, would treat currency undervaluation as similar to subsidies provided by foreign governments and allow U.S. companies to seek compensatory duties on imported goods.

A non-U.S. official present at the talks in Istanbul said earlier that U.S. officials had warned of the risks of countries manipulating their currencies and said that there was evidence that such activity was already going on. (rtr)

U.S. urges against using exchange rates to boost exports

HSBC ‘tax dodge’ revelations are just tip of iceberg

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file

This Jan. 16, 2015, file photo shows pumpjacks operating at the Kern River Oil Field in Bakers-field, Calif. Global oil prices will recover only partially from their spectacular lows of last year, which can be expected neither to spur economic growth nor kill off US shale production, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.

Only partial rebound in oil prices, feeble growth boost

PARIS - Global oil prices will recover only partially from their spectacular lows of last year, which can be expected neither to spur economic growth nor kill off US shale production, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. Citing a major shakeup in the oil markets, the IEA said in its five-year forecast that crude prices will recover from current levels of around $50-55 per barrel to $73 per barrel in 2020.

Australia lobbies Indonesia to save 2 death row prisoners

Hong Kong woman guilty in Indonesian maid ‘torture’ case

AP Photo/Kin Cheung

A supporter of Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, holds a placard as Sulistyaningsih arrives at a court in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. A Hong Kong woman was convicted Tuesday of beating and starving her Indonesian maid, keeping her prisoner in a “torture” case that sparked international out-rage and spotlighted the plight of migrant domestic workers.

REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

Motorists ride their motorcycles through a flooded intersection after continues heavy seasonal rains have flooded parts of Jakarta February 10, 2015.

Jakarta floods force nearly 6,000 people to evacuateJAKARTA - Some 5,986 Jakarta residents have been forced to evacuate to safer places as

the floods continue to inundate the capital city on Tuesday, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

International4 Wednesday, February 11, 2015 Wednesday, February 11, 2015 13InternationalBali News

“Benoa Bay is always included in the conservation area based on the regional bylaw draft on the Detailed Spatial Plan as a bylaw of the Regional Spatial Plan. In the Regional Spatial Plan, it is clearly stated that Benoa Bay falls within the conservation area”, said Chair-man of the Special Committee on the Detailed Spatial Plan of South Badung, I Gusti Anom Gumanti, in the Badung Civic Center.

He said that if there was a high-er rule than the regional bylaw on the Badung Regional Spatial Plan governing the status of Benoa Bay -referring to Presidential Decree No.51/014, it was not the domain of the special committee. The spe-cial committee, he said, wishes to

abide by the appropriate hierarchy wherein the Detailed Spatial Plan still adheres to the higher rules, namely the Badung Bylaw on the Regional Spatial Plan.

Similarly, regarding worries about the annulment of the Region-al Bylaw on the Badung Detailed Spatial Plan at the national level, based on the implication of Presi-dential Decree No. 51/2014 that states that Benoa Bay no longer belongs to the conservation area but rather is zoned as available for public utilization, Anom Gumanti did not want to respond in a hurry. He reiterated his stance, referring to the Detailed Spatial Plan that resulted from the Regional Spatial Plan. If the regional bylaw on the

Badung Detailed Spatial Plan is not passed, his party is ready to consult with the central government on the matter.

“We already consulted with the central government, but the consultation was limited to the substance and material of the regional bylaw draft, and did not specifically address the conse-quences of the implementation of Presidential Regulation No. 51. But once again, we in the special committee and I personally still want the Detailed Spatial Plan to run according to the Regional Spatial Plan”, he said while add-ing that the special committee would resume the discussions this March. (kmb25)

TABANAN - The main harvest of sugar snakefruit in Pupuan, Tabanan, was delayed until Febuary compared to last years January harvest. Due to extreme weather, fruit production declined about 50 percent from the previous year. Such declining production makes the sugar snakefruit a scarce commodity on the market and following the laws of economics, more expensive. However the price of snake fruit has, conversely, slumped.

The price slump was announced the Chairman of the National Farmers Contact (KTNA) of Pupuan, Suardika, on Thursday (Feb 5). According to him, the selling price of sugar snakefruit was currently in the range of IDR 6,000 to IDR 15,000 per kilogram. “The lesser quality or those fruit that do not qualify for modern market selection are being sold for IDR 6,000 per kilogram”, he said.

The cheap price of the sugar snakefruit is due to the fact that because are not accustomed to consuming local fruits. According to Suardika, although the government had limited the import of fruits and promoted local fruits, only a few people in Bali love and consume local fruits. “The purchase of local fruits in Bali only shows an increase during religious festivals. Otherwise the price is quite low”, he explained.

As a farmer of sugar snakefruit, Suardika hopes that other than restricting imports, the government will also encourage local fruit consumption by local people so that the demand for local fruits will increase even on non-holydays.

Decline in this years sugar snakefruit harvest, according to Suardika, was caused by the recent drought. The reduc-tion of fruit was not only in terms of quantity, but also in terms of the quality of the snakefruit seed that were smaller. Most of them did not have shoots, which made it hard for farmer to acquire seeds. The decline in the total amount of f sugar snakefruit produced in Pupuan caused farmers to be unable to meet even the small demand of modern markets. (kmb24)

Sugar snakefruitProduction declines,

price slumps

IBP/File Photo

The main harvest of sugar snakefruit in Pupuan, Ta-banan, was delayed until Febuary compared to last years January harvest. Due to extreme weather, fruit production declined about 50 percent from the previ-ous year.

IBP/File Photo

The Special Committee of the Badung Detailed Spatial Plan (RDTR) consistently includes Benoa Bay within the conservation area.

Badung insisting on including Benoa Bay in

conservation areaMANGUPURA – The Special Committee of the Badung Detailed Spatial Plan (RDTR) consis-

tently includes Benoa Bay within the conservation area. The Special Committee will not change the status of the Bay because the designation of Benoa Bay as part of the conservation area is stated in the Regional Bylaw on Badung Regional Spatial Plan (RTRW).

Sodomy is punishable by up to 20 years in prison in Muslim-majority Malaysia and Anwar was expected to begin his sentence im-mediately.

Arifin read his judgements out to a stunned courtroom packed with journalists, opposition figures, and Anwar’s family and supporters, many of whom wept quietly.

Anwar later took to the dock and attacked the Federal Court panel of justices for taking part in a “politi-cal conspiracy” by Malaysia’s rul-ing regime.

“In bowing to the dictates of your political masters, you have become partners to the crime,” he said.

“You have chosen to be on the dark side.”

Angered, the judges abruptly got up to leave, with Anwar shouting at them as they exited.

“I will not be silenced! I will never surrender!”

Government critics say the case is part of a long-running campaign to destroy Anwar, a former deputy premier who was ousted from the ruling party in the late 1990s and later helped unite a previously di-vided and hapless opposition into a formidable force.

“It’s a day of infamy. It’s a shocking decision,” senior op-position parliamentarian Lim Kit Siang said.

The decision is a heavy blow to both Anwar and the opposition. Now 67, Anwar might not emerge from prison until the age of 72 if he serves the full term. The decision

strips Anwar of his parliamentary seat and disqualifies him from run-ning in the next elections due by 2018.

Several prominent legal observ-ers had said they felt that Anwar’s defence had successfully raised sufficient reasonable doubt over the charge that he sodomised Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.

Human Rights Watch condemned the case as “politically motivated” persecution.

“Allowing this travesty of justice to stand will further undermine respect for rights and democracy in Malaysia,” the group’s Asia director Phil Robertson said.

Hundreds of Anwar support-ers had gathered outside the court since before the ruling, chanting “Reformasi!”, the longtime clarion call of the movement to unseat the country’s 58-year-old government, and “Free Anwar!”.

They were watched warily by a security cordon around the court building manned by scores of po-lice, as mounted police on horse-back also patrolled.

There were no immediate signs of unrest. It marks the second sodomy conviction for Anwar in a career marked by sharp ups and downs.

He was a popular top leader of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) until his sensational ouster in a bitter 1998 power struggle. Arrested and beaten by police, his spent six years in prison on earlier sodomy and cor-ruption charges.

The case was widely viewed as tainted by politics and the sodomy conviction was eventually thrown out.

With Anwar now leading the opposition, its three-party coalition has threatened to unseat UMNO, one of the world’s longest-ruling governments. But the alliance is

flirting with possible break-up over deep policy and personality differences, and Anwar’s removal from the fray could sow further disarray.

UMNO has a history of using police and judicial organs to pres-sure opponents. The current charges were filed in 2008 shortly after Anwar led the opposition to the first of two historic general election showings.

He was acquitted in 2012, but an appeals court controversially overturned that last March, con-

victing Anwar and sentencing him to five years. He had been free pending his own appeal until Tuesday’s ruling. “We have over-whelming evidence that (Saiful) was sodomised,” Arifin said in his judgement.

He also said Anwar’s allegations of a political conspiracy “remain unsubstantiated”. Malaysia’s han-dling of the case has drawn inter-national criticism, including from the United States, which has said it raised concerns over the rule of law. (afp)

BANGKOK - Thai police Tuesday said they had dismantled an anti-monarchy network that published audio recordings defam-ing the royal family following the arrest of its ringleader. Hasadin Uraipraiwan, the alleged leader of a group calling itself the Banpodj Network, had been on the run for nearly two weeks with po-lice offering a widely publicised 200,000 baht ($6,100) reward for his capture.

He was tracked down to a hotel in Bangkok on Monday night and charged under the country’s strict and controversial lese majeste legislation, a senior police official

said. “Hasadin is the mastermind of

this gang but we found no link with other groups,” national police spokesman Lieutenant General Prawut Thavornsiri told reporters, adding he had been handed over to military custody.

Local media reports said Hasa-din had been affiliated with the “Red Shirt” movement loyal to fugitive premier Thaksin Shina-watra and his sister Yingluck, who was dumped from office as prime minister shortly before last May’s coup.

Police last week charged a Red Shirt member with lese majeste

for allegedly forwarding a widely circulated forged document on the revered king’s health, which went viral.

The movement has also fallen under official suspicion for a small pipe bomb attack outside a Bangkok shopping mall earlier this month.

In response, Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan accused the junta of trying to provoke the movement into a “fight” by point-ing the finger of blame at them.

The group -- that falls under the umbrella of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) -- has been a powerful

force in Thailand’s near-decade of sometimes deadly political turmoil.

Thai authorities say the Band-podj Network distributed audio recordings on CDs that insulted the Thai monarchy.

Six people allegedly belonging to the network were arrested late last month -- but Hasadin evaded police until Monday night.

The group’s Facebook page, which has more than 100,000 follow-ers, describes itself as a place where “the mask is ripped from the face of Thai high-society and the elite”.

Both Thai and international media must heavily self-censor

when covering Thailand’s monar-chy, including the contentious lese majeste rules.

Even repeating details of the charges could mean breaking the law, known as article 112 of the penal code, which states that any-one convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.

Rights groups say there has been a rise in both charges and convictions under Thailand’s royal slur law since the army seized power, with many observers saying that the law has been politicised to target opponents of the coup. (afp)

AP Photo/Joshua Paul

Supporters of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim march towards the Palace of Jus-tice at Putrajaya, Malaysia, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. Malaysia’s top court has rejected a final appeal from Anwar and sent him back to jail in a case seen at home and aboard as politically motivated to eliminate any threats to the government.

Thai cops arrest ringleader of ‘anti-monarchy’ network

Five years jail for Anwar as Malaysia upholds sodomy verdict

PUTRAJAYA - Malaysia’s highest court on Tuesday upheld a sodomy conviction and five-year jail term for Anwar Ibrahim, throwing the opposition leader’s political future into peril with a decision that he angrily denounced as a conspiracy. Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria dismissed An-war’s challenge against last year’s conviction for sodomising a young male former aide, saying the court found “overwhelming evidence” of the crime.

3Wednesday, February 11, 201514 InternationalInternational Bali NewsTechnology Wednesday, February 11, 2015

The Boston Consulting Group predicts that investment in industrial robots will grow 10 percent a year in the world’s 25-biggest export nations through 2025, up from 2 percent to 3 percent a year now. The invest-ment will pay off in lower costs and increased efficiency.

Robots will cut labor costs by 33 percent in South Korea, 25 percent in Japan, 24 percent in Canada and 22 percent in the United States and Tai-wan. Only 10 percent of jobs that can

be automated have already been taken by robots. By 2025, the machines will have more than 23 percent, Boston Consulting forecasts.

Robots are getting cheaper. The cost of owning and operating a ro-botic spot welder, for instance, has tumbled from $182,000 in 2005 to $133,000 last year, and will drop to $103,000 by 2025, Boston Consult-ing says.

And the new machines can do more things. Old robots could only

operate in predictable environments. The newer ones use improved sensors to react to the unexpected.

In a separate report, RBC Global Asset Management notes that robots can be reprogrammed far faster and more efficiently than humans can be retrained when products are updated or replaced — a crucial advantage at a time when smartphones and other products quickly fade into obsoles-cence.

“As labor costs rise around the

SEOUL — Watch what you say in your living room. Samsung’s smart TV could be listening. And sharing. Voice recognition technol-ogy in the South Korean company’s Internet connected TVs can capture and transmit nearby conversa-tions.

The potential for TVs to eaves-drop is revealed in Samsung’s smart TV privacy policy available on its website.

“Please be aware that if your spoken works include personal or other sensitive information, that

information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition,” the policy said.

For the voice command feature to work, third party software translates speech into text and sends the com-mand back to the TV.

Users can give commands to the TV’s built-in microphone such as “find me an action movie,” which causes the TV to search as instructed. As the TV collects voice commands, it also transmits other information as its individual ID.

Samsung said data collection is aimed at improving TV performance but users can disable it.

It is not the first time that smart TVs sparked privacy concerns. In 2013, a user revealed that LG Elec-tronics smart TV was sending infor-mation about his viewing habits back to the company without consent and without encrypting data.

LG has also experimented with displaying targeted ads on its smart TVs, which requires collecting and utilizing user data, such as their loca-tion, age and gender. (ap)

TOKYO - High school girls in Japan spend an average of seven hours a day on their mobile phones, a new survey has found, with nearly 10 percent of them putting in at least 15 hours.

Boys of the same age average just over four hours mobile phone use a day, the survey by information security firm Digital Arts, published Monday, said.

Teenagers tend to use their phones for social media, such as Line, a Japanese messaging and net-working app, as well as smartphone games, making movies and other sharing apps like Instagram.

The poll comes amid growing

concern over youngsters getting addicted to their portable technol-ogy, with Chinese research showing heavy phone use provokes the same kind of neurological changes as alcohol or cocaine dependency.

A total 96 percent of Japanese high schoolers have a mobile phone, against 60 percent of ju-nior high school students, Digital Arts said. Almost four in every ten children in the upper years of elementary school -- from the age of 10 -- use a mobile.

The survey, which was carried out online, quizzed 618 children from schools across Japan. (afp)15 hours.

Robots replacing human factory workers at faster pace

WASHINGTON — Cheaper, better robots will replace human workers in the world’s factories at a faster pace over the next decade, pushing labor costs down 16 percent, a report Tuesday said.

AP Photo/Koji Sasahara

A woman looks at her smartphone in front of an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. High school girls in Japan spend an average of seven hours a day on their mobile phones, a new survey has found, with nearly 10 percent of them putting in at least

Japan high school girls on mobiles 7 hours a day

Samsung reveals potential for smart TVs to eavesdrop

AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon

In this Jan. 5, 2015 photo, models pose with a Samsung Electronics Co.’ SUHD 4K smart TV during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea. Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday, Feb, 10, 2015, said voice recognition technology in its Internet connected TVs can capture and transmit nearby conversations.

world, it is becoming increasingly critical that manufacturers rapidly take steps to improve their output per worker to stay competitive,” said Harold Sirkin, a senior partner at Boston Consulting and co-author of the report. “Companies are finding that advances in robotics and other manufacturing technologies offer some of the best opportunities to sharply improve productivity.”

Boston Consulting studied 21 industries in 25 countries last year, interviewing experts and clients and consulting government and industry reports.

The rise of robots won’t be limited

to developed countries with their ag-ing, high-cost workforces. Even low-wage China will use robots to slash labor costs by 18 percent, Boston consulting predicts.

Increasing automation is likely to change the way companies evaluate where to open and expand factories. Boston Consulting expects that manufacturers will “no longer simply chase cheap labor.” Factories will employ fewer people, and those that remain are more likely to be highly skilled. That could lure more manu-facturers back to the United States from lower-wage emerging market countries. (ap)

Such response was surprising the Deputy Chairman of the Karangasem House, Made Wirta, a few days ago after hearing the explanation of the Ministry of Transportation in Jakarta. “Apparently it is still complicated,” he said regarding the discussion on the cruise ship harbor in the Ministry of Transportation. Therefore, the House leadership definitely captured the impression of uncertainty and would be hard to continue the harbor development. It was contrary to the previous statement of the Regent of Karangasem, I Wayan Geredeg. He dared to ensure if the cruise ship harbor development would be resumed in the near future, so that the cruise ship pier could be operated immediately.

Wirta said the obstacle all this time as revealed in the meeting in Jakarta attended by Regent Geredeg and leadership of the Karangasem House was related to uncertainty of the public-private partnership (KPS) that would manage the harbor. All this time, the private party winning the tender of the public-private partner-ship was said to be from the Bakrie Group. However, even though the tender was already held, there was no

indication on the continuation of the project development. The response of the private sector was unclear. As a result, the public-private partnership was unclear and the pier development started with the central budget in 2008 could not be determined when would be continued. “The private sector must provide certainty and firm answer if it is willing and able to continue the harbor development immediately. Otherwise, it can be submitted to the other parties,” said Wirta.

Deputy Chairman of the Karan-gasem House doubling as the cadre of the PDI-P said his party supported and encouraged the government to continue the construction of the cruise ship harbor until it could be operated because very considerable budget had been invested. The harbor construction using the state budget had spent hundreds of billions, while Bali government had also invested in the building for transit or passenger lounge and harbor administration up to billions of rupiahs. Then, Karan-gasem government had investment in the construction of ring roads and land acquisition. Meanwhile, residents of Tanah Ampo customary

BANGLI - Water crisis hitting Bangli lately had an impact on the cultivation of food crops. Shortage of water for paddy fields made farmers that previously cultivated rice switch to other com-modities. One of them occurred at Subak Jelekungkang, Taman Bali village. Some farmers chose to grow papaya and coconut in their paddy field with the intention of reducing the use of water.

One of the local farmers, Gusti Suteja, recently said the non-rice cultivation was carried out in responding to water crisis at the local subak area from some time ago. It made farmers switch to keep getting results from their land. “Due to restricted water availability, farmers switch to non-rice cultivation so as not to need much water,” he said.

Besides, due to such water crisis some subak areas had to use irrigation water in turn to grow rice. As a result, some few paddy fields remained to look dormant. Farmers were still waiting to get their turn to use water.

In reality, currently the government had launched a program of food self-sufficiency. Asynchronous rice cultivation and the shifting of agricultural commodities were feared to have an impact on rice production. Previously, the Head of Bangli Food Security, I Wayan Sarma, said that Bangli was still shortage of 193 tons of rice.

Such deficiencies made this region to still bring in rice from other counties such as Buleleng, Klungkung and Tabanan and even from outside Bali. The shortage of foodstuff would be increasingly felt if the water crisis continued to hit paddy fields, and farmers themselves switched to other commodities. (sos)

IBP/File Photo

Continuation of the Tanah Ampo cruise harbor in Manggis subdistrict, Karangasem, has got no clarity yet. The answer of central government still indicates uncertainty.

Unclear, continuation of Tanah Ampo cruise harborAMLAPURA - Continuation of the Tanah Ampo cruise har-

bor in Manggis subdistrict, Karangasem, has got no clarity yet. The answer of central government still indicates uncertainty. When urged by the leadership of the Karangasem House some time ago in a meeting that discussed about the harbor, the Ministry of Transportation said if the department would still attempt it.

village, especially landowners, also supported the land acquisition for the building and ring road. Even, the 22 owners of the land having been released or partially used for road body had not received the certificate of splitting, whereas it had been promised that the certificate would be administered by the Karangasem government.

Meanwhile, the Regent of Karan-gasem, I Wayan Geredeg, said the biggest cruise ship pier project and the only one in Indonesia would continue.

He was confident if the harbor could be operated and be beneficial not only for Karangasem people but also for the increase in the economic growth in Bali. He said that jetty ramp door would be built this year with the fund worth around IDR 8 billion from cen-tral government. Jetty ramp door was considered better and more permanent than the two previous pontoon bridge where they were already destroyed after once or twice use due the fero-cious waves.

Based on observation, four cruise

ships had already been tasted with anchoring in the middle of the sea of Padangbai for four times. They did not anchor on the pier. From the middle of the sea, the cruise ship pas-sengers commonly consisting of the elderly were transported by lifeboats. The lifeboats then anchored at the pontoon bridge. Later on, the cruise ship captains apparently did not dare to take the risk by transferring their passengers at sea. After that, a num-ber of cruise ships preferred to anchor at Benoa Harbor. (013)

Water crisis, farmers switch to cultivate papaya

IBP/Sos

Water crisis hitting Bangli lately had an impact on the cultivation of food crops. Shortage of water for paddy fields made farmers that previously cultivated rice switch to other commodities.

International2 Wednesday, February 11, 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

Wednesday, February 11, 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

Visitors and guests at InterConti-nental Bali Resort will now have the opportunity to experience a choice of unique events hosted by Chef Fabio, in-cluding some exclusive cooking classes, gastronomic dinners, Frescobaldi wine seminars, and a Frescobaldi wine din-ner, all of which will be taking place at Bella Cucina Restaurant from 4th to 8th March 2015.

Chef Fabio’s gastronomic dinner at Bella Cucina will offer the choice of both à la carte and a set gastronomic menu.

Each will feature stunningly presented dishes such as Marinated Scallops; Red Mullet; ‘Veal Tonnato and Red Cow Par-migiano with Reggiano Sauce;’‘Ravioli del Plin filled with Baccalà and Sicilian Pecorino Cheese;’ and ‘Loin of Lamb with Hazelnut Crust.’ Additionally the à la carte menu will include smoked lo-cal lobster; risotto; ravioli; gnocchi; and more, as well as ‘Calamarata Shellfish, Roman Zucchini, Lemon Balm and Sun-dried VesuvioPiennolo Tomatoes’, which is a specialty that sums up the

Italian region where this innovative chef lives. Finally, Chef Fabio’s mouthwater-ing desserts will include ‘Tiramisu with a Twist of Modernity.’

Experience, learn, and delight in the fruits of your labour at one of Chef Fa-bio Ciervo’s personally hosted cooking classes, on either Friday 7th March 2015 or Saturday 8th March 2015 from 10am – 1.30 pm. Price starts at Rp 800,000 ++ onwards, per person, including lunch. All of the events will take place at Bella Cucina Restaurant.

Persistence and never giving up is the key to success for I Nyoman Wijana as the chef of the Bale Udang Mang Engking. This man from Batuan village, Sukawati, Gianyar, is always making an innovation, so that a variety of menus presented are always interesting, but not to change the taste.

This calm man of two sons is very creative. He is always trying to pack in and create local food to remain in their basic flavor, but can be enjoyed by foreign tourists. The in-gredients remain to use seafood becoming the characteristic of the Bale Udang, and of course it has halal standard.

“I will present a menu of betutu chicken, twisted satay, or maybe fish clear soup, so that visitors can feel the unique-ness of Balinese traditional food in the Bale Udang,” said Nyoman Wijana leading the kitchen department consisting of about 30 people while smiling.

Wijana admitted that during his service with the Bale Udang he got a very beautiful impression. “This is the workplace having the most crowded guests. It makes me and the team very busy, as well as getting a challenge. Moreover, I lead numerous men with different background,” he explained.

Wijana began his career at the Santika Beach Hotel (Santika Group) as a cook helper to sous chef. He has ever worked at Santika Villas currently known as The Samaya. With high vivacity, Wijana had an opportunity to go to Rus-sia to lead an Indonesian restaurant named the ‘Sukawati Restaurant.’

After returning to Bali, he then joined the Avilla Group at the Le Jardin Villa under the leadership of Darma Suyasa. At that time, he filled the position as GM at Le Jardin for 4 years and then was assigned to Bale Udang Mang Engking to lead the kitchen department. (kmb)

IBP/Courtesy of InterContinental

Michelin star chef Fabio Ciervo at InterContinental Bali

JIMBArAN - InterContinental Bali resort is proud to present the celebrated Italian Chef, Fabio Ciervo. Executive Chef of the Michelin starred La Terrazza restaurant at the Hotel Eden in rome. Fabio studied and practised at one of the world’s leading Haute Cuisine institutions –Ecole Lenôtre, French school of gastronomy, and then further enhanced his knowledge and experience in some of the world’s most presti-gious restaurants. These have included the Grosvenor House restaurant at the Grosvenor Hotel in London, the two-star Michelin Cracco in Milan, Chez Nico in Innsbruck, and at Martin Berastegui’s three-Star Michelin restaurant in the Spanish city of San Sebastian. This brilliant young chef then perfected his trade in the UK as Michel roux’s Sous Chef at the Waterside Inn in Bray, which is famous for achieving three stars in the Michelin Guide for 25 straight years. Chef Fabio’s philosophy is to explore the world of Haute Cuisine to create dishes that combine ingredients in an unusual but harmonious way, while also seeking inspiration from all cultures. Early on, in his native Italy, he learned the virtues of Italian food. From the Orient, he learned how to pay special attention to the choice of spices and the importance of delicate cooking, and France taught him the art of making wonderful sauces. He then explored futuristic developments in Haute Cuisine, and now this passionate professional combines all this into the unique blend of gastronomy that has become his signature.

Profile

I Nyoman WijanaA chef never gives up

IBP/kmb

TABANAN - The discourse on food self-sufficiency targeted by the govern-ment over the next three years sounds interesting but is not easy to achieve. The most fundamental challenge faced today is the absence of successors or young people who want to become farmers. Moreover, farmers -especially in Tabanan are nearly all 60 years old or older. If their are no successors, the threat of land conversion becomes very large and looming. Chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) of Tabanan, Nyoman Sukania spoke about this issue recently.

According to Sukania, the government should be more effective in attracting young people to become farmers. Cur-rently, he said, the phrase ‘hero with no medal’ is no longer used for teachers but instead for farmers. “At the moment, farm-ing is not considered as an option to most young people”, he said wistfully.

Young people”s lack of interest in be-coming farmers, said Sukania, is caused by the declining prices of agricultural products on the market that does not help make farming look like a promising line of work compared to other fields. In the face of this challenge, the government was asked to not just to make repairs and provide facilities but also to foster human resources. He said that Tabanan itself bears the unofficial title of the rice granary of Bali yet is still unable to provide maximum facilities for agriculture as seen by teh damaged irrigation cannals.

Sukania said that approximately 40 percent of the agricultural irrigation facili-ties in Tabanan were damaged, especially in the area of Megati, Kerambitan and Baturiti. “This is because most of the ir-rigation infrastructures is still traditional so that 60 percent of the water is wasted back into the river,” said Sukania.

On the other hand, the government has a program for hand tractor assistance to farmers. He said that although this was a good breakthrough there is still a short-age of human manpower. The program is useless if the tractors have no operators. “Our farmers are old. This problem must be considered by government in order to further encourage the interest in the younger generation in becoming tractor operators by providing protection during working hours and promising income”, he warned.

To attract younger generations to farm-ing, Sukania expects the government to make improvement to the market prices of agricultural products. Farmers should not only be taught about how to farm, but also about how to market their products. “The current government should provide a market for farmers to sell their products. Besides, the prices set by the government must also be increased”, he said.

With the certainty of decent prices and other facilities such as land tax exemption, Sukania was optimistic that the profession of farming could stand a good chance of being chosen by young people as a line of work. (kmb24)

It was revealed in the meeting between the Commission II of the Denpasar House with five agencies such as the Revenue Services, In-tegrated Licensing and Investment Services (BPPTSP and PM), Trans-portation Agency, Urban Planning and Housing Agency (DTRP), and Wangaya Hospital, Monday (Feb 9). The working meeting led by Chairman of Commission II, I.B. Kompyang Wiranata, was attended by a number of members.

Chief of Denpasar Revenue Services, Dewa Nyoman Semadi, on the occasion delivered the local tax revenue achieved by his party in 2014. Of the eight local taxes man-aged, two of which did not reach the target. The two local taxes missing the target consisted of the advertise-ment tax and the acquisition of land and building tax (BPHTB).

The advertisement tax was drafted to get IDR 5.7 billion, but could only attain IDR 1.6 billion. Similarly, the BPHTB tax targeted to reach IDR 145 billion last year

could only achieve IDR 141.2 bil-lion. It happened due to decrease in the number of transactions compared to 2013. The transac-tion in 2013 reached 10,800 times, while in 2014 only reached 8,000 times. As for the tax target for this year, it was set at IDR 113 billion for hotel tax, IDR 62.9 billion for restaurant tax, IDR 10.8 billion for entertainment tax, IDR 6.1 billion for advertisement tax and IDR 66.1 for street lighting tax. As for the underground water tax (ABT) was drafted to reach IDR 8.5 billion, land and property tax (IDR 100.8 billion) and the BPHTB tax (IDR 155.3 billion).

A member of Commission II of the Denpasar House, Kadek Agus Arya Wibawa, expected there would be socialization to advertising entrepreneurs related to the new policy made by the Den-pasar Municipality. He guessed the moratorium policy was not known for certain by the advertisers in Denpasar because some of them

complained about the new policy.To this question, the Head of the

DTRP Denpasar, I Made Kusuma Diputra, said that from the begin-ning his party already involved the advertising boards. Even, at the beginning there had been at least 10 meetings and all involved the man-agement of the advertising associa-tions. “Maybe the socialization to its members was not less intensive because we have always involved the association in the discussion of this moratorium,” he explained.

Kusuma Diputra said the mora-torium policy was enforced to beautify the urban look. At least 24 points of main road had the moratorium on advertising based on Mayoral Regulation No. 3/2014. The moratorium had been revoked as per May 15, 2014 by the May-oral Decree No.568/2014. Cur-rently, the number of billboard that could be installed at the 24 points of main roads amounted to 204 pieces, while before the moratorium reached 700 pieces. (kmb12)

IBP/File Photo

Big billboard erected along Jl. Teuku Umar, Denpasar City. Implementation of billboard moratorium in Denpasar has significant impact on the acquisition of regional tax. As evidence, of the target specified for advertisement tax of IDR 5.7 billion in 2014, it could only be realized as much as IDR 1.6 billion.

Impact of moratorium

Revenue of advertisement tax drops

DENPASAR - Implementation of billboard moratorium in Denpasar has significant impact on the acquisition of regional tax. As evidence, of the target specified for advertise-ment tax of IDr 5.7 billion in 2014, it could only be realized as much as IDr 1.6 billion. The drop in advertisement tax revenue has occurred due to policy of temporary suspension for billboard installation at several strategic points in Denpasar since 2013.

IBP/File Photo

The discourse on food self-sufficiency targeted by the government over the next three years sounds interesting but is not easy to achieve. The most fundamental challenge faced today is the absence of successors or young people who want to become farmers.

Young generation reluctant to farm Tabanan agriculture threatened

of having no successor

Page 13

Five years jail for Anwar as Malaysia upholds sodomy verdict

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

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

16 Pages Number 387th year

e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.

Price: Rp 3.000,-

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

DPs 23 - 32WEATHER FORECAsT

Obama, Merkel rally behind diplomacy in Ukraine conflictPage 6 Page 8

Genoa beats 10-man Lazio 1-0 in Serie A to halt slide

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.

BEIJING — Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi who gained interna-tional fame for her role in “Crouch-ing Tiger, Hidden Dragon” has accepted a marriage proposal deliv-ered by drone. Zhang, who turned 36 on Monday, was celebrating her upcoming birthday on Saturday when a white drone flew toward her at the party.

Her boyfriend Wang Feng, a Chi-nese rock singer and composer, re-trieved an engagement ring from inside the drone and then got down on one knee and popped the question to Zhang, who was standing by a three-tier, pastel-colored birthday cake and dressed in a one-shoulder red gown.

“Witnessed by all, we have expe-rienced happiness and sorrow. I hope Ziyi can always have the happiest time. If we both are old, I can still take care of you,” said Wang, ac-cording to Chinese media reports.

Zhang welled up and said “I do,” before the newly engaged couple kissed and embraced as the night sky lit up with fireworks, according to Chinese media reports.

Zhang’s manager, Ji Lingling,

confirmed the engagement news in a text message to The Associated Press on Monday.

Zhang shared her answer on her microblogging account on Sunday, with a photo of glittering fireworks in the shape of a heart.

Wang, 43, reposted Zhang’s an-swer five hours later on his own microblog and wrote: “Thank you for giving me a complete life. All the hardships are bygones. From now on, we will grow old hand in hand.”

The actress catapulted to stardom in the West with the Oscar-nominat-ed “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Drag-on.” Her subsequent English credits include “Rush Hour 2,” ‘’Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Horsemen.” She also starred in the 2013 Hong Kong-Chinese acclaimed martial-arts epic “The Grandmaster,” which led to several “Best Actress” trophies across Asia.

Wang became a household name in China after appearing as a judge of the “Voice of China” singing show in 2013. It will be Zhang’s first marriage and Wang’s third. (ap)

According to the release, other characters from the Marvel Cin-ematic Universe, such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, may also be integrated into future Spider-Man movies.

This announcement is a sig-nificant partnership between rival studios Disney, who owns Marvel, and Sony, who holds rights to the Spider-Man charac-ter. Marvel’s schedule has also

been significantly altered by the new partnership, with scheduled films such as “Black Panther,” ‘’Captain Marvel” and “Thor: Ragnarok” moving back five to six months. (ap)

NEW YORK - The Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin on Monday announced a tour of arenas around North America to accompany his first studio album in four years.

Martin on Tuesday releases “A Quien Quiera Escuchar” (“To Whoever Wants to Listen”), which features his single “Adios” (“Good-bye”) that is inspired by 1930s burlesque.

The 43-year-old will tour for more than a month starting on Sep-tember 15 in Las Vegas and closing in Orlando, Florida, with venues

to include New York’s Madison Square Garden, promoters said in a statement.

Despite his recent break from re-cording, Martin late last year toured Mexico and in April has shows scheduled around New Zealand and Australia, where he has been a judge on a television talent show.

Martin has sold millions of albums and proven to be of the most popular Latin crossover acts, winning a broad audience with songs such as “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” “Maria” and “La Copa de la Vida.” (afp)

LOS ANGELES — The Back-street Boys are back as grown men, ready to share a documentary about their rise to fame. “Backstreet Boys: Show ‘em What You’re Made Of,” now in U.S. theaters, started off as a small project, filming the guys during a three-week recording ses-sion. After finishing a 20-minute promo, the band decided to make a full-length film.

“Our story, our life after 22 years,” said Nick Carter. “It wasn’t like we need to do this movie right now and it has to happen, it just organically did.”

The Backstreet Boys have expe-rienced highs and lows. They say making a comeback 20 years later and introducing themselves to new fans as grown men in a “boy band” is scary.

“In general every album we’ve made even when we were on top of the world and on top of the charts, that was a scary process, and it still is to this day,” said Kevin Rich-ardson.

The band talked in depth about Lou Pearlman, the mastermind behind the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, who operated an investment

scam and was sentenced to prison.“It really wasn’t being taken care

of until you open your eyes and go, ‘Damn. We should have looked out for one another, we should’ve helped one another,’” says Brian Littrell. “I think this is the story that really plays true to where we are today, basically boys to men, and we get to show the world what we are made of.”

The movie also talks about how the guys lost their youth to fame and the struggles that A.J. McLean and Nick Carter both encountered before entering rehab. (ap)

Zhang Ziyi accepts drone proposal

AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File

Casey Curry/Invision/AP, File

In this Jan. 27, 2015 file photo, AJ McLean, from left, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, and Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys pose for a portrait in promotion of their upcoming theatrical documentary “Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of” in Los Angeles.

Ricky Martin plans arena tour for new album

Sony and Marvel team up for the

future of Spider-ManLOS ANGELES — Sony is bringing Marvel back into Spider-Man’s world. The studio an-

nounced Monday that the next chapter of its $4 billion franchise will be co-produced by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige along with Sony’s Amy Pascal for a July 28, 2017, release. Spider-Man will also appear in a Marvel film prior to the stand-alone.

Backstreet Boys are back as men In the 1990s through the end of 2000, the length of stay could reach 12 to 15 days. Currently, it

had decreased to 5 to 8 days.“It happened because the tour-

ism with special interest or qual-

ity tourism has been abandoned. So, it has something to do with competition among the industry

(hotels—Ed), so that their cost (travelers—Ed) for a vacation declines. They come here on vacation for relatively short time since the price is also cheap,” he said in Denpasar.

IBP/Yudi Karnaedi

Women carried offerings during Hindu ceremony celebration in Kuta Beach. Amidst the increasing tourist arrivals to Bali, the average occupancy rate is even decreasing. A legislator of Commission II of the Bali House, A.A. Ngurah Adhi Ardhana, also observed if the tourist’s length of stay also decreased.

Lack of budget, cultural tourism at risk of disappearingDENPASAR - Amidst the increasing tourist arrivals to Bali, the average occupancy rate is

even decreasing. A legislator of Commission II of the Bali House, A.A. Ngurah Adhi Ardhana, also observed if the tourist’s length of stay also decreased.