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Monday, February 28, 2011

16 Pages Number 563rd Year

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‘Last Airbender’rules Razzies asworst picture

Bali to develop100 units ofSimantri

North Koreathreatens US,South with‘all-out war’

An Associated Press reporterwho reached Zawiya, 30 miles (50kilometers) west of Tripoli, con-firmed the anti-government rebels

Associated Press Writer

MADRID – Libya’s oil indus-try is in chaos, and that’s no exag-geration. Armed men loot equip-ment from oil field installations.British commandos execute secretraids in the Libyan desert to rescuestranded oil workers as security dis-integrates rapidly in remote camps.

Libyan port workers, frightenedof being caught up in MoammarGadhafi’s violent crackdown onprotesters, fail to show up forwork, leaving empty tankers float-ing around the Mediterranean Sea

AP Photo/Hussein Malla

A Libyan oil worker walks in front of a refinery inside the Bregaoil complex, in Brega east of Libya, on Saturday Feb. 26, 2011.Continued on page 6

Libyan chaos stirs globalpanic over oil supplies

waiting to load crude.And the European oil compa-

nies extracting Libya’s black goldare operating in crisis mode, try-ing to get stranded expatriate work-ers out and safe amid conflictinginformation on how much oil is stillbeing pumped and just where it allis. That was just this week. Thesituation may not get better in thenear future.

No one knows whether Gadhafior the rebels trying to oust him willend up controlling Africa’s biggestoil reserves.

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A man carrying bread from a bakery walks past felled palm trees used as roadblocks by residents in the Tajoura district ofeastern Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011.

Libya rebels gear forfight in city near capitalAssociated Press Writer

ZAWIYA, Libya – Hundreds of armed anti-government forces backed by rebel troops whocontrol the city closest to the capital Tripoli appeared to be readying Sunday to repel an ex-pected offensive by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi who have surrounded Zawiya.

are in control of the center of thecity of 200,000. They have armytanks and anti-aircraft gunsmounted on pickup trucks deployed.

But on the outskirts, they are sur-rounded by pro-Gadhafi forces.There were at least six checkpointscontrolled by troops loyal to Gadhafi

on the road from Tripoli to Zawiya.Each checkpoint was reinforced byat least one tank, and the troops con-cealed their faces with scarves.

Police stations and governmentoffices inside the city have beentorched and anti-Gadhafi graffitiwas everywhere. Many buildingsare pockmarked by bullets.Continued on page 6

InternationalMonday, February 28, 20112

Bali News

Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sri Hartini, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Wirya, Yudi

Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subagiadnya, Subrata, Suentra, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Pujawan, Buleleng: Adnyana, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bali

Putra Ariawan. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Syamsudin Karim, 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

Denpasar (Bali Post)—Throughout the year 2010, the

Clinic of Medical Forensic ofSanglah Hospital recorded 89cases of sexual violence includ-ing rape, lewd acts to adultery.Among the 89 cases, according tothe Chairman of ManagementTeam of Violence Victims againstWomen and Children (KTPK2PA), I.B. Putu Alit, almost88.76 percent of the victims knewthe perpetrators. “In terms of pro-file, almost all perpetrators ofsexual violence whose cases listedin Sanglah Hospital are known bythe victim,” said Alit.

Meanwhile, in terms of age, ac-

Such condition was recognized bythe Head of Bali Maritime and Fish-ery Services, I Gusti Putu Nuriatha.It could happen because the potentialof each region had not been knownby the public and if done they hadnot been worked on optimally.

“Right now, our potential of fish-ery and maritime indeed have notbeen worked optimally. Only 30 per-cent of the potentials have just beenexplored,” said Nuriatha in Denpasar,Thursday (Feb 24).

According to him, Indonesia, es-pecially Bali, had a great potential ofmaritime and fishery resources thatcould be developed for the benefit of

Coinciding with the Buda(Wednesday) Kliwon Ugu falling onMarch 23, 2011, the Gunung RaungTemple situated at Taro Village,Tegallalang Subdistrict, Gianyar Re-gency, organizes the ritual of PancaWali Krama Penyegjeg Jagat. Exist-ence of this universal temple plays animportant role in the history of Ba-linese human. Additionally, in termsof the building structure, it is very dif-ferent from most temples in Bali andit can be said as one of the templesbecoming the center of ancient yogis.

This place has become the founda-tion of wisdom values initiated byMaharishi Markandeya along with hisfollowers to develop a new life. Dur-ing a long pilgrimage, he acquired rev-elation from the Creator when com-mitting meditation on the MountRaung in East Java. Through the rev-elation, the Maharishi was instructedto disseminate Hinduism to the east,namely Bali Puline. The Mount RaungTemple is situated in the midst of tworapids of Wos River, called the MaleWos River in the east and Female WosRiver located on the west side.

According to Chief of Taro KajaCustomary Village doubling as Chair-man of Ritual Committee ofPenyegjeg Jagat in Mount RaungTemple, Nyoman Tunjung, the exist-

The Mount Raung Temple hasfour entrance gates in the four di-rections as entry and exit of the godsabiding the whole world. Accord-ing to local tradition, the west en-trance is functioned for gateway ofthe lord abiding on the MountRaung in East Java. The south andnorth entrances are functioned asgateway for devotees who will sayprayers to the Mount RaungTemple. Meanwhile, in front ofeach entrance lies a foot bridgecalled Titi Ugal-Agil or TitiGonggang. It is believed to serveas a filter of society entering intothe temple with inappropriate inten-tion. Their negative energy will dis-appear when passing through thefoot bridge.

In the meantime, the east en-trance is the main gateway. It ishighly sanctified as it poses the ac-cess of the lord abiding in the MountRaung Temple. Through genera-

70 percent of Bali’s fishery70 percent of Bali’s fishery70 percent of Bali’s fishery70 percent of Bali’s fishery70 percent of Bali’s fisherypotential uncultivatedpotential uncultivatedpotential uncultivatedpotential uncultivatedpotential uncultivatedDenpasar (Bali Post)—

Though Bali has an extraordinary potential in the fisheries and maritime sector, the potentialof natural resources have not yet been explored maximally. Bali Maritime and Fishery Servicesnoted that only 30 percent of the potential has been worked on, while 70 others have not beentouched maximally.

economic, social and environmentalinterests. He also added the fishery andmaritime aquaculture of Bali had somecommodities that could kindle thegrowth of production, such as seaweedand tilapia aquaculture. “Bali itself hasa lot of fishery and maritime commodi-ties, both capture and aquaculture,” hesaid.

The potential denoted the basis forimplementation of capital develop-ment in the region of Bali. Throughdevelopment policy of the Bali region,the field of maritime and fishery af-fairs posed a priority domain.

“Governor of Bali instructed in or-der the maritime and fishery affairs

could be managed properly to providea greater contribution to local devel-opment interests, particularly in termsof support to overcome the problemof poverty, unemployment as well aswelfare and income improvement ofthe community,” he explained.

In the field of maritime and fisheryaffairs, it had been achieved an in-crease in productivity from 243,965.2tons in 2009 to 245,399.71 tons in 2010and increase of the export value fromUSD 127,012,338.86 toUSD136,288,388. Meanwhile, the in-come of community getting involvedin the fishery business reached IDR19,166,658 in 2010. (par)

Mount Raung TempleA sanctum to spark wisdom values

ence of the Mount Raung Temple wasinseparable from the pilgrimage ofMaharishi Markandeya. The templedenoted one of the oldest temples inBali having close relation to the pilgrim-age of Maharishi Markandeya from hishermitage on Mount Raung in East Javato Bali to spread the teachings ofSanatana Dharma (Eternal Law) whichis now known as Hindu Dharma. Basedon the Bali Tattwa palm-leaf manu-script, the Maharishi initially lived inthe Dharmalung hermitage, East Java.Subsequently, he held a tirthayatra (pil-grimage) to the east up to the MountHyang (Dieng). There was no idealplace he could find as a hermitage alonghis pilgrimage. On that account,Maharishi Markandeya continued hisjourney to the east until arriving atMount Raung, East Java. It was the ap-propriate place for him to build a her-mitage and practice asceticism.

In his meditation, he received in-structions to continue the journey tothe east, namely to the Island of Bali.Accompanied by approximatelyeight thousand followers, he went onhis sacred journey eastwards to clearthe dense forest in the slope of amountain. Now, the location isknown as Mount Agung. Whenclearing the forest, his followerswere hit by badly epidemic where

most of them died.In response to such situation,

Maharishi Markandeya returned toEast Java to hold meditation andplead instructions. God manifestingHimself into the Lord Pasupati thencame down and told the Maharishithat his fault was not performing ritu-als and offered sacrifices to ask forpermission when going into the for-ests. Maharishi Markandeya wentback to Bali and resumed his jour-ney to Mount Agung. At that time,he brought along with some follow-ers called Wong Age.

On arriving at the Mount Agung,Maharishi Markandeya held a cer-emony by burying Panca Datu de-noting five types of metal (gold, sil-ver, iron, bronze and tin), represent-ing the symbol of universal power.At location of executing and bury-ing the Panca Datu ritual was thenestablished a huge temple calledBasukian/Besakih Temple.

Having buried the Panca Datu andperformed other rituals, he orderedhis followers to open farmland to afertile area called the Sarwa Ada Vil-lage. There, he also did the arrange-ment and division of land for his fol-lowers and then built a shrine givensimilar names to his hermitage on theMount Raung in East Java.

IBP/dar

Gunung Raung Temple situated at Taro Village, TegallalangSubdistrict, Gianyar Regency.

Temple Structuretions, local devotees do not dare toput on gold jewelry when passingthrough the entrance. Similarly,pregnant and lactating women areprohibited from passing through theentrance. The main shrine here is thethree-tiered Meru as a sanctum toworship the lord abiding on theMount Raung.

Additionally, there is a kulkul(wooden split drum) heirloom madeof flower stalk of arrow-leaf sida putnear the Bale Agung pavilion. Everypujawali or temple anniversary in theMount Raung Temple, the kulkulheirloom will be beaten. Meanwhile,the Bale Agung pavilion is situatedin middle courtyard and has 24 pil-lars. The pavilion serves as a placeto conduct a meeting in relation tothe interests of the temple. Some ma-terials of Bale Agung pavilion con-stitute the legacy of MaharishiMarkandeya that remains to standstrongly up to these days. (dar)

Most Perpetrators of sexualviolence known by victims

cording to Alit, approximately65.17 percent aged 15 years andover. Meanwhile, the remainingvictims were under that age. “Thereare some still under 15 years. Mostof the victims are women, but thereare also two boys becoming the vic-tims of sodomy,” said Alit. In termsof location, most of the cases oc-curred in the victim’s home orabout 41.57 percent, at boardinghouse around 25.85 percent and inthe inn around 19.1 percent.

“For the time of incident, mostcases took place about at six o’clockin the afternoon till 12 at night. Thecase rarely happened during theschool time,” added Alit. (kmb24)

3International Bali News Monday, February 28, 2011

Semarapura (Bali Post) –Victims of rabies are still increas-

ing in Klungkung Regency especiallyat Nusa Penida Sub District where aresident from Karangsari, Suana Vil-lage, namesd Wayan Laut alias PanLasta died after bitten by dog a monthago. This means that in the past fewmonths there has been a few peopledied from dog bites in Nusa Penida,while in Klungkung land itself therewere three each from BumbunganVillage, Banjarangkan, Kusamba Vil-lage, Dawan and Akah Village,Klungkung,

As information received last Fri-day (25/2) stated that Pan Lasta wasbitten on the right knew yet he didn’tget an Anti Rabies Vaccination (VAR)which then brings him to deaeth lastMonday (21/2) in Sanglah Hospital.“It could be that victim (Pan Lasta-red) died due to the lateness of beingVAR treated,” a resident stated.

After asked for confirmation,Head of Nusa Penida Health Com-munity Center I, dr. Ketut RaiSutapa, confirmed the situation yetstill unsure if victim died due to ra-bies, “He was only a suspect.” Ap-parently since bitten a month ago,Pan Lasta did not go to health com-munity center straight away formedication as the wounds were justlittle scratches nothing serious, “Itis true that since bitten Pan Lasta didnot get any VAR. but not because hedid not get any from the health com-munity center but because himself

Gilbert worked her own magicand Ketut’s prediction became thestuff of Hollywood fantasy. Nowthere is a line of camera-totingtourists waiting outside his hometo hear their own fortunes told, at25 dollars a pop. That’s a fortunefor a man who is more accus-tomed to bartering his predictionsfor simple gifts from local villag-ers.

“From 8:00 am to 6:00 pm ev-ery day ... 50 people on average,”said his son, Nyoman, who actsas a translator. “It’s a great life,”he adds, as he checks the se-quence of “clients”. As blackstorm clouds rolled across the skyone recent Sunday afternoon, thecourtyard outside Ketut’s com-fortable wooden house waspacked with visitors, male and

Jakarta (Bali Post)As much as 10 tourism industries

in Bali that joins Bali Impression isdoing a road show to Bandung andJakarta, 20-26 February 2011 with itspurpose to help government to makethe people realize in knowing andloving its own country. This wasstated by the Director of Sales andMarketing Bali Impressions, WayanSuena, during a table top BaliImrpessions Jakarta last Thursday(24/2).

All this time according to Sueanathe Indonesian people realization oftouring its own country is still less,“Many Jakarta people more happilyto go holiday to Singapore and Ma-laysia when actually our own desti-nation is not less beautiful. Besidesthat we ask these tourists from otherareas to go to Bali and not only SouthBali but also to the East and NorthBali where there are great things too.”

Suena suggested these domestictourists to share experiences for thosein Bandung to go to other places thanBandung and also for those in Bali togo to Bandung or other destinationsand so the Indonesian will support the

Balinese spiritualguru Ketut Liyer,95, advises aforeign couple inhis garden inUbud district inthe resort islandof Bali. Liyerpredicted toElizabeth Gilbert,author of “Eat,Pray, Love”, thebest-sellingautobiographyturned into film,that she wouldlive in Bali whereshe will meet herlove, a predictionthat came true.

Tourists flock to Bali’sTourists flock to Bali’sTourists flock to Bali’sTourists flock to Bali’sTourists flock to Bali’s‘Eat, Pray, Love’ sage‘Eat, Pray, Love’ sage‘Eat, Pray, Love’ sage‘Eat, Pray, Love’ sage‘Eat, Pray, Love’ sageAgence France Presse

UBUD, Indonesia – Providence smiled on Balinese seer Ketut Liyer the day US tourist Eliza-beth Gilbert came to visit — her memoir, “Eat, Pray, Love”, would make him richer than he everdreamed. The fortune teller said to be aged in his 90s — no one knows exactly — was a poor manwhen he looked into Gilbert’s eyes and predicted she would live in Bali and find true love.

female, from all corners of theglobe.

“Look! It’s him!” said 26-year-old American Mary as she fumbledexcitedly for her camera. Song-birds fluttered in cages suspendedamong frangipani and orchid blos-soms, as Ketut — wearing tradi-tional Balinese cloth headware, asarong and a T-shirt — sat cross-legged on the porch and held his20-minute consultations. Most ofthe sessions — which can involvereadings or massages — seem toend in optimistic predictions oflove and happiness, according tothe customers surveyed by AFP.“He told me the same thing he toldmy friend: I’ll be rich, happy, andI’ll have two children. OK ... butat least I can say I met him,” saidMareyka, a 29-year-old South Af-

rican.Anna, an Australian, also came

with a friend. “I was here in 2005.This was before the novel and theadvertising,” she said, pointing toa poster extolling Ketut’s powers.“At the time, he made me readparagraphs from a big book. Itwas amazing. Today, he’s tired.There are so many people.”

As the sun set, the Western cus-tomers kept coming. Each new ar-rival frowned at the sight of thosebefore them, as if they expectedto have Ketut all to themselves.And the Balinese customers? “Hesaw them earlier in the morningand only accepted gifts in kind,”Nyoman explained. The rain be-gan to fall. The soothsayer tookthe opportunity to have a break.The tourists would have to wait.

Negara, DenPostAs stated by Head of Gilimanuk

Sea Area Police, Adjunct PoliceCommissioner Putu Suartha, lastThursday (24/2), Gilimanuk stillseem to have illegal routes andneeds maximum security. Sinceworking here, Suartha have keptpressuring his officers to be moreaware, “This is because the en-trance gate to Bali is in Gilimanukso we’re trying to maximize out su-pervision.”

The police also increased joinwork with the people and involveinstitution in doing so, “As we fo-cused on Pos I, Pos II, Pos KTP

AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka

Gilimanuk Illegal Routes StillExist, Security Maximized

(National ID Card) and Pos Cekik,so for beaches area we can maxi-mize supervise it and so needs joinwork with involved institutionssuch as Indonesian Army, Sea Armyand Water Police.”

Suartha who’s still recoveringfrom his kidney disease stated thatthe facilities for security checkingneed a lot of repairing. Accordingto him ideally there should beequipments with better technologywhich can supervise items that areon trucks or other closed vehiclesas workers ability are also limitedyet to do so it needs a huge fundand needs to be suggested to Cen-

tral Government, “Yes for now thechecking are done manually, thank-fully our officers are putting maxi-mum effort in doing it so if thereare information such as motorcyclestealing in other areas we can takea more intensive checking andmostly successfully found.”

For the future, the personnel inthis Gilimanuk Sea Area Policeneeds to be increased because it’sgoing to be Gilimanuk Urban Po-lice having its Head being PoliceCommissioner. Right now it’s per-sonnel are 97 people. Suartha alsohoped Bali’s security can be antici-pated from Gilimanuk. (120)

Bali ImpressionsExpect the People LovesIts Own Country

government program Know YourCountry, Love your Country (KenaliNegerimu, Cintai Negerimu/KNCN),“If we’re not supporting this who elsewould? I hope there will be equalityto all different destinations in Indo-nesia which potentially a tourist des-tination as there hasn’t been any goodpublication from them so people tendto go to the same places again andagain.”

In this event, Bali Impression hadjoin work with Lion Air. GeneralManager Corporate Marketing LionAir, Gunardi, stated that these past 10years Lion Air only have been focus-ing on ticket sales. Yet lately, LionAir has evaluated them and fix themin service quality, increasing planesalso routes, “All this time we hadcomplains and have been focusing inproduct sales. Now we need servicedevelopment.” There will be also 16new planes for this year while for theroutes added will be straight flyingfrom Denpasar-Bandung, Bandung-Medan, and East Indonesia area alsotargeted to be fulfilled too. And thosenot completed yet will be finished innear time. (son)

Rabies Victim Increasedin Nusa Penida Karangsari

did not come here as thinking it isjust a light wound.” Rai also men-tioned that the same dog previouslyhave bitten a woman in Karangsariarea yet that woman went to healthcommunity center to get a VAR.

Three weeks after Pan Lasta gotbitten, he got high fever, afraid ofthe light, saliva coming out andmany more showing rabies symp-toms, which then he was brought tothe health community center, “Af-ter looking at the symptoms, we thenbrought him to Klungkung Hospi-tal.” Meanwhile the woman who gotbitten previously has been seenhealthy.

Head of Klungkung Animal Hus-bandry, Fishery and Sea (PPK), drh.Gusti Ngurah Badiwangsa stated,generally rabies started decreasingin this regency and Nusa Penida isno longer on Extraordinary Event(KLB) statues yet there’s five casesare being observed to see its devel-opment and all taken place at NusaPenida III area such as in BatukandikVillage. Until now there have beenthousands of stray dogs eliminatedin Klungkung Regency which inNusa Penida reaching 4.325 dogs.Besides eliminated, almost all dogsare caged and vaccinated. For theyear 2011, the treatment is fo-cused on workshop/socializationto each villages and KlungkungPPK has prepared IDR 300 mil-lion from the 2011 Budget andExpenses for it. (kmb20)

International4 Monday, February 28, 2011 News

The changes are among 10 pro-posed constitutional amendments thatare to be put to a popular referendumlater this year. The proposals appearedto address many of the demands of thereform movement that help lead the 18-day popular uprising that forcedMubarak to step down on Feb. 11.

But some Egyptians worry that theproposed changes don’t go far enoughto ensure a transition to democraticrule, and could allow the entrenchedold guard to maintain its grip on power.

The most important of the eight-member panel’s proposals would

Associated Press Writer

DUBLIN – Ireland’s oppositionparties have made big gains in ageneral election focussed on thecountry’s economic woes, but theshape of the next government ishanging in the balance as count-ing continues for a second day onSunday.

The Fine Gael party was lead-ing the pack as voters angry aboutIreland’s battered economy endedthe 80-year dominance of FiannaFail. By Sunday morning, 57 seatshad been won by Fine Gael, 30 byLabour, 13 by Fianna Fail, 12 bySinn Fein and 13 by smaller par-ties and independents. It takes 83seats for a majority in the Dail, thelower house of the parliament.

Fine Gael was widely expectedto form a coalition governmentwith Labour. But with Fine Gaelsensing that it might win nearly 80seats, party leaders also talkedabout forming alliances with inde-pendent candidates. Party leaderEnda Kenny, destined to becomeprime minister, pledged to move

Associated Press Writer

CHRISTCHURCH, NewZealand – Residents held open-airprayers for the dead and missing Sun-day on the lawns of churches crackedand shattered in New Zealand’s earth-quake while teams continued theirsearch through debris of one of thecountry’s worst disasters.

“As our citizens make their wayto church this Sunday they will bejoined in prayer by millions aroundthe world,” said Mayor Bob Parkerof the devastated city ofChristchurch. “For now we aretruly comforted by the thoughtsand prayers of so many.”

The official death toll rose Sun-day to 147 and was expected to rise

AP Photo/Rob Griffith

Joanne Fagan-Oslawskyj weeps as she attends a service with her family,Jamie, right, and Grace, center, husband Joe Oslawskyj, and Sarah at St.Barnabas Church in Christchurch, New Zealand, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011.

Christchurch holds prayers for quake victimsfurther, Police Superintendent DaveCliff said. Prime Minister John Key hassaid the quake, which decimated thecity’s downtown, may be the country’s“single-most tragic” disaster.

When the quake ripped throughthe city last Tuesday, the city’schurches were among the hardest-hitbuildings. Among them was theiconic Christchurch Cathedral, at theheart of the city, which suffered mas-sive damage, its bell tower in ruinsand 22 people potentially lying deadinside. Still, many residents of thelargely Christian city found a way tohold Mass on Sunday.

Parishioners set up rows of chairsin the sunlight and under the shadeof trees on the lawn of St. Barnabas,an 86-year-old Anglican church

where the quake cracked stonewalls, shattered some stain glasswindows and left the tower sinking.Wails of passing police cars and theroar of a military chopper overheadoccasionally interrupted the sermon.

Rev. Philip Robinson later triedto rally a somber crowd. “This is notcalled Christchurch for nothing,” hesaid, drawing smiles from a few.“We will rise again.”

After the service, people gatheredby a table on the lawn to have coffee,scones and banana bread, and to com-fort those still struggling. MeganBlakie, 45, stood in the crowd, eyesbrimming with tears. “I just am strug-gling with where’s God in all of this?”she said. “It’s not shattered my faith,but it’s hard to keep going.”

EgyptianForeignMinisterAhmedAboul Gheit,right, sharesa lightmoment withhis Austra-lian counter-part KevinRudd at theforeignministry inCairo, Egypt,Sunday, Feb.27, 2011.

AP Photo/Amr Nabil

Egypt proposes competitiveEgypt proposes competitiveEgypt proposes competitiveEgypt proposes competitiveEgypt proposes competitivepresidential electionspresidential electionspresidential electionspresidential electionspresidential electionsAssociated Press Writer

CAIRO – A constitutional reform panel on Saturday recommendedopening Egypt’s presidential elections to competition and imposing atwo-term limit on future presidents — a dramatic shift from a systemthat allowed the ousted Hosni Mubarak to rule for three decades.

greatly loosen restrictions on whocould run for president, opening thefield to independents and candidatesfrom small opposition parties. Thatmarks a drastic change from the pre-vious system that gave Mubarak’sruling National Democratic Party astranglehold on who could run.

“We were denied the right to havecandidates before. Now they openedthe door for whoever wants to run,”said pro-reform Judge AhmedMekky. “This is a step forward.”

A candidate would be allowed torun by doing one of three things:

collecting 30,000 signatures from 15of Egypt’s 29 provinces; receivingthe approval of at least 30 membersof the elected parliament; or repre-senting a party with at least one law-maker in parliament.

The panel also recommended fulljudicial supervision of the electoralprocess, which would address regu-lar criticism that the governmentroutinely rigged past elections to en-sure Mubarak’s party retained itshold on power.

On Egypt’s widely criticizedemergency laws, which have beenin place for 30 years and grant po-lice sweeping powers of arrest, thepanel proposed limiting their use toa six-month period with the approvalof an elected parliament. Extendingtheir use beyond that should be putto a public referendum, it said.

AP Photo/Paul Faith-pa

Sinn Fein President GerryAdams casts his vote in the IrishGeneral Election in CountyLouth, Ireland, Friday Feb. 25,2011. Voters in the Irish Repub-lic were today going to the pollsin the most eagerly anticipatedelection in decades.

Shape of new Irishgovt yet to emerge

quickly to form a government.“People were waiting to take re-

venge on Fianna Fail, and theyhave certainly done so with greatgusto,” said Batt O’Keefe, one of18 Fianna Fail incumbents whochose not to seek re-election. FineGael polled 36.1 percent supportwith the first round of countingcompleted in all 43 constituencies.Labour, Fine Gael’s possible coa-lition partner, was running secondat 19 percent while Fianna Failpolled a historic low of 17 percent.

The Green Party, which had sixseats in the Dail and was FiannaFail’s junior partner in govern-ment, lost all its seats. Sinn Feinpresident Gerry Adams, who re-signed his seat in the British par-liament to run for the Dail, wasamong the winners.

Irish voters punished FiannaFail for 13 percent unemployment,tax hikes, wage cuts and a humili-ating bailout that Ireland had toaccept from the European Unionand the International MonetaryFund. In elections going back to1932, Fianna Fail had never wonless than 39 percent of the vote andhad always been the largest partyin the Dail.

Fine Gael (“tribe of the Irish”)and Fianna Fail (“soldiers of des-tiny”) were born from opposingsides in Ireland’s civil war of the1920s, and many see little differ-ence between them on the issues.Fianna Fail, however, was leadingthe government when the propertyboom collapsed in 2007, and it puttaxpayers on the hook to bail outIreland’s failing banks.

Brian Cowen, the outgoingprime minister, had fallen to recordlow popularity and resigned asFianna Fail party leader even be-fore the campaign. He had wantedto hold the election in March, butagreed to hold it early in a deal towin confirmation of the hated EU-IMF bailout. “Fianna Fail willcome back,” said new party leaderMicheal Martin, who bucked thetide to hold his seat.

Activities Monday, February 28, 2011 5International

Temple CeremonyCalendar Event for February 1 through March 2, 2011

EVERY Temple and Shrine has a special date for it annualCeremony, or “ Odalan “, every 210 days according to Ba-linese calendar, including the smaller ancestral shrine whicheach family possesses. Because of this practically every fewdays a ceremony of festival of some kind takes place in someVillage in Bali. There are also times when the entire islandcelebrated 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 consid-ered its birth day and celebration always takes place on thesame day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When newmoon is used then the celebration always happens on new moonor full moon. The day of course can differ the religious cel-ebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some templecelebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakihtemple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and mostof the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importanceof the occasion.

The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed withpieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, deco-rations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold andChinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the fourcorners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, whiteor black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped inthe shrines.

In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrel-las soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, longflags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. Infront of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles,decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, riceand other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are thegirls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangementsof all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Everyvisitor admires the grace with which the carry their load ontheir heads.

Balinese TempleCeremony

1 FebruaryAnggarKasih Tambir

Dalem Puri Temple in Batuan - SukawatiDalem Kediri Silakarang in Silakarang -Singapadu - GianyarDalem Temple in Sukawati Village - GianyarDalem Temple in Singakerta Village - Ubud -GianyarDalem Lemben in Ketewel - Sukawati -GianyarPaibon Pasek Tangkas in Peliatan - UbudPuseh ngukuhin in Keramas - GianyarPemerajan Agung Ki Telabah in Tuakilang -TabananKarang Buncing in Blahbatuh - GianyarDalem Bubunan in Seririt - BulelengDesa Badung Temple in DenpasarMerajan Pasek Gelgel Gobleg in Turupinghe -Banjar - BulelengLuwur Pedengenan Bedha in Bongan -TabananMerajan Dukuh Sebudi in Keramas - GianyarMerajan Pasek Ngukuhin in Keramas - GianyarPucak Payongan in Kedewatan - Ubud -GianyarTanah Kilap “ Griya Anyar” in Suwung Kawuh- Denpasar SelatanSelukat Temple in Keramas - Blahbatuh -GianyarDalem Tampuagan in tembuku - BangliDalem Waturenggong in Desa Taro - GianyarDalem Bentuyung in Ubud - GianyarPuseh Temple in Ubud - GianyarDalem Temple Peliatan Ubud - Gianyar

2 FebruaryBuda Umanis Tambir, Tilem Kawulu

Sari Bankar Titih Kapal - BadungUlun Kulkul (Aci Sarin Tahun) Besakih -KarangasemDalem Yang Taluh Sidemen -Karangasem

Dalem Kangin Sidemen - Karangasem.

16 FebruaryBuda Keliwon Matal

Puseh & Desa Temple Sukawati Village - GianyarMerajan Agung Batuyang - batubulanPasek Gelgel Bebetin Sawan - BulelengMaspahit Temple Sesetan - South DenpasarPasek Bendesa Manik Mas Dukuh Kendran -TegalalangPanti Pasek Gaduh Sesetan - South DenpasarMerajan Pasek Kubayan Wangaya GedePedarman Arya Kanuruhan Besakih -Karangasem

17 FebruaryPurnama Kesanga

Penataran sasih Temple Pejeng - GianyarBukit Mentik Gunung Lebah Batur VillageKintamani - bangli

26 FebruaryTumpek Kandang Day

Puseh Temple Gianyar CityLuhur Dalem Sagening Kediri - TabananMerajan Pasek Gelge Tegal Gede - Badung

2 MarchBuda Wage Menail

Dalem Tarukan LinggihCemenggaon Sukawati -GianyarPasek Dangke Bambang - BangliPenataran Dalem Ketut Pejeng Pejeng Kaja -GianyarPuseh Menakaji Peninjoan - BangliMerajan Agung Blangsinga Blahbatuh - GianyarKawitan Gusti Agung Blangsinga BlahbatuhGianyarKawitan Gusti Celuk Celuk - Sukawati - GianyarBaler Sada Temple Banjar Pemebatan, KapalMengwi

IBP

UBUD – Maya Ubud Resort &Spa’s special eight day package: ASpiritual Journey, has been an ex-ceptional experience for its partici-pants. See what they say about it.

Since the beginning of the yearwhen first introduced, demand forthis package has seen a steady in-crease by those wishing to discoverthe real essence of the life of theBalinese, and experience theirunique culture and spirituality.

The Spiritual Journey package isa unique package that introduces andassists participants to better under-stand the spiritual aspects of Balineselife and customs, whilst creating arejuvenating and healing experiencefor participants. The Spiritual Jour-ney commences with a warm wel-come from our caring staff, each oneallocated to meet the needs of cli-ents to ensure their stay is a memo-rable and enlightening one.

Each enlightening day com-mences with morning yoga andmeditation sessions in a picturesque

Maya Ubud’s a Spiritual JourneyMaya Ubud’s a Spiritual JourneyMaya Ubud’s a Spiritual JourneyMaya Ubud’s a Spiritual JourneyMaya Ubud’s a Spiritual Journeysetting, followed on different daysby exploring nearby temples andvisiting a traditional Balinese healer(Balian), or even a spiritual consul-tation and priestly blessing. Anotheroption is to learn with village ladiesthe art of making traditional templeofferings as our guide carefully ex-plains the meaning of the offerings,which can later be presented duringthe village temple visit. On anothermorning clients will be taken for awalk to a traditional village to begreeted by local village people andexperience how they start a typicalday. Throughout the Spiritual Jour-ney program, the designated resortguide will share with participantsvarious aspects of the philosophy ofthe Balinese people, which will en-lighten and help them better under-stand the unique practical, culturaland spiritual essence of Balineselife.

Each day is planned to ensure arelaxed pace with plenty of time inbetween scheduled activities to alsoenjoy free time . . . such as relaxingby one of the beautiful pools, tak-

ing the free shuttle bus to Ubudmarket, or simply being spoilt withone of several (all inclusive) spapampering treatments that awaitsyou in the legendary riverside Spaat Maya.

Those who have participated inand experienced the Spiritual Jour-ney package write only heartfeltcomments following their stay.

“To say that participating in theSpiritual Journey program has beenprofound is an extreme understate-ment. In actual fact it is very hardto encapsulate in words the mostblessed, healing, and magical, ex-perience that I’ve had. From my dayof arrival, I’ve been made to feelvery special and this has been verysoothing to my soul and healing formy heart… I truly am blessed!” saidMs Mary Rutledge(www.angelsartalchemy.com) at theend of her stay with Maya Ubudearly last month, “I believe that thispackage is too important for peoplenot to know about it,” she contin-ued.

Ms Suzanne Hart of Australia

(www.SHE.net.au) summarized herexperience and that of her clients bysaying; “The Balinese blessing cer-emony was another highlight. Wayanour personal resort guide did such agreat job of explaining the ceremonyand guiding us through it. The ladiesloved it!”

Ubud has always had strong spiri-

tual healing elements related to theconfluence of the two sacred rivers,the Oos and the Pakusera and anabundance of natural healing plantsand herbs that thrive in the area, aswell as the numerous balians (natu-ral healers) that practice here, not tomention its ancient temples, reveredpriests and mystics.

Monday, February 28, 20116 News

“The army and people of theDPRK will return bolsterednuclear deterrent of our own stylefor the continued nuclear threat...and our own missile striking ac-tion for their vicious attempt toeliminate our missiles,” KCNAsaid. The statement was in con-trast to more conciliatory com-ments it made earlier this yearaimed at securing peace talks withthe United States but came afterPyongyang officials stormed outof talks with the South this month.

Some 200,000 South Koreanand 12,800 US troops will takepart in the Key Resolve/Foal Eagledrills, which the North has labelleda preparation for war. Key Re-solve, a command post exercise in-volving computer simulation, willlast until March 10. Part of FoalEagle, a joint air, ground and na-val training exercise, will continuethrough April 30.

The exercise reportedly in-cludes scenarios such as localisedprovocations, tracing weapons ofmass destruction, a sudden regimechange in the communist state andan exodus of refugees, Yonhapnews agency reported. It also said

AP Photo/Lee Jin-man

Replicas of North Korea’s Scud-B missile, right, and South Korean missiles are displayed at theKorean War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011. North Korea threat-ened Sunday to attack South Korea and the United States, as the allies prepared to start annualjoint military drills, maneuvers Pyongyang says are a rehearsal for an invasion.

North KoreaNorth KoreaNorth KoreaNorth KoreaNorth Koreathreatens US, Souththreatens US, Souththreatens US, Souththreatens US, Souththreatens US, Southwith ‘all-out war’with ‘all-out war’with ‘all-out war’with ‘all-out war’with ‘all-out war’Agence France Presse

SEOUL – North Korea threatened “all-out war” in response to exercises by South Korean andUS troops due to start Monday and told Seoul to stop cross-border propaganda, upping the rheto-ric against its arch rivals. Pyongyang would respond to the upcoming drill, with “unprecedentedall-out counteraction” that would turn the South’s capital Seoul into a “sea of flames”, the KoreanCentral News Agency said Sunday.

the US planned to deploy i t97,000-tonne aircraft carrier USSRonald Reagan for the drills.

Cross-border tension has beenacute since the North’s deadlyshelling of a frontier island in No-vember that killed four South Ko-reans including two civilians andsparked fears of war. The first at-tack on civilians since the 1950-53 Korean War prompted Seoul tostage a series of military drillsalone or with the United States andto expand regular exercises in ashow of force against Pyongyang.

The South also revived a pro-paganda campaign across theheavily-fortified border targetingordinary North Koreans — a prac-tice it had suspended since 2000due to protests by the North. Con-servative opposition politicianSong Young-Sun, citing a reportfrom the defence ministry, said onFriday balloons carrying humani-tarian supplies such as medicineand clothes were being launchedacross the border by the military.

She said the balloons also car-ried news of civil uprisings againstrepressive regimes in the ArabWorld and were aimed at getting

information to the people of NorthKorea, who are largely cut offfrom the outside world. TheSouth’s private activists also havefor years used helium balloons tosmuggle US dollar notes, DVDsand leaflets denouncing theNorth’s regime and leader KimJong-Il into the hermit state.

The North threatened on Sundayit would begin firing on border ar-eas where the South’s activists andmilitary launch the balloons. “Ourarmy will stage a direct fire at...sources of the anti-DPRK psycho-logical warfare to destroy them onthe principle of self-defence, ifsuch actions last despite our re-peated warning,” KCNA said.

Pyongyang tightly controls ac-cess to the Internet and attemptsto block other sources of informa-tion about the outside world. ButDVDs and mobile phonessmuggled from China have beeneroding barriers

A survey by two US academicsof some 1,600 refugees from theNorth found that roughly half ofthem had access to foreign newsor entertainment — a sharp risefrom the 1990s.

“Gadhafi Out,” chanted hundredsin the city center. The charred skel-etons of many cars littered the cityand most streets were blocked bypalm tree trunks or metal barricades.“Free, Free Libya,” chanted mem-bers of the anti-government forcesat the city center. “Down withGadhafi, the mass murder,” readgraffiti scawled in the city. An ef-figy of Gadhafi hung from a lightpole in the city’s main square. Onits chest the words “ExecuteGadhafi” were emblazoned.

Gadhafi loyalists remain in con-trol of nearby Tripoli, which was re-ported to be quiet early Sunday, withmost stores closed and long linesoutside the few banks open for busi-ness. Traffic in the city was close toits normal levels.

US DemandMuammar Gaddafi’s grip on

Libya looked ever more tenuous onSaturday, as his police abandonedparts of the capital Tripoli to a popu-lar revolt that has swept the countryand the United States bluntly told himhe must go.

In the oil-rich east around the sec-ond city of Benghazi, freed a weekago by a disparate coalition of peoplepower and defecting military units,a former minister of Gaddafi an-nounced the formation of an “interimgovernment” to reunite the country.

At Tripoli in the west, the 68-year-old Brother Leader’s redoubt wasshrinking. Reuters correspondentsfound residents in some neighbor-hoods of the capital barricading theirstreets and proclaiming open defianceafter security forces melted away.

Western leaders, their rhetoricemboldened by evacuations that havesharply reduced the number of theircitizens stranded in the oilfields andcities of the sprawling desert state,spoke out more clearly to sayGaddafi’s 41-year rule must now end.

“When a leader’s only means ofstaying in power is to use mass vio-lence against his own people, he haslost the legitimacy to rule and needs

Fears abound that Libya could turninto a fractured nation with competingarmed groups ruling over rich and re-mote desert fields lying hundreds ofmiles (kilometers) apart from eachother.

The chaos in Libya as it descendsinto virtual civil war has sent interna-tional oil prices skyrocketing despite apledge from Saudi Arabia, the world’slargest oil exporter, to ramp up exports.And that volatility is likely to continue,because it could take weeks or evenmonths for Libyan production and ex-ports to return to normal levels, expertssaid.

That has sent already over-caffinatedoil traders into a frenzy that won’t calmdown until there’s more clarity aboutwhat is happening on the ground inLibya.

The International Energy Agencyreported late Friday that Libya is prob-

Libyan Oil...From page 1

ably still producing about 850,000 bar-rels of oil daily, down from its normalcapacity of 1.6 million barrels — butacknowledged the estimate is based on“incomplete, conflicting information.”

Libya produces just under 2 percentof the world’s oil, but its customers areoverwhelmingly European. Hardest hitby the sudden oil shortage are Euro-pean refiners that receive 85 percent ofLibya’s exports, turning the country’shighly valued crude into diesel and jetfuel.

The biggest buyers are Italy, France,Germany and Spain — and Spain is soconcerned it announced Friday thathighway speed limits will be reducedin March in a desperate bid to cut fuelconsumption.

The biggest problem facing oil com-panies and European consumers whodepend on Libyan oil is a near-com-plete breakdown in solid information.Phones in Libya rarely work, Internetis intermittent, workers are fleeing andlooters are grabbing what they can orpose a threat until order is restored.

Libya...From page 1 to do what is right for his country by

leaving now,” aides to PresidentBarack Obama said in describing acall on Libya he had with GermanChancellor Angela Merkel. Secretaryof State Hillary Clinton also showeda harder tone from Washington,which lately warmed to Gaddafi inrecent years after decades of sanc-tions: “(He) has lost the confidenceof his people and he should go with-out further bloodshed and violence.”

A vote in the United Nations Se-curity Council was imminent. It mayimpose sanctions and say Gaddafishould face war crimes charges overdeaths, estimated by diplomats atsome 2,000, during his 10 days ofefforts to stem the tide of revolution.

Talk of possible military action byforeign governments remained vague,however. It was unclear how longGaddafi, with some thousands of loy-alists — including his tribesmen andmilitary units commanded by his sons— might hold out against rebel forcescomprised of youthful gunmen andmutinous soldiers.

London-based Algerian lawyerSaad Djebbar, who knows a largenumber of Gaddafi’s top officials,says that for Gaddafi staying in powerhad become impossible. “It’s aboutstaying alive.” “(Gaddafi’s) time isover,” he added. “But how muchdamage he will cause before leavingis the question.”

One key element in theopposition’s efforts to unseat himmay be tribal loyalties, always a fac-tor in the desert nation of six millionand one which Gaddafi, despite offi-cial rhetoric to the contrary, tendedto reinforce down the years.

His former justice ministerMustafa Mohamed Abud Ajleil, nowgone over to the opposition inBenghazi, was quoted by the onlineedition of the Quryna newspaper assaying that an interim government,whose status remained unclear, would“forgive” his large Gaddadfa tribe for“crimes” committed by the leader.Such declarations may be intended toerode Gaddafi’s efforts to rally sup-porters into a do-or-die defense of theold guard.

Monday, February 28, 2011 7Indonesia TodayInternational

Antara

BINTANG - President SusiloBambang Yudhoyono on Saturdayinaugurated the construction of thefirst-phase of an integrated touristzone at Teluk Sebong, Sebong Lagoivillage, Bintan District, Riau IslandsProvince. The head of state namedthe new integrated tourist zone“Pesona Lagoi Bintang” (LagoiBintang Charm).

Yudhoyono in his speech hopedthat the tourist area could becomelike Singapore or even better.

“Let`s develop this area to be-come an integrated economic zone,”the president, who was accompaniedby First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, said.

Among those present at the inau-guration ceremony were Culture and

AFP PHOTO / ROMEO GACAD

The Fitch move to a BB+ ratingwith a positive outlook came afterMoody’s last month upgraded thecountry to one notch below invest-ment grade, a status that would put iton a par with BRIC nations such asChina and allow it to borrow morecheaply.

“Indonesia is one step towards in-vestment grade,” said central bankgovernor Darmin Nasution in a state-ment after the Fitch move.

Andrew Colquhoun, head of Asia-

Antara

JAKARTA - A media law lecturerfrom Surabaya-based state AirlanggaUniversity, Dr Henry Subyakto, saidthere was nothing wrong with whatcabinet secretary Dipo Alam had said.

Commenting on the issue by phonehere on Saturday, Henry said the twomedia that Dipo Alam had mentionedhad indeed violated media ethics andthe broadcasting law many times.

Dipo Alam recently called for a boy-cott of ads and information access tocertain media because they hadsmeared the government.

He had refused to apologize for hiscontroversial statement and because ofthat Media Group had reported him tothe police after he failed to respond tothe legal rebuke the group had servedon him. Subiyakto said the two mediahad once been reprimanded by the In-donesia Broadcasting Commission(KPI).

He said objectivity or impartialityin reporting current issues on televisionwas indeed a must in view of laws.

“That is one of the provisions in thebroadcasting law or the BroadcastingAttidude Manual and the Broadcast-ing Standard Program

(P3 SPS) issued by the KPI. The twotv stations have often violated them.Therefore it is logical if Dipo then ex-pressed complaint about the two sta-tions,” he said. He said as part of thegovernment he had become a victimof impartiality.

“But the case becomes controver-sial because the one that speaks is aministerial level official. But he is avictim and his statement does not af-fect press freedom,” he said.

Subiyakto said media must not beseen as a democracy power as poweralso tends to corrupt unless it is con-

Indonesia eyes investment gradeIndonesia eyes investment gradeIndonesia eyes investment gradeIndonesia eyes investment gradeIndonesia eyes investment gradeafter Fitch positive outlookafter Fitch positive outlookafter Fitch positive outlookafter Fitch positive outlookafter Fitch positive outlookAntara

JAKARTA - Indonesia edged closer to an investment grade sovereignrating after Fitch Ratings on Thursday upgraded the country’s outlook topositive from stable because of strong economic growth and falling debt.

Pacific sovereign ratings at Fitch, saidin a statement that the positive out-look reflects Fitch’s view thatIndonesia’s favourable macroeco-nomic prospects are likely to see thecredit profile strengthen further overthe next 12 to 18 months, despitenear-term risks from inflation andpotentially volatile capital flows.

“Faster progress in tackling long-standing weaknesses in economicand credit fundamentals including thelow tax take, infrastructure deficien-

cies and corruption, would furthersupport the case for an upgrade,”Colquhoun said.

Indonesia’s economy grew at thefastest pace in six years at 6.9 per-cent last quarter, but building infla-tion is a worry for investors as itreached a 21-month-high of 7 percentin January, forcing the central bankinto a surprise rate hike of 25 basispoints to 6.75 percent this month.

Fitch expected inflation to aver-age 6.5 percent this year, but high-lighted the country’s history of higherand more volatile inflation than peers.

“A more severe inflation shockthan the agency expects that is suffi-cient to damage economic and finan-cial stability would weaken the case

for positive rating action,” Fitch said.Bank Indonesia aims for inflation

to reach between 4-6 percent thisyear, and has said it will allow therupiah currency to strengthen to curbimported inflation. Some analysts ex-pect it to again hike rates at a meet-ing next week.

Inflation worries prompted an in-vestor sell-off last month that pushedup bond yields and knocked stocksand the rupiah lower, after a two-yearrally took stocks up 46 percent lastyear and pushed bond yields to recordlows.

An investment grade rating couldlead to a windfall for existing bond-holders as risk averse investors suchas pension fund buyers would con-

sider buying the country’s debt.Southeast Asia’s largest economy

has been a darling of emerging mar-ket investors for the last two yearsafter showing resilience during the fi-nancial crisis.

“The positive outlook onIndonesia’s sovereign rating reflectsinternational confidence to the cred-ibility of economic authorities inmanaging Indonesia’s economy,amid the risk of inflationary pressuresand current economic challenges,”said Nasution.

Currently Fitch’s rating is levelwith Moody’s Ba1, though that has astable rating, and is one notch higherthan Standard & Poor’s BB rating,which has a positive outlook.

Media law lecturer:nothing wrong with cabinetsecretary‘s statement

trolled moreover if the media outlet isowned by a business tycoon as well asa politician that has certainly a politi-cal agenda. He said there were a lot ofproofs that showed that tv news hadbeen used as political tools by theirowners so that impartiality is ignored.

“The fact is that tv stations use pub-lic domain namely their frequency. Theowner of the frequency is the publicwhich has various political aspirations,religions or political parties,” he said.

So they may not use the frequencyupon their own will and they must alsobe impartial, he said.

“Now let us see if the media thatDipo Alam has mentioned has beenimpartial or not,” he said.

Regarding Dipo‘s call for a boycottSubiyakto said that the call was com-mon in a democracy. “So do not exag-gerate it as if it reflects arrogance orthreatens press freedom,” he said.

He said what needs to be monitoredis whether the two television stationshad adhered to the P3 SPS issued bythe KPI and the broadcasting law.

“Do not blame Dipo or the govern-ment that have indeed often beentreated unfairly in television news pro-grams,” he said.

Regarding print media he said thatthey are indeed relatively more freebecause they do not use frequency.

Their potential violations are mereethical issues. But for television mediathe regulations in many countries arevery tight. In Britain in 1999 a tv sta-tion had even been closed by thatcountry‘s “KPI” because it was con-sidered violating the principles of im-partiality,” he said. At the time the tvmedia in reporting the case of AbdullahOchalan of Turjey was one-sided andtherefore had been reprimanded by theBritish “KPI”(now OFCOM) for asmany as three times.

In thisphotographtaken onFebruary 24,2011 a boyholds achicken at afishing villagein Bitungtown in NorthSulawesiprovince.Bitung is oneof the majorfish ports inSulawesiisland.Fishing is athrivingindustry inIndonesia anarchipelago of17,000islands.

President Kicks off IntegratedTourist Zone Project in Bintan

Tourism Minister Jero Wacik, RiauIslands Governor Muhammad Sani,Coordinating Minister for EconomicAffairs Hatta Rajasa, CoordinatingMinister for People‘s WelfareAgung Laksono, Minister/State Sec-retary Sudi Silalahi, TransportationMinister Freddy Numberi, and De-fense Minister PurnomoYusgiantoro.

In the first phase of its develop-ment process, “Pesona LagoiBintang” will be built on a plot ofland measuring 338 hectares.

The project is being implementedby a consortium consisting of sev-eral companies including Malaysia-based Landmarks Lifestyle Com-pany. The developers will constructa water city resort in the area boughtby Landmarks Berhad in 2006.

The integrated tourist zone willalso include an international ferryterminal, a marine terminal, a ma-rine aircraft terminal, a cruise shiparea, and integrated immigrationservice office.

There will also be a water recre-ational area, shopping centers, ho-tels, amusement parks, villas, hous-ing complexes, apartments, meetinghalls, universities and hospitals.

The construction works of theproject‘s first phase is expected tobe complected in 2015 and it willconnect with other isles in Riau Is-lands Province.

Only a short ferry ride of aboutone-hour from Singapore, the RiauIslands represent an ideal and eas-ily accessible destination for holi-day makers.

8 InternationalMonday, February 28, 2011

Bali Today

During a meting with all societyelements in Bali which was held inTaman Pujaan Bangsa MargaranaMonument in Tabanan, the governorsaid that currently there are 150 unitsof Simantri in Bali.

The system is developed in a cer-tain area involving the farminggroups and it is the combination offarming, fishery and forestry. EachSimantri receive 20 cows, chicken,fish, and seed for farming and for-estry.

AntaraDENPASAR - An Islamic leader

said pluralism was God’s way of test-ing man’s ability to live peacefully withothers who were different in terms ofreligion, ethnicity and other things.

“People who do not want to live sideby side in peace with others who aredifferent from them and who then tryto expel or even kill those others be-cause of the difference, do not passGod’s test,” Din Syamsuddin, the chiefof one of Indonesia’s largest Islamicorganizations, Muhammadiyah, saidhere on Saturday.

IBPDENPASAR – For those who don’t

know who Airawata is, perhaps willthink it is okay for him to celebrate hisbirthday on a big celebration kind of away. But if you already know thatAirawata is a Sumatran Elephant(Elephas maximus sumatranus) thatbelong to the Bali Safari and MarinePark (BSMP), the celebration seems tobe a little shock. For humans is okay tocelebrate their birthday. But for animal,it is very rarely to do so. And if they geta birthday party like Airawata, he gotto be an important animal.

Born on February 27 two years ago,Airawata is a child of a 30 years oldelephant call Asri. They both live atBSMP and become two of elephantsthat being conserved there. On his sec-ond birthday, Airawata get a birthdaycake made from fruits. He also getsprivileged to invite 50 elementaryschool children from Gianyar Regencythat take part on his celebration. Be-sides that, Made Sidia the puppet mas-ter also performing his masterpiece infront of the children to educate themabout the elephant conservation.

Elephant conservation, especially

Among the delicacy of Balinesefood with hot spices, in fact, Ba-linese community also retains easy-peasy snack but sometimes a bitharder. One of them is the bean ofteep. Its tree resembles to that ofbreadfruit. However, its beans are farsmaller compared to that of bread-fruit. When its fruits have turnedripe, they usually attract the presenceof civet. Actually, this nocturnal catis only interested to eat the flesh offruit. Similar thing also happens tocoffee beans. Since the skin of beansis hard it cannot digest them so civetcould only enjoy the flesh. On thenext day, those seeds could be foundat the feces of civet. All seeds re-

Bali to develop100 units of Simantri

Courtesy of Bali’s Government

Governor of Bali Made Mangku Pastika seeing one of the Simantri groups.

Antara

Denpasar – Bali Government will develop 100 units of integrated farming system (Simantri)in 2011. Bali Governor, Made Mangku Pastika, said “the development of Simantri is fullysupported by the government and there is great hope that 350 units of Simantri can be devel-oped next year.”

Governor Pastika explained thatthe development of Simantri has beendone in all regencies in Bali. There isprove that the Simantri system is ableto increase the income of the farmersand even it is almost similar to the oneworking in tourism industry.

The Governor urged all regenciesto develop the system in their area. Inaddition to the increase of income,Simantri can also preserve the envi-ronment in Bali. Nowadays, someSimantri is producing organic fertil-

izer from the farming waste.According to the head of Publi-

cation Division in BaliGoevrenment, I Ketut Tenang, saidthat currently there are 34 farminggroups joined is several Simantrisystem. The groups consist of hun-dreds of farmers and manage 517hectare of land in Bali.

Some of them are even alreadyreceived organic certificate due tothe organic process applied duringthe farming process.

Din Syamsudin: Pluralism Test by GodHe said pluralism was God’s deci-

sion which must be accepted. Man can-not choose to be born in a certain placeas everything is determined by God.

“Those who were born in Bali arealso determined by God. I happen to beborn in Sumbawa and it was not becauseof our wish. This is important so thatwe can develop brotherhood in a plu-ralistic community,” he said when in-augurating the executive boards of theBali regional chapters ofMuhammadiyah and Aisyiah,Muhammadiyah’s women wing.

Therefore, Din called on

Muhammadiyah members to becomepioneers in developing harmonypeacefully including in Bali which isknown to be very heterogeneous.

“Muhammadiyah members every-where must do their best or conductimprovements and restructuring in ev-erything. Today must be better thanyesterday,” he said.

To all Moslems he reminded thatIslam is a religion of love whose pres-ence was to bring peace to the worldand all human beings.

“Let us spread good deeds on earthand avoid destructive acts,” he said.

Teep Beans:Lazing while Enjoying Slow Snack

main intact. However, if people seethe ripe fruits first, they will not needto wait the coming of civet to pickthem.

To process the beans, they arefirst cleansed thoroughly and dryunder the sun. Afterward, theyshould be fried without oil but sand.When they have been finely cookedthey can be enjoyed while relaxingor lazing. As the shell and beans areslightly hard, it may take a bit longtime to open and chew them. How-ever, if they are indeed dry enoughand cooked well they must be easyto open and crispy. They are good toconsume as slow snack while chat-ting or watching TV. (BTN/punia)

IBP/Diah Dewi

Airawata got a piece of his birthday cake from an elementaryschoolgirl from Gianyar Regency. Airawata celebrate his sec-ond birthday on Bali Safari and Marine Park (BSMP).

Airawata celebratedhis second birthday

the Sumatran Elephants, is importantthing to do since they have been ex-tinct in their habitat. In fact, they havebeen protected in Indonesia since1931. Unfortunately, elephants killingin Sumatra keep on going because ofcontinuous conflict between them andhuman. The Sumatran elephant is fac-ing serious pressures arising from il-legal logging and associated habitatloss and fragmentation in Indonesia.The island’s elephant population hascome under increasing threat fromrapid forest conversion to plantations.As forests shrink, elephants are in-creasingly closer to fields and culti-vated land, generating conflict withhumans that often results in the deathof the elephants by poisoning or cap-ture, as well as economic losses tohumans.

If we realize the important to con-serve elephant, we will realize howimportant Airawata is. Not only for itshabitat but also for us human that hasthe opportunity to know this big yetgentle animal. And show the veryamazing animal to our next genera-tion and keep them inform about thisspecial animal. (iah)

Balinese Culture

Monday, February 28, 2011 9

C.045 ibp

International

While boring with the ordinary servings, simply try

a delightful flavor of seafood. For instance, with a

combination of mussel ingredient and Balinese tuber

spices, it could pamper the appetite of foodies or

culinary adventurers. Tender coconut milk will

enhance the flavor of mussel.

Ingredient:

250g mussel, a cup of coconut milk

Spices: 6 cloves shallot, 4 cloves garlic, 1 large

chili, 2 small chilies, 1 slice turmeric, 1 slice kencur

(aromatic ginger), 1 slice ginger, 1 pc salam leaf, 2

pcs kaffir lime leaf, ½ tsp coriander, ½ tsp pepper, ½

tsp salt, 1 tbsp of lime juice and 2 tbsp palm oil

Method:

· Cleanse the mussels and drain. Give lime

juice to remove its odor.

· All spices are ground finely, except for kaffir

lime leaf, salam leaf, pepper, salt and coriander.

· Stir fry the ground spices until smelling

fragrant. Pour the mussel into the spices on the frying

pan and stir for a while. Add coconut milk while

pouring salt, pepper, coriander. Wait for a while until

the coconut milk turns a little dry. Take out and it is

ready to serve. (BTN/punia)

Aside from sightseeing to na-ture, leisure experience can alsobe obtained by enjoying some in-triguing local traditions. Thereare light daily activities, hobbies,traditional sports and so forth.Many people do this just for get-ting the experience, not for theend result.

Balinese community has sev-eral traditional sports and games.Probably, the only one display ofthose sports and games can befound in the annual implementa-tion of Bali Arts Festival (BAF).It poses one of the media used topreserve and promote the treasureof cultural heritages together withother cultural elements.

Such an endeavor is requiredto be introduced to modern gen-eration. If they never know aboutthose sports they will never ap-preciate theirs. Moreover, theynow tend to be attracted by mod-ern games that sometimes maketheir parents worried on accountof characters played in the videogames or the like. They may turnless patient or when having nomoney to play the games itkindles them to commit crime.No matter small it is, it remainshazardous. However, it does notnecessarily mean that moderngames must be rejected. The key

Special Mussels:Dissolved in Tenderness of Coconut Milk

Traditional Sports:

Get the Experienceas the Locals Do

is that children should be persis-tently under parental control to mini-mize the negative impact because italso contains educational value.

Meanwhile, traditional gameswill teach them how to get in touchwith nature, prepare the tools, co-operate with others and toleratefriends. Here, their patience is re-quired until the toys can be com-pleted. In addition, their relationshipwill establish togetherness in thelevel of their understanding. Sincemost traditional games are playedoutside the house, so they can knowbetter their surrounding environ-ment and friends. These values en-able them to enrich their outlook.

There are a variety of traditionalsports and games such as stilts, sackrace, coconut-shell clog, tug-of-war,pulling areca-sheath and many oth-ers. When managed well, these tra-ditional can create a good business.Craftsmen, for instance, can makethe tools and their replica that maybe taken advantage for souvenir bytourists. Moreover, if they are de-signed with the touch of Balineseornamental styles they are going togive added value.

In addition, the games like stilts(tajog) can become an optional at-traction for tourists. Getting in-volved in the games of course willdrive a pleasure of its own. Try

change the orientation. If thegames or sports usually played bythe locals, let’s share them with ourguests. Then, if the games usuallyplayed at smooth or even land canbe played with a slight challengesuch as by crossing shallow-wa-tered river or even on the beach,near the edges of waves. With dif-ferent condition and backgroundalong this challenge, it certainlybecomes an attractive and uniqueadventure.

Without doubt, there are moretraditional games and sports thatneed exploring and discovering.These traditions actually are po-tential products becoming attrac-tive games offered to visitors.While preserving, we can also of-fer something different from mod-ern games offered by other desti-nations. If Bali will ‘go green’ withits organic agriculture, its traditioncan also offer ‘eco-friendly’ attrac-tion where it is unnecessary to ex-ploit the nature excessively but iteven can go hand in hand with thepreservation of local tradition. Oneday, the treasures of traditionalgames and sports could be coa-lesced into a ‘traditional gamespark.’ Ultimately, let’s share thefun of our traditions by involvingvisitors in the experience as thelocals do. (BTN/punia)

Monday, February 28, 201110 InternationalDestinations

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Ubud Traditional Art Market where the existence is notfar different from other markets available in the tourism area.This market as a society economics center of Ubud and it isapposite to the existence of Ubud Empire that is called PuriSaren. The market is unfolding from west to easterly dividedbecome two group with different purpose. There are two mar-kets available at the same area those are one block at theWestside is for a traditional artistic market and another blocklocated in the east as an everyday traditional fundamentalmarket requirement. This market is opened every day aboutat 08:00 until 18:00, even some from them still open untilnighttime. While the traditional market for the fundamentalrequirement is opened everyday at 06:00 - even before thatthere is morning market started at 04:00 morning.

The art crafting are sold in this art market consisted ofvarious crafting, from traditional until contemporary craft-ing which its price is relatively cheap. You can do the trans-action directly to the merchant which generally can be bar-gained. All the crafting sold in this place you can bringhome as souvenir like slipper, wood idol, bag, clothes,matting, painting and a lot of more.

It is very simple way and easily to find Ubud Marketsince it is very famous among the Balinese and it is strate-gically located in the center of Ubud Village. This marketis located just in the front of Ubud Palace with crowded ofvisitor who purchases the items every day.http://people.csail.mit.edu

Ubud TraditionalArt Market

Monday, February 28, 2011 11

BUSINESS

Agence France-Presse

BRUSSELS – European lead-ers get back to the pressing busi-ness of trying to fix the eurozonedebt crisis with a hectic series ofsummits counting down to aMarch 25 deadline.

Governments know they havetheir work cut out to satisfy expect-ant markets, with the heat still onover fears for Portugal and Greece,a country that wants its existingbailout renegotiated.

Final decisions are due to bereached on the size, shape andscope of a permanent financial res-cue system being set up for Janu-ary 1, 2013.

A temporary fund, alreadytapped by Ireland in December,offers little room for manoeuvre ifPortugal needs help in the shortterm.

Eurozone paymaster Germanywon’t guarantee its backing unlessBerlin wins concessions on howother nations govern their financesfirst. Germany, supported byFrance, wants to reform every-thing from pensions to businesstaxation across the 17-nationeurozone in particular.

“We need to see a clear mes-sage from European authorities tobe sure that the crisis is behind us,”said analysts from Dexia thisweek.

The sluggish pace of decision-making has already been criticizedby a host of ministers, includingPortugal’s Fernando Teixeira dosSantos.

Analysts from the Bruegel In-stitute in Brussels also say the EUhas “lost too much time, allowedconfidence to ebb away (and) de-stroyed its credibility” in the ab-sence of an “aggressive” plan topush away market vultures.

Next Friday, leaders from theright of EU politics gather inHelsinki to plot their negotiatingstrategy - as leaders from the left,including the under-pressure Por-tugal, meet in Athens.

They are preparing a specialsummit of eurozone leaders onMarch 11, which leads, followingmore meetings of finance minis-ters, to a full summit of EU lead-ers on March 24-25.

Internal documents sharedamong EU ambassadors show thatthe prospect of a powerful deal isslim.

Of 11 major issues dividingmember states, only one had been

The tweak to the growth rate, an-nounced by Premier Wen Jiabao in anonline chat with Chinese citizens, islargely symbolic. Economic growth hasexceeded the 8 percent target each ofthe past six years that it has been a fix-ture of government plans. Last year,growth reached 10.3 percent, makingChina the world’s fastest-expandingmajor economy.

Along with the growth, however,inflation has picked up, especially forfood and housing. Economists and se-nior Chinese officials have said formonths that Beijing must downshift theeconomy to help tame prices and movetoward growth that is driven more byconsumer spending than by the heftyinvestment and bank lending that fueledthe latest spurt.

The questions selected for thepremier’s well-orchestrated online chathighlighted popular concerns about in-flation and home prices — problemsthat Wen acknowledged could causeprotests if left unchecked.

“Rapid inflation affects people’s live-lihoods and may affect social stability,”Wen said. He later added: “I know theimpact that prices can cause a countryand am deeply aware of its extremeimportance.”

Asked about the high rates ofgrowth set by local governments andworries they could worsen environ-mental degradation, Wen said thatthe 7 percent target would be em-bedded in the current five-year planfor 2011-2015 “to raise the qualityand efficiency of economic growth.”

“We absolutely cannot again sac-rifice the environment as the cost for

Reuters

NEW YORK – Warren Buffett islooking for acquisitions as an outletto deploy his $38 billion cash pile,the legendary investor said in hisannual letter to Berkshire HathawayInc shareholders on Saturday.

Buffett gave an aggressive earn-ings forecast for Berkshire’s collec-tion of businesses, said the companywould engage in record capitalspending and forecast a recovery inthe housing market would startwithin a year.

Foremost, though, was his ac-knowledgment of the need for Berk-shire to expand its non-insurancebusinesses, a broad collection thatmost prominently includes the rail-road Burlington Northern and theelectric utility MidAmerican.

China lowers its economic growth target a tadChina lowers its economic growth target a tadChina lowers its economic growth target a tadChina lowers its economic growth target a tadChina lowers its economic growth target a tadAssociate Press Writer

BEIJING – China is slightly lowering its annual economic growth target, to 7 percent from 8percent, the premier said Sunday, in a move that signals a shift in government priorities to put thebreakneck economy on a more sustainable footing.

high-speed growth, to have blinddevelopment, and in that way to cre-ate overcapacity and put greaterpressure on the environment and re-sources,” he said. “That economicdevelopment is unsustainable.”

The premier’s two-hour onlinechat on the government’s XinhuaNews Agency website came sixdays before the opening of the na-tional legislature’s annual session,during which the largely powerless,Communist Party-controlled bodywill approve the five-year plan andother policies.

Wen has held the Internet chaton the eve of the National People’sCongress for three years. The eventis designed to give a more moderncast to the often distant, authoritar-ian leadership and show its concernfor the public. Wen is theleadership’s most popular figure.Grandfatherly, polite and solicitous,he is sometimes shown on state tele-vision consoling victims of naturaldisasters and dining with workersand the poor.

In one of the more colorful gripesWen heard Sunday, a person whoidentified himself as a worker com-plained about the local officials whocut off electricity supplies to meetsevere targets Beijing issued to saveenergy. The worker, who used theonline name Fengyun Bianhuan, saidthat in his neighborhood, the cutoffforced people to use flashlightswhile cooking breakfast.

Wen said that when he learnedabout such measures, he became an-gry and ordered local government

officials to stop. Some officials weredisciplined for their actions, he said.

The premier also struck a sym-pathetic note on one of China’s mostdivisive social issues: controls thatdivide the population into rural andurban households and use that clas-sification to deprive rural migrantsof urban social services when theymove to cities. Wen said rural mi-grants now number 240 million —far higher than previous figures.

The migrants and their children“should never be discriminatedagainst in pursuing jobs, receivingcompulsory education and trainingjust because they are farmers underthe household system,” he said.

Several times, Wen underscoredthat the government’s top priority isto raise living standards. He said pre-serving jobs was the chief reason thegovernment resisted pressure to al-low the Chinese currency to rise invalue rapidly. The United States andother trading partners have criticizedChina’s currency policies, sayingthat by keeping the yuan, orrenminbi, low in value, Beijing ismaking Chinese exports cheaper.

Wen said many Chinese export-ers are engaged in assemblingcomponents into goods and facecompetition to keep prices low. “Ifthe renminbi appreciates greatlyall at once, this will cause manyprocessing enterprises to go bank-rupt or out of business. The tradeorders will shift to other countries,and many of our workers will losejobs, especially those migrantworkers,” he said.

With $38 billion cash, Warren Buffett looking for deals“Our elephant gun has been re-

loaded, and my trigger finger isitchy,” Buffett said. The letter wasreleased just before 8 a.m. EST(1300 GMT on) Saturday, as it is inmost years — and many large inves-tors say they get up early that day toread it the moment it comes online.

The so-called “Oracle ofOmaha” said Berkshire will need“more major acquisitions” — withan italicized emphasis on major —to meet its goal.

One long-time Berkshire inves-tor described the letter as “punchy”and “confidently American,”among other things.

“I would say as an investor, Ithink it’s a very upbeat letter, it’sone that celebrates his courage onbehalf of investors of going into themarketplace when the world was

most fearful,” said Tom Russo, apartner at Gardner Russo &Gardner in Lancaster, Pennsylva-nia, who is one of the 15 largestholders of Berkshire Class A shares.

Buffett’s enthusiasm forAmerica was obvious in the letter,not only in his capital spendingplans but also in his outlook on thegrowth opportunities for his rail-road, his utility business and theother companies Berkshire ownsthat are fundamentally exposed tothe U.S. economy and consumer.

“Money will always flow towardopportunity, and there is an abun-dance of that in America,” he wrote.

That outlook could provide aboost to markets on Monday, aspositive comments from Buffett’sinvestor letter have sometimes donein the past.

Europe races to meet ‘MadMarch’ debt deadline

resolved by the time ministers lastmet in the middle of February.

If they can’t even agree on howto calculate debt, as these papersseen by AFP show, how can theyconvince speculators on marketsthat they can fix their problemslong term?

Here Italy and Greece are milesapart from the rest, with Italy firmlyopposed to “faster adjustment.”

Already, we are looking at a“transitional period of three years”being introduced.

Slovakia, Slovenia and Roma-nia are massively opposed to agree-ment elsewhere “that fines and in-terest collected shall be transferred”into the rescue funds.

More strictly enforced new rulesbeing developed also include peerreview of national budgets beforethey are passed by parliaments.

Non-euro Britain, of course, “re-peated its opposition to the legalform” of the budgetary peer reviewrequirement.

Spain meanwhile refuses to pro-vide monthly state expenditure fig-ures to European partners.

At the nano-level, there is alsoa furious dispute between France(plus the Czechs and Denmark) onthe one hand, and Germany (withItaly) on the other, on how bind-ing to make a benchmark“scoreboard” of macroeconomicimbalances. These would measurethings like export strength, unem-ployment, the size of the publicsector etc.

There is already “differentiationbetween eurozone and non-euro”states but “two member states re-quested further differentiationwithin the euro area to take intoaccount converging economies,”according to these files.

That refers to France andGermany’s demands for a “com-petitiveness pact” which wouldimpose the most successful Ger-man economic policies on partners,and raises the prospect of the debt-laden Mediterranean south beingclassed differently from the north,where good housekeeping is seenas a cultural necessity.

According to centre-rightSlovakia Prime Minister IvetaRadicova, economic policyharmonisation “has its limits,” al-though others such as Estonia, theeurozone’s newest member, backthe plans.

Leaders have a lot of work todo just to “reduce the open issues,”the papers conclude.

Entertainment InternationalMonday, February 28, 201112

The movie also received Razziesfor worst supporting actor (JacksonRathbone, who was cited for both“The Last Airbender” and “TheTwilight Saga: Eclipse”) and for aspecial award, worst eye-gougingmisuse of 3-D. A spoof of the Acad-emy Awards, the Razzies were an-nounced the night before the Oscars,Hollywood’s biggest party.

“Sex and the City 2” took threeRazzies, including worst actress, aprize shared by co-stars Sarah Jes-sica Parker, Kim Cattrall, KristinDavis and Cynthia Nixon, worstscreen couple or ensemble for its

Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – To the movieindustry, the Oscars are an awardsceremony. For the rest of us, they’rea show. So while we couldn’t re-call last year’s best picture on a bet(Cameron’s blue-aliens movie?No, wait, it was “Hurt Locker”from his ex!), we savor the memoryof Billy Crystal’s great opening bitsand Jack Palance’s one-armedpush-ups and brave ChristopherReeve onstage, alone, in a wheel-chair.

So, Academy Awards, what areyou going to do for us in the three-hour-and-then-some ABC broad-cast starting at 8 p.m. EST Sunday?

Nobody’s complaining aboutseeing the likes of nomineesNatalie Portman, Amy Adams orColin Firth in their designer dudsand with a potential winner’s aura(and, in Portman’s case, the unbeat-able glow of pregnancy).

But in a year with so many ap-parent dead-certs — includingPortman as best actress for “BlackSwan,” Firth as best actor for “TheKing’s Speech” and Melissa Leoand Christian Bale of “The

Associated Press Writer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Colom-bian singer Shakira was honoredSaturday by Harvard University forher artistic and humanitarian work.She later said some U.S. states’ pro-posed anti-immigrant legislationgoes against her foundation’s effortsto provide education to poor peoplearound the world.

The Grammy Award-winningsinger, however, said Latino immi-grants in the U.S. facing variousanti-immigrant bills will have “jus-tice” as public awareness about theirplight grows.

AP Photo/Josh Reynolds

Shakira

Shakira: Latinos in US will have ‘justice’“Justice will come. I’m sure,” Shakira

told The Associated Press after the awardceremony. “Wherever there is ... a kid,who could be the son or the daughter ofa Latino immigrant, who cannot attenda school in the United States of America,that kid should be a concern to all of usand our responsibility.”

Shakira made the comments in aninterview when asked about proposedmeasures in Arizona and elsewheretargeting illegal immigrants. A bill inArizona, for example, would bar ille-gal immigrants from attending publicschools, living in public housing ordriving. Another bill seeks to deny citi-zenship to children born in the U.S. if

their parents are illegal immigrants.“I believe we should never think

less of the Latino community becauseit’s a productive force in this coun-try,” Shakira told the AP. The singer,born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll,was awarded the “2011 Artist of theYear” from the Harvard Foundation,the university’s center for interculturalarts and science initiatives.

Foundation director S. AllenCounter said Shakira, who has soldmore than 50 million albums world-wide, was honored for her “distin-guished history of creativity,” as wellas for her charitable contributions.

Previous winners of the Harvard

award include Sharon Stone, WillSmith, Jackie Chan and HerbieHancock.

Shakira said she was humbled bythe award and the student perfor-mances at the ceremony. “As I en-tered the premises today, I had to callmy mom and say, ‘Hey mom. Guesswhat? I got into Harvard’,” saidShakira, who took a history class in2008 at UCLA.

After accepting the award, shechallenged Harvard students to domore to improve education in devel-oping countries. “Not everyone canstudy at Harvard University,” shesaid.

AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Industrial Light & Magic

In this publicity image released by Paramount Pictures, Dev Patel plays Prince Zuko in a scene from, “TheLast Airbender”.

‘Last Airbender’ rules‘Last Airbender’ rules‘Last Airbender’ rules‘Last Airbender’ rules‘Last Airbender’ rulesRazzies as worst pictureRazzies as worst pictureRazzies as worst pictureRazzies as worst pictureRazzies as worst pictureAssociated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – The action fantasy “The Last Airbender” — aboutpeople who can command fire, air, water and earth — now controlssomething else: the Razzie awards for Hollywood’s worst film achieve-ments of 2010. “The Last Airbender” led Saturday’s Razzies with fiveawards, among them worst picture, worst director and worst screen-play for M. Night Shyamalan.

entire cast, and worst prequel, re-make, rip-off or sequel.

Ashton Kutcher was picked asworst actor for “Killers” and“Valentine’s Day,” while JessicaAlba took the Razzie as worst sup-porting actress for four 2010 re-leases, “The Killer Inside Me,”“Little Fockers,” “Machete” and“Valentine’s Day.”

Shyamalan has been on a down-ward spiral since 1999 Oscar best-picture contender “The SixthSense,” which earned him directingand writing nominations atHollywood’s highest honors. He

won Razzies as worst director andworst supporting actor for his 2006fantasy flop “Lady in the Water.”

Despite terrible reviews, “TheLast Airbender” managed to find adecent audience, pulling in $300million worldwide at the box office.Shyamalan adapted the movie fromthe animated TV series “Avatar: TheLast Airbender.”

“He managed to take a cartoonproperty and make it even less life-like by making it with real actors,”said Razzies founder John Wilson.“Most people who like the show, andthis would include my 14-year-oldson, hated the movie. It made nosense whatsoever.”

“The Last Airbender” was amongmovies that critics knocked forsmudgy, blurry 3-D images. Themovie was shot in 2-D and convertedto digital 3-D to cash in on the extrafew dollars theaters charge for 3-Dscreenings.

AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS

A graffiti attributed to secretive British artist Banksy depicting a childwielding a machine gun, in black and white surrounded by coloredflowers, is spotted in Westwood, California on February 17, 2011.

Banksy, Franco’ssinging amongOscar mysteries

Fighter” for the supporting-actorprizes — we need more bells andwhistles. First, there’s the all-im-portant theme for the Kodak The-atre event. This year: “You’re in-vited.” OK. We accept.

Moving on, it’s going to becold, at least by L.A. standards,with temperatures dipping into the40s at showtime. So during thered-carpet parade, look for loyalpublicists earnestly guiding star-lets out of the chill because whycover a designer gown with a coat?

The show’s hosts are a key ele-ment and, this year, relatively dar-ing: Anne Hathaway and JamesFranco, two fine, handsome actorsbut lacking the standard creden-tials of their predecessors, whethera seasoned emcee (JohnnyCarson), comedian (Chris Rock)or song-and-dance man (HughJackman).

ABC’s promotional spots, in-cluding one in which Franco putsHathaway’s bathroom-breakquickness to the stopwatch test, area good sign that clever comedy isafoot. So is the approval of AlecBaldwin, who was a hit last yearwith co-host Steve Martin.

International Monday, February 28, 2011 13Science

Lines formed outside Tokyoelectronics stores, although theyweren’t as long as some previousgadget launches, as Nintendo of-fered purchase reservations inadvance.

The Nintendo 3DS, whichcosts 25,000 yen ($300) in Japan,goes on sale in Europe on March25 for 250 euros, and arrives inthe U.S. on March 27 for $250.Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. isbanking on the 3-D technology assales momentum gradually fadesfor earlier hits such as the Wiihome console and predecessorDS models.

Nintendo expects to sell 4 mil-lion of the 3DS machines throughthe end of March — 1.5 millionin Japan and the rest overseas.The company is expected to haveno problems meeting that target.

“It is the most comprehensivehandheld gaming device fromNintendo to date, with high-qual-ity graphics and online features,”said Hiroshi Kamide, an analystwith J.P. Morgan in Tokyo. “I be-

Agence France Presse

OTTAWA – Canada’s controver-sial annual seal hunt was expectedto get underway Thursday off HayIsland, Nova Scotia after badweather delayed its opening by oneweek, the fisheries department said.“Hunters couldn’t go out last weekbecause of storms, but they’re hop-ing to go out onto the ice tomor-row,” an official told AFP.

The hunting quota for grey sealswas upped from 50,000 to 60,000this year, the official said, addingthat the grey seal population hasgrown to more than 350,000.

A quota for the main Harp sealhunt due to begin in March has yetto be determined, the official said.Canada’s 6,000 sealers once madean average of 10 million dollarsfrom the annual hunt, with a quar-ter of it from exports to Europe,according to the Canadian govern-ment.

But a lack of sea ice in one ofthe warmest Canadian winters onrecord and a European ban on sealproducts, according to Ottawa, ru-ined what was to be a banner sealhunt last year. Most sealers stayedhome, unable to find buyers fortheir catch or stymied by a lack ofice floes for the first time in 60years on the Gulf of Saint

Associated Press Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. –The 12 astronauts in orbit are get-ting a little break after staying uplate to complete their first job to-gether.

It took longer than usual for thehatches to open between Discoveryand the International Space Station,following Saturday’s docking. Thatput the two crews behind in attach-ing an equipment platform to the

Astronauts sleep inafter busy docking day

space station.Late Saturday night, the plat-

form finally was installed. The gi-ant shelf holds a spare radiator. Itwas delivered by the shuttle.

Mission Control said the astro-nauts could sleep in Sunday morn-ing. They will spend the day pre-paring for their first spacewalk, onMonday. This is the last flight forDiscovery. The shuttle will be re-tired when it returns to Earth in justover a week.

Canada’s annual seal hunt kicks offLawrence, which usually hosts hordesof seals birthing pups.

Last month, Fisheries MinisterGail Shea announced a deal withChina to allow imports of Canadianseal meat and oils, and said she washopeful access to this new marketwould restore Canada’s sealing indus-

try.Meanwhile, Ottawa continues

to contest the EU ban on importsof seal products imposed after apublic outcry over the annualcommercial seal hunt, which ani-mal rights activists denounce ascruel.

AFP/IFAW/File

This International Fund For Animal Welfare handout photo shows ahunter as he clubs a harp seal during the opening day of the 2010Canadian commercial seal hunt.

AP Photo/Koji Sasahara

A customer plays a game on Nintendo’s newest computer game console, Nintendo 3DS, after buying it atretail store Bic Camera in central Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011. The Nintendo 3DS, offering glasses-free 3-D images, has gone on sale in Japan, ahead of a global rollout, and analysts say it promises to be the world’sfirst 3-D mass-market product.

Nintendo 3-D handheld goes on sale in JapanNintendo 3-D handheld goes on sale in JapanNintendo 3-D handheld goes on sale in JapanNintendo 3-D handheld goes on sale in JapanNintendo 3-D handheld goes on sale in JapanAssociated Press Writer

TOKYO – Nintendo’s latest game machine, offering glasses-free 3-D images, went on sale in Japan on Saturday ahead of aglobal rollout, and analysts say it promises to be the world’sfirst 3-D mass-market product. “I’m so excited,” said 9-year-old Natsumi Miyasaka, clutching her brand new blue 3DS por-table that her father bought for her.

lieve the 3DS will be the firstmass-market 3-D device.”

While 3-D technology for TVshas created a buzz, and 3-Dcamcorders are also gainingsome attention, such productshave not sold in big numbers sofar, making for a tiny fraction ofoverall TV and camcorder sales.So selling 4 million 3DS ma-chines in a month would be sig-nificant for a 3-D product.

The 3DS looks much likeolder DS machines, and has twopanels. The top panel shows 3-Dimagery, giving players an illu-sion of virtual reality, such as apuppy licking the screen frominside the machine. The bottomscreen is a touch panel.

The device also comes withthree cameras, and allows theuser to take 3-D photos. I tdoesn’t require the specialglasses needed for 3-D theatermovies or 3-D game consolesl ike r ival Sony Corp.’sPlayStation 3. They also don’trequire 3-D TV sets.

Monday, February 28, 201114 InternationalSport

From the start though it was evi-dent that it would be a tough taskas Deportivo defended deeply andappeared to be battling for theirlives. Cristiano Ronaldo was a con-stant threat but most of Real’s shotscame from distance. Their bestopenings came in a grandstand fin-ish when first substitute EmmanuelAdebayor and then Ronaldo hit thepost but they were unable to findthe all important goal.

Barcelona had shrugged offclaims that they were starting to feelthe strain as a makeshift team over-came Mallorca. Barca had not beenat their best as they lost to Arsenalin the Champions League and thenstruggled to beat Athletic Bilbao.Injuries to Xavi Hernandez, CarlesPuyol and Victor Valdes suggestedthat the exertion was starting to takeits toll.

With Dani Alves also suspendedit was an unfamiliar looking Barçaside but after Messi opened thescoring with a header followinghesitation in the penalty area, theynever looked back. David Villa mayhave been narrowly offside as heraced clear of the defence to in-crease the lead and then PedroRodriguez completed the scoring.

Agence France Presse

WIGAN, United Kingdom –Wayne Rooney was accused of el-bowing Wigan midfielder JamesMcCarthy after Manchester Unitedwent four points clear at the top ofthe Premier League with a 4-0 winat the DW Stadium. Angry Wiganmanager Roberto Martinez in-sisted United’s England strikershould have been sent off after thefirst half incident on Saturday.

The game was goalless whenRooney clashed with McCarthy,but United eventually ran out easywinners with Rooney scoring thekiller third goal. Rooney caughtMcCarthy in the face with his el-bow during the opening minutes,but referee Mark Clattenburg tookno action apart from awarding thehosts a free-kick.

Martinez felt Rooney’s elbowwas part of a plan by United to in-timidate McCarthy. “I felt WayneRooney was very fortunate. It wasclearly a red card,” Martinez said.“I saw the incident clearly and thereferee did as well because he gavethe free-kick.

“Once you give a free-kick it isquite clear that it is a red card.When you look at the replay, it isquite clear he catches JamesMcCarthy in the face with his el-bow. “Manchester United were try-ing to impose themselves on JamesMcCarthy and stop him from play-ing.

“If one of my players had donethat, I would think he was verylucky to stay on the pitch. “It is abig call in the game. It is unfortu-nate because the referee saw it buthe didn’t feel it was a red card.”However, United manager Sir AlexFerguson felt Clattenburg wasright not to punish Rooney. “I havehad a chance to see it. There isnothing in it,” Ferguson said.“Mark Clattenburg saw it. I think

AFP PHOTO/Jaime REINA

Barcelona’s Brazilian defender Adriano (L) vies with Mallorca’s defender Ayoze Diaz duringtheir Spanish League football match at Iberostar Stadium in Palma de Mallorca, on February26, 2011.

Barca stretch La Liga leadBarca stretch La Liga leadBarca stretch La Liga leadBarca stretch La Liga leadBarca stretch La Liga leadto seven points as Real heldto seven points as Real heldto seven points as Real heldto seven points as Real heldto seven points as Real heldAgence France Presse

MADRID – Barcelona moved seven points clear in La Liga after Real Madrid showed plentyof effort but insufficient invention as they drew 0-0 against a well-organised Deportivo La Corunaon Saturday. After Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Mallorca earlier, the pressure was on Real whowent into the late game in confident mood after three consecutive wins.

After the game coach PepGuardiola admitted that they werefinding it difficult to break downMallorca until the first goal. “It isnot easy to come in if you don’t playevery week but if you have the per-sonality of Seydou (Keita) then itis a lot simpler. He along withAndres (Iniesta) were vital to us inthe first half and I will rememberthis match as the toughest for us toscore,” he said.

“After a long week we didn’thave much rhythm but the firstgoal helped us a lot and we suf-fered less. The 3-0 result was verygood against a side which has con-ceded few goals at home.” An im-pressive second half display byEspanyol helped them to a 4-1 winover Real Sociedad and put theirEuropean hopes back on track.

All the talk before the gamewas about the return ofSociedad’s Raul Tamudo to hisformer club where he is the all-time highest goal scorer, but hefailed to find a way passed animpressive Carlos Kameni in theEspanyol goal. Against the run ofplay, Daniel Estrada put the ballinto his own net but he madeamends two minutes later to

bring Sociedad level.Espanyol, who had lost their last

four games, were much improvedafter the interval with SergioGarcia’s clinical finish followed bygoals from Jose Callejon and JaviMarquez. Atletico Madrid twicecame from behind to earn a 2-2 drawwith Sevilla.

In a match between two sides thathave struggled for consistency,Alvaro Negredo gave Sevilla thelead but Jorge Koke headed Atleticolevel immediately after the restart.Ivan Rakitic restored the Andalusianside’s advantage before Jose Anto-nio Reyes earnt Atletico a point.

Sporting Gijon’s relegation clashwith Zaragoza ended in a 0-0 stale-mate as neither side showed suffi-cient courage to commit players inattack.

Valencia have taken advantage ofa slump in form from Villarreal tomove into third place but tomorrowthey face a tough match away to Ath-letic Bilbao who have a strong homerecord.

Villarreal travel to RacingSantander having picked up just onepoint from three games as their ex-tra commitments in the EuropaLeague appear to be taking their toll.

AP Photo/Jon Super

Manchester United’s Javier Hernandez celebrates after scor-ing against Wigan Athletic during their English PremierLeague soccer match at The DW Stadium, Wigan, England,Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011.

Man United survivescare to rout Wigan

he said it was an accident.“But, what will happen, the

question has been asked and be-cause it is Wayne Rooney the presswill raise a campaign to get himhung by Tuesday or electrocuted orsomething like that. “It is unbeliev-able. Watch the press. It will be in-teresting to see it.”

Despite the controversy, Unitedtravel to reigning championsChelsea on Tuesday knowing thatvictory at Stamford Bridge willleave them seven points clear ofArsenal at the top of the table. Theyovercame a laboured first half per-formance to win comfortablythanks to two goals from JavierHernandez, one from Rooney andFabio Da Silva’s late effort.

But veteran keeper Edwin vander Sar still had to produce a vin-tage display to deny Wigan’s Vic-tor Moses, Ben Watson and MaynorFigueroa. “In the first 20 minutesit was all Wigan, they had somegreat attempts,” Ferguson added.“Chicarito (Javier Hernandez) isgreat in the penalty box, though,and in the second half I thought wewere excellent.

“We’re very pleased with thatperformance, although we had tohang on a bit at times. Getting thefirst goal settled us down a bit.”Relegation-threatend Wigan areone point adrift of safety but haveplayed more games than some oftheir struggling rivals.

They have 10 games to savethemselves but with ManchesterCity, Tottenham and Chelsea stillto come, Martinez knows it willrequire something special to getclear of trouble. “The way it is go-ing this season we cannot expectany favours and we are going tohave to work hard to climb out ofthe bottom three,” Martinez added.“It’s clear the points tally to avoidrelegation is going to be higher thisseason.”

Monday, February 28, 2011 15International Sport

He played just three tournaments ina 2010 season that was derailed by aright wrist injury. In the weeks leadingup to the Delray Beach tournament, hereached the semi-finals at San Jose andin Memphis “It’s amazing for me, thiscomeback, and I’m trying to get betterday by day,” he said. “I’m trying to playsimilar to 2009 but it is very tough. To-morrow I’ll be in my first final in morethan a year and that’s great for me.”

Del Potro will face sixth-seededJanko Tipsarevic of Serbia, who isseeking his first career title. Tipsarevic,ranked 52nd in the world, beat Japan’sKei Nishikori 6-4, 6-4 to reach his thirdcareer final. Del Potro played a flaw-less first set, but Fish took a 4-1 lead in

Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – Paul Piercescored 24 points, Ray Allen added22, and the Boston Celtics ralliedin the second half for their fourthvictory in five games, 99-92 overthe Los Angeles Clippers on Satur-day night.

Kevin Garnett had 16 points and11 rebounds for the defending East-ern Conference champions, whobegan the process of integratingnewcomers Jeff Green and NenadKrstic into their lineup after acquir-ing them from Oklahoma City in atrade for Kendrick Perkins.

Krstic had nine points and sixrebounds while starting at center forthe Celtics, who made a 24-7 runspanning halftime. After sleepwalk-ing through portions of a loss inDenver on Thursday night imme-diately after the trade, the Celticsregained their usual late-game ex-ecution at Staples Center.

Randy Foye scored 32 pointsand Blake Griffin added 21 pointsand 11 rebounds for the Clippers intheir first home game since Feb. 2following an 11-game road trip. TheClippers had won nine straighthome games before losing to Chi-cago right before their epic trip.

The Clippers committed 21turnovers in their 10th loss in 12games, but at least they’re homeafter what’s thought to be the sec-ond-longest road trip in NBA his-

Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW – Sochi’s mascots forthe 2014 Winter Olympics are asqueaky-voiced figure skating bunny,a roly-poly polar bear and a cool-guysnowboard leopard.

The unusual decision to have threemascots was announced by Sochiorganizing committee head DmitryChernyshenko on Saturday at the end

Celtics hold off Clippersfor latest road win

AP Photo/Alex Gallardo

Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce, center, shoots over LosAngeles Clippers forward Al-Farouq Aminu, left, with centerChris Kaman, right, defending during the second half of anNBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011, in Los Ange-les. Celtics won the game 99-92.

tory, stretching nearly four weekswhile the Grammys and the NBAAll-Star weekend occupied StaplesCenter. The game also was Los An-geles’ fourth in five nights out of theAll-Star break, including last night’sloss to the Lakers.

Green struggled early off thebench in his first game with theCeltics, finishing with seven pointsand one rebound in 17 minutes.Coach Doc Rivers intends to useGreen early as Pierce’s backup, buthe gave a debut start to Krstic, whoalso committed five fouls while get-ting to know his teammates.

Although Rajon Rondo managedjust two points while taking twoshots and racking up 11 assists, theCeltics’ four All-Stars didn’t needmuch backup against the Clippers.Pierce scored 16 in the second half,and the Celtics maintained a leadover Los Angeles down the stretch,delighting thousands of green-cladCeltics fans.

While the Celtics had their new-comers in uniform, new Clippers MoWilliams and Jamario Moon stillweren’t allowed to suit up while theclub finishes up the paperwork afteracquiring them from Cleveland forBaron Davis, who apparently stillhasn’t taken his physical for theCavaliers.

Rookie Eric Bledsoe had anothertough game while starting in Davis’usual spot, scoring six points on 3-of-10 shooting with six assists.

Del Potro reachesDel Potro reachesDel Potro reachesDel Potro reachesDel Potro reachesDelray Beach ATP finalDelray Beach ATP finalDelray Beach ATP finalDelray Beach ATP finalDelray Beach ATP final

AFP/File/Nicolas Asfouri

Juan Martin del Potro’s (pictured in January) return from injury continued to gather pace onSaturday as the Argentinean booked his place in the final of the $442,500 ATP Delray BeachChampionships.

Agence France Presse

DELRAY BEACH, Florida – Juan Martin del Potro’s return from injury continued to gatherpace as the Argentinean booked his place in the final of the $442,500 ATP Delray Beach Champi-onships. Del Potro on Saturday defeated second-seeded American Mardy Fish 6-1, 7-5 to reachhis first final since he won the 2009 US Open title.

the second.Del Potro managed to break back

and level the second at 4-4, and afterFish held serve for a 5-4 lead del Potrowon the final three games. “He im-proved his game in the second set andhe’s very dangerous,” Del Potro said.“I just became very focused on tryingto break his serve. “In the importantmoments I played better and that wasthe key for the match.”

Tipsarevic, a member of Serbia’s tri-umphant 2010 Davis Cup team, will behoping to break through for a first titleafter settling for runner-up finishes inhis only two prior trips to a final - atMoscow in 2009 and ‘s-Hertogenboschin 2010. He has dropped just one set in

four matches here.“I’m really happy with the week and

my match today,” he said. “There’s stillone more match to go. I hope I canmaintain the level that I played today,and all throughout the week. AgainstNishikori, the 2008 Delray Beachchampion, Tipsarevic converted bothof his break point opportunities as headded another victory over the Japa-nese player to the one he claimed in theChennai quarter-finals last month.

“I think the main difference is theserve,” Tipsarevic said. “I managed towin one or two points a service gamewith an ace or a winner, while Kei hadto grind for every possible point on hisservice games.”

3 Sochi Olympic mascots: bear,bunny, leopard

of a nationally televised show. View-ers could vote by phone for their fa-vorites among nine candidates.

Originally there were 10 candi-dates, including Ded Moroz, the Rus-sian equivalent of Santa Claus. Re-portedly the early favorite, he waspulled from the competition after or-ganizers realized mascots become theintellectual property of the Interna-tional Olympic Committee.

Monday, February 28, 201116 SportI N T E R N A T I O N A L

DUCATI team boss Filippo Preziosi is adamant thatthe squad can resolve the issues that have kept it off thepace so far in winter testing. Valentino Rossi and NickyHayden were both outside the top 10 on the final day ofthis week’s Sepang test, with the Italian expressing con-cern about how much he was struggling with chassis set-up on the GP11.

But Preziosi feels Ducati’s final Sepang results were un-representative, pointing out that the test was disrupted byRossi having to miss one of the three days through illness.

“In Malaysia we have not finished in a position in linewith our original target but this was also due to some backluck,” said Preziosi. “After a promising start to the test,Valentino became ill and lost a full day on the track, forc-ing him to cram all of the remaining work into the lastday.” He said that huge efforts were already underway toget Ducati on terms with current winter pacesetter Honda.“Valentino, Nicky and all the guys at the track were work-ing flat-out, and we are doing the same back in the fac-tory,” Preziosi said.

“We are confident that by going forward with this samelevel of commitment, and staying focused on our objec-tives we will realise the potential that we know we have.”Ducati also carried out a three-day test at Jerez this weekwith development rider Franco Battaini.

“Based on the feedback from Valentino and Nicky, wecarried the work forward on a parallel course which willallow us to provide concrete solutions for the next test inQatar,” said Preziosi of Battaini’s programme in Spain.

“We have also continued to work on the chassis set-up,gathering data which we will return to the factory with onMonday for comparison with that of Sepang.”

“The way he stepped into theteam, he came to the factory, hehad a brief introduction to the en-gineers and sat down with us foran hour,” Boullier explained.“When he was testing at Jerez, Iwas listening on the radio and theway he was talking to the engi-neers, he was right there [settledin the team]. I was already half-convinced that morning.”

Boullier had not expectedHeidfeld to step into the role soquickly and decisively. “I was sur-prised about the fact that he wasable to position himself so earlyand so easily as a team leader,”said the Frenchman. “I would haveunderstood that he could havetaken some time.

“The guy, after the first run, wasalready clearly demanding somechanges if he could stay with theteam.” Boullier said that the needfor a driver who could show tech-nical leadership was a key factorin Renault’s hunt for a substitutefor Kubica, and that Heidfeld wasalways first choice.

“Because the accident happenedat such an early stage of the sea-son, we concluded very rapidlythat we needed a very experienceddriver - and fast, obviously - andhaving enough character to leadsome technical decisions or to takesome decisions in a firm mannerwith the team,” said Boullier.

“When you draw up this profile,and I added if possible [that we

Renault: Heidfeld already leading teamRenault team boss Eric Boullier says it was obvious from Nick Heidfeld’s first few laps in

the car that he was the man the squad needed to lead its 2011 charge in the absence of theinjured Robert Kubica. Heidfeld will fill in alongside Vitaly Petrov at Renault until Kubica

recovers from the multiple injuries he suffered in a rally crash three weeks ago. The Germanhad a test audition for Renault before being snapped up, and Boullier said he was very im-

pressed by the way Heidfeld immediately took charge.

wanted] experience with Pirellityres and knowledge of havingraced with KERS in 2009, it wasobvious that was only one tickingall the boxes, which was Nick. “Ontop of this, I’d had several meetingswith him last year because he’dwanted to follow very closely thesituation with our 2011 second seat.

“We even discussed this withRobert actually. I was too early, hewas just waking up from the coma,but Gerard [Lopez] talked withhim and Robert raised two names:Nick and [Tonio] Liuzzi.” Renaultalso has Bruno Senna and RomainGrosjean on its books as reservedrivers, plus Fairuz Fauzy, JanCharouz and Ho-Pin Tung withina driver development programme.

Boullier said that had Renault’sneed for a substitute occurred fur-ther into the year, it would havedipped into its own reserve line-up rather than recruiting an exter-nal driver. “If it had happened laterin the season, the car would havebeen developed. I would have gonefor one of our reserve drivers,” hesaid.

“Also, the guy would have spentsix months with us [by then], hewould have known everybody, hewould have been aware of the pro-cedures.

“There was too much risk to puton the shoulders of two youngguys the responsibility to developthis car. That would have been stu-pid for me to gamble on this.”

AFP PHOTO/JOSEP LAGO

Lotus Renault GP’s German Nick Lars Heidfeld drives during a training session on February21, 2011 at Catalunya’s racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona.

Ducati vows to solve GP11’s problems

AFP PHOTO / Saeed Khan

Ducati rider Valentino Rossi of Italy take partin a MotoGP pre-season second test run onthe Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur onFebruary 24, 2011. The MotoGP season startsin Qatar on March 20.