As of this October, another 47 nations will be included on this list, bringing the new total number of countries that are not required to apply for a visa when their citizens visit Indonesia, to 92 countries.

Coordinating Minister for Mari-time Affairs Rizal Ramli stated that the 47 new countries will be added

to the visa-free list as of October in order to coincide with the yearend holidays.

“Originally, it was proposed to be made effective as of January next year, but we did not want to wait that long and wanted to capitalize on the yearend tourist season,” he affirmed.

Ramli has therefore called for the required technical preparations to be made before the policy is implemented.

He added that visa-free entry is the most effective way to draw more visitors to the country.

The government has set a tar-get of attracting up to 20 million foreign tourists to visit the country in 2019.

He remarked that the implemen-tation of the visa free policy in April already resulted in a 15 percent

increase in the number of foreign visitors to Indonesia compared to the average increase of 4 percent.

Indonesia recorded 9 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2014, compared to the 8.8 million visi-tors in 2013.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya emphasized that the government expects there to be a 20 percent increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals during the first and second phase of the implementation of the visa-free policy.

“We expect an increase of one to two million tourists a year, which will reflect a 20 percent growth in our target,” he added. (ant)

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

16 Pages Number 196 7th year

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

Price: Rp 3.000,-

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

DPs 23 - 32

EntertainmentWEATHER FORECAsT

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Page 13Page 8Page 6

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

bali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http://radioglobalfmbali.com and http://ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.

SAN FRANCISCO — An extreme sports star skydiving for the opening ceremony of a golf event in Northern California died when he struck a tree Monday, authorities said.

Placer County Sheriff’s Capt. Dennis Walsh said Erik Roner, of Tahoe City, died during a skydiving accident at a golf course in Squaw Valley, about 5 miles from Lake Tahoe’s northwest shore.

Witnesses told deputies Roner, 39, was part of a group conducting a skydiving performance before a golf tournament when he hit a tree while trying to land and became entangled high above ground, Walsh said.

Authorities were not able to remove him from the tree, and Roner was pronounced dead at the scene. The other skydivers landed safely on the golf course in Squaw Valley, home of the ski resort that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics. Walsh said the investigation was continuing and the Federal Aviation Administration was notified.

Roner’s death comes four months after world-famous wingsuit flyer Dean Potter and fellow adventurer Graham Hunt fatally crashed after the pair leaped from Taft Point, 3,500 feet above Yosemite Valley, at-tempting to clear a V-shaped notch in a ridgeline.

“Erik was a beautiful man, great father, wonderful friend and the love of my life,” his wife, Annika Roner, said in a statement.

Roner, a professional skier and avid BASE jumper, was known for being part of “Nitro Circus,” an MTV show centered around freestyle motocross rider Travis Pastrana and his crew of extreme sports athlete friends. He also hosted the TV show “Locals” on sports network Outside Television.

“Nitro Circus” ended in 2009 after two seasons. “Nitro Circus Live,” where Roner also appeared, aired on MTV2 for four seasons until last year, MTV spokeswoman Jennifer Solari said.

“Erik was an amazing person who made everyone and everything around him better,” Pastrana said.

Roy Tuscany, a friend of Roner who witnessed the accident, said he watched as two other parachutists landed safely on the golf course’s fairway for the ninth hole but then looked on in horror when Roner slammed hard into a tree about 25 to 30 feet above the ground.

He said Roner’s parachute got caught in the tree and Roner dangled there while many on the ground scrambled to find ladders and other means to get to him. At one point, several people attempted to stand on one another’s shoulders to reach him. Roner is survived by his wife and two children. (ap)

The lawsuit filed by Meadow Rain Walker seeks unspecified damages for defects that her lawyers claim kept the actor trapped in the Porsche Carrera GT when it crashed and burst into flames in November 2013.

Walker was on a break from film-ing the seventh film in the “Fast & Furious” franchise when he was killed. He was riding in the Carrera GT driven by friend and business associate Roger Rodas when the car spun out of control, struck three trees and burst into flames on a street in Santa Clarita, California.

The wrongful-death suit claims the car, which was marketed as a street-legal race car, lacked a proper stabil-ity control system and safeguards to protect occupants and keep it from catching fire after a collision.

“Absent these defects in the Porsche Carrera GT, Paul Walker

would be alive today,” the lawsuit states.

An email sent to representatives of Porsche Cars North America was not immediately returned.

The 18-page lawsuit includes a detailed recounting of the crash and contends that the Porsche was travel-ing 63 to 71 mph (101 to 114 kph) when it spun out of control.

Investigators concluded the Porsche was going much faster — up to 94 mph (151 kph) — when it crashed.

The investigation by the Los Ange-les County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol concluded that it was unsafe speed and not me-chanical problems that caused the crash. That investigation was aided by engineers from Porsche, who evalu-ated the wreckage of the rare car.

Meadow Walker’s lawsuit con-

tends Porsche didn’t include a stabil-ity control system in the Carrera GT model Rodas was driving but includes it in other models. It also claims the car lacked proper reinforcements in its doors and used rubber fuel lines that didn’t break free to prevent a fire in a crash.

Similar allegations of design and safety defects were included in a wrongful death lawsuit by Rodas’ widow, Kristine Rodas, that remains pending in a federal court in Los Angeles. Rodas was trained as a race car driver and was only driving 55 mph (89 kph), according to his wife’s lawsuit. He left behind two young children when he died.

Walker, the star of the “Fast & Furious” film franchise, co-owned an auto racing team with Rodas named Always Evolving. Meadow Walker, 16, is the sole heir of his estate. Walk-er’s two brothers helped complete action scenes in “Furious 7,” which earned more than $1.5 billion globally after it was released in April.

LOS ANGELES — If you’re planning to look up Usher, Luke Bryan or producer Armin van Buuren on the web, take heed. Intel Security announced Tuesday that the musicians top its ninth annual list of the most dangerous celebrities online.

Searches for those famous names are most likely to land users on websites that carry viruses or malware. The company used its own site ratings to compile the celebrity list.

Searches for Dutch trance DJ van Buuren carry the most risk: users have an almost 18 percent chance of landing on a web page with potential for online threats. Bryan, Usher, Britney Spears and Jay-Z round out the top five. A Katy Perry search carries a nearly 15 percent chance of connecting with a tainted site.

Also on this year’s list: Amy Schumer, Nina Dobrev, Lorde and Betty White. (ap)

Paul Walker’s daughter sues Porsche over fatal crash

LOS ANGELES — Paul Walker’s daughter sued Porsche for wrongful death Monday, claiming the sports car that her father was in when he was killed suffered from numerous design defects.

Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File

In this Dec. 29, 2014 file photo, Armin van Buuren performs at Pier 94 in New York. Intel Security announced Tuesday that the musicians top its ninth annual list of the most dangerous celebrities online.

MTV extreme sports star killed in Calif. skydiving accident

Musicians Armin van Buuren, Luke Bryan most dangerous online

Thailand’s ousted PM files criminal case against opponents

US, Cuba leaders to meet for 2nd time in this year

Sepp Blatter tells FIFA staff he has done nothing illegal

THE NUMBER of foreign tourist ar-rivals to Indonesia appears to be unaf-fected by the current global economic gloom, as evidenced by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) data for the January-July 2015 period. According to

the BPS, the first seven months of 2015 have seen a 2.65 percent increase in the

n u m - ber of foreign visitors to Indonesia, compared to last year. There is a recorded total of 5.47 million visitors so far for 2015, compared to 5.33 million visitors from January to Sepetember, 2014.

BPS Chairman Suryamin noted that the number of tourist arrivals in July 2015 also rose 4.76 percent to 814.2 thousand from 777.2 thousand arrivals in July 2014. However, there was an o.11 percent decline in visitors from June to July 2015.

In Bali, the country’s iconic tourist resort province, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the first seven months of 2015 also rose by 10.09 percent to 2,299,995 compared to the same period last year.

“I believe that 95 percent of foreign tourists who visit will return which helped to exceed the government-set target of 4 million tourist arrivals for 2015,” stated tourism observer Dewa Nyoman Putra.

Despite the global economic slowdown, the number of foreign tourists visiting Bali via Ngurah Rai Airport re-mained stable in the January-July 2015 period, he pointed out. This means that the number of tourist arrivals in Bali over this period amounted to 2.2 million, he reitereated.

The international community still views Bali as a pre-ferred tourist destination, he remarked.

Continue to page 2Dropped...

47 more countries to enjoy visa-free entry as of October

JAKARTA - In an effort to attract more foreign tourists, in April this year, the Indonesian government added 30 more to the list of countries whose citizens do not require visas for short visits to Indonesia, bringing the total to 45.

Tourism booming despite global economic slowdown

IBP/Wawan

Tourists visit Kedonganan Fish Market in Badung Regency during their holiday in Bali. In Bali, the country’s iconic tourist resort province, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the first seven months of 2015 also rose by 10.09 per-cent to 2,299,995 compared to the same period last year.

International2 15International Activities

COVER STORY

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

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

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

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

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

Balinese Temple Ceremony

Wednesday, September 30, 2015Wednesday, September 30, 2015

From page 1Dropped...

JIMBArAN - InterConti-nental Bali Resort is delighted to announce the recent ap-pointment of Ms Kamal Haer as the new Area Director of Sales and Marketing. She will be responsible for leading and further improving all aspects of the sales and marketing communications team at Bali’s IHG Resorts.

Kama l ha s l i ved and worked in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji and holds a Master of Business in Market-ing from RMIT University in Melbourne. She comes to Bali direct from Fiji and where she fulfilled the role of Area Director of Sales and Market-ing, South Pacific for IHG Resorts: InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa, Holiday Inn Suva, and Holiday Inn Vanuatu. Prior to that, she held the position of Head of Marketing, Retail Sales and Distribution, Fiji and Pacific, at ANZ Bank, overseeing 11 Pacific countries. Kamal also has extensive experience in sales, marketing, revenue management and strategy development within the air-line, telecommunications, and financial services industries. Kamal possesses great lead-ership skills, a passion for excellence and a talent for developing high-performing teams that drive excellent business results.

“It is great to welcome Ka-mal to our executive team and we look forward to supporting her in the implementation of her knowledge and experi-ence,” said Area General Man-ager, Mr. Michel Chertouh.

“I’m delighted to be part of the team, and I will utilise my experience to provide top-notch service and support, as well as building new business relationships in Bali,” respond-ed Kamal.”

Blessed by an endless stretch of white sand beach overlook-

ing the tranquil waters of Jim-baran Bay, InterContinental Bali Resort features 417 guest rooms in three unique levels of accommodation. The property embraces a 14 hectare tropical landscape that is a blend of indigenous flora, gentle water-ways and stone statues reflect-ing the island’s artistic heritage. There are six swimming pools, Planet Trekkers children’s re-

sort, a fitness centre and plenty of recreational activities to keep guests occupied throughout the day. Spa Uluwatu is a dedicated healing and beauty facility for individual sessions, while the exclusive Villa Retreats prom-ises indulging spa packages for couples. A superb choice of restaurant venues makes every dining experience an adventure in culinary excellence.

InterContinental Bali Resort appoints

Kamal Haer as Director of Sales and Marketing

IBP/Courtesy of InterContinental

“If we pursue quantity, we must turn to creative tourism (artificial—Ed). If we continue to offer culture and nature, these have a carrying capacity with particular limitation. It’s impossible for us to send 10,000 tourists to Besakih. With artificial recreation, if the market is good, then the capacity can still be expanded,” said Chair-man of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) of Bali, Dr. Tjok. Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati or Cok Ace.

Cok Ace said that there are three fundamental aspects to tourism namely; capital, skill and unique-ness. Of these three aspects, Bali lacks both capital and skills. Practi-cally speaking this island only has uniqueness to offer. Result of the survey conducted by the Bank In-donesia indicate that only 22 percent of foreign tourists are demanding cultural tourism, while 56 percent demand “artificial,” tourism.

“Some people interpret this to mean that that non-cultural tour-ism should be encouraged in Bali. Let us suppose that these figures are correct, this would indicate that local community involvement in the development of tourism in Bali has begun to run thin,” he said.

This former regent of Gianyar added that the government, the public and tourism players need to sit down together in order to find out what is wrong with Bali tourism. Is the declining interest in cultural tourism caused by internal issues -chiefly tour guides no lon-ger wanting to take guests to enjoy cultural attractions because they are not well maintained?

“Are the unattractive condition caused by the lack of government attention to infrastructure, such as damaged roads leading to such destinations? Is the local com-munity too overprotective? I have heard from tour guide colleagues

that there is discrimination when entering Besakih, for example, that some guides are allowed to enter while the others are not, et cetera,” he explained.

According to Cok Ace, the three issues need to be dealt with so that the reasons for the 22 percent figure can become clear. Neverthe-less, he agreed that all components of society, including the govern-ment, should immediately improve the conditions of cultural tourism in order to increase the demand for it by foreign travellers, so that the figure can be raised to 80 percent. That way, Balinese people will not simply become the object of tourism but can instead be the subject.

The PDI-P Faction in the Bali House of Representatives pre-sented the results of the survey made by the Bank if Indonesia in its plenary meeting on Tuesday (Sep. 22). Member of Commission II of the Bali House of Representa-tives, A.A. Ngurah Adhi Ardhana, said that the results of the survey indicate that cultural tourism as set forth in the Regional Bylaw has deviated much from its original

purpose. Bali has started to move towards mass tourism which does not rely on the strengths of the Island of the Gods.

“What does this mean? It means that Balinese people have been shifted too far from their origins. I am not saying that everyone should be Hindu, but people have been changed by other cultures and religions that threaten to elimi-nate what is known as Balinese,” he said.

Adhi Ardana made the anal-ogy between the results of the survey and a tsunami that has hit Bali’s cultural tourism. Moeny and power from outside of Bali will come here and cause the full marginaliztion of Balinese people if we do not do something now. If not there will be massive struggles with industry in terms of both quality and quantity.

“If the regional basis is under-developed, quality will be lost. The problem lies in price, and it is getting lower and lower, meaning our tourism has become cheap-ened and if things continue like this we may see an end soon,” he explained. (kmb32)

However, the number of tourists arriving from neighboring ASEAN countries has dropped. This de-crease was due to the volcanic ash spewed form the recent eruption of Mount Raung in East Java.

“The number of tourists coming from Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore declined in July 2015. Probably, they were afraid of not being able to return home on schedule,” said Putra.

He also mentioned that despite the fact that the majority of visitors to Bali for any given month come form Australia, there was a recorded drop from 94,664 Australian visitors in June to 81,456 in July, though they remain in the lead compared to other neighbouring countries.

Putra pointed out that apart from concerns about the volcanic eruption, the decrease in the number of Aus-tralian tourists was also probably due to the execution of Australian drug convicts a some months back.

He said that based on data re-leased by the office of Bali’s Tour-ism Service, 567,546 Australian tourist arrivals were recorded in the January-July 2015 period, up by 4.91 percent compared to the 541,008 arrivals noted in the same period in 2014.

However, Australians still topped the list of foreign tourist arrivals in the January-July 2015 period, accounting for 24.81 percent of the total 2.2 mil-lion foreign tourist arrivals to Bali.

A drop in tourist arrivals from Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand to Bali was also observed.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals from Singapore dropped 20.41 percent from 104,921 in the January-July 2014 period, to 83,511 for the same period in 2015.

A similar trend was also observed for Malaysian tourist arrivals, which went down by 11.35 percent to 110,965 in the January-July 2015 period compared to 125,173 record-ed in the same period last year.

Meanwhile the number of Thai tourists visiting Bali also went down from 18,377 in the first seven months of 2014 to 17,585 in the cor-responding period in 2015.

According to Putra the main contributing factor to the decline in visits was due to the volcanic erup-tion a few months back that caused a number of flights in and out of Bali to be cancelled. “However, all this is temporary and conditions should return to normal,” argued Putra. (ant)

IBP/Wawan

Tourists take selfie in Kedonganan Pier during their holiday in Bali Island. Bali tourism is now at a crossroads. The spirit of cultural tourism has started to be replaced by so-called industrial tourism.

Bali tourism at a crossroadsBALI tourism is now at a crossroads. The spirit of cultural

tourism has started to be replaced by so-called industrial tourism. The Island of the Gods should immediately take a stand, whether to pursue quantity or maintain the quality of tourism.

314 InternationalInternational Bali NewsTechnology Wednesday, September 30, 2015Wednesday, September 30, 2015

LOS ANGELES — Virtual reality is taking a few steps closer to the mainstream with Samsung unveil-ing a headset that brings the technology to its latest smartphones at half the price of its previous model, Facebook launching support for 360-degree video, and online video services like Netflix and Hulu jumping into the format.

The announcements at a developers conference in Los An-geles for virtual reality technology company Oculus represent attempts to push the platform beyond a video-gamer-focused niche.

Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who cut a deal to buy Oculus for $2 billion last year, told some 1,500 conference at-tendees Thursday that virtual reality is “the next logical step” in online sharing after text, photos and video.

“In just a few years, VR has gone from being this science fiction dream to an awesome reality,” he said. “And now we all here have a chance to change the way we play, communicate and collaborate.”

Zuckerberg showed off a promo for the upcoming “Star Wars” movie showing a speeding vehicle zooming over the desert landscape of fictional planet Jakku. Users can look around in any direction using their mouse as the video is playing.

Samsung said its new virtual reality headset will be 22 percent lighter and cost $99, half the price of its previous model. The Gear VR, which requires users to insert the latest version of a Samsung smartphone into the headset, will ship in November.

Netflix content is available to be viewed in Oculus or Sam-sung headsets starting Thursday, while Hulu said it would also bring its app to the Oculus platform where users can stream 2-D content as well as an original virtual reality short film called “The Big One,” from YouTube star Freddie Wong’s RocketJump production company. A Hulu launch date wasn’t announced.

Meanwhile, Oculus said it would begin a certification pro-gram so consumers can look for a sticker that will identify which computers support its Oculus Rift headset, which is due to come out early next year. Asus, Dell and Alienware will have certified models that cost less than $1,000. (ap)

WASHINGTON - BlackBerry announced plans Friday to sell an Android-powered smartphone, in the latest reboot effort from the faded star of the sector.

The Canadian firm said its would begin selling “Priv,” describe as “a flagship handheld device that will run on the Android operating system with BlackBerry security,” expected to be available later this year.

“Priv combines the best of BlackBerry security and produc-tivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform,” said John

Chen, executive chairman and chief executive.

BlackBerry said however it “re-mains committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which enables industry-leading security and pro-ductivity benefits.”

The company said it “will con-tinue to develop and enhance the BlackBerry 10 operating system and is confirming plans to release platform updates focused on secu-rity and privacy enhancements,” in March 2016.

The BB 10 operating system was unveiled in 2013 as part of an effort

to regain market share lost as con-sumers around the world shifted to devices running on Google Android and Apple’s iOS.

But the operating system share has fallen further, and now rep-resents less than one percent of smartphone users.

BlackBerry, one of the early pioneers of smartphones, has been struggling for years. It has made several efforts to find new customer niches, with low-cost devices, tab-lets and by shifting its emphasis to software and services.

In releasing its quarterly results,

BlackBerry said it swung to a profit of $51 million for the three months to August 29, compared with a loss of $207 million in the same period a year ago.

But the profit came from a one-time credit from an adjustment in the value of some of its debts.

Revenues for the period slumped 46 percent from a year ago to $490 million.

“I am confident in our strategy and continued progress, highlighted by our fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year double digit growth in software licensing revenue and

sixth consecutive quarter of positive free cash flow,” Chen said.

“At the same time, we are fo-cused on making faster progress to achieve profitability in our handset business.”

BlackBerry said it sold 800,000 smartphones at an average price of $240. That represents a tiny fraction of a global smartphone market of some 300 million per quarter.

The company said 15 percent of its revenue came from software and services, 41 percent for hardware, and 43 percent for service access fees. (afp)

WASHINGTON - Facebook has changed the name of its program offering free Internet to develop-ing countries to “Free Basics” and added more services.

It used to be a service within Facebook’s broader Internet.org

initiative, which seeks to expand online access around the world.

It comes after criticism because of the limited service for the free program -- which some say flies in the face of Facebook’s commitment for “net neutrality,” or equal treat-

ment for all online services.Earlier this year, Facebook

opened the initiative to outside ap-plications after news organizations in India withdrew their websites.

In a statement, Facebook said that with its latest update, “more

than 60 new services are available across the 19 countries where free basic services are available.”

Facebook has said it would be impractical to offer the entire In-ternet for free through the program, which works through mobile carri-

ers in various countries.But it said that the program

can provide important services for health, education and jobs to as many as one billion people in the 19 countries where it is available. (afp)

BlackBerry unveils Android phone in new reboot effort

Facebook rebrands free Internet service, expands

AP Photo/Nick Ut

Samsung’s Vice President of Mobile, Peter Koo, speaks during the Oculus 2 conference in Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015. Virtual reality is taking a few steps closer to the mainstream with Samsung unveiling a headset that brings the technology to its latest smartphones at half the price of its previ-ous model, Facebook launching support for 360-degree video, and online video services like Netflix and Hulu jumping into the format.

Oculus takes aim at mainstream with inexpensive gear, video

The conference will feature as many as 55 representatives from eight countries and 16 speak-ers, among others, from India, Singapore, Pakistan, Australia,

and the Philippines, said the initiator of the Asian Journey conference, Dr Heru Prakosa SJ, on Monday.

According to him, Asian Jour-

ney is a forum and a network linking activists and observers of inter-faith encounters, espe-cially Christians and Muslims in Asia.

The forum is expected to ar-gue for broader cooperation in addressing the concerns about relations between believers of various faiths, he added. (ant)

DENPASAR - Since its re-launch in late March 2015, the Denpasar Heritage City Tour has received positive responses from tourism players in Bali. The number of tourist visits to most of the des-tinations of the city tour are quite high and have even exceeded the targeted number of tourists.

There are two city tour destina-tions that remain the exception, these are: the Jro Kuta Palace and Maospait Temple. The Denpasar Tourism Office will therefore con-duct a study regarding the manage-ment of the tour.

Head of the Denpasar Tourism Office, I Wayan Gunawan, when met in Sanur recently, said that the city tour will be studied and evaluated to see what is missing. The contents of the tour were re-launched a few months ago and have shown good progress. Now, they are preparing a study to evalu-ate the program to prevent the tour from becoming stagnant. For the time being, tourism actors in Bali are enthusiastically offering the tour package to travellers.

“This study will be conducted to find out what see what needs to be done to ensure the continuity of this city tour and also to look into the future of the tour’s management. Whether the government will con-tinue to manage the tour or whether other organizations will take over, will depend on the results of the study,” said Gunawan.

Tourist visits to traditional mar-kets such as the Badung Market and Kumbasari Market have apparently

experienced an increase in numbers, with an average of 3,600 tourist visits per month. These visits are mostly by Japanese and Chinese tourists who also appreciate the hyine of the markets which has been the recent focus of improvements.

The government hopes that with the re-launching of this program, domestic and foreign visitors can get to know Denpasar’s various attractions.

Gunawan said that the Denpasar Heritage City Tour package is de-signed in such a way to increase the number of tourist visits to cultural attractions. At the same time, it opens up economic opportunities and has contributed to improving the quality of infrastructure for local communities.

Aside from providing informa-tion to members of the public who live and work near these attractions, about how to capitalize on oppor-tunities, the public has also been invited to help maintain security, order and cleanliness around these tourist attractions. In order for the city tour program to succeed, all tourism stakeholers, especially the ASITA, HPI, the Regional Tour-ism Promotion Board and other tourism associations need to work together.

The Denpasar Heritage City Tour 2015 includes several destinations: Gusti Ngurah Made Agung Square, Catur Muka Statue, Jaya Sabha, the Bali Museum, Jagatnatha Temple, Jro Kuta Palace, Maospait Temple, Badung and Kumbasari Markets and the Inna Bali Hotel. (kmb12)

Denpasar City Tour to be assessed

IBP/Wawan

Tourists visit Kumbasari Market in Denpasar City. Tourist visits to traditional markets such as the Badung Market and Kumbasari Market have apparently experienced an increase in numbers, with an average of 3,600 tourist visits per month.

AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati

Men lash each other with burning coconut husks during the annual “Mesiat Geni” ritual at a Hindu temple in Bali, Indonesia, late Monday, Sep. 28, 2015. Balinese Hindus hold the ritual every year to symbolize the purification of their souls and environment by the power of fire.

Bali to host Asian Journey

Conference 2015DENPASAR - Indonesia’s Bali Province will host a four-day

conference of the Asian Journey 2015, starting Thursday (Oct 1), in which eight Asian countries will participate, a spokesman has said.

Bali News International4 Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Wednesday, September 30, 2015 13International RLDW

The lawsuit is another twist in a long-standing political battle dividing Thailand. On one side is the country’s traditional ruling elite who are backed by the military that staged Thailand’s 2014 coup, and on the other is a group of politicians who challenged the status quo, led by Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications billionaire-turned-populist politi-cian who held office from 2001 to 2006.

Yingluck was Thailand’s prime minister from 2011 until a contro-versial court decision forced her from office in May 2014, just a few days before the military staged a coup to overthrow her govern-ment. She was impeached earlier this year in connection with the money-losing rice subsidy scheme and barred her from office for five years. The attorney-general then pressed criminal charges against her over the same matter.

In her court filing Tuesday, Yin-gluck said the attorney-general and others were guilty of negligence of duty and a concerted effort to dam-age her, citing three alleged legal violations punishable by a range of 6 months to 10 years in prison. The court will decide whether to let the case proceed or throw it out.

“I’ve come here to exercise my rights in accordance with the legal process,” Yingluck told reporters. “I submitted the lawsuit against the attorney-general and team members.”

The rice subsidy scheme was a key feature of Yingluck’s 2011 election campaign and helped win her huge support in rural areas. It bought rice from farmers at well above market price but the program racked up losses of at least $4.46 billion. Yingluck’s opponents said the scheme was riddled with corrup-tion and she did nothing to stop it. She denies any wrongdoing.

Yingluck was accompanied by her brother-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat, himself a former prime minister who was also ousted by the courts, in a 2008 decision.

Both Yingluck and Somchai are political allies and relatives of Thaksin, who was ousted by a 2006 military coup. Yingluck is Thaksin’s sister and Somchai is married to another of Thaksin’s sisters.

Thaksin fled into exile in 2008 to avoid a prison sentence on a corruption-related charge he says was engineered by his political foes, jealous of his popularity.

The courts and the military, two pillars of the conservative Thai es-

tablishment, have consistently acted to put pressure on Thaksin’s politi-cal machine, which has delivered convincing victories in all national elections since 2001. He remains

highly popular in rural areas.The anti-Thaksin efforts have

eased recently as the army con-solidates its rule over the country, seeking to achieve a measure of

reconciliation while putting in safeguards against a comeback by Thaksin and his allies. The junta says a new election won’t take place in Thailand until 2017. (ap)

LIMA, Peru — At least three people were shot and killed and 17 wounded in a clash between police and highlands farmers protesting a $7.4 billion Chinese-owned copper mining project, health officials said Monday.

Police apparently opened fire on the protesters when they entered part of the Las Bambas mine where the plant that separates copper ore from rock is under construction. The local health director, Jose Sop-lopuco, told The Associated Press that two men died en route to the regional capital of Cuzco and one at the local health clinic.

Percy Jeronimo, the oral surgeon

running the emergency room, said three of the wounded were in criti-cal condition.

Soplopuco said ambulances couldn’t reach Challhuahuacho, the town of about 10,000 residents where the clinic is located, because police had shot at a vehicle carrying doctors.

The Las Bambas project is owned by a consortium led by Chinese state giant China Minmetals Corp. It is scheduled to begin production in 2016 and produce 400,000 metric tons of copper the following year.

President Ollanta Humala ap-pealed to protest leaders for calm. He called Las Bambas Peru’s big-

gest mining project on Monday. The Associated Press called the project’s office in Lima but no one answered.

Peru is the world’s No. 3 cop-per producer and mining accounts for about 60 percent of its export earnings.

But resistance by local farmers has frustrated and delayed major projects across the rugged Andean nation. Six people have been killed so far this year in anti-mining protests, including a police officer whose skull was fractured during May protests against a Mexican-owned copper mining project. (ap)

3 killed as police, protesters clash over Peru copper mine

REUTERS/Mariana BazoA pastry street vendor walks next to workers of Shougang Hierro Peru that blowing makeshift airhorns during a protest in front of the labor ministry in Lima, September 24, 2015.

Thailand’s ousted PM files criminal case against opponents

BANGKOK — Thailand’s ousted prime minister Yingluck Shina-watra, who was pushed from office more than a year ago, impeached and faces criminal charges, hit back at her opponents Tuesday with her own lawsuit. Yingluck filed a case at Bangkok’s Criminal Court to counter-sue the country’s attorney-general over the handling of her prosecution in connection with a subsidy scheme for rice farmers, which ran up huge losses.

AP Photo/Sakchai LalitThailand’s former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives at Bangkok’s Criminal Court, Thailand, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015. Yingluck filed a criminal case at the court to counter-sue the country’s attorney-general over the handling of her prosecution in connection with a subsidy scheme for rice farmers, which ran up huge losses.

SINGARAJA - The develop-ment of the regional potential of Buleleng as an entrance way to Bali has been eyed by property investors who have become active in the area based in rumours of the plan to build an airport in North Bali. Location assessments for property development have been involving local and Asain investors.

The potential of hotel and villa properties in the area are an easy sell in terms of creating employ-ment and encouraging the economy of Buleleng. Regional zoning based on the Spatial Planning (RTRW) of Buleleng serve as a reference for the establishment of properties. It is

important that investors go through an assessment process and get ac-curate information early on, before deciding on the location for their investment.

“We plan to look to Buleleng for investments in the future because the south Bali property market is already saturated. Many people know that Bali serves as the gate-way to Indonesia. In essence, we have started to invite investors to see the huge potential that North Bali has to offer,” said President Director of Diamond Bay, Ryan Haryansyah.

Hospitality property investment in North Bali has not been worked

on maximally by the local govern-ment. Therefore Buleleng needs investments from outside the area. According to Ryan the support of outside investors can facilitate the future growth of Buleleng. “There is information about the airport development plan in North Bali, for instance. And although we do not know when and where it will be built, many investor from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore have become interested in investing in Buleleng. The will-ingness to mutually support each other is an important factor that needs to move beyond just talk,” he added.

Assistant II of the Buleleng Regional Secretary, Ida Bagus Geriastika, added that he appre-ciates the interest of investors to carry out an assessment of North Bali related to property development plans. He also said that Regional Bylaw No.6/2009 on Regional Spatial Planning, clearly states that there is a plan to establish an airport in North Bali. “But we do not know the exact location where it will be built. There are rumours that there are two potential locations, namely; Kubutambahan and Ger-okgak subdistricts. According to the legislation it is mandatory

that an airport be built in North Bali,” added Geriastika.

He also explained that the op-portunities to develop the potential of Buleleng are numerous. Based on the regional spatial plan (RTRW) of Buleleng, some areas have been mapped either for industrial estates, tourist areas, agricultural areas or other potential areas. “Hopefully the presence of investors can seri-ously help build Buleleng. It is expected that Buleleng can be de-veloped like other counties in Bali. We hope that a presentation can be made before the stakeholders soon, including the priorities for develop-ment,” he explained. (kmb34)

According to the Chief of Padang Luwih customary village, I Gusti Ketut Suparta, the annual tradition takes place in front of the Desa Temple and is organized as an expression of the gratitude of local people for the abundant harvest yields. The tradition held every full moon of the fourth month of the Balinese calendar (September) involves at hundreds of households.

“This tradition has been inherited for generations as an expression of gratitude for the grace endowed by God in the form of abundant harvest yields. Local people (Padang Luwih—Ed) formerly worked as farmers,” he said.

He said that the six customary hamlets involved in the tipat war procession are: Tegal Jaya, Celuk, Jeroan, Pendem, Gaji and Kwanji. The hamlets consist of 530 households with 2,433 people. “Most of the participants are the youth, while the village apparatus only oversees the activities,” he said.

The tipat war tradition, explained Gusti Suparta, starts with the saying of prayers together at the Desa Temple of Padang Luwih customary village, and is followed by having meal together. “It is devoted to Sang Hyang Rare Angon,” he added.

Participatipants are divided into two groups, said Gusti Suparta, the north and south of the Desa Temple. The divi-sion of the group is based on the location of each hamlet.

“The two groups then throw tipat at each other just like a war. People start gathering at 3:00 p.m. while carrying obla-tions in the form of salaran containing ketupat and bantal cake. After that, the procession is commenced,” he said.

Although the tradition is still maintained until these days, added Gusti Suparta, the area of paddy field at Padang Luwih has begun to diminish. “The area of paddy field is getting narrower, than it was before. Dalung Permai was formerly the area of Padang Luwih. Now, we just would like to maintain this tradition,” he concluded. (kmb27)

Padang Luwih residents hold siat tipat tradition

MANGUPURA - The tradition of siat tipat (rice patty war), a ritual expression of gratitude for the en-dowments of the Creator is still carried out by both the community Kapal village, as well as the community of Padang Luwih, Dalung. The tipat war that six custom-ary hamlets take part in is concentrated at the Puseh and Desa Temple on Jalan Raya Padang Luwih, on Monday (Sep. 28).

Airport development plan in Buleleng

Investors compete to develop properties

IBP/Eka AdhyaksaThe Siat Tipat ritual

Indonesia Today Wednesday, September 30, 2015 5InternationalWednesday, September 30, 201512 International

ATHENS - Greece will scrap reduced value added tax (VAT) rates on Oct. 1 on six islands which are very popular with tourists, as agreed with its international lenders, the finance ministry said on Mon-day.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was re-elected on Sept. 20, has promised to streamline the VAT system as part of Greece’s third bailout agreement.

Plans to increase VAT on Greek islands prompted fierce criticism from businesses and met with resistance by the junior coali-tion party, the Independent Greeks, over the summer.

But the newly re-elected government must implement the measure to success-fully conclude its first bailout review and get more EU/IMF funds.

“It is clear that this development is a political necessity (and not a choice) which derives from the agreement with the insitu-tions, and is a basic step to proceed with the review and the following steps,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

From Thursday, the three VAT rates of 6, 13 and 23 percent will apply on Santo-rini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Naxos, Paros and Skiathos, as in the rest of the country, the ministry said.

More islands are expected to enter the new scheme in June 2016 and in 2017.

The ministry said that the VAT hikes will be reviewed in 2016, if Greece ex-ceeds its revenue targets from tackling tax evasion and that the government will take measures to mitigate the impact of the increases on residents.

Tourism is the Greek economy’s main-stay and revenues are expected to hit a record high this year. (rtr)

Merkel has said Berlin aimed to reach a political framework for the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the world’s biggest trade pact, by the

end of this year.Gabriel, leader of the Social

Democrats, Merkel’s coalition partners, questioned whether a deal would be done before the U.S. elec-

tions in November 2016.“I have my doubts if there will

be a political framework for TTIP before the U.S. elections,” he said, speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the Jacques Delors Insti-tut think-tank. The negotiations on the trade deal are stuck and neither side has come any closer on impor-tant areas such as the opening up

of agricultural markets and public services, Gabriel said.

France’s junior trade minister, Matthias Fekl, said at the same event that Washington lacked a spirit of compromise in the negotia-tions and that if the United States was not willing to change its posi-tion, Paris could not rule out leaving the talks.

If agreed, TTIP would encom-pass a third of world trade and cre-ate a market of 800 million people. While businesses hope the trade deal may deliver more than $100 billion of economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic, opponents say TTIP could erode European standards on food safety and the environment. (rtr)

SAN FRANSISCO - Yahoo notified US regulators that it is proceeding with plans to spin off its multi-billion-dollar stake in Alibaba despite the unanswered question of what the tax bill could be.

Yahoo’s board of directors has authorized the company to pursue the transaction “as previously disclosed, except that the comple-tion of the spin-off will not be conditioned upon receipt of a favorable ruling from the IRS,” the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Early in September, the Internal Revenue Service refused to promise that the Internet pioneer’s plan for spinning off its Alibaba holdings would sidestep US taxes.

The IRS declined a request for a pre-liminary ruling that the way the spin-off is

structured satisfies requirements for avoid-ing taxes on the multi-billion-dollar stake in Alibaba.

At the same time, the IRS did not indicate for sure that the transaction would be taxable, according to the California-based Internet pioneer. Yahoo shares sank at the time but were up nearly four percent to $28.70 in after market trades on Monday.

Yahoo said in the filing that it expected the spin-off to be completed in the final quarter of this year, but said it still hinged on final approval by the company’s board.

Yahoo in July formally notified US regula-tors that it is spinning off its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to an independent new company called Aabaco Holdings.

Aabaco will wind up owning approxi-

mately 384 million shares of the Alibaba Group, representing an interest of about 15 percent, according to an SEC filing.

The move was designed to sidestep taxes and appease investors eager to tap into Ya-hoo’s rich stake in Alibaba. The IRS decision to remain mum about the deal for now raised worry by investors that a big tax bill may be in store.

Under the spinoff plan, which was an-nounced early this year, all outstanding shares of Aabaco will be distributed to Yahoo stock holders. Yahoo will also transfer to Aabaco services for small businesses that it hosts in its Internet cloud.

Yahoo bought a 40 percent stake in the Chinese company in 2005 for $1 billion. (afp)

An Indian ven-dor arranges papaya fruits next to the pic-tures of Hindu god Ganesha displayed on an electric pole at a whole-sale market in Bangalore, India, Tues-day, Sept. 29, 2015. India’s central bank on Tuesday cut its key inter-est rate by half a percentage point, aiming to spur eco-nomic growth as inflation cooled to the lowest since November.

Germany’s Gabriel doubts U.S., EU will make trade breakthrough this year

BERLIN - German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel expressed doubts on Monday that the European Union and the United States would reach an agreement in trade talks by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s December target date.

Greece scraps reduced VAT rates on islands as per bailout deal

Yahoo to spin off Alibaba stake despite tax questionAP Photo/Aijaz Rahi

“The number of suspects is 204 comprising 195 people involved in individual cases, and nine in cases involving cor-porations,” Senior Commissioner Suharsono, the spokesman of the National Police Headquarters said.

The national police are currently investigating some 218 cases of forest and plantation fires.

Of the 218 cases, 19 are in the pre-investigation stage, 136 cases involving 94 individuals and 42 corporations are in the investigation stage, and the rest are to be or have been handed over to the attorney offices.

He said that of the total cases, four are being handled by the National Police’s Crime Investigation Department (Bareskrim), 34 by the South Sumatra Police, 68 by the Riau Police, 18 by the Jambi police, 57 cases by the Central Kalimantan Police, 25 by the West Kalimantan Police, eight by the South Kalimantan Police, and four by the East Kali-mantan Police.

The National Police Headquarters had deployed 670 per-sonnel to help fight the forest fires and 70 investigators to examine cases related to them.

National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti recently stated that dealing with the problem would first entail the involvement of the regional governments, the military, and the police.

“An information campaign must be carried out for the public, so that fires can be detected as early as possible and are easier to control. It would take several facilities along with personnel and expenditure to overcome the problem,” he stated.

Badrodin further stated that companies had been requested to provide fire extinguishers, including water reservoirs for dousing the fires and deploying personnel to fight the fires.

Badrodin noted that during his recent tour along with President Joko Widodo to the fire-hit areas, he noticed that the worst fires were raging in Central Kalimantan. (ant)

MECCA - The death toll of Indone-sians in the Mina Tragedy has risen to 46 from the previous report of 41, according to Head of the Mecca working area of the Indonesian Hajj Pilgrims Committee (PPIH) Arsyad Hidayat.

“The number of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims killed in the incident based on our previous release is 45, but now, the number has risen to 46. Another person named Dahlia Sulaiman Hamdan of the Batam flight batch BTH 14 with passport number A3689002 was confirmed dead,” Hidayat noted here in the wee hours of Tuesday.

He remarked that the number of In-donesian Hajj pilgrims undergoing treat-ment at the Saudi government hospital had reduced to seven patients after three of them had been allowed to return to their respective boarding facilities.

The three pilgrims are Zulaiaha

Lutan Alam, Arninda Idris Usman, and Fadilah Abdul Karim Nurdin. They are all from the Batam flight batch BTH 14.

The flight batches comprising 90 Indonesians who have not yet returned to their boarding facilities since the in-cident took place on Thursday morning, September 24.

“The increase in the number of those pilgrims who had not returned to their accommodation is due to the fact that the ‘nafar sani’ ritual was completed only yesterday, so the chiefs of their flight batches reported the missing members only in the afternoon on September 28,” said Hidayat.

He noted that the PPIH will continue to search for the Indonesian pilgrims, who had not yet returned to their board-ing rooms, at hospitals and at the Al Muasim morgue. (ant)

JAKARTA - Indonesia has sent senior officials to China and Japan to court Asia’s two biggest economies as Jakarta renews its efforts to build a multi-billion dollar railway linking two major cities, a government official said on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Indonesia abruptly changed plans to build a high-speed rail line between the capital, Jakarta, and textile hub Bandung, opting instead for a medium-speed train for the 150 km (95 mile) journey.

Tuesday’s announcement that represen-tatives had been sent to Japan and China suggested the project had gained renewed impetus, although possibly with a compromise between the original high-speed plan and the medium-speed alternative.

“What’s clear is that the speed of the train will be lower than initially planned,” said Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung.

The high-profile project has pitted Japan

and China - two major investors in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy - against each other, with both lobbying hard to win the $5 billion contract. Analysts say the winner of this bid could be a frontrunner for future rail projects in the region, including one linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Government sources say Indonesia is inclined to pick China’s proposal after Presi-dent Joko Widodo said the project should not require a government guarantee and not use the state budget.

State-owned enterprises minister Rini Soe-marno has said Japan must drop its require-ment for government guarantees if it wants to stay in the race.

Anung said National Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil had been sent to Japan, but de-clined to say who had been sent to China.

Indonesia is expected to announce the winner of the rail project in the coming days. (rtr)

Police name 204 suspects in forest fire cases

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Police have so far named a total of 204 people as suspects in forest and plantation fire cases across the country.

REUTERS/Edgar SuOffice workers wearing masks walk during lunch hour at the central business district in Singapore September 29, 2015. The Indonesian Police have so far named a total of 204 people as suspects in forest and plantation fire cases across the country.

Stampede in MinaDeath toll of Indonesians rises to 46

Indonesia sends envoys to woo Japan, China in renewed push for fast train

BUSINESS

6 11International International

W RLDWednesday, September 30, 2015Wednesday, September 30, 2015

BALI DIRECTORY

The meeting is scheduled to take place Tuesday on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world lead-ers at the United Nations. Castro is attending for the first time.

The encounter comes as the Cold War adversaries go about the long and complex process of normal-izing relations following decades of animosity. The U.S. recently eased rules for citizens who want to visit or do business in Cuba, a step aimed at fostering greater economic freedom on the island.

Both leaders surprised the world last December by announcing they had agreed to restore diplomatic relations.

Since then, the two countries

have reopened embassies in each other’s capitals. But sharp differ-ences remain, particularly over Cuba’s human rights record and detainment of political prisoners. Both sides want Congress to lift a longstanding economic embargo against the communist island na-tion, but many Republican lawmak-ers and some Democrats want to keep it in place.

Cuba also seeks the return of land occupied by the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay; the U.S. says that is not in the plan.

In his address Monday at the opening of the U.N. General As-sembly’s annual ministerial meet-ing, Obama discussed the shift in

policy toward Cuba and said he was confident that Congress “will inevi-tably lift an embargo that should not be in place anymore.”

Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser for Obama, said Castro’s presence at the U.N. gathering is a signal “that we’re in a new era.” Obama and Castro first spoke in December after the secret process to restore diplomatic rela-tions was revealed.

They met in person in April while attending a regional summit in Panama. Before then, the last time a U.S. and Cuban leader had convened a substantive meeting was in 1958.

Obama and Castro spoke by telephone again earlier this month before Pope Francis visited Cuba and the United States. Francis was a go-between for the U.S. and Cuba during their secret talks. (ap)

BEIJING — A typhoon struck mainland China on Tuesday after lashing Taiwan, where it killed two, injured hundreds and left hundreds of thousands without power or water.

Ty p h o o n D u j u a n p a s s e d through Taiwan for three hours on Monday night, bringing high winds and rain. More than 100 flights in China’s southern prov-ince of Fujian were cancelled and trains suspended as the storm approached and crossed over the mainland.

Taiwan’s Central News Agen-cy, citing the government’s emer-gency operations center, said Tuesday that the typhoon had left two people dead, 324 injured and six mountain climbers missing. A total of 710,000 households were without electricity and 370,000 without water.

Bon Jovi canceled concerts planned for Monday and Tuesday in Taiwan because of the storm, which were to be the first ones there by the American rock band in 20 years, event promoter Live

Nation Taiwan said on Face-book. Bon Jovi had added the second date in Taiwan earlier this month along with a new concert in Bangkok after performances in Beijing and Shanghai were abruptly canceled, reportedly over the band’s inclusion of a picture of the Dalai Lama in a video that angered Chinese au-thorities.

Typhoon Dujuan made landfall in southeastern Fujian province Tuesday morning, packing maxi-mum wind speeds of 119 kilome-ters per hour (74 mph) near its center, before weakening into a tropical storm, according to the National Meteorological Center. It was moving northwestward at a speed of 20 kph (12 mph) and was due to reach neighboring Jiangxi province by Tuesday night.

Ahead of its arrival, thousands of fishing boats returned to shore, ports were closed and in one city classes at middle schools, primary schools and kindergartens were suspended, according to the offi-cial Xinhua News Agency. (ap)

NEW YORK — Officials say an Aer Lingus Boeing 757 jet heading to Shannon, Ireland, had to return to Kennedy Airport after experiencing hydraulic failure.

Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo (pehn-TAN’-jeh-loh) says the plane had landing gear problems and no flaps when it safely landed at 7:30 p.m. (2330

GMT) Monday, about 15 minutes after takeoff.

Pentangelo says the jet’s rear brakes overheated during the faster than normal landing, causing a

small fire in the landing gear com-partment.

He says the fire was extinguished and the passengers were transported by buses to the terminal.

A telephone operator at Aer Lingus would only say that Flight EI 110 experienced technical prob-lems. There were no reports of any injuries. (ap)

Ireland-bound jet returns to JFK due to hydraulic problems

Typhoon lashes Taiwan, killing 2,

injuring more than 300

AP Photo/Wally Santana

A pedestrian struggles with luggage in the strong winds and rain from Typhoon Dujuan in the business district of Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, Sept. 28, 2015.

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

United States President Barack Obama speaks during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Monday, Sept. 28, 2015.

US, Cuba leaders to meet for 2nd time in this yearNEW YORK — Making good on a pledge to change U.S.

posture toward Cuba, President Barack Obama is poised to hold talks with Cuban President Raul Castro for the second time this year.

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On Monday, general manager Gar Forman praised Hoiberg for building relationships with the players. “You can see the players re-sponding to it,” Forman said. “And I think the players are as excited as we are about everything Fred’s go-ing to bring to the table.”

Under the defensive-minded Thibodeau, the Bulls were one of the Eastern Conference’s elite teams but never reached the NBA Finals. With Derrick Rose strug-gling to stay healthy, Chicago couldn’t match its strong regular seasons with similar playoff results and some thought Thibo-deau’s emphasis on regular-season wins took a toll as the postseason wore on.

Hoiberg will be asked to reverse the playoff disappointment with a stable roster, despite being in the same conference as LeBron James and the Cavaliers. He inherits a roster with Rose, Jimmy Butler, Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and a veteran group that’s done everything except go all the way.

The 35-year-old Gasol is com-ing off a tremendous summer, leading Spain to the title at the European basketball champion-ship. He won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award after leading all scorers with 25.6 points per game.

“It’s a great opportunity, obvi-ously, with the group we have here, with the veterans, with the young

group that I think has a tremendous upside and try to mesh all that talent,” Hoiberg said. “You don’t walk into many of these situations to have a team that can compete at the highest level.”

Though Rose is entering camp after a summer of training instead of rehab, Chicago has its share of health-related questions. Mike Dunleavy underwent back surgery Friday and was expected to miss 8-10 weeks and Taj Gibson under-went left ankle surgery in June and is hoping to be back for the start of the season.

Rose, who underwent surgery on a torn right meniscus in February, said it felt good to be working out in Los Angeles over the summer. He also scoffs at people who doubt how good he is, that he won’t be able to match what he did when he won the 2010-2011 Most Valuable Player award. “I can’t get caught up into that. I know I’m great,” Rose said. (ap)

Dani Pedrosa believes defeating Valentino Rossi in their battle for second at the Aragon Grand Prix was one of the best achievements of his MotoGP career. Honda rider Pedrosa admitted that close racing has been “a weakness” of his, but in Spain last Sunday he denied champi-onship leader and seven-time champion Rossi after a ferocious dice in which they swapped places multiple times.

“It is surely one of the best battles because of the rival,” said Ped-rosa. “You can have a good battle with many riders, but Valentino is the master of these situations. “Normally he’s so comfortable in those moments and he has so much confidence.

“He can play a lot with the bike, try different lines, change braking points and apex points.

“He’s super-comfortable at that and it’s one of my weakest points. So I’m really happy about that achievement. “I could hear his engine all the time, he was so close.

“I didn’t really know where his strong point was, but I could see he was ready for a fight. “He actually attacked me with many laps to go, but I knew I had to fight with him.

“I was able to make good moves. I had good control of the bike even though I wasn’t the fastest, so I could change lines and when he passed I could attack back. “At some places I could feel I was slower than him, but at others he surprised me because he attacked where I didn’t expect.

“When I saw the one-lap board I said I had to hold on in second place, because after all this fight with him it’s not good to finish third.”

Rossi said he gave everything he had to try to deny Pedrosa the runner-up spot and limit the points loss to his race-winning title rival and Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

“At the end I played all the cards that I had, and one extra that I didn’t expect,” he said. “The last chicane is not a place to overtake, but it was my last chance, so I tried.

“For one moment I thought I could stay on the line, but Dani over-took me another time.

“It was a great battle. It was not enough. Dani was simply stronger than me.

“It’s a shame because for the championship those points are im-portant. But I tried.” Pedrosa has not won since Brno last August and missed several early-2015 races while undergoing experimental surgery to tackle a persistent arm pump problem. He admitted that the Aragon track layout had helped him from a fitness perspective as his arm remained troublesome.

“It’s more left corners so my right arm is more relaxed than nor-mally,” he said.

“But also when you have no pain, your brain is more in gear. You’re more focused on what you’re doing, not how you’re feeling.” (net)

Winning Aragon fight with Rossi a MotoGP highlight, says Pedrosa

REUTERS/Max RossiHonda MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa of Spain takes a corner during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano Adriatico circuit in central Italy September 12, 2015.

AP Photo/Charles Rex ArbogastChicago Bulls’ Pau Gasol (16), Taj Gibson (22) and Joakim Noah, joke during an NBA basketball media day Monday, Sept. 28, 2015, in Chicago.

Bulls with new coach, old questions as training camp opens

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls have a new coach and the same old questions as the NBA season draws closer. Most of the group is back from a team that won 50 games but was ousted in six games by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Bulls will conduct their first training-camp practices Tuesday under new coach Fred Hoiberg, who replaces Tom Thibodeau..

IBP/Net

AMLAPURA - Amlapura, capital of Karangasem Regen-cy, is 78 km east of Denpasar. Since the Karangasem King-dom was established, Amlapura has been the civic center. Meanwhile, the famous tourist destination in Amlapura is the Royal Palace denoting a perfect fusion of Balinese, Chinese and European architecture. The palace was founded by Anak Agung Gede Jelantik, the first king of Karangasem. Inside the palace, we will find a collection of photos belonging to royal families and fashionable costumes worn at that time.

Karangasem Royal Palace

98 Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Sp rt

Blatter is expected to hand over power in February when an emer-gency election is held, triggered by the president’s resignation statement four days after being re-elected for a fifth, four-year term in May. But the 79-year-old Blatter does not appear to be planning any sudden exit de-spite being the subject of a criminal investigation over his management of world soccer.

“President Blatter spoke to FIFA staff today and informed the staff that he was cooperating with the authorities, reiterated that he had done nothing illegal or improper and stated that he would remain as president of FIFA,” Blatter’s attorney, Richard Cullen, said in a statement.

Blatter was questioned by Swiss investigators on Friday about why FIFA paid 2 million Swiss francs (about $2 million) to UEFA Presi-dent Michel Platini in 2011 for work supposedly carried out at least nine years earlier. Blatter denied wrongdoing and Platini, who is also a FIFA vice president, was only questioned as a witness.

“President Blatter on Friday

shared with the Swiss authori-ties the fact that Mr. Platini had a valuable employment relationship with FIFA serving as an adviser to the president beginning in 1998,” Cullen said. “He explained to the prosecutors that the payments were valid compensation and nothing more and were properly accounted for within FIFA including the withholding of Social Security contributions.”

Platini wrote to UEFA members reiterating Friday’s denial of wrong-ing while still not addressing why there was a nine-year gap between carrying out his work and receiv-ing the payment. Platini became a FIFA adviser after running the 1998 World Cup in France until 2002 when he joined FIFA’s executive committee.

“It was a full-time job and my functions were known by all,” Platini said in the letter. “The re-muneration was agreed at the time and after the initial payments were made, the final outstanding amount of 2 million Swiss Francs was paid in February of 2011. “The income has all been fully declared by me to

the authorities, in accordance with Swiss law.”

The Scottish Football Asso-ciation wants answers about why it Platini was paid so long after the work was carried out. “It is an es-sential piece of information that still needs to be provided,” SFA chief executive Stewart Regan responded to the letter on Twitter.

Scotland was one of the first UEFA members in July to publicly endorse Platini’s bid for the FIFA presidency. Oct. 26 is the deadline for candidates, who must pass integrity checks.

Platini’s letter did not reference his election campaign, but he wrote: “I am aware these events may harm my image and my reputation and by consequence the image of UEFA.” Also, Blatter’s statement did not reference allegations by Swiss prosecutors that the president undervalued the awarding of World Cup rights to former vice president Jack Warner. “Because of the con-tinuing investigation President Blat-ter will answer no further questions at this time,” Cullen’s statement concluded.

As FIFA was attempting to con-tain the latest escalation in the cor-ruption scandal, meetings shaping leaders of the future who can poten-tially salvage the body’s reputation were being held at headquarters. FIFA’s women’s leadership devel-opment program is intended to spur gender equality at the world body and its regional affiliates. Thirty-five aspiring female leaders have come to Zurich to learn from 16 mentors. “Undoubtedly, FIFA’s de-cision making in the future will be better if more women are included at the top table,” FIFA executive committee member Moya Dodd told The Associated Press.

The former Australia player is one of three female members of the FIFA’s ruling body, which has lost several executives in recent years because of corruption. “I think that the future leadership of football needs to be drawn from a more diverse base than it’s been in the past,” Dodd said from inside FIFA HQ. “It is important for people who aspire to contribute to the game to see there are opportunities and paths forward.” (ap)

LONDON - Manchester Unit-ed will bank on the dazzling form of Anthony Martial in Wednes-day’s Champions League game against VfL Wolfsburg as Louis van Gaal’s men look to bounce back from their opening defeat in Group B.

The 19-year-old Frenchman, initially seen as a panic buy on

the last day of the transfer win-dow this month, has been a revelation, netting four times since leaving Monaco to help United top the Premier League for the first time in

two years.The Old Traf-

ford club lost their first Champions League match 2-1 to PSV Eindhoven

in a game overshad-owed by the broken

leg suffered by Luke Shaw but have since

won 3-2 at Southamp-ton and beaten Sunder-

land 3-0.Wayne Rooney scored

his first league goal of the campaign against Sunder-

land and with Martial providing pace and composure up front, Van Gaal’s attacking worries are receding.

“He (Martial) is very direct, he is willing to take on players and he is willing to take on that risk,” said United defender Chris Smalling. “I think, in the final third, it is an area where you can take that risk because you can’t take it at the back. He looks a very sharp player.”

Goalkeeper David de Gea has also been in fine form after signing a new contract while Smalling and Daley Blind have formed a solid central defensive pairing and Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger have added experience and craft to the midfield.

AIM HIGHER“We have improved,” Small-

ing said. “Last season’s start was disastrous and it didn’t give us a foothold to be able to challenge for anything. “We know we have improved in this section of the season and we now have to improve in each other section

compared to last season and aim a lot higher.”

Wounded Wolfsburg, who drew 1-1 with Hanover 96 on Saturday after being crushed 5-1 by Bayern Munich last week, are likely to be without midfielders Luiz Gustavo and Vieirinha.

Brazil international Luiz Gustavo was taken off midway through their demolition at Bay-ern with a knee injury and coach Dieter Hecking says his chances of playing in Manchester “don’t look good”.

Portuguese Vieirinha has re-turned to training after a three-week break caused by a thigh in-jury but the game at Old Trafford could come too soon for him.

The Wolves, who won their opener against CSKA Moscow, are looking to take control of the group.

“We have worked very hard to get here and experience games like the one at Manchester Unit-ed,” said captain Diego Benaglio. “So we want to look really good there and we are certainly not going to England just to look at the stadium.”(rtr)

EvErtON manager Roberto Martinez was thrilled with his side’s reaction after they fought back from two goals down to win their Premier League match against West Bromwich Albion on Monday. The Toffees found themselves 2-0 down in the 54th min-ute when Craig Dawson scored from a corner but striker Romelu Lukaku netted twice and set up another goal to secure the 3-2 win.

It was only the second time Everton have won in the Premier League after being two goals down following on from their comeback win over AFC Wimbledon in 1994.

The Toffees remain unbeaten on their travels this season, winning twice and drawing twice in the league while defeating both lower tier sides Barns-ley and Reading in the League Cup.

“The reaction was the most pleasing aspect of the performance. We took responsibility and wanted to get a win

with a completely different attitude,” Martinez told reporters. “Our first-half performance wasn’t up to our normal level. We couldn’t find passes and we were quite loose.

“In the second half, I wouldn’t say it was a change from one or two play-ers -- it was the whole team. We had a reset and then it was a completely dif-ferent approach,” the former Swansea manager added.

West Brom manager Tony Pulis said the Baggies were hurt by the loss of defenders Gareth McAuley, who was ruled out of the match, and Jonas Olsson, who was forced off due to a groin injury during the match.

“I don’t think it helped that we lost McAuley yesterday and then lost Ols-son after 15 minutes, and they are two players that when crosses come in they defend them very well, and Everton have scored off two crosses,” Pulis told reporters. (rtr)

POrtO, Portugal - Chelsea man-ager Jose Mourinho complained about a “witch-hunt” by the footballing au-thorities against Diego Costa ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League Group G match at Porto.

The Spain striker was banned retro-spectively for three domestic matches by the English FA after being found guilty of violent conduct in the 2-0 win over Arsenal earlier this month. Costa was unavailable for Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle United but will be back for Chelsea’s Champions League meeting with Mourinho’s former club Porto.

Asked by a reporter where his team would be if they had 11 Costas, Mourinho replied: “I think we would lose every game because the desire to suspend him is so big that you wouldn’t have enough players to start the game.

“I am happy to only have one and let him play until they decide to suspend him again. There is a witch-hunt going on against him.” Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas, addressing the same news conference, agreed.

“[Costa is] frustrated and rightly so,” said Fabregas. “We all know why he is. Some people understand it, some people don’t.

“It’s very unfair what has happened to him. He’s a key player for us...a player who has to score our goals and

finish our moves.“If you want to win this competi-

tion you all have to be at the top of your game but you also need your big players to perform, he’s one of them for sure,” added Fabregas.

Chelsea won their opening Cham-pions League game of the season, 4-0 at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv, but their form has been poor in the Premier League where the title holders are sixth from bottom.

“Away games in the Champions League are always difficult,” said Mourinho. “They are a big side and want to win but Porto know they will not face a weak team.

“The fact Porto are top of the Portuguese league is totally normal because of the quality of their squad. “To be untouchable, you have to be consistent. Right now we have fantas-tic players but football is about today, not yesterday. “To be untouchable in football, only consistency can give you that status.”

Mourinho refused to be drawn on Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas, a player he had a strained relationship with during their time together at Real Madrid.

“I know what you’re going to ask,” the Portuguese said as he cut off a re-porter’s question. “I’ll salute Casillas tomorrow but there’s no point wasting time discussing it”. (rtr)

BraziLiaN great Ronaldo will open 30 soccer schools in China, the three times FIFA World Player of the Year said on Tuesday, as the Asians continue with ambitious reforms aimed at making themselves world beaters.

The franchises will be mainly located in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, Xinhua news said, with the former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan striker expected to be present when the first opens in the Chinese capital in November.

The move comes as Chinese Presi-dent Xi Jinping, a soccer fan who is pushing for the country to host the World Cup finals one day, attempts to resuurect the image of the sport at home after years of corruption in the past.

The revamp has gathered pace with the Chinese Super League experienc-ing a boom in investment by local businessman with several Brazilian internationals, like Robinho and Diego Tardelli, joining top flight clubs.

Ronaldo, 39, who won two World

Cups with Brazil, said the speed of development and Xi’s ambition had been factors behind his move.

“Besides business factor, the major reason for me to open soccer school in China is because there are lots of soc-cer fans and players in the country, and Chinese government and civil organi-zation also focus on soccer develop-ment,” Ronaldo told Xinhua news.

“I hope my method of soccer training could help develop Chinese soccer. I think Chinese soccer has the mass base and de-termination, but it may still lack the proper concept and training method.”

Part of the government’s ambitious goals included dragging both the men’s and women’s national teams to the top echelons of the game.

While the women were knocked out at the quarter-finals of the World Cup earlier this year, the men have only competed at the finals once in 2002.

They lost all three group games, though, including a 4-0 defeat by Brazil with Ronaldo completing the scoring. (rtr)

rOME — Building off its draw at Juventus, promoted Frosinone beat visiting Empoli 2-0 Monday for its first ever win in Serie A.

Federico Dionisi scored twice in the second half for Frosinone, which is playing in the top di-vision for the first time in its

103-year history. Already down two goals, Empoli’s Riccardo Saponara was shown a direct red card for protests.

The victory moved Frosinone into 16th place, level on four points with Empoli. Also, Atalanta beat Sampdoria 2-1 with an early own goal from defender Niklas

Moisander on a failed clearing at-tempt and a second from German Denis in added time.

Roberto Soriano pulled one back for Sampdoria in the final seconds. Atalanta moved up to eighth, four points behind leader Fiorentina, with Sampdoria one point behind. (ap)

Sepp Blatter tells FIFA staff he has

done nothing illegal

Patrick B. Kraemer/Keystone via AP, File

FILE - In this Friday, May 29, 2015 file photo, FIFA presi-dent Sepp Blatter after his election as President, left, is greeted by UEFA President Michel Platini, right, at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland. On Friday, Sept. 25, 2015 Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

zUriCH — Sepp Blatter told his staff he has done “noth-ing illegal or improper” and has no immediate plans to step down, the FiFa president’s legal team said Monday. Blat-ter was back at FiFa headquarters three days after being interrogated by Swiss investigators at the scandal-battered governing body’s headquarters.

Mourinho complains of witch-hunt against

Chelsea’s Costa

Brazilian icon Ronaldo to open 30 soccer schools in China

Reuters / Andrew Yates

Anthony Martial celebrates after scoring the third goal for Manchester United

United banking on Martial arts for European goals

Frosinone beats Empoli 2-0 for 1st ever win in Serie A

AP Photo/Rui Vieira

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku celebrates after scoring against West Brom during the English Premier League soccer match between West Bromwich Albion and Everton at the Hawthorns, West Brom-wich, England, Monday, Sept 28, 2015.

Martinez delighted with Everton’s reaction

against West Brom

98 Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Sp rt

Blatter is expected to hand over power in February when an emer-gency election is held, triggered by the president’s resignation statement four days after being re-elected for a fifth, four-year term in May. But the 79-year-old Blatter does not appear to be planning any sudden exit de-spite being the subject of a criminal investigation over his management of world soccer.

“President Blatter spoke to FIFA staff today and informed the staff that he was cooperating with the authorities, reiterated that he had done nothing illegal or improper and stated that he would remain as president of FIFA,” Blatter’s attorney, Richard Cullen, said in a statement.

Blatter was questioned by Swiss investigators on Friday about why FIFA paid 2 million Swiss francs (about $2 million) to UEFA Presi-dent Michel Platini in 2011 for work supposedly carried out at least nine years earlier. Blatter denied wrongdoing and Platini, who is also a FIFA vice president, was only questioned as a witness.

“President Blatter on Friday

shared with the Swiss authori-ties the fact that Mr. Platini had a valuable employment relationship with FIFA serving as an adviser to the president beginning in 1998,” Cullen said. “He explained to the prosecutors that the payments were valid compensation and nothing more and were properly accounted for within FIFA including the withholding of Social Security contributions.”

Platini wrote to UEFA members reiterating Friday’s denial of wrong-ing while still not addressing why there was a nine-year gap between carrying out his work and receiv-ing the payment. Platini became a FIFA adviser after running the 1998 World Cup in France until 2002 when he joined FIFA’s executive committee.

“It was a full-time job and my functions were known by all,” Platini said in the letter. “The re-muneration was agreed at the time and after the initial payments were made, the final outstanding amount of 2 million Swiss Francs was paid in February of 2011. “The income has all been fully declared by me to

the authorities, in accordance with Swiss law.”

The Scottish Football Asso-ciation wants answers about why it Platini was paid so long after the work was carried out. “It is an es-sential piece of information that still needs to be provided,” SFA chief executive Stewart Regan responded to the letter on Twitter.

Scotland was one of the first UEFA members in July to publicly endorse Platini’s bid for the FIFA presidency. Oct. 26 is the deadline for candidates, who must pass integrity checks.

Platini’s letter did not reference his election campaign, but he wrote: “I am aware these events may harm my image and my reputation and by consequence the image of UEFA.” Also, Blatter’s statement did not reference allegations by Swiss prosecutors that the president undervalued the awarding of World Cup rights to former vice president Jack Warner. “Because of the con-tinuing investigation President Blat-ter will answer no further questions at this time,” Cullen’s statement concluded.

As FIFA was attempting to con-tain the latest escalation in the cor-ruption scandal, meetings shaping leaders of the future who can poten-tially salvage the body’s reputation were being held at headquarters. FIFA’s women’s leadership devel-opment program is intended to spur gender equality at the world body and its regional affiliates. Thirty-five aspiring female leaders have come to Zurich to learn from 16 mentors. “Undoubtedly, FIFA’s de-cision making in the future will be better if more women are included at the top table,” FIFA executive committee member Moya Dodd told The Associated Press.

The former Australia player is one of three female members of the FIFA’s ruling body, which has lost several executives in recent years because of corruption. “I think that the future leadership of football needs to be drawn from a more diverse base than it’s been in the past,” Dodd said from inside FIFA HQ. “It is important for people who aspire to contribute to the game to see there are opportunities and paths forward.” (ap)

LONDON - Manchester Unit-ed will bank on the dazzling form of Anthony Martial in Wednes-day’s Champions League game against VfL Wolfsburg as Louis van Gaal’s men look to bounce back from their opening defeat in Group B.

The 19-year-old Frenchman, initially seen as a panic buy on

the last day of the transfer win-dow this month, has been a revelation, netting four times since leaving Monaco to help United top the Premier League for the first time in

two years.The Old Traf-

ford club lost their first Champions League match 2-1 to PSV Eindhoven

in a game overshad-owed by the broken

leg suffered by Luke Shaw but have since

won 3-2 at Southamp-ton and beaten Sunder-

land 3-0.Wayne Rooney scored

his first league goal of the campaign against Sunder-

land and with Martial providing pace and composure up front, Van Gaal’s attacking worries are receding.

“He (Martial) is very direct, he is willing to take on players and he is willing to take on that risk,” said United defender Chris Smalling. “I think, in the final third, it is an area where you can take that risk because you can’t take it at the back. He looks a very sharp player.”

Goalkeeper David de Gea has also been in fine form after signing a new contract while Smalling and Daley Blind have formed a solid central defensive pairing and Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger have added experience and craft to the midfield.

AIM HIGHER“We have improved,” Small-

ing said. “Last season’s start was disastrous and it didn’t give us a foothold to be able to challenge for anything. “We know we have improved in this section of the season and we now have to improve in each other section

compared to last season and aim a lot higher.”

Wounded Wolfsburg, who drew 1-1 with Hanover 96 on Saturday after being crushed 5-1 by Bayern Munich last week, are likely to be without midfielders Luiz Gustavo and Vieirinha.

Brazil international Luiz Gustavo was taken off midway through their demolition at Bay-ern with a knee injury and coach Dieter Hecking says his chances of playing in Manchester “don’t look good”.

Portuguese Vieirinha has re-turned to training after a three-week break caused by a thigh in-jury but the game at Old Trafford could come too soon for him.

The Wolves, who won their opener against CSKA Moscow, are looking to take control of the group.

“We have worked very hard to get here and experience games like the one at Manchester Unit-ed,” said captain Diego Benaglio. “So we want to look really good there and we are certainly not going to England just to look at the stadium.”(rtr)

EvErtON manager Roberto Martinez was thrilled with his side’s reaction after they fought back from two goals down to win their Premier League match against West Bromwich Albion on Monday. The Toffees found themselves 2-0 down in the 54th min-ute when Craig Dawson scored from a corner but striker Romelu Lukaku netted twice and set up another goal to secure the 3-2 win.

It was only the second time Everton have won in the Premier League after being two goals down following on from their comeback win over AFC Wimbledon in 1994.

The Toffees remain unbeaten on their travels this season, winning twice and drawing twice in the league while defeating both lower tier sides Barns-ley and Reading in the League Cup.

“The reaction was the most pleasing aspect of the performance. We took responsibility and wanted to get a win

with a completely different attitude,” Martinez told reporters. “Our first-half performance wasn’t up to our normal level. We couldn’t find passes and we were quite loose.

“In the second half, I wouldn’t say it was a change from one or two play-ers -- it was the whole team. We had a reset and then it was a completely dif-ferent approach,” the former Swansea manager added.

West Brom manager Tony Pulis said the Baggies were hurt by the loss of defenders Gareth McAuley, who was ruled out of the match, and Jonas Olsson, who was forced off due to a groin injury during the match.

“I don’t think it helped that we lost McAuley yesterday and then lost Ols-son after 15 minutes, and they are two players that when crosses come in they defend them very well, and Everton have scored off two crosses,” Pulis told reporters. (rtr)

POrtO, Portugal - Chelsea man-ager Jose Mourinho complained about a “witch-hunt” by the footballing au-thorities against Diego Costa ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League Group G match at Porto.

The Spain striker was banned retro-spectively for three domestic matches by the English FA after being found guilty of violent conduct in the 2-0 win over Arsenal earlier this month. Costa was unavailable for Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle United but will be back for Chelsea’s Champions League meeting with Mourinho’s former club Porto.

Asked by a reporter where his team would be if they had 11 Costas, Mourinho replied: “I think we would lose every game because the desire to suspend him is so big that you wouldn’t have enough players to start the game.

“I am happy to only have one and let him play until they decide to suspend him again. There is a witch-hunt going on against him.” Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas, addressing the same news conference, agreed.

“[Costa is] frustrated and rightly so,” said Fabregas. “We all know why he is. Some people understand it, some people don’t.

“It’s very unfair what has happened to him. He’s a key player for us...a player who has to score our goals and

finish our moves.“If you want to win this competi-

tion you all have to be at the top of your game but you also need your big players to perform, he’s one of them for sure,” added Fabregas.

Chelsea won their opening Cham-pions League game of the season, 4-0 at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv, but their form has been poor in the Premier League where the title holders are sixth from bottom.

“Away games in the Champions League are always difficult,” said Mourinho. “They are a big side and want to win but Porto know they will not face a weak team.

“The fact Porto are top of the Portuguese league is totally normal because of the quality of their squad. “To be untouchable, you have to be consistent. Right now we have fantas-tic players but football is about today, not yesterday. “To be untouchable in football, only consistency can give you that status.”

Mourinho refused to be drawn on Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas, a player he had a strained relationship with during their time together at Real Madrid.

“I know what you’re going to ask,” the Portuguese said as he cut off a re-porter’s question. “I’ll salute Casillas tomorrow but there’s no point wasting time discussing it”. (rtr)

BraziLiaN great Ronaldo will open 30 soccer schools in China, the three times FIFA World Player of the Year said on Tuesday, as the Asians continue with ambitious reforms aimed at making themselves world beaters.

The franchises will be mainly located in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, Xinhua news said, with the former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan striker expected to be present when the first opens in the Chinese capital in November.

The move comes as Chinese Presi-dent Xi Jinping, a soccer fan who is pushing for the country to host the World Cup finals one day, attempts to resuurect the image of the sport at home after years of corruption in the past.

The revamp has gathered pace with the Chinese Super League experienc-ing a boom in investment by local businessman with several Brazilian internationals, like Robinho and Diego Tardelli, joining top flight clubs.

Ronaldo, 39, who won two World

Cups with Brazil, said the speed of development and Xi’s ambition had been factors behind his move.

“Besides business factor, the major reason for me to open soccer school in China is because there are lots of soc-cer fans and players in the country, and Chinese government and civil organi-zation also focus on soccer develop-ment,” Ronaldo told Xinhua news.

“I hope my method of soccer training could help develop Chinese soccer. I think Chinese soccer has the mass base and de-termination, but it may still lack the proper concept and training method.”

Part of the government’s ambitious goals included dragging both the men’s and women’s national teams to the top echelons of the game.

While the women were knocked out at the quarter-finals of the World Cup earlier this year, the men have only competed at the finals once in 2002.

They lost all three group games, though, including a 4-0 defeat by Brazil with Ronaldo completing the scoring. (rtr)

rOME — Building off its draw at Juventus, promoted Frosinone beat visiting Empoli 2-0 Monday for its first ever win in Serie A.

Federico Dionisi scored twice in the second half for Frosinone, which is playing in the top di-vision for the first time in its

103-year history. Already down two goals, Empoli’s Riccardo Saponara was shown a direct red card for protests.

The victory moved Frosinone into 16th place, level on four points with Empoli. Also, Atalanta beat Sampdoria 2-1 with an early own goal from defender Niklas

Moisander on a failed clearing at-tempt and a second from German Denis in added time.

Roberto Soriano pulled one back for Sampdoria in the final seconds. Atalanta moved up to eighth, four points behind leader Fiorentina, with Sampdoria one point behind. (ap)

Sepp Blatter tells FIFA staff he has

done nothing illegal

Patrick B. Kraemer/Keystone via AP, File

FILE - In this Friday, May 29, 2015 file photo, FIFA presi-dent Sepp Blatter after his election as President, left, is greeted by UEFA President Michel Platini, right, at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland. On Friday, Sept. 25, 2015 Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

zUriCH — Sepp Blatter told his staff he has done “noth-ing illegal or improper” and has no immediate plans to step down, the FiFa president’s legal team said Monday. Blat-ter was back at FiFa headquarters three days after being interrogated by Swiss investigators at the scandal-battered governing body’s headquarters.

Mourinho complains of witch-hunt against

Chelsea’s Costa

Brazilian icon Ronaldo to open 30 soccer schools in China

Reuters / Andrew Yates

Anthony Martial celebrates after scoring the third goal for Manchester United

United banking on Martial arts for European goals

Frosinone beats Empoli 2-0 for 1st ever win in Serie A

AP Photo/Rui Vieira

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku celebrates after scoring against West Brom during the English Premier League soccer match between West Bromwich Albion and Everton at the Hawthorns, West Brom-wich, England, Monday, Sept 28, 2015.

Martinez delighted with Everton’s reaction

against West Brom

Wednesday, September 30, 2015 7SportsWednesday, September 30, 201510 InternationalInternationalDestination

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On Monday, general manager Gar Forman praised Hoiberg for building relationships with the players. “You can see the players re-sponding to it,” Forman said. “And I think the players are as excited as we are about everything Fred’s go-ing to bring to the table.”

Under the defensive-minded Thibodeau, the Bulls were one of the Eastern Conference’s elite teams but never reached the NBA Finals. With Derrick Rose strug-gling to stay healthy, Chicago couldn’t match its strong regular seasons with similar playoff results and some thought Thibo-deau’s emphasis on regular-season wins took a toll as the postseason wore on.

Hoiberg will be asked to reverse the playoff disappointment with a stable roster, despite being in the same conference as LeBron James and the Cavaliers. He inherits a roster with Rose, Jimmy Butler, Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and a veteran group that’s done everything except go all the way.

The 35-year-old Gasol is com-ing off a tremendous summer, leading Spain to the title at the European basketball champion-ship. He won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award after leading all scorers with 25.6 points per game.

“It’s a great opportunity, obvi-ously, with the group we have here, with the veterans, with the young

group that I think has a tremendous upside and try to mesh all that talent,” Hoiberg said. “You don’t walk into many of these situations to have a team that can compete at the highest level.”

Though Rose is entering camp after a summer of training instead of rehab, Chicago has its share of health-related questions. Mike Dunleavy underwent back surgery Friday and was expected to miss 8-10 weeks and Taj Gibson under-went left ankle surgery in June and is hoping to be back for the start of the season.

Rose, who underwent surgery on a torn right meniscus in February, said it felt good to be working out in Los Angeles over the summer. He also scoffs at people who doubt how good he is, that he won’t be able to match what he did when he won the 2010-2011 Most Valuable Player award. “I can’t get caught up into that. I know I’m great,” Rose said. (ap)

Dani Pedrosa believes defeating Valentino Rossi in their battle for second at the Aragon Grand Prix was one of the best achievements of his MotoGP career. Honda rider Pedrosa admitted that close racing has been “a weakness” of his, but in Spain last Sunday he denied champi-onship leader and seven-time champion Rossi after a ferocious dice in which they swapped places multiple times.

“It is surely one of the best battles because of the rival,” said Ped-rosa. “You can have a good battle with many riders, but Valentino is the master of these situations. “Normally he’s so comfortable in those moments and he has so much confidence.

“He can play a lot with the bike, try different lines, change braking points and apex points.

“He’s super-comfortable at that and it’s one of my weakest points. So I’m really happy about that achievement. “I could hear his engine all the time, he was so close.

“I didn’t really know where his strong point was, but I could see he was ready for a fight. “He actually attacked me with many laps to go, but I knew I had to fight with him.

“I was able to make good moves. I had good control of the bike even though I wasn’t the fastest, so I could change lines and when he passed I could attack back. “At some places I could feel I was slower than him, but at others he surprised me because he attacked where I didn’t expect.

“When I saw the one-lap board I said I had to hold on in second place, because after all this fight with him it’s not good to finish third.”

Rossi said he gave everything he had to try to deny Pedrosa the runner-up spot and limit the points loss to his race-winning title rival and Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

“At the end I played all the cards that I had, and one extra that I didn’t expect,” he said. “The last chicane is not a place to overtake, but it was my last chance, so I tried.

“For one moment I thought I could stay on the line, but Dani over-took me another time.

“It was a great battle. It was not enough. Dani was simply stronger than me.

“It’s a shame because for the championship those points are im-portant. But I tried.” Pedrosa has not won since Brno last August and missed several early-2015 races while undergoing experimental surgery to tackle a persistent arm pump problem. He admitted that the Aragon track layout had helped him from a fitness perspective as his arm remained troublesome.

“It’s more left corners so my right arm is more relaxed than nor-mally,” he said.

“But also when you have no pain, your brain is more in gear. You’re more focused on what you’re doing, not how you’re feeling.” (net)

Winning Aragon fight with Rossi a MotoGP highlight, says Pedrosa

REUTERS/Max RossiHonda MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa of Spain takes a corner during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano Adriatico circuit in central Italy September 12, 2015.

AP Photo/Charles Rex ArbogastChicago Bulls’ Pau Gasol (16), Taj Gibson (22) and Joakim Noah, joke during an NBA basketball media day Monday, Sept. 28, 2015, in Chicago.

Bulls with new coach, old questions as training camp opens

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls have a new coach and the same old questions as the NBA season draws closer. Most of the group is back from a team that won 50 games but was ousted in six games by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Bulls will conduct their first training-camp practices Tuesday under new coach Fred Hoiberg, who replaces Tom Thibodeau..

IBP/Net

AMLAPURA - Amlapura, capital of Karangasem Regen-cy, is 78 km east of Denpasar. Since the Karangasem King-dom was established, Amlapura has been the civic center. Meanwhile, the famous tourist destination in Amlapura is the Royal Palace denoting a perfect fusion of Balinese, Chinese and European architecture. The palace was founded by Anak Agung Gede Jelantik, the first king of Karangasem. Inside the palace, we will find a collection of photos belonging to royal families and fashionable costumes worn at that time.

Karangasem Royal Palace

6 11International International

W RLDWednesday, September 30, 2015Wednesday, September 30, 2015

BALI DIRECTORY

The meeting is scheduled to take place Tuesday on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world lead-ers at the United Nations. Castro is attending for the first time.

The encounter comes as the Cold War adversaries go about the long and complex process of normal-izing relations following decades of animosity. The U.S. recently eased rules for citizens who want to visit or do business in Cuba, a step aimed at fostering greater economic freedom on the island.

Both leaders surprised the world last December by announcing they had agreed to restore diplomatic relations.

Since then, the two countries

have reopened embassies in each other’s capitals. But sharp differ-ences remain, particularly over Cuba’s human rights record and detainment of political prisoners. Both sides want Congress to lift a longstanding economic embargo against the communist island na-tion, but many Republican lawmak-ers and some Democrats want to keep it in place.

Cuba also seeks the return of land occupied by the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay; the U.S. says that is not in the plan.

In his address Monday at the opening of the U.N. General As-sembly’s annual ministerial meet-ing, Obama discussed the shift in

policy toward Cuba and said he was confident that Congress “will inevi-tably lift an embargo that should not be in place anymore.”

Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser for Obama, said Castro’s presence at the U.N. gathering is a signal “that we’re in a new era.” Obama and Castro first spoke in December after the secret process to restore diplomatic rela-tions was revealed.

They met in person in April while attending a regional summit in Panama. Before then, the last time a U.S. and Cuban leader had convened a substantive meeting was in 1958.

Obama and Castro spoke by telephone again earlier this month before Pope Francis visited Cuba and the United States. Francis was a go-between for the U.S. and Cuba during their secret talks. (ap)

BEIJING — A typhoon struck mainland China on Tuesday after lashing Taiwan, where it killed two, injured hundreds and left hundreds of thousands without power or water.

Ty p h o o n D u j u a n p a s s e d through Taiwan for three hours on Monday night, bringing high winds and rain. More than 100 flights in China’s southern prov-ince of Fujian were cancelled and trains suspended as the storm approached and crossed over the mainland.

Taiwan’s Central News Agen-cy, citing the government’s emer-gency operations center, said Tuesday that the typhoon had left two people dead, 324 injured and six mountain climbers missing. A total of 710,000 households were without electricity and 370,000 without water.

Bon Jovi canceled concerts planned for Monday and Tuesday in Taiwan because of the storm, which were to be the first ones there by the American rock band in 20 years, event promoter Live

Nation Taiwan said on Face-book. Bon Jovi had added the second date in Taiwan earlier this month along with a new concert in Bangkok after performances in Beijing and Shanghai were abruptly canceled, reportedly over the band’s inclusion of a picture of the Dalai Lama in a video that angered Chinese au-thorities.

Typhoon Dujuan made landfall in southeastern Fujian province Tuesday morning, packing maxi-mum wind speeds of 119 kilome-ters per hour (74 mph) near its center, before weakening into a tropical storm, according to the National Meteorological Center. It was moving northwestward at a speed of 20 kph (12 mph) and was due to reach neighboring Jiangxi province by Tuesday night.

Ahead of its arrival, thousands of fishing boats returned to shore, ports were closed and in one city classes at middle schools, primary schools and kindergartens were suspended, according to the offi-cial Xinhua News Agency. (ap)

NEW YORK — Officials say an Aer Lingus Boeing 757 jet heading to Shannon, Ireland, had to return to Kennedy Airport after experiencing hydraulic failure.

Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo (pehn-TAN’-jeh-loh) says the plane had landing gear problems and no flaps when it safely landed at 7:30 p.m. (2330

GMT) Monday, about 15 minutes after takeoff.

Pentangelo says the jet’s rear brakes overheated during the faster than normal landing, causing a

small fire in the landing gear com-partment.

He says the fire was extinguished and the passengers were transported by buses to the terminal.

A telephone operator at Aer Lingus would only say that Flight EI 110 experienced technical prob-lems. There were no reports of any injuries. (ap)

Ireland-bound jet returns to JFK due to hydraulic problems

Typhoon lashes Taiwan, killing 2,

injuring more than 300

AP Photo/Wally Santana

A pedestrian struggles with luggage in the strong winds and rain from Typhoon Dujuan in the business district of Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, Sept. 28, 2015.

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

United States President Barack Obama speaks during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Monday, Sept. 28, 2015.

US, Cuba leaders to meet for 2nd time in this yearNEW YORK — Making good on a pledge to change U.S.

posture toward Cuba, President Barack Obama is poised to hold talks with Cuban President Raul Castro for the second time this year.

Indonesia Today Wednesday, September 30, 2015 5InternationalWednesday, September 30, 201512 International

ATHENS - Greece will scrap reduced value added tax (VAT) rates on Oct. 1 on six islands which are very popular with tourists, as agreed with its international lenders, the finance ministry said on Mon-day.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was re-elected on Sept. 20, has promised to streamline the VAT system as part of Greece’s third bailout agreement.

Plans to increase VAT on Greek islands prompted fierce criticism from businesses and met with resistance by the junior coali-tion party, the Independent Greeks, over the summer.

But the newly re-elected government must implement the measure to success-fully conclude its first bailout review and get more EU/IMF funds.

“It is clear that this development is a political necessity (and not a choice) which derives from the agreement with the insitu-tions, and is a basic step to proceed with the review and the following steps,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

From Thursday, the three VAT rates of 6, 13 and 23 percent will apply on Santo-rini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Naxos, Paros and Skiathos, as in the rest of the country, the ministry said.

More islands are expected to enter the new scheme in June 2016 and in 2017.

The ministry said that the VAT hikes will be reviewed in 2016, if Greece ex-ceeds its revenue targets from tackling tax evasion and that the government will take measures to mitigate the impact of the increases on residents.

Tourism is the Greek economy’s main-stay and revenues are expected to hit a record high this year. (rtr)

Merkel has said Berlin aimed to reach a political framework for the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the world’s biggest trade pact, by the

end of this year.Gabriel, leader of the Social

Democrats, Merkel’s coalition partners, questioned whether a deal would be done before the U.S. elec-

tions in November 2016.“I have my doubts if there will

be a political framework for TTIP before the U.S. elections,” he said, speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the Jacques Delors Insti-tut think-tank. The negotiations on the trade deal are stuck and neither side has come any closer on impor-tant areas such as the opening up

of agricultural markets and public services, Gabriel said.

France’s junior trade minister, Matthias Fekl, said at the same event that Washington lacked a spirit of compromise in the negotia-tions and that if the United States was not willing to change its posi-tion, Paris could not rule out leaving the talks.

If agreed, TTIP would encom-pass a third of world trade and cre-ate a market of 800 million people. While businesses hope the trade deal may deliver more than $100 billion of economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic, opponents say TTIP could erode European standards on food safety and the environment. (rtr)

SAN FRANSISCO - Yahoo notified US regulators that it is proceeding with plans to spin off its multi-billion-dollar stake in Alibaba despite the unanswered question of what the tax bill could be.

Yahoo’s board of directors has authorized the company to pursue the transaction “as previously disclosed, except that the comple-tion of the spin-off will not be conditioned upon receipt of a favorable ruling from the IRS,” the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Early in September, the Internal Revenue Service refused to promise that the Internet pioneer’s plan for spinning off its Alibaba holdings would sidestep US taxes.

The IRS declined a request for a pre-liminary ruling that the way the spin-off is

structured satisfies requirements for avoid-ing taxes on the multi-billion-dollar stake in Alibaba.

At the same time, the IRS did not indicate for sure that the transaction would be taxable, according to the California-based Internet pioneer. Yahoo shares sank at the time but were up nearly four percent to $28.70 in after market trades on Monday.

Yahoo said in the filing that it expected the spin-off to be completed in the final quarter of this year, but said it still hinged on final approval by the company’s board.

Yahoo in July formally notified US regula-tors that it is spinning off its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to an independent new company called Aabaco Holdings.

Aabaco will wind up owning approxi-

mately 384 million shares of the Alibaba Group, representing an interest of about 15 percent, according to an SEC filing.

The move was designed to sidestep taxes and appease investors eager to tap into Ya-hoo’s rich stake in Alibaba. The IRS decision to remain mum about the deal for now raised worry by investors that a big tax bill may be in store.

Under the spinoff plan, which was an-nounced early this year, all outstanding shares of Aabaco will be distributed to Yahoo stock holders. Yahoo will also transfer to Aabaco services for small businesses that it hosts in its Internet cloud.

Yahoo bought a 40 percent stake in the Chinese company in 2005 for $1 billion. (afp)

An Indian ven-dor arranges papaya fruits next to the pic-tures of Hindu god Ganesha displayed on an electric pole at a whole-sale market in Bangalore, India, Tues-day, Sept. 29, 2015. India’s central bank on Tuesday cut its key inter-est rate by half a percentage point, aiming to spur eco-nomic growth as inflation cooled to the lowest since November.

Germany’s Gabriel doubts U.S., EU will make trade breakthrough this year

BERLIN - German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel expressed doubts on Monday that the European Union and the United States would reach an agreement in trade talks by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s December target date.

Greece scraps reduced VAT rates on islands as per bailout deal

Yahoo to spin off Alibaba stake despite tax questionAP Photo/Aijaz Rahi

“The number of suspects is 204 comprising 195 people involved in individual cases, and nine in cases involving cor-porations,” Senior Commissioner Suharsono, the spokesman of the National Police Headquarters said.

The national police are currently investigating some 218 cases of forest and plantation fires.

Of the 218 cases, 19 are in the pre-investigation stage, 136 cases involving 94 individuals and 42 corporations are in the investigation stage, and the rest are to be or have been handed over to the attorney offices.

He said that of the total cases, four are being handled by the National Police’s Crime Investigation Department (Bareskrim), 34 by the South Sumatra Police, 68 by the Riau Police, 18 by the Jambi police, 57 cases by the Central Kalimantan Police, 25 by the West Kalimantan Police, eight by the South Kalimantan Police, and four by the East Kali-mantan Police.

The National Police Headquarters had deployed 670 per-sonnel to help fight the forest fires and 70 investigators to examine cases related to them.

National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti recently stated that dealing with the problem would first entail the involvement of the regional governments, the military, and the police.

“An information campaign must be carried out for the public, so that fires can be detected as early as possible and are easier to control. It would take several facilities along with personnel and expenditure to overcome the problem,” he stated.

Badrodin further stated that companies had been requested to provide fire extinguishers, including water reservoirs for dousing the fires and deploying personnel to fight the fires.

Badrodin noted that during his recent tour along with President Joko Widodo to the fire-hit areas, he noticed that the worst fires were raging in Central Kalimantan. (ant)

MECCA - The death toll of Indone-sians in the Mina Tragedy has risen to 46 from the previous report of 41, according to Head of the Mecca working area of the Indonesian Hajj Pilgrims Committee (PPIH) Arsyad Hidayat.

“The number of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims killed in the incident based on our previous release is 45, but now, the number has risen to 46. Another person named Dahlia Sulaiman Hamdan of the Batam flight batch BTH 14 with passport number A3689002 was confirmed dead,” Hidayat noted here in the wee hours of Tuesday.

He remarked that the number of In-donesian Hajj pilgrims undergoing treat-ment at the Saudi government hospital had reduced to seven patients after three of them had been allowed to return to their respective boarding facilities.

The three pilgrims are Zulaiaha

Lutan Alam, Arninda Idris Usman, and Fadilah Abdul Karim Nurdin. They are all from the Batam flight batch BTH 14.

The flight batches comprising 90 Indonesians who have not yet returned to their boarding facilities since the in-cident took place on Thursday morning, September 24.

“The increase in the number of those pilgrims who had not returned to their accommodation is due to the fact that the ‘nafar sani’ ritual was completed only yesterday, so the chiefs of their flight batches reported the missing members only in the afternoon on September 28,” said Hidayat.

He noted that the PPIH will continue to search for the Indonesian pilgrims, who had not yet returned to their board-ing rooms, at hospitals and at the Al Muasim morgue. (ant)

JAKARTA - Indonesia has sent senior officials to China and Japan to court Asia’s two biggest economies as Jakarta renews its efforts to build a multi-billion dollar railway linking two major cities, a government official said on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Indonesia abruptly changed plans to build a high-speed rail line between the capital, Jakarta, and textile hub Bandung, opting instead for a medium-speed train for the 150 km (95 mile) journey.

Tuesday’s announcement that represen-tatives had been sent to Japan and China suggested the project had gained renewed impetus, although possibly with a compromise between the original high-speed plan and the medium-speed alternative.

“What’s clear is that the speed of the train will be lower than initially planned,” said Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung.

The high-profile project has pitted Japan

and China - two major investors in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy - against each other, with both lobbying hard to win the $5 billion contract. Analysts say the winner of this bid could be a frontrunner for future rail projects in the region, including one linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Government sources say Indonesia is inclined to pick China’s proposal after Presi-dent Joko Widodo said the project should not require a government guarantee and not use the state budget.

State-owned enterprises minister Rini Soe-marno has said Japan must drop its require-ment for government guarantees if it wants to stay in the race.

Anung said National Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil had been sent to Japan, but de-clined to say who had been sent to China.

Indonesia is expected to announce the winner of the rail project in the coming days. (rtr)

Police name 204 suspects in forest fire cases

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Police have so far named a total of 204 people as suspects in forest and plantation fire cases across the country.

REUTERS/Edgar SuOffice workers wearing masks walk during lunch hour at the central business district in Singapore September 29, 2015. The Indonesian Police have so far named a total of 204 people as suspects in forest and plantation fire cases across the country.

Stampede in MinaDeath toll of Indonesians rises to 46

Indonesia sends envoys to woo Japan, China in renewed push for fast train

BUSINESS

Bali News International4 Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Wednesday, September 30, 2015 13International RLDW

The lawsuit is another twist in a long-standing political battle dividing Thailand. On one side is the country’s traditional ruling elite who are backed by the military that staged Thailand’s 2014 coup, and on the other is a group of politicians who challenged the status quo, led by Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications billionaire-turned-populist politi-cian who held office from 2001 to 2006.

Yingluck was Thailand’s prime minister from 2011 until a contro-versial court decision forced her from office in May 2014, just a few days before the military staged a coup to overthrow her govern-ment. She was impeached earlier this year in connection with the money-losing rice subsidy scheme and barred her from office for five years. The attorney-general then pressed criminal charges against her over the same matter.

In her court filing Tuesday, Yin-gluck said the attorney-general and others were guilty of negligence of duty and a concerted effort to dam-age her, citing three alleged legal violations punishable by a range of 6 months to 10 years in prison. The court will decide whether to let the case proceed or throw it out.

“I’ve come here to exercise my rights in accordance with the legal process,” Yingluck told reporters. “I submitted the lawsuit against the attorney-general and team members.”

The rice subsidy scheme was a key feature of Yingluck’s 2011 election campaign and helped win her huge support in rural areas. It bought rice from farmers at well above market price but the program racked up losses of at least $4.46 billion. Yingluck’s opponents said the scheme was riddled with corrup-tion and she did nothing to stop it. She denies any wrongdoing.

Yingluck was accompanied by her brother-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat, himself a former prime minister who was also ousted by the courts, in a 2008 decision.

Both Yingluck and Somchai are political allies and relatives of Thaksin, who was ousted by a 2006 military coup. Yingluck is Thaksin’s sister and Somchai is married to another of Thaksin’s sisters.

Thaksin fled into exile in 2008 to avoid a prison sentence on a corruption-related charge he says was engineered by his political foes, jealous of his popularity.

The courts and the military, two pillars of the conservative Thai es-

tablishment, have consistently acted to put pressure on Thaksin’s politi-cal machine, which has delivered convincing victories in all national elections since 2001. He remains

highly popular in rural areas.The anti-Thaksin efforts have

eased recently as the army con-solidates its rule over the country, seeking to achieve a measure of

reconciliation while putting in safeguards against a comeback by Thaksin and his allies. The junta says a new election won’t take place in Thailand until 2017. (ap)

LIMA, Peru — At least three people were shot and killed and 17 wounded in a clash between police and highlands farmers protesting a $7.4 billion Chinese-owned copper mining project, health officials said Monday.

Police apparently opened fire on the protesters when they entered part of the Las Bambas mine where the plant that separates copper ore from rock is under construction. The local health director, Jose Sop-lopuco, told The Associated Press that two men died en route to the regional capital of Cuzco and one at the local health clinic.

Percy Jeronimo, the oral surgeon

running the emergency room, said three of the wounded were in criti-cal condition.

Soplopuco said ambulances couldn’t reach Challhuahuacho, the town of about 10,000 residents where the clinic is located, because police had shot at a vehicle carrying doctors.

The Las Bambas project is owned by a consortium led by Chinese state giant China Minmetals Corp. It is scheduled to begin production in 2016 and produce 400,000 metric tons of copper the following year.

President Ollanta Humala ap-pealed to protest leaders for calm. He called Las Bambas Peru’s big-

gest mining project on Monday. The Associated Press called the project’s office in Lima but no one answered.

Peru is the world’s No. 3 cop-per producer and mining accounts for about 60 percent of its export earnings.

But resistance by local farmers has frustrated and delayed major projects across the rugged Andean nation. Six people have been killed so far this year in anti-mining protests, including a police officer whose skull was fractured during May protests against a Mexican-owned copper mining project. (ap)

3 killed as police, protesters clash over Peru copper mine

REUTERS/Mariana BazoA pastry street vendor walks next to workers of Shougang Hierro Peru that blowing makeshift airhorns during a protest in front of the labor ministry in Lima, September 24, 2015.

Thailand’s ousted PM files criminal case against opponents

BANGKOK — Thailand’s ousted prime minister Yingluck Shina-watra, who was pushed from office more than a year ago, impeached and faces criminal charges, hit back at her opponents Tuesday with her own lawsuit. Yingluck filed a case at Bangkok’s Criminal Court to counter-sue the country’s attorney-general over the handling of her prosecution in connection with a subsidy scheme for rice farmers, which ran up huge losses.

AP Photo/Sakchai LalitThailand’s former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives at Bangkok’s Criminal Court, Thailand, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015. Yingluck filed a criminal case at the court to counter-sue the country’s attorney-general over the handling of her prosecution in connection with a subsidy scheme for rice farmers, which ran up huge losses.

SINGARAJA - The develop-ment of the regional potential of Buleleng as an entrance way to Bali has been eyed by property investors who have become active in the area based in rumours of the plan to build an airport in North Bali. Location assessments for property development have been involving local and Asain investors.

The potential of hotel and villa properties in the area are an easy sell in terms of creating employ-ment and encouraging the economy of Buleleng. Regional zoning based on the Spatial Planning (RTRW) of Buleleng serve as a reference for the establishment of properties. It is

important that investors go through an assessment process and get ac-curate information early on, before deciding on the location for their investment.

“We plan to look to Buleleng for investments in the future because the south Bali property market is already saturated. Many people know that Bali serves as the gate-way to Indonesia. In essence, we have started to invite investors to see the huge potential that North Bali has to offer,” said President Director of Diamond Bay, Ryan Haryansyah.

Hospitality property investment in North Bali has not been worked

on maximally by the local govern-ment. Therefore Buleleng needs investments from outside the area. According to Ryan the support of outside investors can facilitate the future growth of Buleleng. “There is information about the airport development plan in North Bali, for instance. And although we do not know when and where it will be built, many investor from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore have become interested in investing in Buleleng. The will-ingness to mutually support each other is an important factor that needs to move beyond just talk,” he added.

Assistant II of the Buleleng Regional Secretary, Ida Bagus Geriastika, added that he appre-ciates the interest of investors to carry out an assessment of North Bali related to property development plans. He also said that Regional Bylaw No.6/2009 on Regional Spatial Planning, clearly states that there is a plan to establish an airport in North Bali. “But we do not know the exact location where it will be built. There are rumours that there are two potential locations, namely; Kubutambahan and Ger-okgak subdistricts. According to the legislation it is mandatory

that an airport be built in North Bali,” added Geriastika.

He also explained that the op-portunities to develop the potential of Buleleng are numerous. Based on the regional spatial plan (RTRW) of Buleleng, some areas have been mapped either for industrial estates, tourist areas, agricultural areas or other potential areas. “Hopefully the presence of investors can seri-ously help build Buleleng. It is expected that Buleleng can be de-veloped like other counties in Bali. We hope that a presentation can be made before the stakeholders soon, including the priorities for develop-ment,” he explained. (kmb34)

According to the Chief of Padang Luwih customary village, I Gusti Ketut Suparta, the annual tradition takes place in front of the Desa Temple and is organized as an expression of the gratitude of local people for the abundant harvest yields. The tradition held every full moon of the fourth month of the Balinese calendar (September) involves at hundreds of households.

“This tradition has been inherited for generations as an expression of gratitude for the grace endowed by God in the form of abundant harvest yields. Local people (Padang Luwih—Ed) formerly worked as farmers,” he said.

He said that the six customary hamlets involved in the tipat war procession are: Tegal Jaya, Celuk, Jeroan, Pendem, Gaji and Kwanji. The hamlets consist of 530 households with 2,433 people. “Most of the participants are the youth, while the village apparatus only oversees the activities,” he said.

The tipat war tradition, explained Gusti Suparta, starts with the saying of prayers together at the Desa Temple of Padang Luwih customary village, and is followed by having meal together. “It is devoted to Sang Hyang Rare Angon,” he added.

Participatipants are divided into two groups, said Gusti Suparta, the north and south of the Desa Temple. The divi-sion of the group is based on the location of each hamlet.

“The two groups then throw tipat at each other just like a war. People start gathering at 3:00 p.m. while carrying obla-tions in the form of salaran containing ketupat and bantal cake. After that, the procession is commenced,” he said.

Although the tradition is still maintained until these days, added Gusti Suparta, the area of paddy field at Padang Luwih has begun to diminish. “The area of paddy field is getting narrower, than it was before. Dalung Permai was formerly the area of Padang Luwih. Now, we just would like to maintain this tradition,” he concluded. (kmb27)

Padang Luwih residents hold siat tipat tradition

MANGUPURA - The tradition of siat tipat (rice patty war), a ritual expression of gratitude for the en-dowments of the Creator is still carried out by both the community Kapal village, as well as the community of Padang Luwih, Dalung. The tipat war that six custom-ary hamlets take part in is concentrated at the Puseh and Desa Temple on Jalan Raya Padang Luwih, on Monday (Sep. 28).

Airport development plan in Buleleng

Investors compete to develop properties

IBP/Eka AdhyaksaThe Siat Tipat ritual

314 InternationalInternational Bali NewsTechnology Wednesday, September 30, 2015Wednesday, September 30, 2015

LOS ANGELES — Virtual reality is taking a few steps closer to the mainstream with Samsung unveil-ing a headset that brings the technology to its latest smartphones at half the price of its previous model, Facebook launching support for 360-degree video, and online video services like Netflix and Hulu jumping into the format.

The announcements at a developers conference in Los An-geles for virtual reality technology company Oculus represent attempts to push the platform beyond a video-gamer-focused niche.

Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who cut a deal to buy Oculus for $2 billion last year, told some 1,500 conference at-tendees Thursday that virtual reality is “the next logical step” in online sharing after text, photos and video.

“In just a few years, VR has gone from being this science fiction dream to an awesome reality,” he said. “And now we all here have a chance to change the way we play, communicate and collaborate.”

Zuckerberg showed off a promo for the upcoming “Star Wars” movie showing a speeding vehicle zooming over the desert landscape of fictional planet Jakku. Users can look around in any direction using their mouse as the video is playing.

Samsung said its new virtual reality headset will be 22 percent lighter and cost $99, half the price of its previous model. The Gear VR, which requires users to insert the latest version of a Samsung smartphone into the headset, will ship in November.

Netflix content is available to be viewed in Oculus or Sam-sung headsets starting Thursday, while Hulu said it would also bring its app to the Oculus platform where users can stream 2-D content as well as an original virtual reality short film called “The Big One,” from YouTube star Freddie Wong’s RocketJump production company. A Hulu launch date wasn’t announced.

Meanwhile, Oculus said it would begin a certification pro-gram so consumers can look for a sticker that will identify which computers support its Oculus Rift headset, which is due to come out early next year. Asus, Dell and Alienware will have certified models that cost less than $1,000. (ap)

WASHINGTON - BlackBerry announced plans Friday to sell an Android-powered smartphone, in the latest reboot effort from the faded star of the sector.

The Canadian firm said its would begin selling “Priv,” describe as “a flagship handheld device that will run on the Android operating system with BlackBerry security,” expected to be available later this year.

“Priv combines the best of BlackBerry security and produc-tivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform,” said John

Chen, executive chairman and chief executive.

BlackBerry said however it “re-mains committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which enables industry-leading security and pro-ductivity benefits.”

The company said it “will con-tinue to develop and enhance the BlackBerry 10 operating system and is confirming plans to release platform updates focused on secu-rity and privacy enhancements,” in March 2016.

The BB 10 operating system was unveiled in 2013 as part of an effort

to regain market share lost as con-sumers around the world shifted to devices running on Google Android and Apple’s iOS.

But the operating system share has fallen further, and now rep-resents less than one percent of smartphone users.

BlackBerry, one of the early pioneers of smartphones, has been struggling for years. It has made several efforts to find new customer niches, with low-cost devices, tab-lets and by shifting its emphasis to software and services.

In releasing its quarterly results,

BlackBerry said it swung to a profit of $51 million for the three months to August 29, compared with a loss of $207 million in the same period a year ago.

But the profit came from a one-time credit from an adjustment in the value of some of its debts.

Revenues for the period slumped 46 percent from a year ago to $490 million.

“I am confident in our strategy and continued progress, highlighted by our fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year double digit growth in software licensing revenue and

sixth consecutive quarter of positive free cash flow,” Chen said.

“At the same time, we are fo-cused on making faster progress to achieve profitability in our handset business.”

BlackBerry said it sold 800,000 smartphones at an average price of $240. That represents a tiny fraction of a global smartphone market of some 300 million per quarter.

The company said 15 percent of its revenue came from software and services, 41 percent for hardware, and 43 percent for service access fees. (afp)

WASHINGTON - Facebook has changed the name of its program offering free Internet to develop-ing countries to “Free Basics” and added more services.

It used to be a service within Facebook’s broader Internet.org

initiative, which seeks to expand online access around the world.

It comes after criticism because of the limited service for the free program -- which some say flies in the face of Facebook’s commitment for “net neutrality,” or equal treat-

ment for all online services.Earlier this year, Facebook

opened the initiative to outside ap-plications after news organizations in India withdrew their websites.

In a statement, Facebook said that with its latest update, “more

than 60 new services are available across the 19 countries where free basic services are available.”

Facebook has said it would be impractical to offer the entire In-ternet for free through the program, which works through mobile carri-

ers in various countries.But it said that the program

can provide important services for health, education and jobs to as many as one billion people in the 19 countries where it is available. (afp)

BlackBerry unveils Android phone in new reboot effort

Facebook rebrands free Internet service, expands

AP Photo/Nick Ut

Samsung’s Vice President of Mobile, Peter Koo, speaks during the Oculus 2 conference in Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015. Virtual reality is taking a few steps closer to the mainstream with Samsung unveiling a headset that brings the technology to its latest smartphones at half the price of its previ-ous model, Facebook launching support for 360-degree video, and online video services like Netflix and Hulu jumping into the format.

Oculus takes aim at mainstream with inexpensive gear, video

The conference will feature as many as 55 representatives from eight countries and 16 speak-ers, among others, from India, Singapore, Pakistan, Australia,

and the Philippines, said the initiator of the Asian Journey conference, Dr Heru Prakosa SJ, on Monday.

According to him, Asian Jour-

ney is a forum and a network linking activists and observers of inter-faith encounters, espe-cially Christians and Muslims in Asia.

The forum is expected to ar-gue for broader cooperation in addressing the concerns about relations between believers of various faiths, he added. (ant)

DENPASAR - Since its re-launch in late March 2015, the Denpasar Heritage City Tour has received positive responses from tourism players in Bali. The number of tourist visits to most of the des-tinations of the city tour are quite high and have even exceeded the targeted number of tourists.

There are two city tour destina-tions that remain the exception, these are: the Jro Kuta Palace and Maospait Temple. The Denpasar Tourism Office will therefore con-duct a study regarding the manage-ment of the tour.

Head of the Denpasar Tourism Office, I Wayan Gunawan, when met in Sanur recently, said that the city tour will be studied and evaluated to see what is missing. The contents of the tour were re-launched a few months ago and have shown good progress. Now, they are preparing a study to evalu-ate the program to prevent the tour from becoming stagnant. For the time being, tourism actors in Bali are enthusiastically offering the tour package to travellers.

“This study will be conducted to find out what see what needs to be done to ensure the continuity of this city tour and also to look into the future of the tour’s management. Whether the government will con-tinue to manage the tour or whether other organizations will take over, will depend on the results of the study,” said Gunawan.

Tourist visits to traditional mar-kets such as the Badung Market and Kumbasari Market have apparently

experienced an increase in numbers, with an average of 3,600 tourist visits per month. These visits are mostly by Japanese and Chinese tourists who also appreciate the hyine of the markets which has been the recent focus of improvements.

The government hopes that with the re-launching of this program, domestic and foreign visitors can get to know Denpasar’s various attractions.

Gunawan said that the Denpasar Heritage City Tour package is de-signed in such a way to increase the number of tourist visits to cultural attractions. At the same time, it opens up economic opportunities and has contributed to improving the quality of infrastructure for local communities.

Aside from providing informa-tion to members of the public who live and work near these attractions, about how to capitalize on oppor-tunities, the public has also been invited to help maintain security, order and cleanliness around these tourist attractions. In order for the city tour program to succeed, all tourism stakeholers, especially the ASITA, HPI, the Regional Tour-ism Promotion Board and other tourism associations need to work together.

The Denpasar Heritage City Tour 2015 includes several destinations: Gusti Ngurah Made Agung Square, Catur Muka Statue, Jaya Sabha, the Bali Museum, Jagatnatha Temple, Jro Kuta Palace, Maospait Temple, Badung and Kumbasari Markets and the Inna Bali Hotel. (kmb12)

Denpasar City Tour to be assessed

IBP/Wawan

Tourists visit Kumbasari Market in Denpasar City. Tourist visits to traditional markets such as the Badung Market and Kumbasari Market have apparently experienced an increase in numbers, with an average of 3,600 tourist visits per month.

AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati

Men lash each other with burning coconut husks during the annual “Mesiat Geni” ritual at a Hindu temple in Bali, Indonesia, late Monday, Sep. 28, 2015. Balinese Hindus hold the ritual every year to symbolize the purification of their souls and environment by the power of fire.

Bali to host Asian Journey

Conference 2015DENPASAR - Indonesia’s Bali Province will host a four-day

conference of the Asian Journey 2015, starting Thursday (Oct 1), in which eight Asian countries will participate, a spokesman has said.

International2 15International Activities

COVER STORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

Balinese Temple Ceremony

Wednesday, September 30, 2015Wednesday, September 30, 2015

From page 1Dropped...

JIMBArAN - InterConti-nental Bali Resort is delighted to announce the recent ap-pointment of Ms Kamal Haer as the new Area Director of Sales and Marketing. She will be responsible for leading and further improving all aspects of the sales and marketing communications team at Bali’s IHG Resorts.

Kama l ha s l i ved and worked in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji and holds a Master of Business in Market-ing from RMIT University in Melbourne. She comes to Bali direct from Fiji and where she fulfilled the role of Area Director of Sales and Market-ing, South Pacific for IHG Resorts: InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa, Holiday Inn Suva, and Holiday Inn Vanuatu. Prior to that, she held the position of Head of Marketing, Retail Sales and Distribution, Fiji and Pacific, at ANZ Bank, overseeing 11 Pacific countries. Kamal also has extensive experience in sales, marketing, revenue management and strategy development within the air-line, telecommunications, and financial services industries. Kamal possesses great lead-ership skills, a passion for excellence and a talent for developing high-performing teams that drive excellent business results.

“It is great to welcome Ka-mal to our executive team and we look forward to supporting her in the implementation of her knowledge and experi-ence,” said Area General Man-ager, Mr. Michel Chertouh.

“I’m delighted to be part of the team, and I will utilise my experience to provide top-notch service and support, as well as building new business relationships in Bali,” respond-ed Kamal.”

Blessed by an endless stretch of white sand beach overlook-

ing the tranquil waters of Jim-baran Bay, InterContinental Bali Resort features 417 guest rooms in three unique levels of accommodation. The property embraces a 14 hectare tropical landscape that is a blend of indigenous flora, gentle water-ways and stone statues reflect-ing the island’s artistic heritage. There are six swimming pools, Planet Trekkers children’s re-

sort, a fitness centre and plenty of recreational activities to keep guests occupied throughout the day. Spa Uluwatu is a dedicated healing and beauty facility for individual sessions, while the exclusive Villa Retreats prom-ises indulging spa packages for couples. A superb choice of restaurant venues makes every dining experience an adventure in culinary excellence.

InterContinental Bali Resort appoints

Kamal Haer as Director of Sales and Marketing

IBP/Courtesy of InterContinental

“If we pursue quantity, we must turn to creative tourism (artificial—Ed). If we continue to offer culture and nature, these have a carrying capacity with particular limitation. It’s impossible for us to send 10,000 tourists to Besakih. With artificial recreation, if the market is good, then the capacity can still be expanded,” said Chair-man of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) of Bali, Dr. Tjok. Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati or Cok Ace.

Cok Ace said that there are three fundamental aspects to tourism namely; capital, skill and unique-ness. Of these three aspects, Bali lacks both capital and skills. Practi-cally speaking this island only has uniqueness to offer. Result of the survey conducted by the Bank In-donesia indicate that only 22 percent of foreign tourists are demanding cultural tourism, while 56 percent demand “artificial,” tourism.

“Some people interpret this to mean that that non-cultural tour-ism should be encouraged in Bali. Let us suppose that these figures are correct, this would indicate that local community involvement in the development of tourism in Bali has begun to run thin,” he said.

This former regent of Gianyar added that the government, the public and tourism players need to sit down together in order to find out what is wrong with Bali tourism. Is the declining interest in cultural tourism caused by internal issues -chiefly tour guides no lon-ger wanting to take guests to enjoy cultural attractions because they are not well maintained?

“Are the unattractive condition caused by the lack of government attention to infrastructure, such as damaged roads leading to such destinations? Is the local com-munity too overprotective? I have heard from tour guide colleagues

that there is discrimination when entering Besakih, for example, that some guides are allowed to enter while the others are not, et cetera,” he explained.

According to Cok Ace, the three issues need to be dealt with so that the reasons for the 22 percent figure can become clear. Neverthe-less, he agreed that all components of society, including the govern-ment, should immediately improve the conditions of cultural tourism in order to increase the demand for it by foreign travellers, so that the figure can be raised to 80 percent. That way, Balinese people will not simply become the object of tourism but can instead be the subject.

The PDI-P Faction in the Bali House of Representatives pre-sented the results of the survey made by the Bank if Indonesia in its plenary meeting on Tuesday (Sep. 22). Member of Commission II of the Bali House of Representa-tives, A.A. Ngurah Adhi Ardhana, said that the results of the survey indicate that cultural tourism as set forth in the Regional Bylaw has deviated much from its original

purpose. Bali has started to move towards mass tourism which does not rely on the strengths of the Island of the Gods.

“What does this mean? It means that Balinese people have been shifted too far from their origins. I am not saying that everyone should be Hindu, but people have been changed by other cultures and religions that threaten to elimi-nate what is known as Balinese,” he said.

Adhi Ardana made the anal-ogy between the results of the survey and a tsunami that has hit Bali’s cultural tourism. Moeny and power from outside of Bali will come here and cause the full marginaliztion of Balinese people if we do not do something now. If not there will be massive struggles with industry in terms of both quality and quantity.

“If the regional basis is under-developed, quality will be lost. The problem lies in price, and it is getting lower and lower, meaning our tourism has become cheap-ened and if things continue like this we may see an end soon,” he explained. (kmb32)

However, the number of tourists arriving from neighboring ASEAN countries has dropped. This de-crease was due to the volcanic ash spewed form the recent eruption of Mount Raung in East Java.

“The number of tourists coming from Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore declined in July 2015. Probably, they were afraid of not being able to return home on schedule,” said Putra.

He also mentioned that despite the fact that the majority of visitors to Bali for any given month come form Australia, there was a recorded drop from 94,664 Australian visitors in June to 81,456 in July, though they remain in the lead compared to other neighbouring countries.

Putra pointed out that apart from concerns about the volcanic eruption, the decrease in the number of Aus-tralian tourists was also probably due to the execution of Australian drug convicts a some months back.

He said that based on data re-leased by the office of Bali’s Tour-ism Service, 567,546 Australian tourist arrivals were recorded in the January-July 2015 period, up by 4.91 percent compared to the 541,008 arrivals noted in the same period in 2014.

However, Australians still topped the list of foreign tourist arrivals in the January-July 2015 period, accounting for 24.81 percent of the total 2.2 mil-lion foreign tourist arrivals to Bali.

A drop in tourist arrivals from Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand to Bali was also observed.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals from Singapore dropped 20.41 percent from 104,921 in the January-July 2014 period, to 83,511 for the same period in 2015.

A similar trend was also observed for Malaysian tourist arrivals, which went down by 11.35 percent to 110,965 in the January-July 2015 period compared to 125,173 record-ed in the same period last year.

Meanwhile the number of Thai tourists visiting Bali also went down from 18,377 in the first seven months of 2014 to 17,585 in the cor-responding period in 2015.

According to Putra the main contributing factor to the decline in visits was due to the volcanic erup-tion a few months back that caused a number of flights in and out of Bali to be cancelled. “However, all this is temporary and conditions should return to normal,” argued Putra. (ant)

IBP/Wawan

Tourists take selfie in Kedonganan Pier during their holiday in Bali Island. Bali tourism is now at a crossroads. The spirit of cultural tourism has started to be replaced by so-called industrial tourism.

Bali tourism at a crossroadsBALI tourism is now at a crossroads. The spirit of cultural

tourism has started to be replaced by so-called industrial tourism. The Island of the Gods should immediately take a stand, whether to pursue quantity or maintain the quality of tourism.

As of this October, another 47 nations will be included on this list, bringing the new total number of countries that are not required to apply for a visa when their citizens visit Indonesia, to 92 countries.

Coordinating Minister for Mari-time Affairs Rizal Ramli stated that the 47 new countries will be added

to the visa-free list as of October in order to coincide with the yearend holidays.

“Originally, it was proposed to be made effective as of January next year, but we did not want to wait that long and wanted to capitalize on the yearend tourist season,” he affirmed.

Ramli has therefore called for the required technical preparations to be made before the policy is implemented.

He added that visa-free entry is the most effective way to draw more visitors to the country.

The government has set a tar-get of attracting up to 20 million foreign tourists to visit the country in 2019.

He remarked that the implemen-tation of the visa free policy in April already resulted in a 15 percent

increase in the number of foreign visitors to Indonesia compared to the average increase of 4 percent.

Indonesia recorded 9 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2014, compared to the 8.8 million visi-tors in 2013.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya emphasized that the government expects there to be a 20 percent increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals during the first and second phase of the implementation of the visa-free policy.

“We expect an increase of one to two million tourists a year, which will reflect a 20 percent growth in our target,” he added. (ant)

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

16 Pages Number 196 7th year

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

Price: Rp 3.000,-

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

DPs 23 - 32

EntertainmentWEATHER FORECAsT

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Page 13Page 8Page 6

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

bali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http://radioglobalfmbali.com and http://ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.

SAN FRANCISCO — An extreme sports star skydiving for the opening ceremony of a golf event in Northern California died when he struck a tree Monday, authorities said.

Placer County Sheriff’s Capt. Dennis Walsh said Erik Roner, of Tahoe City, died during a skydiving accident at a golf course in Squaw Valley, about 5 miles from Lake Tahoe’s northwest shore.

Witnesses told deputies Roner, 39, was part of a group conducting a skydiving performance before a golf tournament when he hit a tree while trying to land and became entangled high above ground, Walsh said.

Authorities were not able to remove him from the tree, and Roner was pronounced dead at the scene. The other skydivers landed safely on the golf course in Squaw Valley, home of the ski resort that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics. Walsh said the investigation was continuing and the Federal Aviation Administration was notified.

Roner’s death comes four months after world-famous wingsuit flyer Dean Potter and fellow adventurer Graham Hunt fatally crashed after the pair leaped from Taft Point, 3,500 feet above Yosemite Valley, at-tempting to clear a V-shaped notch in a ridgeline.

“Erik was a beautiful man, great father, wonderful friend and the love of my life,” his wife, Annika Roner, said in a statement.

Roner, a professional skier and avid BASE jumper, was known for being part of “Nitro Circus,” an MTV show centered around freestyle motocross rider Travis Pastrana and his crew of extreme sports athlete friends. He also hosted the TV show “Locals” on sports network Outside Television.

“Nitro Circus” ended in 2009 after two seasons. “Nitro Circus Live,” where Roner also appeared, aired on MTV2 for four seasons until last year, MTV spokeswoman Jennifer Solari said.

“Erik was an amazing person who made everyone and everything around him better,” Pastrana said.

Roy Tuscany, a friend of Roner who witnessed the accident, said he watched as two other parachutists landed safely on the golf course’s fairway for the ninth hole but then looked on in horror when Roner slammed hard into a tree about 25 to 30 feet above the ground.

He said Roner’s parachute got caught in the tree and Roner dangled there while many on the ground scrambled to find ladders and other means to get to him. At one point, several people attempted to stand on one another’s shoulders to reach him. Roner is survived by his wife and two children. (ap)

The lawsuit filed by Meadow Rain Walker seeks unspecified damages for defects that her lawyers claim kept the actor trapped in the Porsche Carrera GT when it crashed and burst into flames in November 2013.

Walker was on a break from film-ing the seventh film in the “Fast & Furious” franchise when he was killed. He was riding in the Carrera GT driven by friend and business associate Roger Rodas when the car spun out of control, struck three trees and burst into flames on a street in Santa Clarita, California.

The wrongful-death suit claims the car, which was marketed as a street-legal race car, lacked a proper stabil-ity control system and safeguards to protect occupants and keep it from catching fire after a collision.

“Absent these defects in the Porsche Carrera GT, Paul Walker

would be alive today,” the lawsuit states.

An email sent to representatives of Porsche Cars North America was not immediately returned.

The 18-page lawsuit includes a detailed recounting of the crash and contends that the Porsche was travel-ing 63 to 71 mph (101 to 114 kph) when it spun out of control.

Investigators concluded the Porsche was going much faster — up to 94 mph (151 kph) — when it crashed.

The investigation by the Los Ange-les County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol concluded that it was unsafe speed and not me-chanical problems that caused the crash. That investigation was aided by engineers from Porsche, who evalu-ated the wreckage of the rare car.

Meadow Walker’s lawsuit con-

tends Porsche didn’t include a stabil-ity control system in the Carrera GT model Rodas was driving but includes it in other models. It also claims the car lacked proper reinforcements in its doors and used rubber fuel lines that didn’t break free to prevent a fire in a crash.

Similar allegations of design and safety defects were included in a wrongful death lawsuit by Rodas’ widow, Kristine Rodas, that remains pending in a federal court in Los Angeles. Rodas was trained as a race car driver and was only driving 55 mph (89 kph), according to his wife’s lawsuit. He left behind two young children when he died.

Walker, the star of the “Fast & Furious” film franchise, co-owned an auto racing team with Rodas named Always Evolving. Meadow Walker, 16, is the sole heir of his estate. Walk-er’s two brothers helped complete action scenes in “Furious 7,” which earned more than $1.5 billion globally after it was released in April.

LOS ANGELES — If you’re planning to look up Usher, Luke Bryan or producer Armin van Buuren on the web, take heed. Intel Security announced Tuesday that the musicians top its ninth annual list of the most dangerous celebrities online.

Searches for those famous names are most likely to land users on websites that carry viruses or malware. The company used its own site ratings to compile the celebrity list.

Searches for Dutch trance DJ van Buuren carry the most risk: users have an almost 18 percent chance of landing on a web page with potential for online threats. Bryan, Usher, Britney Spears and Jay-Z round out the top five. A Katy Perry search carries a nearly 15 percent chance of connecting with a tainted site.

Also on this year’s list: Amy Schumer, Nina Dobrev, Lorde and Betty White. (ap)

Paul Walker’s daughter sues Porsche over fatal crash

LOS ANGELES — Paul Walker’s daughter sued Porsche for wrongful death Monday, claiming the sports car that her father was in when he was killed suffered from numerous design defects.

Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File

In this Dec. 29, 2014 file photo, Armin van Buuren performs at Pier 94 in New York. Intel Security announced Tuesday that the musicians top its ninth annual list of the most dangerous celebrities online.

MTV extreme sports star killed in Calif. skydiving accident

Musicians Armin van Buuren, Luke Bryan most dangerous online

Thailand’s ousted PM files criminal case against opponents

US, Cuba leaders to meet for 2nd time in this year

Sepp Blatter tells FIFA staff he has done nothing illegal

THE NUMBER of foreign tourist ar-rivals to Indonesia appears to be unaf-fected by the current global economic gloom, as evidenced by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) data for the January-July 2015 period. According to

the BPS, the first seven months of 2015 have seen a 2.65 percent increase in the

n u m - ber of foreign visitors to Indonesia, compared to last year. There is a recorded total of 5.47 million visitors so far for 2015, compared to 5.33 million visitors from January to Sepetember, 2014.

BPS Chairman Suryamin noted that the number of tourist arrivals in July 2015 also rose 4.76 percent to 814.2 thousand from 777.2 thousand arrivals in July 2014. However, there was an o.11 percent decline in visitors from June to July 2015.

In Bali, the country’s iconic tourist resort province, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the first seven months of 2015 also rose by 10.09 percent to 2,299,995 compared to the same period last year.

“I believe that 95 percent of foreign tourists who visit will return which helped to exceed the government-set target of 4 million tourist arrivals for 2015,” stated tourism observer Dewa Nyoman Putra.

Despite the global economic slowdown, the number of foreign tourists visiting Bali via Ngurah Rai Airport re-mained stable in the January-July 2015 period, he pointed out. This means that the number of tourist arrivals in Bali over this period amounted to 2.2 million, he reitereated.

The international community still views Bali as a pre-ferred tourist destination, he remarked.

Continue to page 2Dropped...

47 more countries to enjoy visa-free entry as of October

JAKARTA - In an effort to attract more foreign tourists, in April this year, the Indonesian government added 30 more to the list of countries whose citizens do not require visas for short visits to Indonesia, bringing the total to 45.

Tourism booming despite global economic slowdown

IBP/Wawan

Tourists visit Kedonganan Fish Market in Badung Regency during their holiday in Bali. In Bali, the country’s iconic tourist resort province, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the first seven months of 2015 also rose by 10.09 per-cent to 2,299,995 compared to the same period last year.