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Jerry Sloan Resigns From Utah Jazz Coaches

2011-02-11T01:31:00.000-08:00

One of NBA coaches, Jerry Sloan decided to resigns from Utah Jazz at the age of 68 years. Circulating rumors, Jerry Sloan retirement because he was involved argument with players who also guard Utah Jazz team, Derron Williams when Utah Jazz against Chicago Bulls in the NBA match. But Jerry said he was tired of being a coach and want to retire.

Jerry Sloan became a coach since 1979. Over the past 23 years to train Utah Jazz he has had a very fantastic achievement. He and the team has collected 1.127 victory for the team Utah Jazz.

This decision certainly makes fans Utah Jazz, all players and also team officials surprised. The teams also must be prepared to lose assistant coaches, Phil Johnson. He retired to following the trail of Jerry Sloan. Johnson has assisted with Jerry Sloan for 23 seasons. As a replacement, appointed Tyrone Corbin as the next permanent coach in Utah Jazz.

Before in this team Jerry Sloan coached the Chicago Bulls starts 1979 until 1982. Then move to the Utah Jazz team in 1988 until now.

Let's see how the team playings which dealt with new coach Tyrone. In the last 14 games, the team has lost 10 times in NBA games.

Hopefully, this new coach can be better than Jerry Sloan.

Chinese FM calls on US to halt weapons sales to Taiwan, refuse visit by Dalai Lama

2010-02-07T06:39:00.000-08:00

Chinese Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechi, is in Germany for the Munich conference, where more than 300 diplomats and defense officials are discussing major security issues.

On the sidelines of the conference, Yang Jiechi has urged the United States to stop selling arms to Taiwan and to not allow the Dalai Lama to visit the US.

Yang noted that Taiwan is the most sensitive and core issue between China and the US. He called on the US to abide by the Three Joint Communiques.

He hopes the US will prioritize these issues and avoid further undermining bilateral ties. On the Tibet issue, Yang said China opposes any contact between the Dalai Lama and US leaders.

He said the Dalai Lama is not a religious figure, but a political exile who has conducted separatist activities for a long time.

Editor: Zhang Pengfei | Source: CCTV.com

Strong earthquake hits off southern Japan coast

2010-02-07T00:19:00.000-08:00

-The Associated Press , Tokyo-

Japanese officials issued a tsunami warning Sunday for several small islands after a strong earthquake shook an area off the country's southern coast.

The Meteorological Agency said the earthquake hit at 3:10 p.m. (0610 GMT) and registered magnitude 6.6. The U.S. Geological Survey measured it at 6.4.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The Japanese agency said the tsunami was expected to be about 1.6 feet (50 centimeters) high.

The quake hit 69 miles (110 kilometers) off the southern coast of Miyakojima island, in southern Japan, at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), it said.

The small island is about 1,120 miles (1,800 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of Kobe killed 6,400 people.

source : thejakartapost.com

Obama Advance Team only 10 minutes Come Around at SDN 1 Menteng

2010-02-05T05:40:00.000-08:00

Jakarta - Advance Team from U.S. was just 10 minutes at SDN 01 Menteng. That Team with 30 people just go around and take a photo environment of the school former U.S. President Barack Obama.

The security is tight enough when the team is arrived at this Elementary School that located on Jl Besuki, Menteng, Central Jakarta, Thursday (4/2/2010). The gate immediately closed so that the parents who usually are inside, now forced out.

Some people from the team of White House protocol and U.S. embassy staff in Jakarta immediately spread to all of the schools. Some of them were seen taking pictures, and some others go around. However, teaching and learning activities in that schools are not disturbed.

Soon after that, the team then left the school used Blue Bird buses. And the school gate was re-opened.
According to Chairman Besuki Elementary School Alumni Association, Hiramsyah S Thaib, the team's arrival is only the beginning of the review. Not closed the possibility of the team will be back here.

"They were just photographed and look-see. Maybe they are satisfied with our initial preparation. This start might just want to see what kind of atmosphere," said Hiramsyah who accompanied the team.
(Mok / NRL)

source: detiknews.com

Lurid testimony of Anwar's sodomy trial closed to public

2010-02-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

KUALA LUMPUR : There have been mixed reactions from the Malaysian public to the shocking testimony by Mohd Saiful Bukhari, who has accused opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of sodomising him.

On Wednesday, the 25-year-old former aide to Anwar told a packed courtroom how his former boss made sexual advances towards him.

He shocked the nation with his blow by blow account of what transpired in the condominium, where he was allegedly sodomised by Anwar.

The former university drop-out said he rejected Anwar's advances at first, but then decided to go along after he was reprimanded.

Malaysians find his story hard to believe, especially since Anwar's first sodomy conviction was quashed by the country's highest court six years ago.

"All these are politics, I don't believe anything," said one Malaysian.

"I hope the courts give him a fair trial," said another.

Others do not care anymore, as they are hearing the same story repeat itself 10 years on.

Most of the proceedings on Thursday morning was held behind closed doors. The highlight was a visit to the scene where the alleged act of sodomy was committed.

It was led by high court judge, Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah. The entire prosecution and defence teams went along, including Anwar and Saiful. The entire entourage spent almost an hour in the apartment that is said to belong to one of Anwar's close friend.

Saiful apparently demonstrated in front of the judge and all the lawyers how he was allegedly sodomised in one of the bedrooms on the fifth floor of the upmarket apartment.

The afternoon session resumed in open court with Saiful taking the stand again, detailing when and how he was medically examined before filing his police report.

The trial will resume on Friday and all eyes will once again be on Saiful next week, when he is cross-examined by Anwar's panel of 13 senior lawyers. - CNA /ls

by : Melissa Goh
source : channelnewsasia.com

SBY claims first 100 day programs successful

2010-02-04T10:29:00.000-08:00

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono claimed on Wednesday his administration had managed to achieve over 90 percent of the targets he set for his first 100 days in office.

The President elaborated his successes as he closed a two-day working meeting with Cabinet ministers and the country’s 33 governors in the Cipanas State Palace, West Java.

“Our assessment and monitoring show that over 90 percent of the targets of priority programs and action plans for the first 100 day have been achieved,” Yudhoyono said.

He explained that the achievements included what he called “quick wins” -- newly launched and old programs completed in the first 100 days of his second term.

Yudhoyono also claimed he had overcome barriers hampering development programs and created policies and regulations serving as guidelines for national development for the 2010-2014 period.
“Quick wins”, include the “revitalization” of a micro credit scheme for small and medium enterprises.

Government will begin disbursing Rp 20 trillion in SME loans annually.

“Then there are land certification programs, the provision of clean water facilities for 1,440 villages and the disbursement of operational funds for [over 1,000] community health centers across the country,” Yudhoyono said.

Others successes included internet connections for over 1,000 schools, a newly-launched 24-hour tax service at four main seaports (Belawan, Tanjung Priok, Tanjung Perak and Makassar) and shortened bureaucratic procedures for business licenses and issuing passports, he said.

He also claimed the government had managed to end rotational blackouts in some areas last year due to power shortages, as well as controlling annual flooding by means of the East Flood Canal in Jakarta, and government had complete road projects connecting towns in Java.

“Then, we’ve issued a number of government regulations and presidential decrees,” Yudhoyono said.

Among the regulations issued, the President explained, were those on construction services, forests management, unproductive lands, spatial planning, governors’ authority and functions, management of education, water transportation, and marine and forestry protection.

“It’s not true that we’ve failed to accomplish anything as critics say; we’ve managed to produce concrete results, which will serve as a strong starting point for our work in the next five years,” the President said.

In the two-day working meeting, senior government officials made plans on a wide range of different issues, including spatial planning and land management, food security, energy, infrastructure, bureaucratic reform, democracy, security and law enforcement.

“The results of this meeting and the evaluation of the government’s first 100-day programs will be soon put into a presidential instruction, which has to be followed-up by government officials at the central and regional levels,” Yudhoyono said.

“Three months from now we will again meet to evaluate the implementation of the presidential instruction... I hope governors will convey the results of this meeting to regents and mayors so as to ensure that the developments in their areas will be in line with those in yours and at the central level.”

by : Erwida Maulia
source : thejakartapost.com

China pop stars face fine for lip-syncing

2010-01-23T14:27:00.000-08:00

BEIJING : Two Chinese pop stars have become the first victims of a ban on the use of lip-syncing in concerts introduced last year following controversy over the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

Starlets Yin Youcan and Fang Ziyuan resorted to miming during a concert they gave in September in the southwest province of Sichuan, the Beijing News reported Saturday.

It was the first case brought against lip-syncing performers since the authorities introduced the ban, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

The ministry for culture in August issued a regulation allowing for fines for singers who lip-synced, saying the practice "misled the public."

The two young singers will have to pay a total fine of 80,000 yuan (about 12,000 dollars), according to authorities quoted by the newspaper.

In 2008, the organisers of the Beijing Olympics caused controversy when it was revealed the young Chinese girl who sang at the opening ceremony had been miming.

They defended the move and triggered further uproar by saying the real singer was not pretty enough for a spectacle shown around the world.

- AFP /ls

source : channelnewsasia.com

Haitians in Mass Exodus from Capital Port-au-Prince

2010-01-23T14:19:00.000-08:00

With Haiti still in a state of emergency after last week's terrible earthquake, many residents of Port-au-Prince are leaving the city, trying to get out any way they can.

The exodus from Port-au-Prince has begun. With food and water scarce, thousands of people are leaving for the provinces in search of better resources. Earthquake victim Alexi told us he couldn't stand the smell of rotting bodies anymore.

"The house collapsed, everybody in the house is dead, and I am terrified to stay," Alexi said.

For more than a decade, this city of some three million people has been growing, with people from the provinces moving to the big city, looking for work and a better life. Now some officials contend that a permanent exodus from the city would help the country as a whole. They say the city never had the resources to sustain millions of people. The government is offering free bus rides to the provinces. Health Minister Alex Larsen told us those who can find accommodations outside the city should leave.

"If the people have some family members in a city outside Port-au Prince, it is better to go there to their families and help relieve the weight on Port-au-Prince," said Larsen.

But not everyone wants to leave. We stopped by the national soccer stadium where hundreds of people have been camping out since last week. Adeline Cassimir told us that Port-au-Prince is the only home he knows.

"I have houses here, I have kids here, I was born here. There is no way I will leave the capital," he said.

President René Préval says the death toll from the quake now stands at 75,000, but officials estimate the death toll will rise to some 200,000 people.

source : www.voanews.com

Another Attack Leaves US Muslims Fearing Backlash

2009-11-08T02:18:00.000-08:00

As word spread that a gunman had opened fire at Fort Hood leaving a trail of carnage, a chilling realization swept across the US Muslim community: He has an Islamic name.

From a professor who just testified in Congress, to a White House adviser appearing before a Jewish group and a former Marine driving home from work, Muslims across the country were shocked, angry and afraid that the attack would erode efforts to erase anti-Islamic stereotypes.

Many Islamic leaders said the Fort Hood tragedy that left 13 dead and 30 wounded including the alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, could likely pose the sternest test for US Muslims since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"A lot of us work very hard for this country, to make America a better place," said Muqtedar Khan, a progressive Muslim scholar who has just given Congressional testimony on US foreign policy in Afghanistan before Thursday's attack. "And this one nut like Maj. Hasan comes along and in one crazy episode of a few seconds he undermines these years and years of hard work we are doing to make American Muslims part of the mainstream in the community."

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, is a Muslim who attended his former mosque daily and had an "Allah is Love" bumper sticker on his car. Soldiers reported Friday that the shooter shouted "Allahu Akbar!" - Arabic for "God is great!" - during the rampage.

Other troubling details also emerged, including reports that authorities suspect Hasan posted online messages about suicide bombers and violence, was struggling with a pending deployment to Afghanistan and was being harassed in the Army for being a Muslim.

While a motive remains unclear, the confirmation of Hasan's faith alone prompted major Muslim groups and mosques to issue statements condemning the killings as contrary to Islam and praising the service of the many Muslim Americans in the US military.

Of immediate concern was security at mosques Friday, Islam's main day of communal prayer.

In Washington, Chicago and elsewhere, mosques asked police for extra patrols. In Garden Grove, Calif., officers stood watch outside a mosque as a precaution.

Muslim leaders warned people to be vigilant and avoid exposing themselves unnecessarily - including walking alone, said Hussam Ayloush, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Southern California.

"This is one of those moments where we have to sit and pray that most Americans will come out stronger, more united, and more tolerant," said Ayloush, adding that Muslim organizations have received dozens of death threats and hate e-mail.

At the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Md., which Hasan attended before moving to Fort Hood, Imam Mohamed Abdullahi urged worshippers Friday to tell their non-Muslim neighbors that Islam was not responsible for the deaths. He also advised them to keep their tempers in check.

"Whenever we hear the name turns out to be Arabic or Muslim we feel a double shock" about such incidents. "And then we worry about backlash," said Imam Mostafa Al-Qazwini of the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County in Costa Mesa, Calif.

US Rep. Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat who is one of two Muslims serving in Congress, cautioned against focusing on the alleged shooter's religion and instead said the discussion should be about mental health issues.

"This is no way a reflection of Islam any more than Timothy McVeigh's actions are a reflection of Christianity," said Carson, who supervised an anti-terrorism unit in Indiana's Department of Homeland Security and comes from a family of Marines.

Eboo Patel, the executive director of Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, had just spoken at a Union of Reform Judaism conference in Toronto on Thursday night when a rabbi told him: "The guy had a Muslim name."

"I had just spoken from the tradition of Islam ... on the importance of interfaith cooperation and building Muslim-Jewish bridges," said Patel, who sits on a White House faith-based advisory board. "I wish that was viewed as reflective of Islam instead of a deranged lunatic who was acting only in the tradition of deranged lunacy, not in the tradition of any faith."

But other Muslims were weary of what has become a routine: a Muslim does something unspeakable, and Islamic organizations issue statements condemning it.

"Truth be told, we're getting a little exhausted because we've done this to death," said Robert Salaam of Maryland, a former Marine who converted to Islam shortly after the 9-11 attacks and now blogs and hosts a radio show on Muslim affairs. "We're apologizing for people we don't know."

Still, driving home from work listening to the news Thursday, Salaam thought: "God, I hope it's not a Muslim."

source: chinadaily.com.cn

Afghan Ministry: NATO Strike Kills Afghan Soldiers

2009-11-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

NATO and Afghan authorities were investigating Saturday whether an airstrike during the intensive search for two missing U.S. paratroopers mistakenly killed eight Afghans and wounded more than 20 Afghan and American forces.

NATO said the deaths came during an hourslong fight Friday between members of a joint search operation and insurgents in western Afghanistan. Four Afghan soldiers, three policemen and a civilian interpreter died. Five U.S. and 15 Afghan soldiers, as well as two police officers and another civilian interpreter, were wounded, the alliance said.

Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said the soldiers and police were killed at a joint base "during an air attack by NATO forces in Badghis province," where the paratroopers disappeared. The alliance could not confirm whether the base had been hit.

"We are saddened by the loss of life and injuries sustained during this very important mission," U.S. Navy Capt. Jane Campbell, spokeswoman for the NATO forces, said in a statement.

The two U.S. paratroopers disappeared Wednesday while trying to recover airdropped supplies from a river. Officials indicated it was unlikely the two from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, had been taken captive. Western regional police Chief Gen. Ikram Uddin Yawar said on Friday that the two had been swept away by the current in the Bala Murghab district. The search was continuing Saturday.

Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said an Afghan army commando unit, district police members and foreign forces were in the base at the time of the airstrike.

Separately, the deputy governor of the southern province of Zabul, Ali Khail, said NATO forces raided an Afghan Red Crescent office in the city of Qalat early Saturday, killing a security guard and arresting three local Red Crescent employees.

NATO issued a statement saying coalition forces killed a militant and arrested a few suspected militants, including someone who was helping insurgents transport weapons and bomb-making materials to the area.

Red Crescent spokesman Walid Akbar confirmed that international forces had raided the office, but said he had not received any reports of deaths.

Akbar said his organization was negotiating with provincial authorities for the release of the three arrested men, whom he identified as a driver, a communications officer and a guest.

"We are a neutral organization. We help both parties. We help the victims of the war," he said.

According to the NATO statement, alliance forces and Afghan police had targeted the compound, "which credible intelligence reported as a location known historically to be used by Taliban commanders."

It said the joint forces came under fire from inside the compound when the police chief in the operation called for those inside to come out. One man was killed when the forces returned fire, it said.

One of those arrested identified himself as a Taliban ally, the statement said, adding that he was responsible for financial support and transporting bomb material and weapons into the area.

source: news.yahoo.com

SBY Set Team to Verify The Case of Bibit and Chandra

2009-11-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has decided to set up an independent team to verify legal facts on the case of detained Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto told a press conference here on Monday that the president would soon issue a presidential decree on the establishment of the independent team.

The independent team will be composed of eight persons to be chaired by Presidential Advisory Council member Adnan Buyung Nasution with deputy Koesparmono Irsan (former member of the Natiohnal Human Rights Commission), secretary Denny Indrayana (Presidential special staff for legal affairs) and five team members.

The five team members are Amir Syamsuddin, prof. of University of Indonesia’s school of law )FHUI), Todung Mulya Lubis ( legal practitioner), Anies Baswedan (rector of Paramadina University), Hikmahanto Juwana (prof. of FHUI), and Komaruddin Hidayat (rector of the Jakarta State Islamic University (UIN).

Djoko Suyanto said that the team could work in less than two weeks but seeing the dynamics developing with society in response to the Bibit-Chandra case, the team was expected to work quicker. "We are going to do clarification work and check all facts and the process of the case which befell Bibit and Chandra."

He said that the decision to form an independent team was made by the president after meeting with prominent figures on Nov.1 at the State Guest House. Before the press conference was held all the team members were present, except Komarudin Hidayat, were received by the president for about ten minutes.

"The president said that the present developments of the case was not good for the nation’s life because of mistrust and distrust towards not only our law but also to the credibilities of police, prosecutors and the KPK itself," Djoko Suyanto said.

source: kompas.com

US, S. Korea Envoys Discuss N. Korean Nuclear Claim

2009-09-05T03:21:00.000-07:00

Top nuclear envoys from South Korea and the United States held talks Saturday on a strategy to bring North Korea back to disarmament negotiations, a day after the North claimed to have succeeded in experimental uranium enrichment.

U.S. special envoy on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, and South Korean envoy Wi Sung-lac made no comments after their meeting. Bosworth later met with South Korea's unification minister in charge of relations with North Korea.

Bosworth said in Beijing on Friday that any nuclear development in North Korea was a matter of concern.

"We confirm the necessity to maintain a coordinated position and the need for a complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he said.

North Korea's claim that it is in the final stages of enriching uranium - an easier way to make nuclear weapons - raises the possibility that it might add uranium-based weapons to its stockpile of bombs made from plutonium.

North Korea also said it is continuing to weaponize plutonium.

Washington showed no signs of easing pressure on North Korea through sanctions although the North has recently made a series of conciliatory gestures, including the release of two detained American journalists and a reported invitation to top U.S. envoys, including Bosworth, to visit Pyongyang.

"We are prepared for both dialogue and sanctions," the North said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council carried Friday by its official Korean Central News Agency. If some members of the council put "sanctions first before dialogue, we would respond with bolstering our nuclear deterrence first before we meet them in a dialogue," it said.

The North warned it would be left with no choice but to take "yet another strong self-defensive countermeasure" if the standoff continues. It did not elaborate.

A pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan urged the U.S. to hold talks with the North to make the Korean peninsula nuclear-free, saying Pyongyang's next steps will depend on how Washington reacts to its latest moves.

The Choson Sinbo newspaper, widely seen as a mouthpiece for North Korea, said time is not "liitless" for the U.S. to decide whether to hold talks or continue to pursue sanctions.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the North's announcement Friday was troubling.

"We are very concerned by these claims that they are moving closer to the weaponization of nuclear materials, but I can'treally comment on the veracity, how true these claims are," Kelly said.

The U.S. and other Security Council members have been focusing on implementation of a resolution that imposed sanctions on the North's weapons exports and financial dealings, and allowed inspections of suspect cargo in ports and on th high seas.

The U.S. has pressed for North Korea to return to six-nation talks on its nuclear program. The North pulled out of the negotiations with the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia and Japan after the council criticized its April rocket launch.

North Korea said later it won't return to the negotiations and will only talk one-on-one with the Obama administration.

Bosworth said Friday that the U.S. is willing to have direct talks with the North, but only within the framework of the six-nation disarmament talks.

Analysts said the North appears to be trying to add urgency to the standoff to get Washington into one-on-one negotiations.

"I think this is a 'let's-have-direct talks' message," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies. "The North is saying that the more delayed U.S.-North Korea talks are, the greater its nuclear capabilities will become."

Meanwhile, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security said in a report that there was no sign of reconstruction at the North's main Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which was partially disabled under an agreement reached in the six-nation talks. It cited commercial satellite imagery taken on Aug. 10 by DigitalGlobe.

Bosworth, who met Chinese officials in Beijing, is to leave for Tokyo on Sunday for similar consultations with Japanese officials. Chief U.S. nuclear negotiator, Sung Kim, who is accompanying Bosworth, plans to return to Seoul on Tuesday to meet with Russian nuclear envoy Grigory Logvinov.

Uranium can be enriched in relatively inconspicuous factories and could provide North Korea with an easier way to build nuclear bombs, experts say. Uranium-based bombs may also work without requiring test explosions like the two carried out by North Korea this May and in 2006 for plutonium-based weapons.

source : thejakartapost.com

Syringe Terror Move Han Ethnic Protests in Urumqi

2009-09-05T03:11:00.000-07:00

Syringe terror move thousands of ethnic Han people to hold protests in the city of Urumqi, western China. They are demanding protection of the state of security threat do they claim that ethnic Uighurs. To dismiss the action, the security forces fired tear gas.

Menyemut demonstrators in the streets of Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Province, on the second day of protests were also protesting against the slow imposition of sentence to the defendants the riot last July 5. "The problem is that people no longer feel safe now. Many are protesting because the convicted riots July 5 had also punished," said Zhen Guibin, one of the protesters, told Reuters.

Panic among the ethnic Han people since emerged expanded warning message from the government that there will be an attack using a syringe. Some parents do not allow the children to go to school alone. Schools in Urumqi closed since Friday last week (28 / 8) and the recently opened earlier this week.

"They (police) have no right to close the road like this. The Uighurs had been stabbed us with a needle (syringe)," said a demonstrator who tried to break through the blockade forces, closing the path to the citizens of Uighur region.

A number of cases of stabbing a syringe by an unknown person last few weeks to trigger protests. Local media reported that 500 people of Han ethnic majority, became victims of stabbings. In the body of 89 people found 500 victims of clear signs of stabbings. But, no one reported infection or poisoning something.

Communist Party leader Li Zhi Urumqi states, terror needles are part of the scenario is to provoke separatist conflict. "This is a horrible crime," Li said as quoted by Xinhua.

Population in Xinjiang roughly divided into two main ethnic. Namely, as the majority ethnic Uighur in Urumqi for a long time and the new ethnic Han moved to Urumqi last few decades, but now the majority population there.

On July 5th riot between the two ethnic broke, killing 197 people. 196 local authorities announced a suspect in the case of the riot. Sebanyak 51 di antaranya segera disidang. (cak / ami)

source : jawapos.com

G20 Leaders Discuss Path To Recovery

2009-09-05T01:04:00.000-07:00

The G20’s finance leaders are meeting in London to work out the best way forward for a global economy that appears to be healing.

While there is broad agreement that economic life-support packages must stay in place for now, clear differences remain on how to avoid another banking crisis.

Germany and France look set to oppose a US plan to get banks to hold more capital.

Institutional reform, especially in regard to the International Monetary Fund, is also a hot topic. Emerging economies are demanding a greater say.

Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega said:
“These institutions do not represent the importance of emerging countries in the world today. So we can have a more active participation in these institutions and put in more resources, it is necessary for us to have a redistribution of the quota system and more voice, so that the emerging countries can have a similar weight to those of the advanced countries.”

Bankers’ bonuses are also likely to top the agenda.
France is pushing for pay caps and taxes on bonuses to avoid reckless behaviour leading to future financial meltdowns, but it could face opposition.

Today’s meeting in London comes ahead of a G20 summit in Pittsburgh later this month.

source : euronews.net

Social Department Records 52 victims killed at Earthquake in Indonesia

2009-09-03T00:37:00.000-07:00

The death toll from the earthquake 7.3 on the Richter scale in Tasikmalaya, last Wednesday, noted has reached 52 people. While the victim was wounded as many as 39 people. Similarly data received from the Ministry of Social Affairs to Thursday (3 / 9) at 10:00 am. These data revealed the Head of Sub Directorate of Emergency Response Directorate General Banjamsos Depsos Naili Taslim in Jakarta, today.

The death toll in Tasikmalaya District recorded 21 people. While the victim was wounded as many as 27 people. Garut regency, one killed and two wounded. In Ciamis district, two killed and three wounded. Cianjur regency, eleven died. In the West Bandung regency, no fatalities, but seven were injured.

In Regency Bandung, 16 were killed and one was killed in the district of Sukabumi. In Kuningan District, no victims died, while in the City Cimahi only three people were injured. Total of eight districts plus one city, as many as 52 killed and 39 others injured. It is estimated that this number will continue to grow, because the search process is still done.

In addition to the wounded, the number of houses were severely damaged as many as 4451 units and nearly 7500 other houses scattered minor damage in 71 districts. The number of people who were forced to flee their own 3000 record more and centered in Cianjur.

For disaster management, the Department of Social sending food aid and tents as well as volunteers as many as 1,200 people. For disaster victims in Tasikmalaya. Help spread in 71 districts affected by the earthquake. (Bey / Muhammad Rifqi)

Japan Poll Victor Vows Consensus

2009-08-31T01:32:00.000-07:00

The man expected to be Japan's next prime minister has vowed that his party will not "bulldoze" its policies through parliament despite securing a landslide election win.

With his party expected to take 308 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament, up from 112 prior to the election, Yukio Hatoyama said his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) would not act arrogantly and would "exercise patience" as it seeks to move Japan in a new direction.

"It is an incredible number," he told Japanese broadcaster NHK on Monday, ahead of the announcement of official results

If exit polls and early results are confirmed, the election has brought an end to more than five decades of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which picked up only around 119 seats.

"We must exercise patience and seek people's understanding because we are given such latitude," said Hatoyama, who is virtually certain to replace Taro Aso as prime minister by mid-September.

'No arrogance'

The 62-year-old US-trained engineer campaigned on a promise of change and people-centred politics against the business-friendly LDP, headed by Aso, pledging to focus spending on consumers, cut wasteful budget outlays and reduce the power of bureaucrats.

Aso told reporters on Sunday night that he would step down as LDP president to take responsibility for the crushing defeat.

His likely successor faces tough, immediate challenges, such as trying to revive the country's battered economy and steering a new course in relation with the US, Japan's top ally.

"It's taken a long time, but we have at last reached the starting line," Hatoyama told a news conference at his home in Tokyo on Monday.

"This is by no means the destination. At long last we are able to move politics, to create a new kind of politics that will fulfil the expectations of the people."

Speaking to NHK, Hatoyama confirmed he would form a coalition with smaller partners such as the Social Democratic party and the People's New party, despite policy differences on security and other issues.

The DPJ's win in parliament's more powerful lower house on Sunday, combined with control of the upper house it secured in 2007 with some small allies, will end the deadlock in parliament that has plagued decision-making the last two years.

Challenges ahead

But the democrats, who will face an upper house election in less than a year, will have to move quickly to keep support among voters worried about a record jobless rate and a rapidly ageing society that is inflating social security costs.

Hatoyama is to set up a transition team to organise the change of government, but has said he will not announce his cabinet until he is officially elected prime minister by a special session of parliament, expected to be in about two weeks.

Analysts say the democrats' spending plans might give a short-term lift to the economy, just now emerging from recession, but worry that its programmes will boost a public debt already equal to about 170 per cent of GDP.

Highlighting the economic challenges ahead, investors cheered the DPJ's victory, sending the Nikkei-225 share index up two per cent to an 11-month high on Monday morning.

But those gains were given up by the midday break, with the benchmark index sliding 0.35 per cent.

Untested

Voters, having chosen the untested democrats for the first time, will likely want to see proof quickly that they can do a better job than the LDP.

Koichi Nakano, a professor at Sophia University, told the Reuters news agency that "it's going to be crucial how they spend the first year in office, so in that sense they have to get focused very quickly to get things accomplished".

"Otherwise, the goodwill may dissipate very quickly and they may face a hostile upper house within a year."

The democrats have also pledged to forge a more equal and independent relationship with the US, raising concerns about possible friction in the alliance.

The White House said on Sunday that it was "confident that the strong US-Japan alliance and the close partnership ... will continue to flourish under the leadership of the next government in Tokyo".

Barack Obama, the US president, "looks forward to working closely with the new Japanese prime minister on a broad range of global, regional and bilateral issues", Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said.

source : Aljazeera

Police Put Noordin M Top's Wife Under Legal Protection

2009-08-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

Arina Rahma's lawyer Asludin Hatjani confirmed that the police housed her and her two children at an undisclosed location in Jakarta. He added that his client is being held as a witness against her husband, whom she knew to be under the name of Abdul Halim. Hatjani said she didn't see anything out of place about his frequent travels, as he claims that he worked at a religious school in Makassar.

Meanwhile police are searching for Maruto, one of Top's suspected accomplices in Semarang, Central Java. But the medical school student's father said he got the news from the media, as the police haven't notified him or took his DNA sample. He urged his son to turn himself in. Maruto allegedly helped Top in a recent attack on the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton Hotel in Jakarta. The blasts killed nine people and wounded over 50 others.

source : metrotvnews.com

Biden in Georgia for talks

2009-07-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

Joe Biden, the US vice president, has arrived in Georgia for talks with leaders in an effort to convey support for the country - despite Washington's recent overtures to renew ties with Russia.

Biden's visit comes nearly a year after the conflict between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which severely strained ties between the United States, a key ally of Tbilisi, and Moscow.

Biden will hold talks with Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian president, and opposition leaders who have led a number of protests against Saakashvili's policies.

The vice president arrived in Georgia from Ukraine, where he backed Kiev's bid to join Nato, despite Russian objections to the move.

Biden said: "We do not recognise ... anyone else's right to dictate to you ... what alliance you will seek to belong to, or what bilateral relationships you have," after talks with Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian president, on Tuesday.

Breakaway regions

Georgia, which also wishes to join Nato, is urging the US to help monitor its boundaries with Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Eka Tkeshelashvili, the national security council secretary, said Georgia wants US monitors to bolster the work of the 246 European ones currently in the region.

"This would assist in Georgia's economic development, as it would signal investors that their security and safety are guaranteed and they can invest their money," she said, ahead of Biden's visit.

The EU monitors are the only remaining international ones in Georgia, but are blocked from travelling inside the breakaway regions, which Moscow has recognised as independent states.

Saakashvili's government was shaken earlier this year by mass street protests demanding his resignation, due to anger over the Russia-Georgia conflict and claims his leadership has become increasingly autocratic.

The president has said he tried to defend Georgia from Russian aggression, and announced a series of political reforms to parliament on Monday intended to address his critics' complaints.

The proposals include the direct election of mayors, a reduction in presidential powers and early local elections.

'European path'

During his visit to Ukraine, Biden assured Yushchenko that US attempts to renew relations with Russia would "not come at Ukraine's expense".

Yushchenko, who came to power after a pro-Western revolution in 2004 in which he benefited from US support, told Biden that US-Ukrainian relations should be developed in a "constructive way".

He said his country had chosen "a European path", where "democracy rules", in an apparent dig at Russia.

Biden's comments came just two weeks after Barack Obama, the US president, visited Moscow in an effort to strengthen ties between the two former Cold War enemies.

Neave Barker, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Moscow, said: "The Obama administration know they are walking a political tightrope, on the one hand wanting to maintain workable relations with post-Soviet nations in Eastern Europe, but at the same time wanting to restore a new level of ties with Russia.

"I think this meeting doesn't go any further than touching base between Ukraine and the Obama administration.

source : Aljazeera

Honduras talks end in failure again

2009-07-20T02:33:00.000-07:00

A second round of talks aimed at resolving Honduras' leadership crisis has failed, with the two sides unable to reach a deal on the return of Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president.

A negotiator for the delegation of the deposed Honduran president said her side would no longer talk to representatives of the military-backed interim government, but would remain open to dialogue in the future with new representatives.

"This dialogue with this commission of the de facto, military coup government is finished," Rixi Moncada, a representative of Zelaya said on Sunday.

Oscar Arias, the Costa Rican president, said that he would continue to mediate between the two sides and aims to restart talks in three days.

He had proposed a plan that would let Zelaya serve out the final months of his term, move up elections by one month to late October, grant a general amnesty and include representatives of the main political parties in a reconciliation government.

'Unacceptable'

But Carlos Lopez, a representative of the interim government, said it was "unacceptable" for Zelaya to return to the presidency.

"My obligation in accord with the constitution and the principles of sovereign equality of states as stated in the UN charter is to tell you, Mr Mediator, in the name of a small but proud nation, I am very sorry but your proposal is unacceptable, especially in point number one," Lopez said.

For his part, Zelaya again vowed to return to Honduras, telling reporters in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua that he would attempt to fly to Honduras at the weekend.

"Next weekend we will have everything necessary to make our return," he said. "The social pact in Honduras is broken; the military broke it."

The Honduran military stopped Zelaya's previous attempt to return home on July 5 by blocking the runway at the airport in the capital, Tegucigalpa.

But Zelaya left "the door open for diplomacy and dialogue", particularly to Costa Rica's continued mediation efforts.

Arias has called on both side to make an effort to find a resolution in the coming days in order to avoid violence breaking out in Honduras.

"Maybe, with this effort that we have to make over the next 72 hours, we can avoid bloodshed," he said.

"What is the alternative to dialogue? ... What happens if, tomorrow, a Honduran shoots at a soldier and then a soldier shoots his gun at an armed citizen?," he said.

International pressure

Al Jazeera's Mariana Sanchez, reporting from Tegucigalpa, said it was impossible to gauge how much progress would be made over the next three days given the differences between Zelaya's supporters and the interim government

"It is possible that the international community, even the United States, will try to exert pressure on both sides to show some flexibility, but the problem is Zelaya's return to power," she said.

Late on Sunday, Washington urged all parties to continue the Costa Rican dialogue.

"We call on the parties to the talks to reflect upon the progress made so far, and to commit themselves to their successful conclusion," Robert Wood, acting state department spokesman, said.

Zelaya was ousted last month and forced into exile in a military coup backed by the judiciary and congress.

The international community, particularly in the Americas, have demanded Zelaya's reinstatement but so far the interim government has refused.

source : Aljazeera

WHO chief says flu vaccine not ready for months

2009-07-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

LONDON: The world's top health official said on Wednesday a vaccine to combat the surging H1N1 flu pandemic would not be readily available for months as the number of deaths from the virus spiralled.

The comments by World Health Organisation chief Margaret Chan came as Australia and Japan reported a surge in cases of the A(H1N1) virus, and Argentina dramatically upped its death toll from 94 to 137 in just three days.

"There's no vaccine. One should be available soon, in August. But having a vaccine available is not the same as having a vaccine that has proven safe," Chan told Britain's Guardian newspaper.

"Clinical trial data will not be available for another two to three months," she added, contradicting health officials in Britain and elsewhere who said the first stocks would start arriving in August.

WHO director of vaccine research Marie-Paul Kieny, calling the pandemic "unstoppable", had said on Monday that a vaccine would be available as early as September.

Germany said it envisaged having to order some 25 million doses of vaccine to immunise nearly a third of its population.

Australia, the Asia-Pacific region's worst-hit country, has already placed an advance order for 21 million doses - enough to immunise its entire population.

Australia and Argentina are now in the southern hemispheric winter, and officials fear a major rise in infections when the northern hemisphere enters the colder months and regular influenza becomes rampant.

Italy may have to deal with between three and four million cases of swine flu by March 2010, deputy health minister Ferruccio Fazio said.

He said that by the end of this year some 8.6 million Italians would have been vaccinated against the A(H1N1) virus, with priority given to the most vulnerable and to emergency workers.

Argentina's new death toll made it the worst-hit nation in terms of fatalities after the United States, which has 211 deaths and 37,000 confirmed infections according to the latest tally.

Mexico, the third most afflicted country with 124 deaths and 12,521 infections, said late on Tuesday that H1N1 flu cases were picking up in the southeast, especially in Chiapas state near Guatemala.

Health ministers from six South American countries were to meet on Wednesday to seek a coordinated response. Argentina was to host the meeting of ministers from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Not including the latest figures from Argentina, the WHO's global death toll from H1N1 flu stands at 429 with more than 94,500 infections tallied worldwide.

Australia said its total of swine flu cases had reached 10,387, more than 10 percent of the WHO's global total. The country suspects H1N1 flu was the culprit in the deaths of some 20 people.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the real number could be much higher, and warned that health authorities were now worried about a growing number of serious cases in young people.

"We do see that there are some people who are young and otherwise healthy who have the rapidly deteriorating disease ... it's obviously concerning," she said.

Some 15,000 doctors in Peru called for a nationwide protest on Wednesday to demand better prevention against H1N1 flu, which has claimed at least five lives and infected around 2,000 people in the South American nation.

"We demand addressing adequately the needs of hospitals in order to prevent further mistakes in the treatment of H1N1 flu and to avoid more deaths," Leoncio Diaz, president of the Peruvian Medical Federation, told AFP.

Fears over H1N1 flu also prompted French football club AS Nancy to scrap a pre-season trip to Britain, which is Europe's worst hit country. - AFP/de

source : channelnewsasia.com

Bolder actions required to curb spread of H1N1 virus

2009-07-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Health Ministry needs to take more aggressive measures to curb the spread of the H1N1 flu in the country, a health expert says.

Physician Handrawan Nadesul urged the ministry to take environmental sanitation approaches as the virus was spreading even wider and faster in Indonesia.

“It is the government’s duty to make sure that the managements of offices and other public spaces make more efforts to maintain the environmental hygiene,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He added the focus should be in places such as bus stations and airports, and “other public spaces like malls need to be kept hygienic too,” he said. The ministry’s director general for disease control and environmental health, Tjandra Yoga Aditama, said Sunday the number of patients positively infected by the H1N1 flu virus nationwide had reached a total of 64, or 12 more cases since 52 cases were reported on Thursday.

The number also excludes the 13 Indonesians participating in an Asian choir contest who were diagnosed with the H1N1 disease in South Korea on Saturday.

Handrawan also lamented the fact that Indonesians lacked awareness about the dangers of the virus.

He said the government had not widely disseminated the necessary information about how to avoid catching the flu despite the World Health Organization announcing a level six pandemic of the virus.

“The Health Ministry was only waiting until someone got sick and then treated the patient with cheap medication when it should have gone out to the community health centers and health posts to spread information on how to contain the spread of the virus,” he said, adding the H1N1 flu would spread even further in the future.

Tjandra insisted the ministry would continue with the measures it had been taking to contain the spread of the new strain of flu.

“We have an eight-step program,” he said, referring to the measures the ministry had been taking since the first known cases of H1N1 in the country.

The program includes employing thermal scanners in health posts at ports to monitor people coming into Indonesia from overseas, improving the skills of medical workers in 100 hospitals in the country and reinforcing communication, information and education activities by giving out posters on how to contain the spread of H1N1 flu.

Meanwhile in Medan, North Sumatra, the Adam Malik Hospital is currently treating a boat crew identified as S, 27, who tested positive for H1N1 flu.

Hospital spokesman, Atma Wijaya, said Sunday the patient had just returned form Penang, Malaysia, although had did not know how the patient contracted the virus.

“The patient just said he recently made a trip to Malaysia with six other crew to take Indonesian migrant workers there,” he said.

“He was being referred by a hospital in Penang that issued a medical statement stating he had tested positive for H1N1 flu. We quarantined the patient based on the statement.”

Atma said the patient was in good condition as his body temperature kept decreasing and reached 36.5 degrees Celsius as of Sunday.

He also said the hospital had released six H1N1 flu patients and two suspects after their condition improved.

Source : The Jakarta Post

14 Indonesian Citizen infected Swine Flu

2009-07-12T05:17:00.000-07:00

14 Indonesian Citizen / WNI of the 366 people who follow the Asian Choir Festival in Chang Wong city, Xan Man Rovens Yong, South Korea, expressed positive infected swine flu virus H1N1. They are still quarantined in South Korea. Meanwhile, 83 people who negative H1N1 has returned with Garuda Indonesia plane to Denpasar on Sunday yesterday and landed at 16:25 WITA.

Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari in Jakarta, Sunday (12 / 7) afternoon said that 14 people are among 10 people from Elfa's Music School, two from one of Gorontalo and Riau. They are in the process of quarantine and undergo intensive inspection by South Korean team .

Participants in the festival flied to South Korea on July 7 2009 ago in healthy condition. Then on 9 July 2009 some people started a fever and flu. On 11 July 2009 confirmed that 14 new people WNI positive H1N1.

Associated with the 14 affected WNI virus H1N1, Health Minister Siti Fadilah continuously coordinate with the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian embassy) in Seoul.

Indonesian embassy has sent a special subject to handle the participants festival choir that infected H1N1. They comprised of political minister counselor, counselor socio-cultural to the location of festival held, Chang Wong and Ma Khan.

There are currently 9 Indonesian choir groups from 12 groups that planned to attend, the Choir Voice Internal Jobs Yogyakarta 32 people, PSM Makassar Hassanudin University 32 people, Bitung City Vocal 43 people, 51 people Vokalista Angel, PSM Universitas Negeri Manado 34 people , Elfa's Music School 83 people, Gorontalo Univa Student 34 people, 32 PST Mutiva people, Yuevi Misva with a total of 35 participants from Indonesia 366 people.

GM will sell car via Ebay

2009-07-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

As a part of developing program, the manufacturer of the car that had stated the wall, General Motors (GM) will sell the new car through the auction site eBay, Friday (11 / 7). This effort is the expansion of cooperation that has been done before a sale of certified used cars online. However, the agreement between the two company has not occurred.

Director GM, Fritz Henderson said the company still have cooperation with eBay. Consumers can make this offer, such as GM-made car auction transactions are conducted in the normal eBay. Although already online, allowing the purchase of GM cars through the dealer.

Meanwhile, Vice President of eBay Motors, chesney Rob said this time there is no agreement between the company with the GM. Despite acknowledged working with GM is interesting.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Stephen Ju support this step. According to him, the plan of cooperation that will benefit both parties.

Obama : African Citizen Must Fight Corruption

2009-07-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

United States President Barack Obama says the leaders of African countries should fight corruption and strengthen democracy. But citizens of Africa will determine the future of the world. "The future of Africa is in the hands of the people of Africa," said Obama in a speech in Accra, Ghana, Saturday (11 / 7 / 2009).

Obama also said there is no one country that can create wealth (welfare), when the economic leaders exploit to enrich themselves. In the chance that Obama also pledged to help fight the disease and said that the "burden of conflict around Africa".

Full Support For My Friend in SEO Contest

2009-05-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Tommorrow is the announcement of the 5th Best SEO Contest in Mapanmawirogo (Madiun, Pacitan, Magetan, Ngawi, Ponorogo) and Trenggalek. Although I'm not a participant of this contest. But I supporting my friend to be the winner especially my friend from Ngawi.

I can't give a lot of help. Just a few backlink for them. I hope it's very helpful for them in this competition.

1. Galang|Gado-Gado Spot

2. Livia Putri

Btw, I still busy to manage all of my blog. Including this blog "zebhi feel free". May be already for 2 months i haven't posting in here again.

Related Article in my Indonesian Blog :

cerita Zebhi