Soaring: Trialist Jake Paterson rips his way into a third-round placing at the Rusty Rumble in Da Jungle 6-star Coca-Cola ISC Tour event at Sanur Reef at the weekend.

HEADLINES NEWS

Flores’ Hobbit Emerges as New Species, Say Studies

The tiny ancient humans dubbed hobbits, whose remains were discovered on an Indonesian island in 2003, were a previously unknown species altogether, according to two new studies.
Debate has raged in the scientific community since the fossils were found on the island of Flores, with some experts insisting they were descended from Homo erectus and others [...]

Govt Alarmed over New Businesses in Teeming Denpasar

DENPASAR ~ Government officials have voiced concern over continuing investment in Denpasar despite overcrowding, an official said this week.
Legislators said every last piece of land was being bought up by investors who planned to create new businesses, and something had to be done to limit the spread of the city.
Some officials said a limit along [...]

Marijuana-Smoking Swedes Arrested in Hotel Room

KUTA ~ Two Swedish men holidaying in Bali have been arrested by police for smoking marijuana in their hotel room in Kuta, police said this week.
The pair were arrested on April 24 after guests in nearby rooms complained of the smell of marijuana coming from the men’s room and police were called.
Kuta Police said they [...]

New Wireless Net Promises Revolutionary Use

Technology firms announced an alliance this week to promote a Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) standard predicted to one day let people beam high-definition video to home television sets.
WiGig is 10 to 20 times faster than WiFi, and should cut from hours to seconds the time it takes to wirelessly transfer gigantic digital data files, such as [...]

Padang Bay Area & Medewi beach Area

Padang Bay Area

Padang Bay, is the harbour for the ferry going to Lombok, about 1,5 hours from the airport,there are some small hotel for the tourist going to Lombok or coming from Lombok, the beach here also good for snorkling and diving, going to Lombok using ferry from here take about 4 hours crossing the Lombok strait. 

Medewi beach Area

Medewi beach, located in the west of Bali about 2,5 hours from the airport, Medewi beach is a black sandy stony beach, there are not many hotels here, most of the tourists here are the surfers, because Medewi beach offers big long wave.

Lovina beach Area & Candi Dasa Area

Lovina beach Area

Lovina beach, located in the north of Bali about 3 hours by car from the airport, quite and peaceful beach, black sand, Europians like to stay here, no 5 star hotel, they offer the smaller and cheaper hotel, Lovina beach famous for the morning dolphin watching tour. 

Candi Dasa Area

Candi Dasa, located in the east Bali, about 2 hours from the airport,you can see black sandy beach during the low tide, when high tide you can't go to the beach because they built a wall to protect the land from the abrasion, most of the tourist here is a diver and some transit tourist if they do the Bali round trip.From here you can see the beautiful view of Padang Bay ferry harbour.

Amed and Tulamben Area

Amed and Tulamben, located in the north east of Bali, 3 hours drive from the airport pass the town of Amlapura,situated behind of Bali's highest volcano "Agung Volcano" black stony beach, good for snorkling and diving, they have the American ship wreck, from the second world war, about 25 meters deep in side the sea.

Ubud Area

Ubud, Come deep inside to the Balinese way of life, culture and tradition. Ubud is a district, well known as the center of the art of Bali, such as dancing, painting, wood carving and alot more, Ubud can be divided in to many villages, most of the village there have their own arts speciality, it's about 1 hours drive from the airport to Ubud, Ubud is a very peaceful area, no beach, located in between beach and mountain, 1 hour from the beach and 1 hour to the mountain, nice weather, green area, the hotel here offer a very nice situation, many people come for learning Balinese arts or learning yoga, some hotels have nice rice terrace view and some bulit in the valey of Ayung river (the river have very deep valey and very famous for white water rafting) Ubud also good for shopping, but for the Balinese arts handicraft only. In the town of Ubud you can visit the monkey forest, Ubud palace, and Ubud art market. 

Tuban Area

Tuban, in the south of Kuta,is the the area where the Bali international airport located, Tuban have many big hotels and middle class hotels, white sand beach, in Tuban there is 1 of bali's bigest mall, Discovery mall, 10 minutes from Kuta by car.

Seminyak Area

Seminyak , in the north of Kuta, white sand beach, 20 minutes from the airport, there are some famous restaurants and bars here, Seminyak offers some 5 stars hotels and a lot of villas, a litle bit more quite than Kuta, 15 minutes from Kuta by car. 

Nusa Dua Area & Jimbaran Area

Nusa Dua, most luxury tourist resort in bali, beautiful garden along the street, golf courses, located in the south of Bali, about 20 minutes from the airport, Nusa Dua offers many luxury 5 stars hotels with their own private beach, dominated by Japanese tourists, also famous for the marine sport,diving, and turtle island snorkling tour, started from Tanjung Benoa beach (paninsula) in northen side of Nusa Dua. 

Jimbaran, located in the south part of Bali about 15 minutes from the airport, they have some 5 stars hotels like Ritz Carlton hotel, Four Season, Intercontinental hotel, Jimbaran very famous for the seafood cafe along the beach, with it's fresh grilled seafood with the sunset, the people said, romantic dinner. 

Sanur Area

Sanur, more quite than Kuta, located in east side beach of Bali, white sand, you can see sun rise from here, take about 25 minutes from the airport, they have many middle class hotels cost around US$ 60 per night, most europians like to stay here, for the surfing only good during rainy season (Dec-Feb). 

Kuta and Legian Area

Kuta and Legian, beautiful beach,white sand,1 of bali's best surfing beach, the busiest tourist resort in bali, kuta and legian dedicated to all bugdet, they offer cheap hotel and expensive hotel, many back packers, they have a few shoping malls. Kuta and legian also famous for it's night life, most young Australian like to stay here, alot of party, good shoping for branded item, along Legian street there are some discoutique, bars, and night club.You can see the sunset from Kuta beach. About 15 minutes from the airport. 

Call for Halt to Dog Culling

RENON ~ Local animal-welfare organization Yudistira Foundation has urged Bali’s government to stop the mass elimination of dogs currently underway in an attempt to control a deadly outbreak of rabies.

Foundation manager Wayan Mudiarta said only dogs that tested positive for rabies should be put down, and street dogs should be vaccinated before any more mass eliminations proceeded.

He said he was disappointed at the way the dogs were eliminated using poisoned food.

“Eliminations should be done with minimum pain and suffering caused to the animals, even though the government may find it difficult to use more ideal methods at the moment,” Mudiarta said.

According to data from Bali’s Agriculture Department, 2,600 dogs have been put down since the first occurrence of rabies in Badung Regency in September 2008.

At least five people are known to have died from the rabies virus since late last year, after being bitten by rabid dogs.

Thief Arrested in Shop

DENPASAR ~ A cleaning-service employee was arrested after being caught stealing clothing from the Billabong shop in Kuta Square where he worked, police said.

Kuta’s Police’s crimes chief, Made Karsa, said Billabong management claimed Gede Suarnata, 23, had stolen 375 pieces of clothing, but he was found to have only five.

“Suarnata was caught red-handed by shop security and is being interrogated. He has admitted to stealing five pieces of clothing,” Karsa said.

However, management was still claiming to have lost 375 pieces of clothing from the storage area of the shop.

Clapboard: Obsessed Moviegoers Flock to Beyonce Thriller

LOS ANGELES ~ Moviegoers were hooked on Beyonce at the weekend as the superstar singer’s taut thriller Obsessed clawed its way to the top of the North American box office, final figures showed.

The film, which also stars HBO’s The Wire gangster Idris Elba as a businessman whose life is turned upside down by an obsessive new colleague, earned US$28.6 million during its first three days in theatres, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Youthful fantasy 17 Again, starring US teen heartthrob Zac Efron, fell from the top to second, raking in $11.5 million.

Another high new entry, Fighting, punched its way to third place, telling the story of small-town boy Channing Tatum trying to make it big in New York City. The fighting flick, featuring intense bare-knuckle scraps, took in $11 million in its opening weekend.

The Soloist, an inspiring musical tale based on a true story, starring actors Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx, came in fourth with $9.7 million in ticket sales, also in its first weekend.

Rounding out this week’s new entries was Disney’s Earth in fifth spot. The documentary culls nature footage from the BBC’s landmark series Planet Earth. It brought in $8.8 million in its first three days.

Monsters and Aliens, an animated tale of a rag-tag group of monsters who save the world from destruction, dropped two spots to sixth place, earning $8.5 million to bring its total to $174.8 million over five weeks.

Washington-based State of Play took an A-list cast to seventh, raking in $6.8 million in its second weekend.

Starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren, the thriller centres on reporters and police trying to solve the murder of a young lawmaker’s mistress.

Miley Cyrus’ Hannah Montana: The Movie fell hard from third place to eighth. The film version of the popular Disney TV series took in $6.4 million for a total of $65.6 million in three weeks.

For the ninth spot, car chase movie Fast & Furious, starring Vin Diesel, earned $6.2 million to bring total receipts to $145.4 million.

Rounding out the North America top 10 was action sequel Crank: High Voltage, which took in $2.6 million in its second weekend at the box office.

Police Probe Student Rape

KINTAMANI ~ An alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl was reported to Kintamani Police on Tuesday, police said.

According to head of the district criminal police Nengah Kariasa, the victim NKR, 14, claimed she was raped in an empty house on March 21 by a local man who had not yet been named.

She said she had been offered a drink, which turned out to be arak (rice alcohol), by four men, only one of whom she recognized.

Kariasa said the girl had reported the assault to one of her teachers, who then accompanied her to the police station.

He said witnesses were being questioned and the suspects determined.

Police Called Over Land Inheritance Dispute

SINGARAJA ~ Buleleng Police were forced to step in when a fight over land inheritance turned ugly on Tuesday in Kalibukbuk, Buleleng, police said.

According to Buleleng Police chief Istiyono hostility between two brothers, Made Madra and Ketut Ngetis, was triggered by the building of a fence on ancestral land, which Ngetis, the youngest of six children, claimed as his own.

Madra, the oldest of the six, claimed the land in question had been purchased by his family and was therefore not considered part of the inherited land.

Istiyono said the tension in the village was heightened by the fact that Ngetis was a retired soldier and one of Madra’s sons was still an active member of the police force.

Istiyono said the two men were taken to Buleleng Police station after the dispute almost became physical.

“For the time being the situation has been pacified,” he said.

Buleleng Village Youths Clash

BULELENG ~ Two villages in Seritrit, Buleleng, were thrown into turmoil by a clash between two groups of youths on Tuesday night, officials said.

According to witnesses, several residents of Gunung Ina and Bukit Sari villages were seen wielding hammers, knives and other weapons made from wood and iron.

Witnesses said the clash turned into a rock-throwing episode, clearing the streets of everyone but the combatants.

“The cause of the clash is not yet known, but many witnesses said it was rooted in a misunderstanding. They said a young man who was drunk had fallen off his motorbike after a stone hit him and had thrown stones in return,” Seririt Police chief Ketut Naya said.

He said several young men suspected of involvement in the fight were being questioned at Seririt Police station.

Award-Winning Bali Environmentalist Starts from Ground Up

As waste management problems mount throughout the Indonesian archipelago, Yuyun Ismawati – who has just been awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize 2009 in the Islands & Island Nations category (pictured at left, at a ceremony with other recipients) – implements sustainable community-based waste and sanitation management programmes that provide employment opportunities to low-income people and empower them to improve the environment.

The lack of adequate, safe and sustainable waste management is one of the most critical environmental challenges facing the world’s developing countries; island nations in particular must grapple with growing consumption and finite space for waste disposal.

Municipal infrastructure that is the norm in developed nations, including proper sanitary landfills and recycling facilities, remains largely absent in countries such as Indonesia. This has led to pervasive environmental problems and health risks, especially for communities living adjacent to open waste dumps and for poor urban settlements without organized waste management systems.

The traditional Indonesian practice of using palm leaves and other plants for storing and serving food allowed for simple disposal and composting of “trash.” With the influx of plastics and other non-biodegradable products, Indonesia’s waste management problems have worsened.

Government-run services collect only 30 to 40 percent of the country’s solid waste, mostly in higher-income areas; poor communities are left with mounting waste problems that can have deadly consequences. In 2005, in Bandung, 140 people were killed when a 200-foot-high open garbage dump collapsed, triggering a landslide that crashed onto two villages. Many communities burn their trash, leading to increased air pollution as toxic chemicals are released into the air.

Sanitation services are also lacking, as sewage and waste water from poor settlements remain untreated. Waste water from tofu makers and chicken slaughterhouses as well as trash from uncontrolled dumpsites enters rivers and waterways, polluting the collective water resources. These conditions exacerbate water-borne diseases such as dengue fever. Conventional centralized sewage solutions for larger cities have been built in some areas, but are still not designed to cater to the poor. As Indonesia’s population grows (currently at 245 million), the need for sustainable solutions to waste problems in this nation of islands is critical.

Yuyun Ismawati, 44, began her career as an environmental engineer working with consultant firms to design rural and city water supply systems. Seeing that her skills were not serving the poor communities most in need of safe waste management, Ismawati made a career change. Since 1996, together with her NGO networks, she has redirected her environmental engineering expertise to assist poor communities in designing safe and well-coordinated waste management initiatives, while prioritizing environmental health and economic benefits for local people. In June 2000, Ismawati founded her own NGO, Bali Fokus, to expand her community-based urban environmental management program into replicable initiatives for a larger area of Indonesia.

In 2003, Ismawati and Bali Fokus, in cooperation with a local Rotary Club, initiated a solid waste management program with Temesi village in Gianyar consisting of a waste management facility owned and operated by the village itself. Drawing on her experience with a tourism waste recovery facility in Jimbaran, Bali, Ismawati and the organizations recruited and trained local residents to operate the facility at the landfill site. Workers now separate waste into recyclables, compostable and residuals to transport to the dumpsite. Income from the sale of recyclable materials and compost benefits local farmers. The plant now employs 40 local residents and received carbon credits from the voluntary market to support the sustainability scheme of the project.

Since 2004, Ismawati has developed the “decentralised solution initiative,” focusing on village households in a low-income urban area of Bali and other cities in Indonesia. Ismawati looked to housewives as her partners. The goal was to develop community programmes that reduce the volume of waste taken to municipal dumpsites by minimizing household-level waste.

The core team trained housewives in easy-to-learn daily practices, such as waste separation and composting, performed at home using simple household tools. The program now involves 500 households. Bali Fokus estimates that household waste in the participating villages has been reduced by 50 percent. Some women sell their compost at local markets, thus creating a sustainable, income-generating practice for their communities. Recyclables are often crafted into sellable items, creating yet another income stream for local people.

Seeking to build upon the positive results of these programmes, Ismawati was involved in the development of SANIMAS in 2001-2003. SANIMAS, meaning “sanitation by communities” in Bahasa, is cantered on Ismawati’s creation of a series of replicable waste and sanitation management options for urban poor settlements. Depending on a locality’s needs, resources and community-driven priorities, Ismawati, Bali Fokus and three other NGO partners provide education and capacity-building on specific sustainable waste management and sanitation programmes.

Infrastructure is often supported by the local and central governments. Community contributions and participation, although small compared to government support, are essential for the programmes’ long-term sustainability. As of 2008, SANIMAS is a nationwide initiative reaching hundreds of locales across Indonesia, adding at least 75 small- and medium-sized cities to the program every year.

Over the last year, Ismawati was involved with national agencies in crafting Indonesia’s first-ever bill on waste management and waste management strategy related to climate change issues. During this process, Ismawati succeeded in moving the bill away from environmentally damaging practices such as incineration.

In 2008, Ismawati expanded her area of interest by establishing Indonesia’s Toxics-Free Network. She intends to connect with more Indonesian NGOs and communities to work against the spread of toxic subtances from burning wastes, pesticides, and heavy metals such as mercury. In 2009, Ismawati plans to expand Bali Fokus programmes to more villages, towns and municipalities across the country.

This article is an extract from an award briefing by the San Francisco-based Goldman Environmental Prize.

New Wireless Net Promises Revolutionary Use

Technology firms announced an alliance this week to promote a Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) standard predicted to one day let people beam high-definition video to home television sets.

WiGig is 10 to 20 times faster than WiFi, and should cut from hours to seconds the time it takes to wirelessly transfer gigantic digital data files, such as HD films, according to alliance president Ari Sadri.

WiGig uses a 60-gigahertz spectrum to quickly move large amounts of data, meaning that several people could use wireless internet connections simultaneously for demanding tasks without slowing performance.

“We’re now at the point where the last barrier to wireless being able to do everything that wire can has fallen,” said Craig Mathias, a principal with Farpoint Group wireless and mobile advisory firm.

“WiGig Alliance is going to deliver technology that will have an enormous impact on connectivity and mobility, information technology, consumer electronics, and many other applications.”

Alliance members include Broadcom, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Nokia, Panasonic and Samsung.

Wireless HD video streaming is “a glimpse” of what WiGig has to offer, according to Sadri.

“The hours of time you spend downloading will go down to seconds,” he said. “You could download movies while you put gas in your car.”

Sadri expects a WiGig standard to be finished by the end of this year, then testing to begin to make sure the wireless technology works properly in televisions, computers, mobile telephones, video cameras and other devices.

Marijuana-Smoking Swedes Arrested in Hotel Room

KUTA ~ Two Swedish men holidaying in Bali have been arrested by police for smoking marijuana in their hotel room in Kuta, police said this week.

The pair were arrested on April 24 after guests in nearby rooms complained of the smell of marijuana coming from the men’s room and police were called.

Kuta Police said they seized 16 marijuana joints in the room and that the men, aged 25 and 26, had admitted to having smoked four others.

The Swedish foreign ministry said it was aware of the arrests and had been in touch with the two men via consular agents here.

“A date for the trial has not yet been set, but we have regular contact with the men via our consulate in Indonesia,” spokeswoman Elinor Lundmark told Swedish media.

The two face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Govt Alarmed over New Businesses in Teeming Denpasar

DENPASAR ~ Government officials have voiced concern over continuing investment in Denpasar despite overcrowding, an official said this week.

Legislators said every last piece of land was being bought up by investors who planned to create new businesses, and something had to be done to limit the spread of the city.

Some officials said a limit along the Ayung river or a purpose-built median near Jl. Gatot Subroto could stop the spread of buildings.

House of Representatives chairman Ida Bagus Udiyana said there were many buildings violating zoning laws, which the zoning commission had lost control of.

He said one reason for the lack of control was the renewal of zoning laws, which was still in progress, but this was not necessarily an excuse for the violations.

“We do no need to wait for the new rules, because we already have laws that should stop the illegal buildings,” Udiyana said.

He said inspections must be carried out around Denpasar, especially along Jl. Gatot Subroto and in the designated “green areas” in Pemogan where construction is prohibited.

Flores’ Hobbit Emerges as New Species, Say Studies

The tiny ancient humans dubbed hobbits, whose remains were discovered on an Indonesian island in 2003, were a previously unknown species altogether, according to two new studies.

Debate has raged in the scientific community since the fossils were found on the island of Flores, with some experts insisting they were descended from Homo erectus and others saying evolution could not account for their small brains.

About a metre (three feet) tall and weighing 30 kilos, the tool-making hunters may have roamed the remote island east of Bali as recently as 8,000 years ago. Their fossils are about 18,000 years old.

Many scientists have said Homo floresiensis, as the creature is now formally known, was a prehistoric human stunted by natural selection over millennia through a process called insular dwarfing.

Others countered that even this evolutionary shrinking, well documented in island-bound animals, could not account for the chimpanzee-sized brain – just a third the size of that in a modern human being.

The only plausible explanation, they insisted, was that the handful of specimens found had a genetic disorder resulting in an abnormally small skull or that they suffered from “dwarf cretinism” caused by deficient thyroids.

Two new studies in the British journal Nature go a long way toward settling the debate.

A team led by William Jungers of Stony Brook University in New York tackled the problem by analysing the hobbit’s foot.

In some ways it is very human. The big toe is aligned with the others and the joints make it possible to extend the toes as the body’s full weight falls on the foot – attributes not found in great apes.

But in other respects it is startlingly primitive: far longer than its modern human equivalent and equipped with a very small big toe, long and curved lateral toes, and a weight-bearing structure closer to a chimpanzee’s.

Recent archaeological evidence from Kenya shows that the modern foot evolved more than 1.5 million years ago, most likely in Homo erectus.

So unless the Flores hobbits became more primitive over time – considered extremely unlikely – they must have branched off the human line at an even earlier date.

For Jungers and colleagues, this suggests their ancestor was not Homo erectus “but instead some other more primitive hominin whose dispersal into southeast Asia is still undocumented.”

Companion studies published by the Journal of Human Evolution bolster this theory and conjecture that these more ancient forebears may be the still poorly understood Homo habilis.

In any case, Homo floresiensis would be confirmed as a separate species.

But what still has not been explained the hobbit’s inordinately small brain.

That’s where hippos come into the picture.

Eleanor Weston and Adrian Lister of the Natural History Museum in London compared fossils of several species of ancient hippos found on the island of Madagascar with the mainland ancestors from which they had evolved.

They were surprised to find that insular dwarfing – driven by the need to adapt to an island environment – shrank their brains far more than had previously been thought possible.

“Whatever the explanation for the tiny brain of H. floresiensis relative to its body size, our evidence suggests that insular dwarfing could have played a role in its evolution,” they conclude.

While the new studies answer some questions, they also raise new ones sure to spark fresh debate, Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman said in Nature.

Only more fossil evidence will indicate whether the hobbits of Flores evolved from Homo erectus, whose traces have been found throughout Eurasia, or from an even more ancient lineage not yet found outside Africa, he said.

Election Plane Crashes; Six Dead

JAYAPURA ~ Six people were believed to have died when a cargo plane crashed in the mountain highlands of Papua province on Thursday, officials said.

The Aviastar cargo plane was travelling from the provincial capital Jayapura to Wamena town when it crashed at 8am while attempting to land, Mimika town air transport chief Jonrettob said.

“We are still investigating the cause of the crash,” he said, adding that the plane was carrying election material including ballot papers and boxes for a general election being held across the country on Thursday.

“Without the materials, some polling stations could not carry out the elections,” he added.

JAYAPURA ~ Six people were believed to have died when a cargo plane crashed in the mountain highlands of Papua province on Thursday, officials said.

The Aviastar cargo plane was travelling from the provincial capital Jayapura to Wamena town when it crashed at 8am while attempting to land, Mimika town air transport chief Jonrettob said.

“We are still investigating the cause of the crash,” he said, adding that the plane was carrying election material including ballot papers and boxes for a general election being held across the country on Thursday.

“Without the materials, some polling stations could not carry out the elections,” he added.

Gay Serial Killer Sentenced to Death

DEPOK, West Java ~ A self-confessed serial killer who recorded a pop album and wrote a grisly tell-all book from his prison cell was sentenced to death on Monday for the murder of a romantic rival.

The Depok District Court found Verry Idham Henyansyah, known popularly as Ryan, guilty of murdering and dismembering Herry Santoso and dumping of his body in bags on a Jakarta roadside last year.

Wearing a white robe and a Muslim skullcup, Henyansyah sang to reporters before entering the courtroom. The song, called Please Understand, Beloved, was penned for his boyfriend, he said.

“I am ready for any sentence,” he said, tearily hugging his parents.

Santoso was found cut into seven pieces in a murder 31-year-old Henyansyah described as motivated by jealousy, after Santoso offered him a car and money in return for sex with his boyfriend.

The murder is the first of 11 killings confessed to by Henyansyah to go to trial.

Another 10 bodies, including a mother and her young child, were uncovered in his parents’ backyard in East Java after his arrest in July last year.

“(Henyansyah’s) acts were sadistic and inhuman and caused deep sadness to the victims’ families and anxiety in the community. His acts show he does not value life, which is given by God,” chief judge Suwidya said.

Henyansyah, a former Koran recital teacher and would-be model, has shot to notoriety in Indonesia. A steady stream of visitors, many of them teenage girls, have taken photos with him in his court holding cell.

He released an autobiography titled The Untold Story of Ryan in February and plans to release a 12-song pop album, My Last Performance, this month.

Defense lawyer Rusdi Ismael said Henyansyah would appeal against the death sentence.

W. Java Military Plane Crash Kills 24: Military

JAKARTA ~ Twenty-four Indonesian military personnel are believed to have died when their training aircraft crashed at an airbase in West Java on Monday, an air force spokesman said.

The Fokker 27 plane was making a landing during a regular training flight when it crashed and burst into flames at 1:05pm in Bandung, 110 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, spokesman Bambang Sulistio said.

“The evacuation process is still underway but I don’t think there’ll be any survivors. I predict all 24 people aboard are dead as the plane was completely destroyed,” he said.

Garuda Crash Pilot Jailed for Two Years

YOGYAKARTA ~ A court sentenced on Monday the pilot of a Garuda Indonesia jet that crash-landed at an airport in 2007, killing 21 people, to two years in prison for criminal negligence.

“The defendant, Marwoto Komar, is legally and convincingly guilty of criminal negligence resulting in the jet’s crash and the deaths of other people,” chief judge Sri Andini told the Sleman District Court.

The court decided to hand down the heavy sentence, an unusual legal move by international standards, because of the number of deaths and the fact that Komar “never expressed remorse during the trial,” Andini said.

The sentence was lighter than the four years requested by prosecutors for Komar’s actions as he attempted to land the Boeing 737 at high speed at Yogyakarta airport on March 7.

The plane burst into flames after skidding into rice fields of the airport runway. Five Australians were among the dead.

Komar, who wore his pilot’s uniform in court despite being fired from the national flag carrier over the crash, told the court he would appeal the verdict.

The pilot maintained at his trial faulty wing flaps were to blame for the jet’s excessive airspeed as it came in to land.

However, a report by an Indonesian safety committee found that Komar had ignored 15 automatic warnings telling him he was coming in too fast.

Obama to Visit Indonesia this Year: Yudhoyono

JAKARTA ~ US President Barack Obama is planning to visit Indonesia this year, the state-run news agency reported on Friday, quoting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Yudhoyono said Obama - who went to primary school in the capital Jakarta from 1967 to 1971 - had informed him of his plan when the pair sat together during a working breakfast at the G20 meeting in London.

“When I told Obama that the people of Indonesia were awaiting Obama’s visit, he said he planned to do so this year,” Yudhoyono told reporters on his plane as he returned from London, the Antara news agency reported.

He said Obama would meet his former elementary school friends in Jakarta, and complimented the US president on how much of the Indonesian language he had remembered over the years.

“He still remembers a lot of Indonesian words, such as ‘apa kabar’ for how are you, and ‘capek’ for feeling tired,” Yudhoyono said.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world and an ally of the United States, despite the country’s strong opposition to the Bush administration’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Obama is hugely popular here because of his childhood connection and hopes are high he will make a visit early in his presidency.

Fisherman Killed by Komodo Dragon

LEGIAN ~ A fisherman was mauled to death by a Komodo dragon after he ventured into a remote island sanctuary for the giant killer lizards, police said.

The fisherman died from massive blood loss after being bitten in the leg as he looked for fruit on the deserted island in the east of the archipelago.

“The fisherman was with some friends and took a break on Rinca island. He entered the jungle to find some sugar-apples,” local police deputy chief Benny Hutajulu said on Tuesday.

“The Komodo suddenly grabbed his heel… His two friends in the boat heard a scream and rushed to help him.”

The reptile had disappeared when his friends arrived but the man died on his way to hospital.

“A doctor said that he was bleeding badly and losing a lot of blood,” Hutajulu said.