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Man Jadda Wajada Shop: Download Katalog Sepatu Bordir

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:49:00 -0800

Man Jadda Wajada Shop: Download Katalog Sepatu Bordir

Painful images

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 05:08:00 -0700

Visitors examine an image at an exhibition of photos on the Lapindo mudflow disaster in Malang, East Java, on Thursday. The exhibition displays 40 works of 10 artists who once lived in areas now covered by mud. (Antara/Ari Bowo Sucipto)

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 07/21/2011 3:22 PM

ASEAN pushes for resumption of N. Korea nuke talks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 05:05:00 -0700

ASEAN and friends: Foreign Ministers from left, Vietnam's Pham Gia Khiem, South Korea's Kim Sung-hwan, Japan's Takeaki Matsumoto, Indonesia's Marty Natalegawa, and China's Yang Jiechi, hold hands during a group photo at the opening session of ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday. (AP/Dita Alangkara)

Associated Press, Nusa Dua | Thu, 07/21/2011 2:19 PM
Foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations are calling for a speedy resumption of talks aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

China, the US, Japan, South Korea and Russia had been negotiating since 2003 to persuade Pyongyang to dismantle the program in exchange for aid and other concessions. The North pulled out of the talks about two years ago after being censured for launching a long-range rocket. It has indicated a willingness in recent months to return to the table.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued a statement Thursday after their annual get-together, urging "the early resumption of the six-party talks."

Royal garb

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 05:03:00 -0700


Kim Kardashian reacts to photographers at the Noon by Noor launch event in West Hollywood, Calif., Wednesday night. Noon by Noor is a fashion collection designed by Kingdom of Bahrain royalty Noor Rashid Al Khalifa and Haya Mohammed Al Khalifa. (AP/Chris Pizzello)

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 07/21/2011 3:04 PM

Army: Gunmen kill Indonesia soldier in Papua

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 05:00:00 -0700

Associated Press, Jayapura | Thu, 07/21/2011 6:47 PM

An army officer says unidentified gunmen have ambushed Indonesia soldiers and killed one of them in the easternmost province of Papua.
The chief army officer in Papua says soldiers are still searching for the gunmen. Maj. Gen. Erfi Triassunu said the ambush Thursday morning happened outside a village in the hilly district of Puncak Jaya.
Triassunu said the victim was a first private killed by a shot to his head. No information was available on the other soldiers.
The attack occurred one day after a military tribunal indicted three low-ranking soldiers for killing a civilian in Puncak Jaya last year.
Papua is a former Dutch colony incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored ballot. A small, poorly armed separatist movement has battled for independence ever since.

South Tangerang launches reading initiative

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:59:00 -0700

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Thu, 07/21/2011 6:42 PM
As part of the South Tangerang municipal administration’s campaign for literacy, Mayor Airin Rachmi Diany launched on Thursday an initiative known as Gema to encourage mothers to read to their children.
“We hope that with Gema, South Tangerang residents, from kids to the elderly, will love reading,” Airin said. She quoted English historian Thomas Babington Macaulay’s saying: “I choose to be a poor person living in a hut which is full with books rather than being a king who has no desires to read.”
According to Airin, reading is a fun activity that is also enlightening and therefore it should be a habit in every family because it helps people broaden their minds and knowledge.
“Reading as a habit should be started in each family, starting with mothers who read to their children, because it will be very useful for all of us,” she said.
The mayor described various other benefits from reading, such as building a strong foundation for various sciences and their applications in daily life.
“Reading improves verbal and linguistic aptitude because it enriches vocabularies, it activates eye muscles and freshens minds and prevents people from becoming senile, improves intelligence, creativity and imagination, self confidence, develops emotion and social interactions where ever we are, as well forming personalities,” she said.
Airin also vowed to make South Tangerang a child-friendly city. Children in South Tangerang should not only get a guarantee of physical health, but the administration would also pay attention to them psychologically, spiritually and socially.
According to Airin, the future of South Tangerang is in the hands of the next generation, therefore children should be seen as precious assets and that all community elements should be responsible for their rights to health, education and good environment services.

Dangdut divorcees to reinvigorate scene

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:57:00 -0700

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 07/21/2011 9:47 PM

JAKARTA: Wanting to reinvigorate dangdut, Anang Hermansyah has added some color to the genre by forming Tiga Kembang (Three Flowers), a trio of divorced dangdut singers.

He wants dangdut to become the music of Indonesia all over again, he said.

Cici Paramida, Ikke Nurjanah and Kirstina were Anang’s picks for the dangdut group. But, wanting such huge names, how did he make this dangdut supergroup happen?

“I was hanging out with my friend Irvan Nat. Irvan said, ‘this song Goyang Sayang would be great if it was sung by those three, can this be arranged?’ Then Irvan Nat called each of them,” Anang said as reported by kapanlagi.com.

But the song was not written for Tiga Kembang but for Krisdayanti and Siti. Because the latter project ended up not happening, the song was given to Tiga Kembang.

Anang said Goyang Sayang was filled with nuance, the rhythm of the song upbeat and fresh.

“I witnessed the development of dangdut and how it became so popular. But now dangdut’s popularity has sunk,” he lamented.

Malaysia media claims Jewish plot after rally

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:54:00 -0700

Sean Yoong, Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur | Mon, 07/18/2011 2:30 PM

Malaysia's government-linked media claimed Monday that foreign Jewish groups might try to use an opposition-backed push to reform electoral laws to interfere in this Muslim-majority country.

Political activists who recently organized Malaysia's biggest street demonstration in years insisted the accusation by the ruling party's widely read newspaper was an irresponsible attempt to discredit them through appeals to religious prejudice.

The Malay-language Utusan Malaysia daily said in an editorial that Malaysians "cannot allow anyone, especially the Jews, to interfere secretly in this country's business." It offered no evidence of a possible Jewish plot and named no specific group.

"When the drums are pounded hard in the name of human rights, the pro-Jewish people will have their best opportunity to interfere in any Islamic country," the newspaper said. "We might not realize that the enthusiasm to support actions such as demonstrations will cause us to help foreign groups succeed in their mission of controlling this country."

Malaysia, a staunch supporter of the Palestinians, has no diplomatic ties with Israel. Government politicians are often strongly critical of Israeli policies.

The editorial was the latest effort by the newspaper to defend a government crackdown on at least 20,000 people who marched in Kuala Lumpur on July 9 demanding more transparency in electoral laws ahead of national polls widely expected by mid-2012.

Police unleashed tear gas and chemical-laced water on the demonstrators and detained nearly 1,700 of them. All were freed within hours, but dozens of other activists arrested earlier this month have been prosecuted for promoting what authorities considered an illegal gathering.

Authorities have also detained six opposition activists without trial and accused them of trying to use the rally to spread communist ideologies. Police said they found the activists with T-shirts and other material linked to communist figures.

Maria Chin Abdullah, one of the protest organizers, said Monday that Utusan Malaysia's warning of a Jewish conspiracy was "nonsense that is being spread in very bad taste."

"To rely on this claim of Jewish support is to insult the people's good intentions of seeking important reforms," she said. The protest was meant to pressure Prime Minister Najib Razak's administration to clean up voter registration lists and introduce tougher laws to prevent electoral fraud.

The Utusan Malaysia newspaper, owned by Najib's United Malays National Organization ruling party, is influential among Muslims in many rural areas who rely on government-linked newspapers and TV stations for information.

Enough is enough

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:33:00 -0700

Activists stage a protest outside Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday. The National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT) on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his aides and the House of Representatives, for their alleged failure to protect domestic workers in Indonesia and abroad (JP/Ardi Wardhana)

Chemical-free

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:31:00 -0700

Deputy Minister for Agriculture Bayu Krishnamurthi (right) examines a simple non-toxic device called Hypotan, used to capture pests on a coffee tree at the research center for coffee and cacao in Kaliwining, East Java, on Wednesday. (Antara/Seno S.)

Spirited away

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:30:00 -0700

An Alaskan tourist dances with a traditional Balinese dancer during the island’s annual festival at Denpasar Cultural Center on Wednesday. The festival presents 334 performance arts, under a theme of “Self Adaptation in a Multicultural World”. (Antara/Nyoman Budhiana)

Judicial watchdog to visit Antasari in prison

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:28:00 -0700

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 06/15/2011 9:45 PM
The Judicial Commission plans to send investigators to question former Corruption Eradication Commission chief Antasari Azhar regarding his belief that the panel of judges made mistakes during his trial.
“We want to hear and collect evidence from his side, if there is any, about the judges during his trial,” Suparman Marzuki, the commission’s supervisory division chief, said Wednesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
The Judicial Commission is in the middle of gathering evidence in response to an allegation by Antasari’s lawyer that the panel of judges took into consideration the wrong evidence during his trial.
The South Jakarta District Court panel found Antasari guilty of murder and he is currently detained at Tangerang Penitentiary.

Judicial watchdog to visit Antasari in prison

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:27:00 -0700

World Bank raises China growth forecasts

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 03:09:00 -0700

The World Bank boosted its growth forecast for China and said rising inflation should level off but warned Beijing needs to make the economy less reliant on trade to sustain its expansion.

In a quarterly update released Wednesday, the bank said China's politically contentious trade surplus is likely to swell further in 2011, though it cautioned that weak global demand means Beijing shouldn't rely so heavily on exports.

The bank raised its 2010 growth outlook from 9.5 percent to 10 percent and its growth outlook for next year from 8.5 percent to 8.7 percent. Growth eased in the third quarter to 9.6 percent from 10.3 percent the previous quarter as Beijing tried to steer it to a more manageable level.

"Growth is likely to moderate somewhat more in 2011 and the medium term to a still robust pace," the bank said.

Despite a largely upbeat outlook, the bank said Beijing needs to do more to boost domestic demand and cut reliance on exports and investment. Communist leaders have announced that goal repeatedly but private sector analysts say they have done little to shift emphasis to consumer spending and service industries instead of manufacturing and construction.

"The need to rebalance to more domestic demand-led, service sector-oriented growth seems stronger now than five years ago, in part because the international environment is less favorable," the bank said. "Rebalancing will not happen by itself - it will require significant policy adjustment."

The bank recommended action on an array of fronts including opening up more industries to private business, changing the way energy prices are set to encourage more efficient industry and nurturing private-sector research and development.

The bank's outlook reflected China's unusual status among major economies. It rebounded quickly from the global crisis after huge stimulus spending and bank lending and now faces the challenge of cooling inflation and restoring normal conditions while Washington and other governments are still trying to shore up growth.

The World Bank said inflation that has risen steadily this year should level off but Beijing might face a new upsurge in housing prices that the government reined in earlier this year with lending curbs and other controls. It forecast consumer inflation at 3 percent this year and 3.3 percent in 2011.

"Inflation may remain above the 3 percent (government) target for a while, although the food price increases should eventually decelerate," the World Bank said. It added: "It will be difficult to contain housing prices for long."

China's trade surplus also is likely to rebound in 2011 after narrowing temporarily this year, the bank said. The multibillion-dollar surplus has strained relations with Washington and other trading partners and prompted some U.S. lawmakers to demand sanctions over currency controls blamed for widening the trade gap.

"On current policies and trends, the trade surplus is likely to continue to rise in 2011," the bank said.

---

World Bank: www.worldbank.org

SBY to visit Merapi victims after meeting Gillard

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 03:08:00 -0700

Walk the talk? Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, left, walks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono prior to their meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday. AP/Dita Alangkara

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to fly to Yogyakarta later today to meet people displaced by Mt. Merapi multiple eruptions in the past few days.

The President is slated to fly to Yogyakarta at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, after meeting with visiting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Tempointeraktif.com reported Tuesday.

Yudhoyono earlier said that he had contacted governors of Yogyakarta and West Java, to make sure that people displaced by the eruption are taken care of.

"I ordered (the two governors) to try their best to save the lives of our brothers and sisters around Mt. Merapi," he said.

He also called on the people to improve their preparedness in the face of multiple disasters, considering that Indonesia is prone to natural disasters.

"We have to change the way we see disasters in this country. Our country is prone to natural disasters such as earthquake, tsunami and volcano eruption. When we are aware of our geography, we have to do whatever we can do for our survival to face these disasters," he said.

Yudhoyono cut short his visit to Vietnam and returned home to visit victims of tsunami disaster in West Sumatra last weekend, and flew back to Vietnam to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

Eruption welcomes President at Mt. Merapi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 03:06:00 -0700

Anticipated: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (left) meets refugees of the erupted Mt. Merapi at a shelter in Purwobinangun, Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Wednesday. Yudhoyono asked the refugees to be patient and sensitive with Merapi activities. Antara/Regina Safri

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was welcomed by another eruption at Mount Merapi on Wednesday morning when he was about to visit a shelter site for refugees in Pakem, Sleman, Yogyakarta.
An officer at the Mt. Merapi observation post, Agus, said that the eruption occurred at around 8:20 a.m.
“It was a single eruption but quite big. The mountain spewed hot clouds which moved about five kilometers to west,” he added as quoted by Kompas.com.
Mt. Merapi, where an eruption on last Tuesday has killed 39 people so far, is still on top alert status as it still continues to erupt and spew hot clouds of ashes.

Scientists: Indonesia eruption could last weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 03:05:00 -0700

On fire: Mount Merapi spews volcanic smoke as seen from Deles early Monday. AP/Irwin Fedriansyah

Indonesia's most dangerous volcano showed no sign of tiring Tuesday, belching clouds of black smoke as fiery lava lit up its cauldron. Scientists warned that the slow but deadly eruption could continue for weeks, like a "marathon, not a sprint."

The activity was accompanied by rumbling at 21 other active volcanos in Indonesia, twice the number usually on the government's "watch" list, which raised questions about what's causing the uptick along some of the world's most volatile fault lines.

No casualties were reported in Mount Merapi's latest blast, which came as Indonesia struggled to respond to an earthquake-generated tsunami that devastated a remote chain of islands. The two disasters unfolding in separate parts of the country have killed nearly 470 people and strained the government's emergency response network.

In both events, the military has been called in to help.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanos because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the western and eastern Pacific.

Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has killed 38 people since springing back to life just over a week ago.

There have since been more than 10 large eruptions, including a violent burst Monday that appears to have eased pressure building up inside the crater by creating a vent for magma to escape.

"There's no way of knowing for sure, of course," said Safari Dwiyono, who has observed the mountain for more than 15 years. "But based on what we've seen in the last few days, we're hoping there won't be a massive explosion. It's looking like we're in for a marathon, not a sprint."

The nearly 70,000 villagers evacuated from the area around Merapi's once-fertile slopes - now blanketed by gray ash - have been told they could be expected to stay in crowded government camps for at least three more weeks.

More than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the west, meanwhile, a C-130 transport plane, six helicopters and four boats were ferrying aid to the most distant corners of the Mentawai islands, where last week's tsunami destroyed hundreds of homes, schools, churches and mosques. The tsunami death toll stood Monday at 431, the National Disaster Management Agency said on its website.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said relief efforts must be sped up, expressing dismay that it took days for aid to reach the isolated islands, though he acknowledged that violent storms were largely to blame.

Last week's killer wave was triggered a 7.7-magnitude earthquake along the same fault that caused the 2004 temblor and tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. The fault line, along the west coast of Sumatra island, is the meeting point of the two of the Earth's dozen major plates, which have been pushing against and under each other for millions of years, causing huge stresses to build up.

Both earthquakes and volcanos can result from the release of these stresses. As plates slide against or under each other, molten rock can break the surface via a volcano or the energy can be released in an earthquake.
The government has raised alert levels of 21 other volcanos to the second- and third- highest levels in the last two months because they have shown an increase in activity, state volcanologists Syamsul Rizal said Monday.

That's twice the number usually on the government "watch" list.

Geophysicist Pall Einarsson of the University of Iceland said the activity increasingly seems to indicate that the volcanos could be affecting neighboring ones, and that this was a new idea for volcanologists.

"If it's true that there are over 20 volcanos demonstrating increased levels of seismic activity, then that is something we should pay attention to," agreed Brent McInnes, a professor at Australia's Curtin University, adding however that he has not yet seen the raw data.

He said such an increase could indicate "a major plate restructuring" - a shift in the plates' position, rather than simply the usual jostling.

Others were quick to point out, however, this could just be a normal, random fluctuation of volcanic activity.

---

Associated Press writers Thomas Wagner in London, Achmad Ibrahim in the Mentawai islands and Kay Johnson, Niniek Karmini, Irwan Firdaus, Ali Kotarumalos and Kristen Gelineau in Jakarta contributed to this report.

Mount Merapi forces flight cancellations

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 03:03:00 -0700

Mount Merapi forced international airlines to cancel flights to nearby airports for the first time Tuesday, as fiery lava lit the rumbling mountain's cauldron and plumes of smoke blackened the sky.
Scientists warned, meanwhile, that the slow but deadly eruption could continue for weeks, like a "marathon, not a sprint."
No casualties were reported in Mount Merapi's latest blasts, which came as Indonesia struggled to respond to an earthquake-generated tsunami that devastated a remote chain of islands. The two disasters unfolding in separate parts of the country have killed nearly 470 people and strained the government's emergency response network.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanos because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the western and eastern Pacific.
Merapi - one of 22 active earthquakes now on alert - has killed 38 people since springing back to life just over a week ago, at times forcing the temporary closure of two nearby airports.
Officials in Yogyakarta, the gateway to the famed 9th-century Borobudur temples visited by 1 million tourists a year, and nearby Solo, have cited poor visibility and heavy ash on the runway.
Both airports were running Tuesday, but Malaysia's budget airline AirAsia and Singapore's SilkAir announced the temporary suspension of several international flights because of the smoldering mountain, just 20 miles (30 kilometers) away.
There have been more than 10 large eruptions at Merapi since the first big explosion on Oct. 26, including a violent burst Monday that appeared to have eased pressure inside the crater by creating a vent for magma to escape.
A series of three much smaller eruptions followed Tuesday.
"There's no way of knowing for sure, of course," said Safari Dwiyono, who has observed the mountain for more than 15 years. "But based on what we've seen in the last few days, we're hoping there won't be a massive explosion. It's looking like we're in for a marathon, not a sprint."
The nearly 70,000 villagers evacuated from the area around Merapi's once-fertile slopes - now blanketed by gray ash - have been told they could be expected to stay in crowded government camps for at least three more weeks.
More than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the west, meanwhile, a C-130 transport plane, six helicopters and four boats were ferrying aid to the most distant corners of the Mentawai islands, where last week's tsunami destroyed hundreds of homes, schools, churches and mosques. The tsunami death toll stood Monday at 431, the National Disaster Management Agency said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said relief efforts must be sped up, expressing dismay that it took days for aid to reach the isolated islands, though he acknowledged that violent storms were largely to blame.
The fault line that spawned the killer wave - and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami - is the meeting point of the two of the Earth's dozen major plates, which have been pushing against and under each other for millions of years, causing huge stresses to build up.
The government has raised alert levels of 21 other volcanos to the second- and third- highest levels in the last two months because they have shown an increase in activity, state volcanologists Syamsul Rizal said Monday.
That's twice the number usually on the government "watch" list.
Hundreds of flights were canceled in Europe after the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano in April.

Massive Pendet

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:26:00 -0700

Massive Pendet: Around 1,650 dancers of Balinese Pendet from kindergartens to senior high schools perform during an opening ceremony of the 23rd National Science Week for University Students at Ngurah Rai stadium in Denpasar on Wednesday. About 113 universities nationwide take part in the event, which will last until Saturday. The massive Pendet dancing managed to break a national record (MURI). JP/Stanny Angga

All porn sites will be blocked before Ramadhan: Tifatul

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:24:00 -0700

Tifatul Sembiring
Information and Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring said in Jakarta on Thursday that his ministry would block all local and foreign porn sites and the target for the completion of the blockage will before Ramadhan fasting month (next month).

“Insya Allah [God willing] we will finish the job before Ramadhan so as not to affect [Muslims] from executing their religious obligation,” Tifatul told reporters before attending a plenary Cabinet meeting at the Presidential office in Jakarta.

The minister further said that one of the mandates of the pornography law said that the state was obliged to protect its people from any negative impacts of pornography. The former president of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) also reminded of the prison sentences that range from 6 to 12 years for those found guilty of distributing pornographic material.

“Be careful, because there are legal implementations. Also be mindful in the distribution of pornographic sentences because a legal lawsuit can be filed on such an act. [Pornographic sentences] are a part of pornography,” Tifatul said as quoted by kompas.com news portal.

What about Internet users who can still access porn sites despite the block? “The thing is, those who can overcome technology are limited in number,” he said.

US to resume ties with Indonesia's special forces

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:35:00 -0700

The United States announced Thursday it will resume cooperation with Indonesia's special forces after ties were severed more than a decade ago over human rights abuses allegedly committed by the commando unit.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates made the announcement after meeting with Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday in the capital Jakarta. Indonesia had said it wanted the United States to reconsider resuming joint training.

The decision will be seen as a victory for the Indonesian military, which has said it made great strides in improving its human rights record.

Indonesia's special forces were accused of major abuses in the former Indonesian province of East Timor in the late 1990s. East Timor has since become independent.

"I was pleased to be able to tell the president that as a result of Indonesian military reform over the past decade ... and recent actions taken by the Ministry of Defense to address human rights issues, the United States will begin measured and gradual programs of security cooperation activities with the Indonesian Army Special Forces," Gates said at a press conference.

"This initial step will take place within the limit of US law and does not signal any lessening of the importance we place on human rights and accountability," he added.

Several countries, including the US and Australia, suspended joint military training in the wake of the rights abuse allegations, though Australia resumed training in 2005.

The US lifted an overall ban against training the Indonesian military in 2005, though it kept the restrictions against the Indonesian special forces - known as Kopassus.

"Our ability to expand after this initial step will depend on continued implementation of reforms with Kopassus and TNI as a whole," Gates said. "We consider this a very significant development in our military-to-military relationship and look forward to working even more closely ... in the years to come."

Gates didn't elaborate on the specifics of the resumed cooperation, and took no questions from journalists.

International rights groups said members of Kopassus were linked to the disappearance of student activists in East Timor in 1997 and 1998 and were never held accountable.

In May, 13 US lawmakers sent a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Gates, saying they worried about whether Indonesia will punish senior officers for past abuses.

Military chief promotes 35 generals

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:34:00 -0700

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso has promoted 35 generals, consisting of 16 army generals, 11 navy admirals and 8 air force marshals.

“It is expected that this time promotion will further enhance and improve the military performance so that we could give out the best output,” he said on Friday.

Among those generals who receive the promotion is Rear Adm. Gunadi who is now posted as inspector general at the Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Langgeng Sulistyono, who is now posted as Diponegoro Military Commander and Rear Marshal Agus Dwi Putranto, who is installed as Abdulrahman Saleh Air Force Base Commander.

Magnitude-6 earthquake hits North Sumatra

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:33:00 -0700

A magnitude-6 earthquake jolted North Sumatra on Saturday morning, but there were no damage or injuries reported.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency recorded the quake hit at 9:11 a.m. The agency located the quake's epicenter at 18 kilomters northeast of Panyabungan, North Sumatra, at 10 kilometers beneath the surface.

News portal kompas.com reported that the quake was also felt in a number of areas in the neighboring province of Riau.

Dennis Hopper, Hollywood hero and antihero, dies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 May 2010 05:09:00 -0700

Dennis Hooper (AP/Lionel Cironneau)
Dennis Hopper, who brought counterculture to Hollywood with the movie "Easy Rider" and led an acting and directing career marked by successes, failures and comebacks, has died at age 74.

Hopper, who was twice nominated for Oscars and earned a star this year on the Walk of Fame, died Saturday at his home in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, family friend Alex Hitz said. Hopper had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009.

"We rode the highways of America and changed the way movies were made in Hollywood," Peter Fonda, his "Easy Rider" co-star, said in comments carried by several news outlets. "I was blessed by his passion and friendship."

The success of "Easy Rider" and failure of his next film, "The Last Movie," fit the pattern for the talented but wild Hopper, who also had parts in such favorites as "Rebel Without a Cause," "Apocalypse Now," "Blue Velvet" and "Hoosiers."

Other tributes were posted on celebrities' websites and Twitter feeds.

"So long Dennis," actress Virginia Madsen, who starred in the Hopper-directed "The Hot Spot," said on her Twitter page. "U taught me so much."

After a promising start that included roles in two James Dean films, Hopper's acting career languished as he developed a reputation for tantrums and drug abuse. On the set of "True Grit," Hopper so angered John Wayne that the star reportedly chased Hopper with a loaded gun.

"Much of Hollywood," wrote critic-historian David Thomson, "found Hopper a pain in the neck."

All was forgiven when he collaborated with Fonda on a script about two pot-smoking, drug-dealing hippies on a cross-country motorcycle trip.

On the way, Hopper and Fonda befriend a drunken young lawyer (Jack Nicholson in a breakout role) but arouse the enmity of Southern rednecks and are murdered before they can return home.

"'Easy Rider' was never a motorcycle movie to me," Hopper said in 2009. "A lot of it was about politically what was going on in the country."

Fonda produced "Easy Rider" and Hopper directed it for a meager $380,000. It went on to gross $40 million worldwide, a substantial sum for its time. It was a hit at Cannes, netted a best-screenplay Oscar nomination for Hopper, Fonda and Terry Southern.

The establishment gave official blessing in 1998 when "Easy Rider" was included in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Its success prompted studio heads to schedule a new kind of movie: low cost, with inventive photography and themes about a restive baby boom generation. With Hopper hailed as a brilliant filmmaker, Universal Pictures lavished $850,000 on his next project, "The Last Movie."

The title was prescient. Hopper took a large cast and crew to a village in Peru to film the tale of a tribe corrupted by a movie company. Trouble on the set developed almost immediately, as Peruvian authorities pestered the company and drug-induced orgies were reported.

The film took a drug-and-drink addled Hopper nearly a year to edit, and when it was released, "The Last Movie" was such a crashing failure that it made Hopper unwanted in Hollywood for a decade, and forced him to find work in Europe.

He made a remarkable comeback, starting with a memorable performance as a drugged-out journalist in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic, "Apocalypse Now." Hopper was on drugs off camera, too, and his rambling chatter was worked into the film.

Hopper made a series of scattershot film appearances in the 1980s, but steady use of drugs and alcohol led him into rehab and at one point a hospital's psychiatric ward.

Upon his release, Hopper joined Alcoholics Anonymous, quit drugs and launched yet another comeback. It began in 1986 when he played an alcoholic ex-basketball star in "Hoosiers," and earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.

His role as a wild drunk in "Blue Velvet," also in 1986, won him more acclaim, and years later the character wound up No. 36 on the AFI's list of top 50 movie villains.

He also returned to directing, with "Colors," "The Hot Spot" and "Chasers."

Dennis Lee Hopper was born in 1936, in Dodge City, Kan., and spent much of his youth on the nearby farm of his grandparents.

After moving to San Diego with his family, he played Shakespeare at the Old Globe Theater.

Scouted by the studios, Hopper was under contract to Columbia until he insulted the boss, Harry Cohn. From there he went to Warner Bros., where he made "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Giant" while in his late teens.

Later, he moved to New York to study at the Actors Studio, where Dean had learned his craft.

Hopper married five times. In January he filed to end his 14-year marriage to Victoria Hopper, who said in court filings that the actor was seeking to cut her out of her inheritance, a claim Hopper denied.

He was married to a scion of a Hollywood family Brooke Hayward for eight years and to Mamas and the Papas singer Michelle Phillips for eight days.

He married Victoria Duffy, who was 32 years his junior, in 1996.

Hopper maintained a frantic work pace in the last two decades of his life.

He made it to the top of the box office as a vengeful bus bomber in the 1994 hit "Speed," and in the 2000s, he was featured in such films as "Jesus' Son" and the television series "Crash."

"Work is fun to me," Hopper told a reporter in 1991. "All those years of being an actor and a director and not being able to get a job - two weeks is too long to not know what my next job will be."

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AP National Writer Hillel Italie and Associated Press writers Frazier Moore, Bob Thomas and Andrew Dalton contributed to this report.

Let us stay

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:43:00 -0700

Let us stay: A boy and dozens of residents of Guji Baru village, West Jakarta, stage a protest Wednesday in front of the local city hall to request the West Jakarta mayor revoke an eviction order for their neighborhood. The protesters also urged the administration to issue residents who had been living in Guji Baru for many years with land certificates. Antara/Yudhi Mahatma

Antara, Jakarta | Wed, 05/19/2010 6:54 PM | Jakarta