Jusuf Kalla: Marijuana Can NOT be Legalized

Marijuana cannot be legalized in Indonesia because it is hazardous to health and safety, Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) Chairman Jusuf Kalla said here on Saturday.
"We can not legalize marijuana because at a certain dose it is unbelievably dangerous for health," said the former vice president on the sidelines of free cataract operation at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM).
Kalla said marijuana was legal if it was used for medication, but it could not be legalized if it was misused. The PMI chairman added that only the Netherlands was at present legalized marijuana but in Indonesia the marijuana (cannabis sativa) was prohibited under law No.35/2009 on drugs.
A number of people grouped in the Nusantara Marijuana Circle (LGN) has voiced the legalization of the cannabis sativa in Indonesia by staging Global Marijuana March 2011. According to Kalla, anyone could propose a wide range of proposals including the legalization of marijuana because Indonesia was a democratic country.

Between Internet Porn and Rise in Sex Offences

Extreme sexual fantasies are being normalised because of the rise in deviant pornography on the internet, psychologists have warned. Researchers now believe there is a 'causal link' between the rise in explicit images available online and an increase extreme illegal behaviour in real life.
According to experts, the internet is allowing like-minded people to share explicit and violent sexual fantasies, therefore making them more acceptable. The findings are based on research conducted by Dr Tim Jones, senior lecturer in cognitive psychology at Worcester University as well as top psychologists such as criminologist Professor David Wilson from Birmingham City University.
Their research is based around a series of interviews with a convicted paedophile named 'James' who is serving a 14-year sentence for numerous sexual offences involving children.
They also point to the rise images of child pornography available on the internet. The Greater Manchester police obscene publications unit has seen a staggering leap in the number of illicit images seized.

William Larks around on A Boat in Ibiza with Kate

They were carefree days before the world became entranced by their every movement. This is Kate Middleton and her sister Pippa as they've never been seen before, enjoying an exuberant holiday in Ibiza with their family and Prince William.
Taken in 2006, these previously unseen pictures capture a fleeting moment in the lives of the couple when they could behave like ordinary twentysomethings, unencumbered by the responsibilities they now carry as the new stars of the Royal Family.
They show the Prince larking around with Kate and Pippa, the girls' mother Carole and their brother James on a boat belonging to Carole's brother Gary Goldsmith during a week-long sunshine holiday to Ibiza.
Pippa shows off her athletic prowess -- and her enviably toned physique -- performing a backwards dive into the sea. Kate, who also looks stunning in her white bikini, is content to stand back and watch.

Mari Pangestu Wants EU Expertise for Certification in Asean

Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said Saturday she wants the European Union to support certification processes for products and services within the Asean region as part of capacity-building efforts.
Indonesia, which chaired the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year, is pushing for the E.U. to acknowledged the wide gap in the level of development between the two sides, which leads to some Asean products not being able to enter the E.U. market.
“First we need to know each other's standards and regulations. For that we need more transparency, this sometimes being an issue. Secondly they're advanced and we're still developing, so mutual recognition is needed,“ Pangestu said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.
“They're better in certification as they've started long before us. We want the E.U. to support certifications in Asean; that's the sort of capacity building we're asking,“ she added.

Holyfield Beats Nielsen with TKO

Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield beat Denmark's Brian Nielsen on a technical knockout in the 10th round on Saturday in his long-shot quest for one last title fight.
The bout was stopped after the 48-year-old Holyfield pushed Nielsen into the corner in the 10th round and hit him several times with right-left combinations, causing the Dane to spit out some blood. Holyfield said after the fight that his hope is still to regain the world heavyweight title.
"This fight showed other champions what I am able to do, but it also taught me I got to be better," said Holyfield, who has held the world title four times in his career.
"The most important is that I didn't quit," he added. "I am not a quitter."
Holyfield (44-10-2-1) started the fight aggressively, pressing the 46-year-old Nielsen into the ropes and landing several hard jabs and hooks. Nielsen then got a swollen eye in the fourth round and complained he couldn't see properly. But the Dane made a comeback in the eighth round, pushing a tired-looking Holyfield into the ropes with a series of combinations, before Holyfield turned it around in the 10th.

AC Milan Crowned Italian Champions

AC Milan claimed an 18th Serie A title following a 0-0 draw at Roma on Saturday that gave them an unassailable lead at the top of the table with two games to go.
Milan came into the game knowing they needed only a draw to be sure of winning the scudetto crown and they never looked in danger of failing to do so.
The draw pushed their lead over second-placed Inter Milan, who still have three to play, to nine points but with a better head-to-head record, the rosssoneri cannot now be overtaken.

Computer Beats Doctors in Finding Hormone Disorder

If you show people’s faces to a computer, it does better than doctors at recognizing the signs of a rare hormone disorder, researchers report in a new study.
By analyzing photos of individual faces, the computer system correctly identified seven of every 10 people in the study with acromegaly, a condition that leads to excessive growth in bones and tissues, including those of the face. Human experts were able to correctly pick out people with acromegaly roughly six out of 10 times.
"I have to say I was surprised," Dr. Harald Schneider, the lead author of the study and a researcher at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Germany, wrote in an email to Reuters Health. "We expected the program (at best to) achieve similar results as the experts but not to outperform them."
People with acromegaly have too much growth hormone, which can cause a variety of problems. They usually have a large jaw and tongue, widely spaced teeth, and enlarged bones in the forehead and cheeks. About six out of every 100,000 people have acromegaly.

VW Confirms World Rally Attack

Volkswagen has all but confirmed an R-version of the Polo hatch, as part of its assault on the world rally championship (WRC). The German car maker finally revealed its WRC plans overnight after months of speculation, announcing overnight that it will enter the WRC in 2013 at the Italian round of the series.
Volkswagen will go head-to-head with Mini, Ford and Citroen using a new Polo R WRC machine that his already under development at its German racing headquarters. Under the new-for-2011 rally rules the Polo R will be powered by a 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder engine and use an all-wheel drive system.
The decision to use the Polo R name suggests the company has back-flipped on its decision not to build a range-topping R version of the pint-sized hatchback. Last year Dr Ernst Linder, technical chief on the Polo GTI program, said a Polo R was unlikely.
Since then Audi has begun work on an all-wheel drive version of its Polo-based A1 hatch, which will wear the S1 badge. Sharing that development would give Volkswagen the option of producing a road-going Polo R to match its WRC contender.

Rudi Hartono: Get Tough on The Young Players

Eight-time All England champion Rudy Hartono has called for the Indonesia Badminton Association (PBSI) to get tougher on young players to push them to greater heights with the 2012 London Olympics looming.
“What makes today’s game different is that matches are more competitive now compared to years ago, so you have to work harder and not give up easily,” the 61-year-old veteran told a local newspaper at the PBSI’s 60th anniversary celebration.
“We won with minimal support from the PBSI. Now shuttlers have all the things that we didn’t have during our time,” he said, referring to improved facilities, coaching and monetary rewards.
Hartono, who won the world championship in 1980 and the prestigious All England championships seven consecutive times from 1968 to 1974, said in the past players were not allowed to return to the same tournament the next year if they lost.

Indonesia Seeks Free Trade Barriers for Its CPO Exports to EU

Indonesia, the world largest crude palm oil producer, has formed a special team to identify various kinds of trade barriers that hamper its commodity exports, particularly CPO, to the European Union (EU).
"We hope we can finish soon the identification of the trade barriers and overcome them so that our exports to Europe would not face constraints. The team has begun working now," Trade Minister MS Hidayat said after attending an ASEAN-EU Business Summit at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) on Thursday.
With the results of the verifications on the trade standards imposed by countries grouped in the European Union (EU), industry at home is expected to adjust its products so that Indonesia’s exports to the European Community would be smooth. Yet, Indonesia also hopes that the European Union would also make adjustments as the trade standards it is imposing on Indonesian products are too high.
"They set a relatively high standard. They do not want to accept CPO which is produced from plantation on peat land. I think it is an old issue but could be overcome because we do not export CPO produced from plantation on peat land areas," the minister said.

ASEAN Has Good Single Currency Prospect

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has a good prospect for a single currency like the euro by the European Union, as the regional association’s trade has been accumulating hundreds of millions of US dollars each year.
Diponegoro University economist Nugroho SBM said in Semarang Friday that ASEAN remains an important geopolitical and economic power in Asia, and even in the world, and therefore a single currency will strengthen it against pressure from the US dollar for instance.
With ASEAN having a single currency, he said, the strong effect of the US dollar in that part of the world would be sterilized and thus strengthening the monetary position of the ASEAN countries.
"It would take a very long time. The European Union alone needed 60 years before agreeing to use the euro as a single currency, bit it would be better to discuss the foundation of an ASEAN single currency from now on," he said.

Ani Yudhoyono Calls for Fight against Human Trafficking

Opening the ASEAN Confederation of Women’s Organizations (ACWO) at the State Palace here on Friday, First Lady Ani Yudhoyono called for the eradication of woman and child trafficking.
"The women of ASEAN countries have to do something about human trafficking," the first lady said, adding that Southeast Asia has extensive area and adjacent to each other to allow very intensive interstate contacts.
Ani said there was still possible emergence of a number of crimes, especially human trafficking in the border regions if nothing was done about it. Therefore she called on the women grouped in ACWO to seriously support the human trafficking eradication movement in ASEAN region.
Ani’s call makes perfect sense because ACWO is an official organization with human trafficking eradication on top of its priority, in addition to environmental preservation and women’s economic empowerment. The policy of ACWO is also in line with the commitment of ASEAN leaders to combat human trafficking, especially on women and children.

Maluku Supports Indonesia's Tuna Exports to US

Having been declared as a national fish barn, Maluku province is now making every effort to support Indonesia’s tuna fish exports to the United states.
The government has declared Maluku as national fish barn because the area has a big fishery potential of 1.64 million tons per year for the prosperity of the province and the nation. Maluku has 600,000 sq km of sea with extensive marine resources for the local people’s prosperity, and to support economic growth.
No wonder President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the apex of Sail Banda marine event in Ambon in August last year declared the province as the country’s fish barn for the abundant fishes in its waters. Interestingly, Ambon Mayor Jopi Papilaja said in Ambon early this week that a South Korean company, Japtora, would help manage the Eri fish landing port in the city to support tuna export to the United States.
Papilaja said he had made a coordination with local marine and fisheries office chief Pieter Saimima after the South Korean company offered a number of facility improvements to support the tuna export activity.

SBY: Indonesia to be One of World's 10 Largest Economies

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed optimism that Indonesia will eventually become one of the world’s ten largest economies.
"Indonesia is now the world’s 17th largest economy. But our aim is to be in the top 10. And why wouldn’t we have such optimism, when even the IMF is predicting that Indonesia’s economy will be larger than Australia’s within less than a decade," the head of state said in his opening speech at the ASEAN-European Union (EU) Summit here Thursday.
Indonesia’s economy grew by 4.5 percent in 2008, and then 6.1 percent in 2010, while the rest of the world continues to grapple with the repercussions of the global financial crisis, he said.
"This year, we expect to grow by around 6.3 percent. And there are even predictions that growth could reach more than 7 percent by 2014," he added.

SBY to Send FM to Prepare Myanmar's Readiness

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa to visit Myanmar to find out about that country’s preparedness to take up the ASEAN chairmanship in 2014 as it has requested.
Marty told a press conference about the result of Myanmarese President Thein Sein’s state visit to Indonesia at the Presidential office in Jakarta Thursday that the President basically noted Myanmar’s request for the ASEAN chairmanship in 2014. However, he said, the Myanmarese proposal needs to be discussed jointly by the other ASEAN heads of state.
"However, the President has especially instructed the foreign minister to pay a visit to Myanmar to contact the Myanmarese government for more detailed information on Myanmar’s readiness for the ASEAN chairmanship in 2014," Marty said.
Nevertheless Marty did not reveal the date of the visit. Myanmar has recently expressed its wish to chair ASEAN in 2014 as its turn to hold the ASEAN chairmanship in 2005 had been given to Malaysia as Myanmar was considered to be unprepared then.

What Indonesia Should Do about Poverty as ASEAN Chairman

Indonesia in its 2011 ASEAN chairmanship should not neglect issues of poverty, an observer said.
"Poverty is an urgent problem in ASEAN, but often also considered a marginal issue. Everybody seems to give up when dealing with this," Dr. Adriana Elisabeth, head of International Political Development Division of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said here Thursday.
There are few agreements on how to cope and eradicate poverty in the ASEAN region, instead the members put forth the Millennium Development Goals of each ASEAN country, she said. Meanwhile, Ratna Shofi Inayanti, M.BA., a political observer of LIPI said ASEAN should build a community to protect its civilians from poverty and encourage people to be independent and autonomous.
"ASEAN should guaranty the development of autonomous and independent people. In view of this, poverty could be caused by the asymmetrical relationship between the country, the market (business enterprises) and the society," she said. According to her, ASEAN should focus on development. Therefore it was important for development in prioritizing poverty eradication in ASEAN.

Indonesia's Potential to Attract 14 Million Tourists

The Indonesian Tourism Industries Association (GIPI) said Indonesia has the potential to attract 14 million tourists in 2015.
"After studying the strategic plan for development of Indonesian tourism we have come to the conclusion that it is not impossible for Indonesia to draw 14 million foreign tourists in 2015," GIPI Chairman Didien Djunaedi said here on Thursday.
However, to tap the tourism potentials the government must pay more attention to the tourism sector, he said. "There must be a policy that facilitates the development of the tourism sector," he said.
The most important thing was that the government must give incentives to business players engaged in the tourism industry without burdening them with high taxes, he said. Security and infrastructure were also key to the success of luring more tourists.

Total Workforce in Indonesia Reaches 119.4 Million

The total workforce in Indonesia in February reached 119.4 million or up by around 2.9 million from 116.5 million in August 2010, according to the National Statistics Agency (BPS).
"The number is up by 3.4 million from 116 million in February 2010," BPS chief Rusman Heriawan said here on Thursday. He said the working population in Indonesia in February 2011 reached 111.3 million or rose by around 3.1 million compared to 108.2 million in August 2010.
"The number is up 3.9 million from 107.4 million in February 2010," he said. Rusman meanwhile said the number of unemployed in the country reached 8.12 million, down by 470,000 from 8.59 million in February 2010.
"The rate of open unemployment in February 2011 reached 6.8 percent of the total workforce, down from 7.14 percent in August 2010 and 7.41 percent in February 2010," he said.

BMW Indonesia Sees Bright Future for Premium-Car Sales

PT BMW Indonesia, a unit of Germany's BMW, is expecting a rosy outlook for premium-car sales in Indonesia due to consumers' increasing purchasing power, the company's chief executive said Thursday.
“All the ingredients for success are here: a political, democratic system, people feel secure, very good gross domestic product growth, rising middle class. Our sales are benefiting from that, and a closer collaboration with EU is a good thing for the whole market,“ Ramesh Divyanathan told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of the first EU-Asean business meeting.
An academic paper prepared for the meeting between companies based in the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations noted that Indonesia's automotive sector provides “plenty of room to grow“ compared to Malaysia's “relatively saturated market.“

Making Waves down under

Underwater photographer Mark Tipple's latest work gives a turtle's eye view of swimmers as they roll in the wake of 15ft high waves. Brave Mark, 29, travels around Australia diving under powerful waves.
Using his underwater camera he captures the 'battle' between man and the awesome power of the ocean. His series of shots show swimmers frozen in time as they dive below the surf to avoid being pounded. These never-before-seen pictures from across the Australian summer form his series, The Underwater Project.
'I'm constantly in awe of the different moods the ocean goes through on an annual cycle,' said Mark, from Sydney. 'I'm trying to capture those moods through people underwater.
'The latest pictures in this series were mainly shot around the Sydney area. During summer the beaches are pretty crowded all day, everyday, so it was fun to shoot just down the road from my house.
'I got caught a few times, unprepared for the sheer size of the ocean swells, but it made for some interesting photos.' Striving for dramatic shots, Mark has to hold his breath for up to a minute as he waits for the perfect moment.