Ida Bagus Mahawijaya, a part-time, unofficial priest and educator dabbled in the murky world of Balinese black magic before leaving the dangerous sphere and focusing on positive aspects of Hinduism. Read entire article… »

Qatar Airways officially launches the Middle Eastern carrier’s new service to Bali, at a ceremony at Ngurah Rai International Airport on Wednesday

By William J. Furney Managing Editor The Bali Times SEMINYAK ~ Qatar Airways flew into Bali on its inaugural flight on Wednesday, the first Middle Eastern airline to open a route to the island, while the world’s second-biggest retailer is about to unveil its first hypermarket here, describing the economy as “promising.” Unemployment Seen Dropping [...]

JAKARTA ~ Garuda Indonesia has bought 35 new jets from Boeing that will start arriving from 2009, the flag carrier’s spokesman Pujobroto said. “This involves a package of 25 Boeing 737-800 Next Generation and 10 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners,” Broto said on Tuesday. A Garuda jet crash-landed on March 7 in the central Java city of [...]

LONDON ~ London Heathrow Airport’s new Terminal 5 will make the airport the world’s greatest air hub, chief executive Tony Douglas claimed on Tuesday, exactly a year before the opening. The terminal, which cost £4.3 billion (US$8.4 billion), will be a new home for carrier British Airways and serve 30 million passengers a year. Heathrow, [...]

By Rian Dewanto The Bali Times DENPASAR ~ Six tsunami-warning towers have been installed at key locations in Bali, with sirens ready to blare out in the event of large waves forming in the ocean, an official said. The towers (as pictured, on Kuta Beach) have been installed in Seminyak, Kuta, Kedonganan, Sanur, Tanjung Benoa [...]

GENEVA ~ International air travel continued to expand in February, growing by 6.8 percent compared to the same month last year, the top airline industry association said on Wednesday. “Passenger demand continues to exceed expectations,” Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association, said in a statement. Global international passenger growth a month [...]

Women who take aspirin in moderate doses have a 25-percent lower risk of dying than women who never take it, a US medical study reported. The research, conducted over 24 years on 79,439 women, found that women who took between one and 14 aspirin per week had a 38-percent lower risk of dying from heart [...]

JAKARTA ~ The government has agreed to lift its ban on sharing bird flu samples with the World Health Organisation (WHO) after reaching an agreement in a long-running row over poor countries’ access to vaccines. Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Indonesia would start sending samples “immediately” to WHO laboratories after a deal was reached [...]

The central government’s apparent desire to change from brutal firing squad to lethal injection for death row inmates is not good enough; it should get rid of the medieval death penalty altogether, and set a new precedent among our neighboring nations here in Southeast Asia. Even in execution-happy America, increasing numbers of states are calling [...]

Phillip Flinchum, 59, is a US Army retiree now living in Ubud What’s the greatest lesson life has taught you? To love and care for other people. Read entire article… »

By William J. Furney The Bali Times Jl. SUNSET ROAD, Kuta ~ The opening of a multimillion-dollar store by French retail giant Carrefour in Bali has been delayed as the company awaits permits from the local government, but a corporate official at the firm’s headquarters in Jakarta says the hypermarket’s arrival here will alter and [...]