SEMINYAK Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in self-imposed exile from his homeland, held a series of meetings during a three-day stay in Bali this week, The Bali Times can reveal. The billionaire telecoms businessman, whose sister Yingluck became Thailand’s prime minister in July, arrived in Bali by private jet on Monday and departed late [...]

By Natalia Simanovsky The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is wearing thin the patience of the international community. As we creep closer to the date when the majority of UN member states officially lend their support to the Palestinian bid for statehood, Israel will find itself in a far tougher, more isolated position than it has since its [...]

By Arthur L. Smith On September 18, 2011, Northwood Church in Keller, Texas hosted an event where 1,000 Christians and 1,000 Muslims came together to embark on societal change. “The only hope we have to tone down our fear of Muslims and the only thing Jesus commands us to do is love – it’s done [...]

By Dr Robert Goldman Longevity News and Review provides readers with the latest information in breakthroughs pertaining to the extension of the healthy human lifespan. These news summaries are compiled by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M; www.worldhealth.net), a non-profit medical society composed of 24,000 physician and scientist members from 110 nations, united in [...]

World leaders held a landmark health summit this week that launched an acrimonious debate on the cost and responsibility for diseases killing tens of millions each year. More than 36 million people a year die from cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that were the topic of the summit at the UN [...]

NUSA PENIDA At least 11 people drowned after a boat carrying passengers overturned off Nusa Penida in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The boat, a 20-metre fishing boat called Sri Rejeki, was carrying an estimated 36 people at the time. The group were Nusa Penida residents who had travelled to neighbouring Nusa Lembongan on [...]

KLUNGKUNG A long-running land dispute between villagers in Klungkung claimed its first life on Saturday, when a 52-year-old man was apparently killed by a stray police bullet during violent clashes. The conflict over access and usage of a temple complex and a graveyard has led to a number of confrontations between residents of Kemoning and [...]

TUBAN The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has said the taxi monopoly at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport may need to be restructured. Speaking on Monday the commission’s vice-chair, Sukarmi, said the taxi operation from the airport based its prepaid fares on zoning rather than metres. The taxi monopoly at the airport was run by [...]

No system of government is perfect, but democracy is closest to our essential human nature. It is also the only stable foundation upon which a just and free global political structure can be built. So it is in all our interests that those of us who already enjoy democracy should actively support everybody’s right to [...]

By Emma Charlton When the young Philip Roth warned his parents to brace for a media assault with the release of Portnoy’s Complaint in 1969, his mother broke down in tears: she thought he was suffering from delusions of grandeur. Four decades after the novel shot him to stardom, the American literary giant talks candidly [...]

By Vyt Karazija Back in our home country, our lifestyles can feel comfortable and secure, simply because we know the rules of social intercourse – whether we choose to adhere to them or not. Bali feels exotic to us, not just because of the climate, the scenery and the look of the people, but because [...]

By Jonathan Cainer We start this week in the Dark of the Moon. Traditionally, the time when you can’t see a Moon in the sky at night is a mystical, magical phase. Clairvoyants get more visions. Psychics see more truths. Those who seek answers from the spirit world seem to get more insight. And deep [...]