DENPASAR Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika called for calm after reports that Balinese migrant communities had been the victims of communal violence in Sumatra, and stressed that rumours of groups of activists departing for Sumatra from Bali to protect their compatriots were untrue. Violence erupted in Sidomulyo in South Lampung in the far south [...]

PADANG A civil servant who declared himself an atheist on Facebook was arrested and is now facing jail for blasphemy after being attacked by a mob. Alexander An, 30, who wrote “God doesn’t exist” on his Facebook page, was beaten by a mob of dozens last Wednesday in his hometown in Pulau Punjung, West Sumatra [...]

DENPASAR Organisers of the third Bali Documentary Film Festival, due to be held later this year, are hoping that the island can become a hub for film making in Indonesia. The theme for the 2012 festival will be Women, Children and the Spirit of Unity in Diversity. Speaking this week, Agung Bawantara, a member of [...]

DENPASAR Twenty-six people from Bali were among the crewmembers of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground in Mediterranean last Friday, but all are believed to have survived. A total of 170 Indonesian citizens were known to have been working on the ship, but according to Indonesian consular staff in Italy none are believed [...]

JAKARTA Indonesia’s foreign direct investment hit a record US$20 billion last year, with Singapore, Japan and the United States among the top investors, the trade minister said. Gita Wirjawan said the figure was “a new historic level” and an 18.4-percent hike over 2010 as foreign money flowed into the country’s fast-growing economy. The record figure [...]

DENPASAR Five impoverished villages have been selected for a pilot project in the Bali government’s poverty-eradication programme. The villages selected are Pejarakan and Lokapaksa in Buleleng, Bebandem in Karangasem, Pejukutan in Klungkung, and Songan B in Bangli. Each will receive investments and assistance worth Rp1 billion (US$110,000). “The villages were selected for their high poverty [...]

DENPASAR Bali’s Police and prosecutors were heavily criticised this week after a 15-year-old boy stood trial in Denpasar for stealing Rp1,000 (11 US cents). The affair follows other recent incidents regarded by many as evidence of police heavy-handedness in trivial cases, including that of another teen who stood trial in Sulawesi for stealing a pair [...]

DENPASAR Bali’s Health Department has reiterated demands for clarification and evidence from the Australian authorities over claims that a tourist from West Australia contracted HIV after getting a tattoo in Bali. The claims emerged after Australian broadcaster ABC News reported that the West Australian Health Department was stating that a patient had contracted HIV after [...]

DENPASAR Officials fear that rabies may have reached Nusa Penida, one of the few parts of Bali to remain free of the disease, after a local woman died of the disease last week. Head of rabies management at Sanglah Hospital Dr Ken Wirasandhi said that two patients from Klungkung regency had died of suspected rabies [...]

SEMINYAK Seminyak-based hotel group C151 has been awarded a “Best Favourite Hotel of the Year” award, at a ceremony in Jakarta. The honour was bestowed by the International Achievement Foundation and Achievement Center Indonesia as part of its Indonesian Quality Service Excellence Tourism Awards and included a citation for “service excellence.” The government-backed awards recognise [...]

DENPASAR Bali still has many developmental challenges despite recent progress, Governor I Made Mangku Pastika said during his end-of-year address. “We still have many unresolved problems,” he said. According to the governor, poverty remains a key issue in many areas despite Bali’s rapid economic growth. “There are 10,000 families who are living in uninhabitable houses [...]

KEROBOKAN The head of Kerobokan Prison has said that Schapelle Corby may not receive further remissions on her 20-year sentence, after the Australian drug smuggler refused to join a special Christmas mass for inmates. Corby had been among 53 Christian inmates put forward for remissions to mark Christmas. Prison officials had recommended a six-week cut [...]