A baby weighing 5.7 kg (12√ pounds) was born at the
Denpasar Wanghaya Hospital on Tuesday (13/6) by cesarean section.
The mother Lasiem (36) said she knew that the baby was big
from the fourth month, but had no idea that the baby would
be this big. The “jumbo” baby is the third of
three girls, the previous two babies being of normal size
at birth. Doctors suspected that the mother or the baby may
be suffering from diabetes which is often the case with very
large babies; however glucose tests performed on
both mother and baby have been normal. (June 14th 2006, Bali
Post)
Dengue Fever Claims another Life
Kadek Ariasih, a 10 year old girl from the Buana Kubu in Denpasar,
has become the second child to fall victim to Dengue Hemorrhagic
Fever in the month of June. The girl was admitted to the Sanglah
Hospital on Monday (12/6), however young Kadek lost her battle
against the fatal disease on Tuesday (13/6). According to
hospital statistics the figures for admissions of dengue cases
for June are less than for May and April. (June 14th 2006,
Bali Post)
World Record Swimmer Monte Sets a New World Record Crossing
Bali Strait
World record ocean swimmer Monte Monfore set a new world best
on behalf of Walk the World with a dramatic early morning
crossing of the treacherous 3-kilometer Bali Strait in the
pre-dawn darkness. A florescent light stick attached to his
swimsuit enabled support boats and camera crew to keep sight
of the intrepid athlete in the black ocean water as he swam
to fight child hunger. Refusing his 10-15 second drink break
at the halfway mark the native Californian living in Bali
broke the previous world record by a mere eight seconds. “Last
week I received a call from Philip Smucker of the United Nations.
He informed me Paul Risley of the World Food Program was interested
in my swimming. Paul suggested I contact Barry Came (WFP Jakarta)
about doing a swim for Walk the World. Barry and TNTExpress
Media and Communications Director Bayu Irawan enthusiastically
approved the idea. I cancelled a 2-week trip planned for the
next day and organized a swim. I finished my swim from Bali
to Java at sunrise to symbolize the hope and optimism that
child hunger can be ended by 2015. I’m very happy to
have participated in Walk the World. I love the ocean and
love swimming. I feel blessed being able to do something I
enjoy so much while contributing to something positive and
worthwhile at the same time. Thank you very much to TNT Express,
the UN, WFP, and team@fighthunger.org for their assistance
and support.” Monte Monfore (June 16th 2006, fight
for hunger.org)
Indonesian Flood Toll Passes 200
Four days of heavy rains in Indonesia have triggered deadly
floods and landslides, killing 200 people while another
130 are still missing. Most of those killed were in the Sinjai
district of the southern province of Sulawesi, the disaster
task force in Sulawesi said Thursday. More than 100 homes
have been destroyed or severely damaged in the central Indonesian
province. In some areas, the floodwaters are more than six
feet (1.8 meters) deep, the Social Affairs Ministry said Wednesday.
The ministry has sent medicine, blankets and other relief
supplies to the area, and local officials have organized search-and-rescue
teams to find the missing. While heavy rains and landslides
are common in the tropical country, one Indonesian official
has said deforestation has made it easier for hillsides to
saturate with rain and collapse. (June 22nd 2006, AP)
Indonesian Navy Rescues 73 From Ferry
Indonesia’s navy has pulled 73 survivors from choppy
seas off Sumatra Island after a ferry sank in a storm, but
47 people were still missing, a navy official said. The Sinar
Mulia Indah ferry left Sibolga port late Wednesday, a senior
rescue official said. “Up until now, 73 people have
been rescued,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jaka Santoso,
chief of the Sibolga naval base. Santoso added three Americans
were on the boat’s manifest, but could not confirm whether
the foreigners were among the survivors. “Those who
have been rescued have not reached shore yet,” he said,
adding the navy was leading the search operation. Sibolga-based
surfing operator Mark Flint told AAP by email he understood
there were no foreign nationals on board the ferry. Mr. Flint
said the ferry had been hit by two tropical storms, the second
of which sunk it in the shallow reef area between Mansalar
Island, 10 nautical miles from Sibolga, and the passage to
Nias Island. He said the captain & 80 passengers had arrived
safe in Sibolga, and 30 passengers were still missing.But
he said locals had told him there were no foreign nationals
on the vessel. Ferries are a popular means of transport between
the 17,000 islands of Indonesia, where sea connections are
cheaper and more available than air routes. But safety standards
are not strictly enforced and many ferries are overcrowded.
(June 23rd 2006, AEST)
Aussie Women Support Rubbish Tip Families
Two Australian women, Lia and Carol Evens, of the Carolia
Charity Organization gave out donation packages to 117 families
that make their living on the garbage tip of Suwung off of
the Ngurah Rai Bypass. They divided up the packages on Wednesday
(21/6), each package containing 10 kg of rice and several
items of clothing. Carol and Lia have
vowed to return to the Island every 6 months to assist underprivileged
families and support orphanages in the Kareng Asem region.
(June 22nd 2006, Denpost)
6 Year old Child Sodomized by 13 Year old Boy
A 6 year old child was sodomized by a 13 year old boy in broad
daylight on a beach in North Bali on Wednesday (21/6). The
youngster complained to his mother that evening of pain around
his anus. When his mother questioned the cause the child told
the mother of the event that had taken place earlier that
day. According to a local police spokesperson, the older boy
had been imitating actions that he had seen in a pornographic
film. He said that children in the area were often exposed
to pornographic material and called for tighter controls on
distribution of pornographic material. (June 24th 2006, Bali
Post)
Fresh Violence Breaks Out in Dili
Fresh violence has erupted in Dili, only a day after the resignation
of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. Alkatiri resigned on Monday
(26/6), saying he was doing so to ensure peace in the strife-torn
nation. The broadcast of a news item on Tuesday, showing Alkatiri
addressing a large group of supporters at Hera, 10km east
of Dili, sparked shooting in various parts of the city and
caused general panic. The house of Jacob Fernandes, Fretilin’s
deputy parliamentary speaker, was burnt in the centre of town
soon after the broadcast, and shots were reported in several
suburbs of the capital. Prosecutors say they will “interrogate”
Alkatiri over allegations he set up and armed a secret hit
squad to silence his political
opponents. Alkatiri has denied the allegations. Australian
peacekeepers had earlier set up road blocks at key entrances
to the city after crowds opposed to Alkatiri flooded into
the streets of Dili after a contingent of supporters from
his Fretilin party arrived in the capital.The peacekeepers
were in constant movement through the streets after the violence
erupted. (June 27th 2006, AEST)
Thousands Attend Mass Prayer with Firebrand Indonesian Cleric
Thousands of Indonesian Muslims have attended a mass prayer
along with a firebrand cleric who served time over the 2002
Bali bombings. Abu Bakar Bashir, freed from
jail on June 14 after serving nearly 26 months in prison for
his role in the bombings, attended the event organized by
the Indonesian Mujahedin Council (MMI), which he chairs. It
was focused on the victims of the devastating May 27 earthquake
in Yogyakarta, where the organization is headquartered, and
its surroundings. “Thousands attended the mass prayers.
They could not even fit in our large front yard and had to
pray from the surrounding areas,” MMI spokesman Fauzan
Al-Ansori said Sunday. Bashir gave a brief sermon after the
prayers, Al-Ansori said, and the organization distributed
aid for victims of the quake which killed some 5,800 people
in Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces. The MMI, an umbrella
organization that fights for sharia Islamic law, had won a
contract with the UN’s World Food Program to distribute
aid in the wake of the quake, but it was cancelled when the
UN body realized Bashir was its chairman. (June 25th 2006,
AFP)
51st Human Bird Flu Case Confirmed In Indonesia
Indonesia’s Health Ministry has confirmed that a 13-year-old
boy is the country’s 51st human case of H5N1 bird flu
infection. The boy is from South Jakarta, he developed bird
flu like symptoms on June 9 after helping out in the slaughtering
of chickens. He went to hospital on June 13 and died the following
day. Authorities say his grandfather, who had been slaughtering
chickens with him, is free of bird flu symptoms. People in
the area are being monitored for signs of infection. Of the
51 humans who have become infected with H5N1 in Indonesia
so far, 39 have died. A consultation meeting is taking place
in Jakarta at the moment between WHO, FAO and Indonesian ministries.
The meeting ends on June 23. The aim of the meeting, which
was held at the request of Indonesian authorities, aims to
assess the bird flu situation in poultry and humans. More
than 40 experts are attending, some from Indonesia and others
from various parts of the world - they hope to offer advice
on strategies for reducing the number of human cases in the
country. The experts will look at epidemiological and virological
data collected during an investigation of a cluster of seven
infected family members from Kubu Simbelang village of North
Sumatra in May. Now, three weeks since the last case, no more
infections have been identified in the area. Several viruses
were isolated from the seven confirmed cases in the cluster.
Experts from a WHO laboratory, who have fully sequenced the
viruses, will present their findings during this consultation
meeting. (June 21st 2006, PDT)
Moderate Quake Rocks Indonesia’s Nias Island
A moderate earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale rocked
Indonesia’s disaster-scarred Nias island on Wednesday
but there were no reports of damage or casualties,
meteorologists said. The under-sea quake struck at 3:53 pm
(0853 GMT) with a depth of 33 kilometres centred 132 kilometres
northwest of the main town Gunung Sitoli, said Albertus Simanulang
of the meteorology agency in Medan, the capital of neighbouring
North Sumatra province. He said there were no reports of damage
or casualties. The United States Geological Survey put the
magnitude of the quake at 5.1. A Gunung Sitoli resident, Asniatri,
said there was no panic. “We felt the tremor but it
was not big,” she told AFP. Nias was one of the areas
hit by the massive 2004 earthquake and subsequent
tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people around the Indian
Ocean, including 168,000 people in the Indonesian province
of Aceh. Three months later, Nias was struck by an 8.7-magnitude
quake, which killed 850 people, injured 6,000 and left tens
of thousands homeless. (June 21st 2006, AFP)
