0 Obama to face Palestinian dismay in West Bank trip

US President Barack Obama will travel to the West Bank Thursday to meet Palestinian leaders dismayed by his failure to make good on soaring expectations that he could help deliver Middle East peace. Obama was to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at 0900 GMT and then Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, on the second day of his visit to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan, dominated by the growing regional challenges of Iran and Syria. 

The president, on the first foreign trip of his second term, says he has came to the Holy Land simply to listen to leaders on both sides of the peace talks, which have been frozen for two-and-a-half years. He said he decided against coming armed with a comprehensive peace plan that might not be fit for current political conditions. "Ultimately, this is a really hard problem," Obama said during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. 

"It's been lingering for over six decades. And the parties involved have, you know, some profound interests that you can't spin, you can't smooth over. And it is a hard slog to work through all of these issues." Obama's new approach was a stark contrast to early in his first term, when he declared that Israeli settlement building that ultimately scuppered his peace efforts was illegitimate and promised to dedicate himself to peace. He admitted Wednesday that he had perhaps made mistakes, but argued that he was not the only US leader to have come a cropper on the issue. 

"I hope I'm a better president now than when I first came into office," Obama said. "I'm absolutely sure that there are a host of things that I could have done that would have been more deft and, you know, would have created better optics." Palestinian peace negotiator Nabil Shaath Wednesday published an op-ed message to Obama in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, urging him to prove his commitment to a two-state solution by turning pledges into deeds. "We could have saved lives and political capital if President Obama had shown the determination to create the right environment for meaningful decisions leading to a two-state solution," he wrote. 

"Now, rather than calling for the resumption of a meaningless 'peace process,' we Palestinians expect real action on the ground." Shaath added that Obama had disappointed Palestinians who once warmed to his calls for an end to settlement building. "President Obama appeared to give up on his goal," he said. Separately Wednesday, Palestinian militants pitched a protest camp on the site of a contested Jewish settlement, demanding an end to Obama's "bias and support for Israel." Israel's plan to build in a strip of West Bank land outside Jerusalem called E1 has sparked a major international backlash, with experts saying it could wipe out hopes for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. 

Netanyahu however on Wednesday re-committed to the notion of a two state solution for the first time since he was re-elected in January, albeit in a weaker political position. "So let me be clear: Israel remains fully committed to peace and to the solution of two states for two peoples," he said as he stood with Obama. The Palestinians are hoping Obama will help broker the release of more than 1,000 prisoners held by Israel and also free up $700 million in blocked US aid. At the news conference on Wednesday, Obama, who met Netanyahu for two hours and then had dinner with the Israeli leader, accepted the Jewish state would not cede its right to confront Iran's nuclear threat to the United States. 

Tension and apparent mistrust that stained some previous encounters between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to have dissolved when the leaders emerged from two hours of talks. "Israel is differently situated than the United States, and I would not expect that the prime minister would make a decision about his country's security and defer that to any other country." Washington has worried that Netanyahu's hawkish rhetoric on Iran and warnings it could get most of the way to a nuclear bomb within months -- a shorter timeline than Washington's -- has sparked fears of an Israeli strike. 

But Obama came to Israel apparently determined to remove all doubts about his commitment to Israel which have harmed his reputation here, and proven a thorny political issue at home. He will return from the West Bank to redouble his Israeli charm offensive by giving a speech to hundreds of young people in a Jerusalem conference center. Obama also issued a stark warning to Syria about using chemical weapons against its civilians, saying it would be a "game-changer that would invite international action.

AFP
source : the jakarta globe

0 New School Curriculum 'Vulnerable to Corruption': Education Coalition

The Coalition to Reject the 2013 Education Curriculum is planning to report to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) its findings on potential corruption practices linked to the new school curriculum, an activist said on Thursday. The coalition is composed of members of the Indonesia Corruption Watch, the Indonesia Teachers’ Union and several education observers. Febri Hendri, the ICW coordinator for public service monitoring, was quoted by the Tempo Interaktif online news portal as saying that the coalition believed the new curriculum provided too many opportunities for corruption. 

“The budget is vulnerable to corruption, especially in the provision of textbooks,” Febri told Tempo. However, he declined to provide more details, saying that he preferred to meet with the KPK leadership. ICW has reported that from 2004 to 2011, there were at least six corruption cases linked to the procurement of books, totaling state losses of Rp 54.9 billion ($5.64 million). Febri said that the coalition was awaiting a response from the KPK on when members could meet with the leaders of the antigraft body. 

The new education curriculum is expected to be implemented in the 2013-2014 school year, which begins in July. It has been met with mounting opposition from many in the education sector, who said that the new curriculum was putting too much emphasis on religious and moral education and not enough focus on science and English. The government has requested Rp 2.49 trillion to develop and implement the national school curriculum, which experts say could be used to address the discrepancy in the numbers of quality teachers between major cities and remote areas of the country. 

Textbook provision gets an allotment of Rp 1.2 trillion, while another Rp 1.09 trillion is earmarked for teacher training. The Coalition to Reject the 2013 Education Curriculum earlier this month delivered a petition with more than 1,500 signatures to the Education Ministry, rejecting Indonesia’s new school curriculum which will see science and social studies dropped as core subjects in July. The ICW, parents, teachers and practitioners started the petition on Dec. 5 after they failed to reach an agreement with ministry officials following a series of talks.

The new curriculum sparked controversy and polarized the nation when it was revealed in December, with proponents of the plan arguing that their children had long felt overburdened by the curriculum. But opponents of the plan argued that it would make Indonesians less competitive in the globalized market and discriminate against those who could not afford to send their children to private English and science tuition centers.

source : the jakarta globe

0 Army Chief, Trade Minister, First Lady All in Democrat Chair Rumor Mill

General Pramono Edhie Wibowo and Gita Wirjawan have been mentioned as two strong candidates to replace Anas Urbaningrum as chairman of the Democratic Party. But both Pramono, the Army chief of staff and brother-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and Gita, the trade minister, have stated they have no interest in seeking the position. Pramono, who retires in May, said he wanted to spend more time with his family because as chief of staff he hardly ever saw them due to frequent trips he had to make. 

“Until now, I just want to focus on taking care of [my] family because I have often had to leave them behind for work,” Pramono said. Previously, Democratic Party politician Ruhut Sitompul said Pramono would make an ideal chairman for the party following Anas’s resignation after he was named a suspect in the Hambalang sports center graft case. Gita, whose name had also often been mentioned as a candidate to replace Anas, said he seeking the chairmanship was not an option. 

“I’m not interested in becoming [the chairman],” Gita said, after meeting lawmakers at the parliament building on Wednesday. “I’m not interested at all,” he reiterated. Gita said speculation linking him to the post was merely gossip. “There’s nothing more important than carrying on my state duty as the trade minister,” Gita said. Meanwhile, first lady Ani Yudhoyono remained a popular choice among members of the party to run for chairwoman despite reports that her husband would not allow her to take the position. 

Democratic Party faction head at the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), Jafar Hafsah, said party members believed Ani would accept a nomination. Jafar said Ani’s experience as the party’s deputy chairwoman during its founding made her a prime candidate for the role. The election will be conducted at the end of this month.

source : the jakarta globe

0 Great white sharks eat far more than believed

Great white sharks, the world's largest predatory fish, eat three to four times more food than previously thought, an Australian study shows. US research from the 1980s estimated a 30 kilogram (66 lbs) meal of mammal blubber could sustain a one-tonne shark for more than six weeks. That perpetuated assumptions that large sharks could survive long periods without eating. However, a University of Tasmania-led study published this week in Scientific Reports on the nature.com website found that 30 kilos was only enough for 12-15 days. 

Researchers tagged a dozen great white sharks at Neptune Islands off South Australia and calculated their metabolic rate derived from swimming speeds. They worked out how much energy the sharks burned and how much food they required. Senior research scientist Jayson Semmens, lead author on the study, said the amount of energy required by great white sharks was equivalent to eating a seal pup every three days. "They (US researchers) picked a shark that probably wasn't working very hard at the time when they did it," Semmens told ABC television. 

"At the time it was a really novel study. They did some metabolic work similar to us but on one shark. "The white sharks at a seal colony where we worked, they're working pretty hard, ... they're coming up to some pretty high speeds to catch the seals. "Their metabolic rate or the engine that runs them is much faster than what we had assumed. "These animals are probably going to be feeding you know every few days, rather than multiple weeks." The research also sought to improve understanding of how sharks fit into the ocean ecosystem. "We don't have a good handle on the population sizes of white sharks. 

We know that sharks in general are under pressure around the world from overfishing," he said. "They're quite vulnerable because of their life history, they're long-lived, they reproduce late in their life and they produce a small number of offspring." Semmens said the knock-on effects of removing white sharks from the ocean were thus far more important than realised. "They're keeping under control a lot more animals than we thought," he said. The apex marine predators, which grow up to five metres (yards) long and weigh an average 1,300 kilos, are protected and found around the globe.

AFP
source : the jakarta globe

0 City Transportation Council Demands Uniform Salary for TransJakarta Drivers

The Jakarta City Transportation Council (DTKJ) is demanding that all TransJakarta bus drivers be paid a uniform salary of Rp 7.7 million ($791) per month, regardless of the corridors they serve. The TransJakarta operator subcontracts the bus service to several private operators who each serve a section of the city’s 12 corridors. DTKJ chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan said on Thursday that the difference in pay between the private operators of the public bus network could prompt jealousy among drivers and would not be conducive to good performance. 

“I think that a uniform wage of Rp 7.7 million for TransJakarta drivers is quite adequate. The risks faced by these drivers are quite high and operators such as Damri and Bianglala do understand this situation,” Azas said, referring to two of the bus companies who were already paying their drivers the sum. He said that the council believed uniform pay would encourage better performance from the drivers. “We fully support that operators should adjust the wages of these drivers. We believe that with such an adequate pay, the drivers would work their best,” he said. 

Maringan Pangaribuan, a member of the Jakarta Legislative Council, also backed the uniform salary level for the bus drivers. “Operators who have not yet adjusted their wages to the Rp 7.7 million level should launch moves to make their management more efficient. The pay for drivers should be uniform, there should be no gap,” Maringan said. None of the officials said how much the other operators paid their drivers. But TransJakarta Management Unit (BLU TransJakarta) chief Muhammad Akbar said that since 2011, the company stipulates in contracts with drivers a pay that is at least 3.5 times the minimum wage for Jakarta. Akbar said that 3.5 times the minimum wage came to Rp 7.7 million.

source : the jakarta globe