Strong quake hits Indonesia

Sapa-AFP
JAKARTA - A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Kepulauan Barat Daya region in Indonesia on Friday, according to the US Geological Survey. The quake was centred some 316 kilometres (196 miles) off Saumlaki in the Tanimbar Islands at a depth of 141 kilometres under the sea, a USGS statement said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage and no tsunami warning was issued. The Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

A 7.7-magnitude earthquake in July 2006 off the south coast of the main island of Java killed more than 600 people. A series of dozens of powerful tremors hit Indonesia following 7.6 and 7.5 magnitude quakes that struck off the West Papua provincial capital Manokwari earlier this month.

Around 14,000 people flooded into camps on high ground in the aftermath of those quakes fearing deadly waves after authorities issued and then withdrew a tsunami alert.

The tremors re-awakened bitter memories of similar deadly quakes that hit Manokwari in 2002, as well as the Asian tsunami that killed 168,000 people in Indonesia’s Aceh province and Nias island in 2004.

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Bali battling rabies epidemic

Article from: Agence France-Presse

BALI will carry out mass vaccinations of pet dogs to curb a rabies outbreak that has killed four people and is threatening the Indonesian island's vital tourism industry.

About 300 officials will fan out on Saturday across northern Denpasar, the provincial capital, armed with vaccination kits.

Other parts of the city have already been covered.

"We want to ensure the rabies outbreak does not spread out of Denpasar district,'' provincial animal husbandry department head Ida Bagus Alit said.

"We don't have a target for how many dogs to vaccinate... We'll do as many as possible,'' Mr Alit said.

Since the first rabies cases were reported in Denpasar and Badung districts in November, about 24,417 pet dogs had been been vaccinated.

The department had also put down 1051 strays.

Unlike the rest of mainly Muslim Indonesia, where people do not generally keep dogs, Bali is a Hindu island and dogs are common either as pets or strays.

The Australian embassy said Canberra had provided funds to support the vaccination program after four people died from rabies on Bali since September.

The US embassy issued a warning to its citizens in Indonesia earlier this month about the rabies situation on the island, known for its surf beaches and mountain temples.

Australians and Japanese are the backbone of the tourism industry, which is essential to Bali's economy.

"We've received calls from tourists asking about the rabies situation but we haven't received reports of any tourist being bitten by dogs,'' Bali Tourism Authority head Gede Nurjaya said.

"Bali depends a lot on tourism and the community is cooperating and pet owners are sending their dogs for vaccination.''

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Microsoft to lay off 5,000 workers

Ballmer said that the economy was in a 'once-in-a-lifetime' condition [EPA]

Microsoft, the US computer software company, has announced that it is to cut 5,000 jobs, adding to the country's economic doldrums.

The firm announced on Thursday that it would let more than five per cent of its 95,000 employees worldwide go over the next 18 months - 1,400 immediately.

The move, and the announcement of an 11 per cent drop in second-quarter profit, struck Microsoft's stocks, which fell by 10 per cent, pulling the Nasdeq index down by three per cent.

The Dow Jones, the US main industrial index, also fell 219 points, about 2.6 per cent, in midday trading.

It is the first time the firm has laid employees off, bar limited staff cuts after the absorption of other companies, since its founding in 1975.

Intel outside

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, said: "We're certainly in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime set of economic conditions.

"The perspective I would bring is not one of recession. Rather, the economy is resetting to lower level of business and consumer spending based largely on the reduced leverage in economy."

Microsoft still maintains $20.7bn liquidity, but the global recession and a faltering profit margin have forced the decision.

The news came one day after Intel Corp, the world's largest maker of microprocessors, said that it would cut jobs in its manufacturing plants in the Philippines and Malaysia and reduce its operations in the US.

Up to 6,000 staff will be affected between now and December 2009, although not all will be complete job losses.

Depressing vista

John Terrett, Al Jazeera's correspondent at the New York Stock Exchange, said that their performance says a lot about the wider condition of the US economy.

"The thing about Microsoft and Intel is that they are bellwether companies. So this is terrible news," he said.

"Intel makes microchips, or semi-conductors, to drive computer hardware, and Microsoft makes software to make it run better.

"If those two firms are not selling as much product, it basically means that companies are not expanding their capital expenditure.

"In other words, they are not buying new computers for their staff. They are not upgrading the software to make their offices run better."

The statistic for new homes being built in the US was at its lowest level since 1991 on Thursday, and the number of Americans signing on for job-seekers benefit was at a 26-year high.

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Indonesia denies migrants asylum

Indonesia has refused to grant political asylum to 193 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh who are being held at a navy base after they were found stranded off the country's western coast. Most of the group identified themselves as the Rohingya - a Muslim ethnic group from Myanmar. The all-male group of Rohingya Muslims has been held at a naval base in the island of Sabang in the province of Aceh since their wooden boat was found on January 7. The migrants were found floating in an 11-metre wooden boat without food or water, officials said. Hassan Wirajuda, the foreign minister, said on Friday that the people are economic migrants and not political asylum seekers. But according to Human Rights Watch, more than 250,000 Rohingyas fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in 1992 amid a campaign of persecution and what many have labelled "ethnic cleansing" on the part of the government in Naypyidaw. Wirajuda also said the Indonesian government is working with their countries of origin and the International Organisation for Migration to properly repatriate the migrants. But it is not clear if they will be sent to Myanmar or Bangladesh. Perilous journey Shortly after their arrival on Sabang, Imam Husen, one of the migrants, told the Reuters news agency from his hospital bed that he and about 580 other people had set off from Mundu in Myanmar in four boats on December 9 to flee the country. He said some members of the group had been beaten after landing in Thailand. They were then towed out to sea and set adrift, he said. According to Wirajuda, citing accounts by the navy, many died on the trip to Indonesia during which they had to stand because the boat was so full. Imam Husen's testimony corroborates reports from a Rohingya human-rights group and Indian police reports from other Rohingyas found adrift near the Andaman Islands that Thai security forces towed 992 people out to sea and abandoned them in engine-less boats. The Arakan Project, a Rohingya non-governmental organisation, estimates that 550 of the 992 are missing, feared drowned. Colonel Manas Kongpan of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) denied on Tuesday any abuse, saying that all the migrants who arrived in Thailand were sent out to sea with food and water. UN demand The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has asked Thailand for access to 126 Rohingyas it believes are still in custody on a remote island called Koh Sai Daeng. "[We] welcome the Thai government's willingness to discuss the Rohingya issue on a broad regional basis, because this is a regional issue ... [but] the reason that the Rohingya boat people throw themselves into these small boats and cross the seas on these perilous journeys - the root causes - need to be addressed," Kitty McKinsey, a UNHCR spokeswoman, told Al Jazeera. The Thai navy claims it gave the migrants food and water [AFP] Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Thai prime minister, has promised to investigate the allegations and co-operate with the UNHCR, although the refugee body said on Friday that there has been no formal response to their request from Bangkok. The Thai prime minister also said any Rohingyas in Thailand would be treated as illegal immigrants and repatriated. "We have to send them back," Vejjajiva said after chairing a National Security Council meeting. "We are discussing this, which will require briefing ambassadors of various countries to find a solution." About 28,000 Rohingyas recognised as refugees are living in UNHCR camps in Bangladesh.

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Solar eclipse to cross ocean

23/01/2009 18:31 - (SA)

Paris - A few lucky people in the Indian Ocean will be treated to a rare event on Monday when an annular solar eclipse will transform the Sun into a dark disc with a blazing ring-shaped corona around its rim.

In solar eclipses, the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow on the terrestrial surface.

In an annular eclipse, a tiny shift in distance that results from celestial mechanics means the Moon does not completely cover the Sun's face, as it does in a total eclipse.

Instead, for those directly under the alignment, the Moon covers most of the Sun's surface, and a ring-like crown of solar light blazes from the edge of the disk.

For those watching from the fringe of the track, the Sun is partially obscured, as if a bite has been taken out of it.

Only annular eclipse this year

According to veteran NASA eclipse-watcher Fred Espenak, the total eclipse track will run from west to east on Monday from 0606 GMT to 0952 GMT.

It will traverse the Indian Ocean and western Indonesia before petering out just short of Mindanao, the Philippines.

The partial eclipse will be seen in a much wider swathe, including the southern third of Africa, Madagascar, Australia, Southeast India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia.

It will be the only annular solar eclipse this year. The last was on February 7 2007, and after Monday, the next one will be on January 15 2010.

The big event for eclipse junkies this year is on July 22, when a total solar eclipse will be visible from India and China, the world's two most populous countries.

- AFP

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10 Minute to stop dengue

ALL it takes is just 10 minutes a week and your household will be Aedes mosquito-free. This is the advice given to residents of Kampung Batak in Relau, Penang, by health officers from the northeast and southwest districts' Health Department yesterday when they conducted a joint operation. "It just takes about 10 minutes or less to look around the house... Selengkapnya...

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