I N T E R N A T I O N A L
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
16 Pages Number 5 5th year Price: Rp 3.000,-
Entertainment
Friday, December 21, 2012
Rihanna Buys 7-Bedroom Mansion in Pacific Palisades Rihanna
AP Photo/dapd, Harald Tittel
Given the fact she titled her latest album Diamonds, it’s not surprising that pop star Rihanna likes the finer things in life. The 24-year-old took living in the lap of luxury a step further this week when she plunked down millions for a 7-bedroom, 9-bath mansion in the L.A. celeb-magnet enclave of Pacific Palisades. According to Zillow , (though the news was first reported by X17) the home is newly constructed and includes everything the “Rude Boy” singer could want, including a sun deck overlooking the treetops, an outdoor firepit, infinity pool with spa, media room, and the latest in cutting edge technology: a smart-home system that allows homeowners to control air conditioning and heat, fireplaces, security,
and the sound system remotely. Perfect for Rihanna’s jet-setting lifestyle! How much the Barbados-born songstress paid for the new home hasn’t yet been recorded by the county, but the estate’s most-recent asking price was $11.9 million, according to Zillow, though it was originally priced at a whopping $15 million when it first went on the market in the spring of 2011. Rihanna will be moving from her Beverly Hills pad, which she sold at a loss after complaining it was poorly constructed and has had multiple water-leak issues. As for A-list neighbors in her new hood, Pacific Palisades is currently home to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner; Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson; Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw; and new residents Matt Da-
mon and wife Lucia Barroso, which means plenty of candidates for neighborhood double dates with Chris Brown. Fun! And RiRi isn’t just living in the lap of luxury, she’s riding in it too. The same day news broke of her big home purchase, the singer posted an Instagram photo of a brand-new Porshce in her driveway, writing “ Thank you to my Roc brothers! I love you guys, y’all are crazy ...” The car, a Porsche 911 Turbo S, is reportedly worth $160,000 and was apparently an early Christmas gift given to her by her management company. Porsche 911 Turbo S management company, Roc Nation. Note to self: Sign up with a management company by next Christmas. Hope they give you a car.
China’s airing of ‘V for Vendetta’ stuns viewers Associated Press Writer
BEIJING — Television audiences across China watched an anarchist antihero rebel against a totalitarian government and persuade the people to rule themselves. Soon the Internet was crackling with quotes of “V for Vendetta’s” famous line: “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” The airing of the movie Friday night on China Central Television stunned viewers and raised hopes that China is loosening censorship. “V for Vendetta” never appeared in Chinese theaters, but it is unclear whether it was ever banned. An article on the Communist Party’s People’s Daily website says it was previously prohibited from broadcast, but the spokesman for the agency that approves movies said he was not aware of any ban. Some commentators and bloggers think the broadcast could be CCTV producers pushing the envelope of censorship, or
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File
another sign that the ruling Communist Party’s newly installed leader, Xi Jinping, is serious about reform. “Oh God, CCTV unexpectedly put out ‘V for Vendetta.’ I had always believed that film was banned in China!” media commentator Shen Chen wrote on the popular Twitter-like Sina Weibo service, where he has over 350,000 followers. Zhang Ming, a supervisor at a real estate company, asked on Weibo: “For the first time CCTV-6 aired ‘V for Vendetta,’ what to think, is the reform being deepened?” The 2005 movie, based on a comic book, is set in an imagined future Britain
to blow up Parliament. The mask has become a revolutionary symbol for young protesters in mostly Western countries, and it also has a cult-like status in China as pirated DVDs are widely available. Some people have used the image of the mask as their profile pictures on Chinese social media sites. Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia wrote on Twitter, which is not accessible to most Chinese because of government Internet controls: “This great film couldn’t be any more appropriate for our current situation. Dictators, prisons, secret police, media control, riots, getting rid of ‘heretics’ ... fear, evasion, challenging lies, overcoming fear, resistance, overthrowing tyranny ... China’s dictators and its citizens also have this relationship.” China’s authoritarian government strictly controls print media, television and radio. Censors also monitor social media sites including Weibo. Programs have to be approved by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, but people with knowledge of the industry say CCTV, the only company with a nationwide broadcast license, is entitled to make its own censorship decisions when showing a foreign movie. “It is already broadcast. It is no big deal,” said a woman who answered the phone at movie channel CCTV-6. “We also didn’t anticipate such a big reaction.” The woman, who only gave her surname, Yang, said she would pass on questions to her supervisor, which weren’t answered.
with a fascistFILE govern-In this Oct. 15, 2011 file photo, a ment. The protagonist protester with the “Occupy Seattle” movewears a mask of Guy ment wears a Guy Fawkes mask and takes Fawkes, the 17th-century a photo with a mobile phone as he demonEnglish rebel strates, who triedin downtown Seattle.
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Friday, December 21, 2012
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Tourism sector contributes USD 9 billion of foreign exchange Bali Post
JAKARTA - Tourism sector is estimated to have contributed USD 9.07 billion of foreign exchange in 2012, rising 6.03 percent compared to last year’s. “This increase can be reached due to the increase in the average expenditure of tourists per visit,” said Mari Elka Pangestu, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, in the Year End Press Conference 2012 in Jakarta, Wednesday (Dec 19). This year, said Mari, the expenditure of foreign tourists reached USD 1,133.81 per person, rising 1.39 percent compared to the expenditure in 2011 amounting to USD 1,118.26. Nevertheless, her party noted the length of stay of foreign tourist this year decreased 1.79 percent from 7.84 days to 7.7 days. “We estimate this happened because there was an increase in the visit of regional tourists compared to European tourist whose country is facing economic slowdown,” she said. However, Mari stressed, the growth of foreign tourists up to October 2012 rose 5 percent compared to last year’s. In other words, it was higher than the expected growth in global tourism predicted to increase 3-4 percent in 2012. As for domestic tourist, it was predicted to reach 245 million trips in 2012, rising 3.81 percent compared to 2011 reaching 236 million trips. “The increase in the travel by domestic tourists has positive impact on the
expenditure of domestic tourist whose value is estimated at IDR 171,5 trillion, rising 9.3 percent compared to 2011 coming to IDR 156,89 trillion,” she said. According to Mari, the expenditure of domestic tourists increased due to an increase in the number of trips and increase in the average expenditure reaching IDR 700,000, rising 5.63 percent compared to 2011 amounting to IDR 662, 680 per trip per person. “It also reflects the rising middle class in Indonesia,” she said. Mari was glad to welcome the increased expenditure of domestic tourists this year because it was expected to bring in a positive impact on the regional economy because most domestic tourists spent their expenses when traveling to the regions. Continued on page 12
Miss USA is crowned Miss Universe Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — A 20-year-old Boston University sophomore and a self-described “cellist-nerd” brought the Miss Universe crown back to the United States for the first time in more than a decade when she won the televised contest Wednesday. Olivia Culpo beat out 88 other beauty queens to take the title from Leila Lopes of Angola during the two-hour competition at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Continued on page 12
Miss USA, Olivia Culpo, left, is crowned Miss Universe during the Miss Universe competition, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, in Las Vegas.
AP Photo/Julie Jacobson