Edition Monday, January 7, 2019 | International Bali Post

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Monday, January 7, 2019

Jury to decide whether Ed Sheeran copied Marvin Gaye

CALIFORNIA - A US judge has rejected a request by Ed Sheeran for a lawsuit accusing him of ripping off a Marvin Gaye song to be dismissed.

Instead, District Judge Louis Stanton ruled that a jury should decide on whether parts of Let’s Get It On, released in 1973, were copied in the singer’s 2014 number one and Grammy-winning hit Thinking Out Loud.

In a decision which has now been made public, the judge said there were “substantial similarities between several of the two works’ musical elements”.

Sheeran, 27, denies copying the song.

His defence team argues that Thinking Out Loud is characterised by “sombre, melancholic tones, addressing long-lasting romantic love”, while Let’s Get It On is a “sexual anthem”.

Despite this, Judge Stanton said they could be viewed as having the same “aesthetic appeal”.

However, in his ruling, the judge also said it was disputed whether the harmonic rhythm of Let’s Get It On was deserving of copyright protection or whether it was too common.

The lawsuit has been brought against Sheeran, as well as co-writer Amy Padge, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and the Atlantic record label, by the estate and heirs of late producer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Let’s Get It On with Gaye. (afp)

Trump says little progress as govt shutdown in third week

Talks aimed at ending a partial US government shutdown which entered its third week on Saturday made little progress but were to continue on Sunday, President Donald Trump said.

‘A Star Is Born’ expected to win big at Golden Globes

LOS ANGELES - Box office hit music romance “A Star Is Born” is the frontrunner going into Sunday’s Golden Globes, the first Hollywood awards gala of the year -- and usually the sassiest of them all.

IBP/net

Sheeran’s defence team say the songs have different characteristics.

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Monday, January 7, 2019

In this file photo US singer/ actress Lady Gaga (L) and US actor/director Bradley Cooper pose on the red carpet upon arrival for the UK premiere of the film “A Star is Born” in central London on September 27, 2018.

Tinseltown’s A-listers will strut down the red carpet for the first time this awards season at the Beverly Hilton, in the run-up to the allimportant Oscars on February 24.

Hosting the gala -- which begins at 5:00 pm (0100 GMT Monday) -- will be actress Sandra Oh and comedian Andy Samberg. As the only awards show where booze is served, the evening is usually more colorful than showbiz’s other big nights.

“It’s going to be great. I think people are ready and could use a little smile,” Samberg said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Even though Dick Cheney biopic “Vice” leads the film nominations with six, “Star” -- and its power duo of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper -- is the movie with the most buzz heading into Sunday

night, and most critics predict it will take home the coveted best drama film honors.

“We’re expecting “A Star Is Born” to take it down in the end, solidifying its Oscar frontrunner status,” industry trade publication Variety said in its predictions. “’A Star is Born’ has everything going for it including box office and critical success,” Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at industry data firm ComScore, told AFP. But he cautioned that the Globes -- which are handed out by the 90odd members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association -- are notoriously unpredictable.

“This year’s nominees across the major categories are all incredibly deserving so anything could happen,” Dergarabedian said.

This year, the Globes come

at the start of voting for Oscar nominations, and while they are not always a clear predictor of Academy Award success, they are a bellwether of momentum.

If there is a sure bet on Sunday night, it is that Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” a cinematic ode to his childhood in 1970s Mexico City, will win for best foreign film. He is also up for best director.

Competing against the Mexican filmmaker for that prize are Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman”), Peter Farrelly (“Green Book”), Adam McKay (“Vice”) and Cooper, who made his debut behind the camera with “Star,” directing himself.

For the experts polled by awards prediction website Gold Derby, “A Star Is Born” is a lock for best drama film, and Cuaron will take home top director honors. (afp)

An impasse with lawmakers over Trump’s demand for billions of dollars to pay for a wall on the border with Mexico has shut 25 percent of the government since December 22.

Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday met with representatives of Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Republican-controlled Senate, as well as Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives which since last Thursday is under Democratic control.

“V.P. Mike Pence and team just left the White House. Briefed me on their meeting with the Schumer/ Pelosi representatives. Not much

headway made today. Second meeting set for tomorrow,” Trump said on Twitter.

Under the previous Republicancontrolled Congress, the Senate unanimously passed a measure to fully fund the government until February 8, allowing more time for debate on issues including border security.

That measure was also under House consideration but Trump on December 20 reversed course and rejected it under pressure from ultraconservative lawmakers and media personalities.

While the US military and other major agencies are still fully fund-

ed, the impasse has left 800,000 government workers from other departments furloughed or working without pay.

Those on the job and not being paid include airline security officers from the Transportation Security Administration, FBI agents, and others.

The shutdown has left the Smithsonian museums, a major tourist draw, shuttered, garbage piling up at national parks, and workers concerned about

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry transports passengers on January 5, 2019, in New York, as the US government shutdown enters its third week. New York state funds are being used to keep the attractions open during the shutdown which has affected US National Parks.

paying their bills. The shutdown has also been a factor in stock market volatility.

Building a wall along the 2,000mile (3,200-kilometer) US-Mexico frontier was a central plank in the 2016 election campaign of Trump, who has sought to equate immigrants with crime, drugs and gangs.

“This is national security we’re talking about,” he said on Friday. (afp)

News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http://radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.

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Monday, January 7, 2019

Bali News

International

Karang Sewu Beach at Gilimanuk increasingly favored Unfortunately trash remains strewn

NEGARA - Karang Sewu Beach at Gilimanuk, located in the area of West Bali National Park (TNBB), is an interesting tourist spot to visit. This beach is not far from the Gilimanuk crossing harbor to Banyuwangi.

This object is famous for its stunning sunrise view. This is what causes tourists to come to this area.

By and large, in order to be able to watch the stunning sunrise, the best time to visit is in the morning.

This Karang Sewu Beach is part of the West Bali National Park, belonging to the utilization zone. The location is not far from Gilimanuk Harbor, approximately 300 meters to the highway heading for the city of Denpasar. Administratively, this beach is included in the Melaya subdistrict, Jembrana district, West Bali.

Head of the TNBB, Agus Ngurah Krisna K, stated on Saturday (Jan. 5) that the national park jointly manages the Karang Sewu tourist object with the Gilimanuk Community Communication Forum (FKKSMG). Previously, the

Karang Sewu area was taken advantage by the community group for peddling site, boat rental, fishermen and guides, especially to maintain cleanliness, preservation and orderliness at Karang Sewu.

The facilities built in the Karang Sewu area with a budget of IDR 3.8 billion consist of pedestrian, tourist monitoring posts, barbed wire fences, tourist docks and roundabout land mark.

To get there, visitors can pass through the Gilimanuk-Denpasar Highway. Then, just look at the right side of the road, you will find the existence of the entrance to the beach. It only takes five minutes to travel and will arrive at Karang Sewu. In addition to presenting stunning sunrise views, this Karang Sewu Beach also has other beautiful views. At Karang Sewu, there

are extensive grasslands.

Tourists can do various activities because this meadow has a flat and open soil structure. Several jujube trees also grow on this Karang Sewu Beach. These trees can be used as a shelter when overheating.

Likewise, there are soothing and beautiful mangrove forests.

A favorite selfie spot for visitors to the Karang Sewu Beach is on the wooden bridge jutting towards the sea. Many tourists take narcissistic photos at this place at sunrise.

With the beach facilities and structures owned, this place is often chosen as holiday destination for families. Children will feel happy when running in the vast meadows.

Meanwhile, parents can calmly watch children play under the shade of the trees.

As seen on Saturday (Jan. 5), many visitors seemed to come to the area of Karang Sewu Beach.

Especially during religious and public holidays, according to a number of merchants, quite a lot of people make a visit to the beach.

After the Karang Sewu tourist attraction was better organized and various facilities have been built, the operator charges admission ticket to visitors. The entrance ticket costs IDR 10,000 per person per day and ticket for car costs IDR 10,000 per day.

According to one of the entrance

ticket attendants, the ticket has been determined based on the Indonesian Government Regulation No. 12/2014 dated February 14, 2014.

Now, the Karang Sewu area has been equipped with a large parking area and gazebos.

From the parking area, you can enter by walking through the jogging track spreading quite long and turning. Then, explore the quite long wooden bridge and pass through the mangrove forest. You can get around to the rocky coastal area. On the wooden pier, you can take pictures with stunning views.

A row of exotic jujube trees, beautiful pier, several gazebos and seating are awaiting. Likewise, the Karang Sewu youth group offers several other interesting selfie spots at IDR 5,000 per person. Decorative rafts made from bamboo decorated with bamboo roots look so unique and arranged like a door or gebyog. Definitely, some other selfie spots are no less attractive.

A high Bali Starling statue is also built to attract visitors. They can also enjoy riding boats offered by groups of fishermen at affordable price. When raining, there are people offering umbrella rental including 3D umbrellas. In hot weather, it can make the atmosphere cool and anti-glare. Right when it’s raining, it is getting more beautiful as the umbrella will change and beautiful flowers will appear.

Avy, the wife of Teguh, the Karang Sewu coordinator, said that during holidays the visitors to selfie

spots can reach dozens of people.

“Even though it has just been arranged, many visitors have come to take selfie. The tariff is only IDR 5,000,” she said She admitted to only replace his husband to be in charge of the selfie spot because he was driving around by boat. “Well, sometimes we can get IDR 100,000 a day or sometimes more. If the visitors are quiet, we only get a few,” she explained.

Seeing the number of visitors, the Karang Sewu tourist attraction is still littered with plastic waste in several corners. This happens due to the lack of garbage can facilities so that garbage is disposed of carelessly. “Large dust bins should be provided at every corner. So, visitors can dispose of garbage in its place or they are appealed to care about the environment since entering the location,” said Yanti, a visitor who spontaneously picked up garbage at Karang Sewu with her colleagues.

According to Agus Ngurah Krisna, the garbage cans prepared are often lost. On January 2, his management together with FKKSMG did cleanup activities along with a group of friends and especially merchants. “As scheduled, starting from tomorrow, we will do cleanup again. Last year there were no special cleaning staff assigned at the location. This year we will assign cleaning staff responding to the high interest in tourist visits,” he explained. (120)

Trans Sarbagita bus less efficient and not on target

DENPASAR - Operated since August 18, 2011, now the existence of Trans Sarbagita (Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan) bus is getting worse. Moreover, the provincial government of Bali stopped the Trans Sarbagita bus’ route because it is considered wasteful to Regional Budget. Actually, the initial goal of the Trans Sarbagita bus was launched to unravel congestion in Bali. However, public transportation is less attractive to the people of Bali.

A lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering, Udayana University, Prof.

Dr. Putu Rumawan Salain, stated

that one of the factors causing people not to favor the Trans Sarbagita bus is that Balinese people are not interested because of poor facilities. Thus, it causes the community, especially students, to be reluctant to use the public facilities to go to school. Actually, when viewed from the permanent population of Denpasar City, currently reaching almost 900,000 people, such public transportation is needed. Moreover, today Denpasar City is developing into a city based on smart city.

Therefore, he advised the government to revive public transportation and all parties must dissemi-

nate it. If necessary, the government must make clear regulations and review which zoning can still be developed to revive the public transportation.

“If necessary, the community, especially students, are required to use the Trans Sarbagita bus to go to campus. So, there is no term to exclude public transportation because after all public transportation is needed by the community other than for breaking down congestion in the city,” said Prof. Rumawan some time ago.

Similar opinion was revealed by the Head of the Public Administration

Graduate Program at the Warmadewa University (Unwar), Dr. A.A. Gde Raka. He said the torpidity of Trans Sarbagita bus public transport is caused by the prestige culture of Balinese people that does not understand the benefits of public transportation.

Moreover, most Balinese people feel ashamed of using public transportation to go to work or to school or to campus. In addition, almost all Balinese people have private motorcycle because buying a motorcycle at this time is very easy compared to a few years before. In addition, the existence of online transportation such as GoJek and Grab is also one of the factors

causing Balinese people to prefer transportation mode of this digital age.

On that account, he said it is very difficult to get people to use Trans Sarbagita bus transportation. Moreover, the purpose of Trans Sarbagita bus is mostly not in accordance with the goals of most Balinese people in general. “This government program is very good, but the target is not right. It is effective but not efficient. If wishing, it can use minivan by targeting schools.

Apparently it is more effective, efficient and right on target,” he affirmed. (win)

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Bangli: Swasrina, Buleleng: Mudiarta, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Eka Parananda, Klungkung: Bagiarta. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto.  Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post

Activities

International

Monday, January 7, 2019

New Menu at Artichoke at Radisson Blu Bali Uluwatu

A rt i c h o k e R e s ta u rant, an all-day dining venue at Radisson Blu Bali Uluwatu is delighted to introduce its brand new menu featuring Indonesian specialties and International favourites.

Focusing mainly on the tasty comfort foods and healthy items such as whole grains, gluten free bread and organic items, guests can enjoy the meal along with the sun and the ocean breeze at the shady arcade or the sunny terrace by the vast pool gardens. The new menu would delight any food connoisseur; there’s the Blu Power Bowl and Japanese Nori Bowl for the health conscious and the traditional and

succulent Rendang and Artichoke Mac & Cheese for those seeking comfort foods. Artichoke is open breakfast 6.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. and for lunch & dinner from 11.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m. Perched along the cliffs of Uluwatu, Radisson Blu Bali Uluwatu overlooks the Indian Ocean and local farmland, giving you amazing views from each of spacious hotel rooms and suites.

Iconic, stylish and sophisticated, Radisson Blu creates excitingly individual hotels for individual minds. We delight our travel savvy, modern guests with a genuine, inviting ambiance. We create excitement with our stun-

ning, leading edge design. And we strive to engage each and every guest through our innovative and very relevant range of holistic facilities and services, including fast Free Internet. We’ve packaged it all neatly together, with our unique Yes I Can!SM service

ethos and our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.

Radisson Blu features 380 unique hotels, open or coming soon, in the world’s most desirable destinations: dynamic major cities, nearby airport gateways and in the most sought after leisure hotspots.

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It’s a perfect equation that adds up to a highly individual - and unforgettable – 360° hospitality experience, unrivalled anywhere in the world today.Radisson Blu. Designed for you.JI Pemutih, Pecatu, Bali | Ph: +62 361 3008 888 | www. radissonblu.com

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Monday, January 7, 2019

Traveling

International

Bali News

International

Monday, January 7, 2019

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To market tourism 2019, Badung targets dozens of countries

Kazakhstan: Welcome to the Pleasure Dome

ASTANA - For hundreds of years the nomads of Central Asia roamed over an enormous territory that stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Tien Shen mountains and as far south as Afghanistan.

Fought over, at first by the three dzus or clans known in the West as the Great, Middle and Little Hordes, and then annexed by the Soviets, Kazakhstan remained an enigma, its vast size – roughly that of western Europe – and inaccessibility put it beyond the reach of all but the most adventurous of travellers.

The Xanadu of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem was a ‘savage and enchanted’ land of sacred rivers, caves of ice and ‘twice five miles of fertile ground’. It is almost as if his words were written for Kazakhstan whose rivers and holy places were sacred to the pre-Islamic shamanistic society that once dwelt there.

And 200 years after Coleridge wrote the opening lines, the country is itself opening up. Thousands of miles of plains, mountains and glaciers, stunning canyons and natural monuments shaped by the wind, ancient cave paintings and glyphs can still be seen – as can modern cities complete with entertainment centres and shopping malls, built from scratch in the middle of the steppe.

Astana

Astana, the new capital is President Nursultan Nazabayev’s Xanadu.

Once a quiet trading post on the fringes of the silk route, for the past ten years it has been the country’s new capital and the population has exploded as people move to the city to work and study. There’s something slightly surreal about watching a city take shape in front of your eyes, vast construction projects are everywhere and even at night one can hear the sound of building.

Last year, the President inaugurated the Palace of Peace, an enormous glass pyramid built by the British architect Norman Foster. Surprisingly tardis-like it holds an opera house and on its upper floors, there are meeting rooms, office space and at the top, a curious, blindingly white conference suite with incredible panoramic views across the city.

In keeping with the feeling of other-worldliness that permeates the

place, the glass has been tinted and giant doves, the size of cows have been printed onto the windows. At least the sky is always blue for the lucky conference goers who have to walk up through a lush ‘sky garden’ to reach the eyrie. Only the president, says our guide, is allowed to use the lift all the way to the top.

From October to April, the ground is almost entirely covered with deep snow. While this makes getting around Astana tricky enough – it is certainly not a city designed with pedestrians in mind – it is an excellent time of the year to visit. The River Ishim which runs through the centre of the city is frozen solid and plays host to a number of skiers, walkers. There are also ice fishermen who huddle under home made plastic windbreaks which cover the entire body while they wait to catch tiny fry for bait.

But the most fun with ice is surely that on offer at the free ice-sculpture park where adults and children alike take great pleasure in the massive sculptures, some of which are big enough to climb up and slide down.

Night-time, when the sculptures are illuminated (like everything else in this city where the lights are always on) is the most popular time for families. It isn’t unusual to find groups of friends playing hide and seek among the exhibits and good naturedly helping each other on the slides. Modern architecture buffs will find plenty of interest in Astana. A substantial part of the city is being rebuilt, at the president’s behest to provide space for a new capital worthy of a nation with a significant amount of oil reserves.

A vast new presidential office and the parliament have already been finished and new areas for civil servants, diplomats and businesses are planned.

Almaty

But until Astana becomes less of a building site, the jewell in the crown will still be Almaty. The country’s biggest city’s more human scale and its more varied architecture imbue it with a sense of reality that Astana seems determined to eschew.

In the summer Almaty’s wide, leafy boulevards take on a European air. Cafes spring up and the streets buzz with people. But a winter visit can be tremendously rewarding for those prepared to wrap up well.

Walking really is the best way to explore Almaty. Unlike Astana where someone clearly forgot to include pedestrians in the master plan, Almaty has pavements which one can still usually find in spite of the piles of snow dumped each morning at the roadside by the snow ploughs.

Kazakhs of course don’t seem to find it difficult to negotiate. Women in incredible floor length furs, skintight jeans and eight inch stiletto heels negotiate the huge piles of snow at the side of the road with barely a second glance. Public transport exists – for those who can master the bus system but this is still a city where anyone who can prefers to drive. Taxis are plentiful (except in the afternoon rush hour) but an informal system also operates and if you stick out a hand someone will almost certainly stop and invite you – for a price best negotiated at the roadside – to hop in.

When the Panfilov Park, the largest green space in the heart of the city is covered with a thick layer of freshly fallen snow and icicles hang from the trees, the scene is of a winter wonderland. Not surprisingly, on Sundays it is a favourite destination for families. Parents haul children on traditional, home made sledges to

feed the pigeons in the square in front of the Russian Orthodox cathedral, one of the loveliest buildings in the whole city.

Constructed entirely of wood, without a single nail, the church is a colourful confection of brightly painted domes topped with crosses that glint in the sunlight. If you are lucky, you might catch sight of a wedding party or a soberly dressed but smiling priest hurrying inside where the all enveloping warmth and the scent of candles is intoxicating.

Weekends tend to be when families get together and another popular place for meeting is the Medeo skating rink.

Only a short drive from the centre of Almaty, Medeo is a favoured hangout, especially for groups of young people and on a clear day, the location, overlooking the city affords spectacular views.

Cuisine

Kazakhs have a rich cultural heritage and the city’s museum is not to be missed. It is a vast building, with particularly good displays of ethnography and beautiful textiles from the country’s nomadic past including beautifully carved bowls and ladles for serving kumyss, the

traditional drink of mare’s milk and chubut, fermented camel milk. A few of the displays have short English descriptions.

If you fancy trying kumyss for yourself, the Green Market is the place to go. As its name suggests, it is the main source for fresh produce and is still very popular in spite of the supermarkets which have opened in the city in the last few years.

MANGUPURA — Badung Tourism Office has prepared dozens of countries as tourism promotion destinations in 2019. The program involving the Regional Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) will begin from the India scheduled for January.

Head of the Badung Tourism Office, Made Badra, claimed that such efforts are meant to reach the target of tourist visit set at 6.85 million foreign tourists and 15 million domestic tourists in 2019. This figure increased from 2018 with the target of 6.5 million foreign tourists and 10 million domestic tourists.

“Every time making an overseas promotion, we always have a target, where in 2019 Badung is targeted to reach 6.8 million foreign tourist visits. On that account, we have to work hard,” said Made Badra when confirmed on Wednesday (Jan. 2).

This bureaucrat from Kuta said the promotion program costs around IDR 20 billion. However, the consideration in the parent regional budget 2019 was agreed to reach around IDR 8.1 billion used to target at five countries. “In the proposal is mentioned 11 countries, but only eight countries were then approved. Meanwhile, the consideration in the parent regional budget in 2019 amounts to around IDR 8.1 billion,” he explained.

According to him, his office will set a target for every promotion overseas, so that the target of 6.8 million foreign tourist visits in 2019 can be achieved. “Earlier this year in the second week we are going to make promotion to India. It is still being coordinated with the BPPD to invite a number

of stakeholders,” he said.

He said that he would also work on 5 tourism villages and festivals, national and international promotion activities, capacity building and professionalism of tourism human resources, utilization of digital applications for management and logistics, development of public service campaigns about sanitation, security, digital (free Wi-Fi), public services at airport and strategic places as part of the branding strategies. Besides, it also includes the development of smart city destination, tourism village, digital tourism and cultural tourism.

Based on the data of the Badung Tourism Office, the Badung Sales Mission 2019 will be carried out to a number of potential countries namely (January) to India with the target of 408.23 people; (February) to Hungary targeting 12,719 people, Czechoslovakia targeting 1,500 people and Austria targeting 28,247 people; (March) to Germany targeting 285,740 people, Switzerland targeting 65,573 people and France targeting 283,819 people.

Then, in April the promotion is resumed to Australia targeting 1,350,337 people and New Zealand 139,854 people; (May) to Canada targeting 95,503 people; (June) to Korea targeting 248,470 people; (July) to Italy targeting 77,824 people; (August) to Russia targeting 143,291 students; (September) to the United States targeting of 297,121 people; (October) to Japan targeting 397,612 people; (November) to England targeting 378,028 people and the Netherlands targeting 160,988 people. (kmb27)

Nature

But it is Kazakhstan’s endless steppe – and the biodiversity that flourishes there that that must be the highlight of a visit. Three hours from Almaty, the Charryn Canyon is an extraordinary depression that runs for almost 150 miles. With the snow capped mountains that mark the border with China and the deep ochres and reds of the sandstone in the canyon it is one of the country’s most impressive sights. The drive follows a road that leaves Almaty passing first the last few wooden houses in the city with original snowboards decorated with filigree patterns, and then through numerous small auls or tiny villages where the most people earn their living from growing and drying tobacco. (net)

IBP/kmb

In 2019 Badung is targeted to reach 6.8 million foreign tourist visits.

IBP/kmb28

In Tabanan district, based on data from the Tabanan Environment Agency (DLH), the average volume of plastic waste per day reaches 12 tons.

Daily plastic waste reaches 12 tons

Customary village strengthened to support regulation on plastic waste

TABANAN — Bali Gubernatorial Regulation regarding the control of plastic waste has got the support from a number of parties because the high volume of plastic waste is very threatening to the environment. In Tabanan district, based on data from the Tabanan Environment Agency (DLH), the average volume of plastic waste per day reaches 12 tons. All this time the management or sorting of plastic waste is carried out by the officers at Mandung Landfill.

“Regarding the Gubernatorial Regulation on plastic waste that will be implemented in the Bali province, we will also immediately implement and of course we will coordinate with other relevant agencies,” said the Head of the DLH Tabanan, AA Raka Icwara, on Wednesday (Jan. 2).

Before the issuance of the gubernatorial regulation, Tabanan district, said Raka Icwara, had a local regulation No. 6/2013 regarding the management of household waste and household-like garbage as well as Regent’s Regulation No. 68 of 2017 and a circular from the Tabanan regent to each sub-district about intensifying waste management in each sub-district.

Separately, Deputy Regent of Tabanan, Komang Gede Sanjaya, said the new regulation should continuously be disseminated to the public. Moreover, the customary villages also need to be involved more intensively.

“The existence of garbage has been very worrying and damaged to the environment. Indeed it is required a rule to control it,” said Deputy Regent Sanjaya.

He admitted that in the future implementation, definitely he would find some obstacles due to the

difficulty of changing the mindset and habits of people who are used to plastic usage.

Communities need to be informed and start getting used to reducing the use of disposable plastic items to minimize pollution. “Plastic waste is very difficult to decompose, so that its use must begin to be reduced and switch to eco-friendly materials,” he said.

And in this short term, the efforts to reduce the use of plastic waste need to involve the entire customary villages.

The involvement of customary villages, said Deputy Regent Sanjaya, enables a plastic waste reduction program to be carried out properly. The reason is that the community will be very obedient to customary rules in the form of awig-awig (customary village bylaw) and perarem (appendix to awig-awig) so that the involvement of customary villages in handling plastic waste will be very effective.

“I think the involvement of customary villages in handling plastic waste will be much more effective because it will be followed by the community, so customary villages really need to be involved in this matter,” he stressed.

Furthermore, in Tabanan itself, there are already examples of villages having applied the rules regarding the waste, especially plastic waste with sanctions that bind villagers and other people. The village is Munduktemu in Pupuan sub-district having created a Lisa (see and collect waste) program that teaches people to maintain cleanliness and not littering. For people who are caught dumping litter, especially plastic waste, they will receive severe sanctions. “Munduktemu village is an example for handling waste that directly involves the community. This must be followed by other villages,” he said. (kmb28)

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Bali News

Monday, January 7, 2019

International

Sambel Pangi in Purple Rice attracts tourist’s appetite

GIANYAR — Unexpectedly, sambel pangi or Pangium edunale condiment can be a tourist attraction in the culinary field whereas it is Balinese traditional food.

This condiment is served on top of purple rice, a typical dish of the Lembah Ayung Restaurant.

Chef of Lembah Ayung Restaurant, I Wayan Jayantika, when met not long ago stated that sambel pangi or in Indonesian is known as Sambel Kluek, may not be known widely at this time, especially by millennial generation prefering international foods.

But this pangi condiment is even used by one of the restaurants in Ubud whose guests are dominated by foreigners.

It is the Lembah Ayung Restaurant located in the Pramana Watukurung Resort area. This restaurant is one of the restaurants serving the pangi condiment in its mixed rice in what the so-called purple rice.

He said the sambal pangi is intentionally added to the presentation of purple rice in its place.

In addition to providing a unique taste sensation, sambal pangi is also intended to introduce the food commonly consumed by

Balinese people. “The response of tourists is also positive, many are fond of this sambal pangi,” he said.

To make condiment, several types of kitchen spices are needed, namely onion and thinly sliced chili mixed with pangi and cooking oil. This pangi condiment is then served on mixed rice or purple rice. A portion of the pangi condiment is also used to mix beef dish to be served with the purple rice. The purple rice itself also consists of several other side dishes, such as vegetable with spicy sauce, fish satay, chicken cooked in coconut milk, chicken egg and fried bean with grated coconut. “Raw condiment is also served in addition to other types of condiments,” he said.

Purple rice is a color concept of the resort managing the Lembah Ayung Restaurant. However, the presentation of purple rice uses brown rice. “At first, we had time to use purple rice from purple sweet potatoes, but the quality was not good, especially after being left alone. So, I decided to use brown rice which has many benefits for human body,” he added. (kmb42)

IBP/kmb

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Far-right Bolsonaro puts stamp on Brazil in first week

IBP/eka

The tradition of Ngerebeg or often called Makotek held every Tumpek Kuningan at Munggu, customary village, Mengwi, Badung.

Ngerebeg tradition at Munggu village as tribute to royal heroes

MANGUPURA — The tradition of Ngerebeg or often called Makotek held every Tumpek Kuningan at Munggu, customary village, Mengwi, Badung, serves as a tribute to the heroes, disaster repellent from negative or bad things, and a means to unite citizens. This was conveyed by chief of Munggu customary village, I Made Rai Sujana, at local Puseh and Desa Temple, on Saturday (Jan. 5).

Sambel Pangi in Purple Rice

Monday, January 7, 2019

International

Amid the procession, he explained briefly on the meanings.

In the past, the Mengwi kingdom headquartered at Munggu with the king named Ida Cokorda Nyoman Sakti Munggu. When defending his territory in Blambangan, East Java, before the Mengwi troops named goak selem or black crow troops departed, precisely on the Tumpek Kuningan Day, the king of Mengwi performed a meditation at Dalem Kahyangan Wisesa Temple, Munggu. The king received a revelation from his meditation. The return of his troops with victory or success in the war was then commemorated with the tradition of ngerebeg.

“So, that on Tumpek Kuningan, the tradition of raids continues to be commemorated at Munggu customary village which is a tribute to the victory of Mengwi’s royal war, as the respect for the

heroes,” he explained.

Related to the tradition as disaster repellent, he told that it was initially carried out with a spear. However, during the Dutch colonial period the tradition was banned because it was thought to be a rebellion. This tradition had not been organized for several times. As a result, outbreaks of disease or hugs attacked villagers, even many people died. This condition made some customary and religious leaders negotiate with the Dutch, and finally the tradition was allowed to be held again. However, the facilities used are not spears, but replaced with pulet wooden stick. “Since then, the tradition of ngerebeg formerly used spears is replaced with a pulet wooden stick, with the length of 3.5 meters. Based on such belief, the ngerebeg tradition serves as repellent or keeps

away from negative things,” he explained.

The third meaning of the tradition is serving as a means to unite citizens. This tradition is followed by almost all men aged 14 years and over from 12 hamlets at Munggu customary village. They mutually mingle while carrying wooden sticks and walking around the village area. When they arrive in several places such as road intersection they gather and unite the end of the stick to form the pyramid. Occasionally, one of the young men will climb up the pile of the sticks.

“So, this tradition is to unite young people from 12 hamlets across the Munggu customary village. By carrying out the ngerebeg tradition, they will definitely do positive things to strengthen the sense of unity among the youth,” he concluded. (eka)

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, came out swinging in his very first week in office, introducing changes to remake his country around his far-right agenda -but proving less ambitious than expected on economic reforms.

Many measures announced since his investiture Tuesday reflected the 63-year-old former paratrooper ’s desire to break with decades of center-left politics and embrace a nationalist vision of the sort espoused by his ideological ally, US President Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro declared Brazil and the United States to be “friends” and said in his first post-inauguration TV interview he was open to looking at his country hosting a US military base, citing regional instability from neighboring Venezuela and its backer Russia.

He also issued decrees reducing protection of indigenous land rights and the LGBTQ community, and ordered that non-governmental organizations come under government monitoring.

His government announced it has launched a purge of government contractors deemed not to fully support Bolsonaro’s ultraconservatism.

And his pro-free-market economy minister, Paulo Guedes, said the government’s number-one priority was to

tackle Brazil’s costly and unsustainable pension system.

Investors applauded the first bold steps, sending the stock market to a record high and strengthening the Brazilian real against the dollar.

- Confusion But on Thursday and Friday, Bolsonaro sowed some confusion on other issues when he spoke unscripted to journalists.

First, he spoke of a minimum retirement age that was well below what his economic team is mulling, undermining hopes that he was going to firmly tackle the pension problem that consumes a third of public spending.

Then he expressed wariness about a multi-billion-dollar planned tie-up between planemaker Embraer and US giant Boeing, sending the Brazilian company’s shares diving and calling into question his marketfriendly campaign rhetoric.

And Bolsonaro also announced a tax increase contrary to a campaign pledge.

His chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, hastily said Bolsonaro was “wrong” on the tax hike.

The other topics, however, were not fully explained by Bolsonaro aides, leaving the impression of a gap between the president’s ambitions and the ministers he has tasked with turning Brazil’s economy around.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, r e p o r t s emerged Saturday of discomfort among top military brass at Bolsonaro’s idea of maybe having a US military base on Brazilian soil.

That dissent could r e a c h B o l s o n a r o ’s cabinet, where seven of his 22 ministers are retired military officers. (afp)

EVARISTO SA / AFP

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro receives military honours upon arriving at Brasilia’s Air Base for the ceremony in which Lieutenant-Brigadier Antonio Carlos Moretti takes the helm of the Brazilian Air Force, on January 4, 2019.

AFP

A picture taken on December 6, 2018 shows an oil painting of former South African president and Anti Apartheid icon Nelson Mandela on the first floor of the Rand Club in Johannesburg.

Johannesburg’s grandest old colonial club seeks new image

JOHANNESBURG - With its imposing columned facade, hunting trophies and oil portraits, the Rand Club in Johannesburg’s city centre is a relic of South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past.

Founded in 1887 by British mining magnate Cecil Rhodes, it was the favoured venue for white businessmen and free-wheeling gold prospectors to strike deals and socialise in the hushed library or at the 31-metre-long (102-feet) teak bar, reputedly the longest in Africa.

But Alicia Thompson, a black woman born in Johannesburg, is seeking to reposition the club, which has struggled to stay open in recent years, by attracting the city’s “young hustlers” of today while preserving its heritage.

Thompson, a 46-year-old beauty business owner who is the club’s deputy chairman, said that she had faced “not one iota of resistance” in her efforts to haul the club into the modern era.

“I grew up in Johannesburg, I frequented the city and I used to see this building that I was not allowed to enter,” said Thompson.

“It was this hallowed, ivory tower and I didn’t know what happened inside. Then I attended a wedding here in 2010, and I couldn’t believe that this gem was withheld from us for all our life.”

Thompson has seen the number of full-time members -- paying $720 (632 euros) a year -- grow recently to nearly 500 after years of decline, while the numbers of student and absentee members are also up.

“My attitude to members is just to make it your space,” she said.

A life-sized portrait of Rhodes, an imperialist businessman and politician inextricably linked with racism and colonial exploitation, still hangs in a second-floor room.

But the room itself, which previously bore his name, has been renamed the Founders’ Room following an initiative by younger members.

- ‘Our history is our history’ Books from another era bearing the words “kaffir” (an offensive racial slur) and “native” still line the shelves of the library, alongside a fireplace, wingback leather armchairs and a typewriter.

“Some of our history is very unimpressive -- but I’m not a ‘fallist’,” said member Lucky Dinake, 24, a black councillor from the main opposition Democratic Alliance party.

“Fallist” refers to supporters of

the “Rhodes Must Fall” movement sparked in South Africa in 2015 by students seeking the removal of statues of Rhodes and other colonial symbols from university campuses.

“Our history is our history. Our responsibility is to learn from it, move forward, not to tear it down,” Dinake told AFP. Outside the library’s tall windows, workers hurried along the roads of the Marshalltown district while minibuses packed with commuters sped past.

Over the years, the club’s fortunes have reflected the mixed fortunes of the surrounding inner-city streets.

Unlike “clublands” in cities like London and New York in upscale neighbourhoods, Johannesburg’s city centre has grappled with businesses fleeing, rampant crime as well as derelict and illegally occupied buildings.

But work is under way to rehabilitate the area with high-end booksellers opening nearby in recent years as well as investment in public transport and policing.

“The club is becoming a lot more relevant and a lot more accessible to more people, taking advantage of our location. In Joburg, there’s a lot of renewal,” said Dinake. (afp)

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International

Monday, January 7, 2019

Bali News

International

BUSINESS

Monday, January 7, 2019

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With Brexit 12 weeks away, uncertainty squeezing UK economy

LONDON — With Britain just 12 weeks away from the day it is meant to leave the European Union, one thing is becoming clear — uncertainty over what Brexit will mean is hurting the economy.

A raft of economic figures released Friday showed the British economy weakening at the turn of the year just as Prime Minister Theresa May delayed a parliamentary vote on the Brexit deal she agreed on with the EU. House prices are down and business optimism in the key services sector is at its secondweakest level since the global financial crisis a decade ago.

One of Britain’s leading mortgage providers said house prices fell in December by their biggest amount in six and a half years. The Nationwide Building Society said that house prices, a barometer of the health of the wider economy, fell by a monthly rate of 0.7 percent, the biggest monthly decline since July 2012. On an annual ba-

sis, prices were up only 0.5 percent, the lowest since February 2013.

“It is likely that the recent slowdown is attributable to the impact of the uncertain economic outlook on buyer sentiment, given that it has occurred against a backdrop of solid employment growth, stronger wage growth and continued low borrowing costs,” said Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist.

The big uncertainty surrounding the British economy relates to Brexit, which is officially due to take place on March 29. May delayed the vote on her deal to the middle of this month after realizing she was heading for a big defeat. As things stand, it looks like her deal, which foresees relatively close ties between Britain and the EU in the

trade of goods, will struggle to win enough support.

What would happen then is unclear. Some lawmakers back another Brexit referendum while others think the country would be fine crashing out of the EU after some initial turbulence. Given the uncertain outcome of the vote in Parliament, both the EU and Britain are preparing for a possible “nodeal” Brexit. The British government, for example, is stockpiling pharmaceuticals and has bought a number of super-sized fridges to keep them viable.

The Bank of England, which warned in November that a “nodeal” Brexit could see the British economy contract by a whopping 8 percent within a few months, also

published figures showing a further slowdown at the end of 2018.

It found mortgage approvals for house purchases fell significantly in November to a seven-month low and that year-on-year unsecured consumer credit growth slowed during the month to the lowest level since March 2015.

And a closely watched survey found business activity rising at one of the slowest rates seen since the referendum. Financial information company IHS Markit and an industry group, the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, said their purchasing managers index — a broad gauge of economic activity — rose in December to 51.6 points from November’s 51.0. Though the index remains above the 50 expansion threshold, it was still the second-lowest reading since July 2016.

Manufacturing saw increased

activity, but mainly due to stockpiling by firms ahead of a potential “no-deal” Brexit that could see tariffs imposed on British exports, gridlock at ports and disruptions to the movement of labor.

Confidence in the services sector, which accounts for around 80 percent of the British economy, was at its second-weakest since March 2009, when the country was in a deep recession following the global financial crisis. Brexit uncertainty was by far the most prominent concern voiced by businesses.

“Indecision is squeezing the life out of activity, new orders, and consumer confidence and with the gloomiest expectations for the future since July 2016, the sector is moving through a dark tunnel without a speck of light at the end it seems,” said Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply.(ap)

Caruk, a Rare and Sacred Gamelan IBP/kmb

An old gamelan instrument called Caruk made its first appearance at the Bali Arts Festival (BAF) this year. The Caruk gamelan troupe from Pau Village, Banjarangkan performed music that is rarely heard, on the Amgsoka stage of the Denpsar Art Center. “The caruk gamelan instrument is estimated to have originated in the fifteenth century and this is the fifth generation of this particular gamelan troupe” explained art coordinator of Pau customary village, Nengah Sukirta. Pau Village and Tangkas Village are the only places in Klungkung where caruk gamlean can be found, said Sukirta adding that they are only played for Deva Yajna and Pitri Yajna religious cermonies.

“For Pitri Yajna rituals, caruk gamelan is played during the cremation ceremony during menek tumpang salu, menek bea and mapurwadaksina rites that culminate in the nyekah ritual. For Dewa Yajna rituals, caruk gamelan is

played during the mamungkah rite.

It is played at the peak of the ritual when the deities circle the offerings clockwise –known as murwa daksina” he elaborated.

Head of Pau customary village’s caruk gamelan troupe, I Wayan

Suendra, said that this gamelan instrument is a rare and sacred instrument. Caruk gamelan consists of two small xylophones and one saron that are always played together. “We also have an extra player so for the BAF performance

Enjoying mutton satay may have been a commonplace. Tasting mutton curry has also been too often.

But wait… what about tasting mutton lawar? Well, this is a new one, so that it must be delicious and different. This lawar (one of Balinese delicacies) made from mutton is not an ordinary yet a quite popular menu among local people and tourists. This traditional menu is rarely made. Other than having expensive ingredient, the preparation process is also quite complicated.

Warung Kakwick99 is a dining place specializing in offering mutton lawar. It is located in the heart of Kuta tourism area, precisely at Pertokoan Desa Adat Kuta on Jalan Kubu Anyar, Badung. It is opened every day. Aside from selling the lawar delicacy, there are also complementary menus such as satay, mutton soup and many kinds of drink. Each package has included white mutton lawar, white rice, serapah, mutton bone soup and three skewers of satay.

During promotion period, each portion is sold for IDR 35,000.

Then, after the promotion ends next month, it will return to normal price namely at IDR 40,000 per portion, including drinks. Meanwhile, the choice of drink consists of mineral water, bottled tea, Java ginger, sweet tea ice, orange ice, coffee, ginseng coffee, lemon ice, lemon squash, virgin mogito, blue ocean, young coconut, small Bintang beer, large Bintang beer, and Radler beer.

Made Dwi Putra Harimbawa, the owner and one of the chefs when met by Bali Travel News, stated that tough mutton along with its distinctive smell is processed to become a delicious servings. Various menus are served by using Balinese authentic spices. “With this spice, the texture and distinctive aroma of the mutton is no longer felt. Visitors will just feel the aroma of the strong spices. “The recipe is the same, but there is a touch of few secret recipes derived from my grandfather,” he said.

This calm man admitted that his stall only serves one menu package made from mutton. It happens because it has great opportunities and market demand around the Kuta area. “I observe that people here and surrounding areas are willing to come from far distance to Kuta just to look for mutton delicacies and this is an opportunity that I take advantage of,” said Putra Harimbawa, claiming to also receive orders via online motorcycle taxis.

Although it is newly opened, the Warung Kakwick99 is always crowded with visitors. Sometimes the menus have run out before the closing hour. The warung opened from 10:00 to 17:00 perhaps has been closed early at 14:00 because all the menus are already sold out.

“Although using Balinese spices, this menu is not spicy. The meat is obtained from young goats remaining to have freshness as the key to producing a different taste,” said this man who graduated from management studies. (kmb)

there were four musicians” he Suendra. Suendra added that nine different caruk gamelan compositions were handed down by the ancestors, however because the palm-leaf manuscripts on which they were written are hard to read, only five of the compositions are played. All five were performed at this year’s BAF: the Tabuh Ririgan, Tabuh Rejang, Tabuh Ombak Segara, Tabuh Panji Marga and Tabuh Manu Kaba.

“For a very long time only five of the compositions can be played because of the difficulty in reading

the lontars, but we are determined to find a way to read the others so that we can perform them in next year’s BAF”, explained Suendra.

Currently, there are only four people in Pau customary village who are actively involved playing gamelan so Suendra is eager to encourage younger people to learn to play. “The notation for caruk gamelan music is different than other gamelan so it is harder to learn. It takes many years to master.

After the BAF we will start to teach young children, which may take even longer”, he said. (kmb)

Mutton Lawar, How Does It Taste?

NIKLAS HALLE’N / AFP

Pedestrians walk past souvenirs, including postcards depicting members of Britain’s Royal Family in central London on January 4, 2019. British lawmakers will in mid-January finally vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s draft Brexit deal with Brussels, after she delayed a December vote amid staunch opposition to her plan.

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International

RLD

Gloves come off as Greek elections loom

ATHENS - As Greece enters an election year, the two main political parties are deeply polarised setting the stage for a no-holds-barred campaign.

With the ballot scheduled for October but expected as early as March, hostility between the ruling leftist Syriza party and the frontrunning New Democracy conservatives has hit fever pitch.

“We know they plan to hold dirty elections,” New Democracy head Kyriakos Mitsotakis said of his Syriza rivals in a recent speech, dismissing government accusations of kickbacks allegedly pocketed by his party while in power prior to 2015 as “savage propaganda”.

Both sides accuse each other of marshalling web trolls to spread misinformation. New Democracy says the leftists have liberally dished out well-paid state jobs to a legion of ill-qualified friends and allies.

In turn, the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras points to ongoing investigations targeting years of alleged kickbacks to conservative ex-ministers from Swiss pharma multinational Novartis and German engineering giant Siemens.

- State vs Skai -

The government has identified prominent media group Skai as a key source of what it sees as unfair criticism of its policies. In addition to frequently attacking the station’s broadcasts, Tsipras’ party is boycotting its talk shows.

Relations hit rock-bottom last month when a bomb exploded outside Skai’s Athens headquarters, prompting media group owner Yiannis Alafouzos to say Tsipras’ government was “morally” responsible for the attack.

“There is a climate that not only tolerates but often encourages extreme forms of expression in the public space,” Nikos Konstandaras, a veteran columnist for liberal daily Kathimerini that is part of the Skai group, wrote after the bombing.

“Today, the political polarisation that breeds such

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

violence is intensifying,” he added.

Brought to power on an anti-austerity ticket in 2015 after decades on the sidelines, Tsipras’ government faced an overwhelmingly hostile media.

His response was to completely overhaul the powerful TV sector and force channel owners -- who had played kingmaker between New Democracy and the Pasok socialists for over two decades -- to pay millions of euros for new operating licenses.

“In Greece, the dependence of mainstream media on the state is the most extreme in Europe, it is only comparable to Turkey,” George Pleios, head of media studies at the National University of Athens, wrote in a recent article.

- Fates entwined -

With media under the control of businessmen mainly active in construction and shipping, ownership has long been a means of securing state contracts and favourable bank loans, adds Nikos Smyrnaios, a digital media professor at Toulouse university.

“In this way, when the (economic) crisis struck, state (bankruptcy) brought about a similar fate for the media,” he notes.

Alongside the conservative and socialist parties who had ruled the country prior to the crisis, mainstream media were also discredited, argues Stelios Papathanassopoulos, professor of media organisation and policy at the University of Athens.

The anti-austerity demonstrations that helped propel Syriza to power also assisted the rise of social media and Twitter in Greece, mainly to the benefit of the left.

“The young, who at the time formed the bulk of Syriza voters, challenged the accuracy of (mainstream) media and turned to alternative networks,” Papathanassopoulos told AFP. After two years of bitter rivalry between Tsipras and those he labelled “oligarchs”, three major media groups changed hands to avoid bankruptcy, and Greece’s most powerful TV station before the crisis, Mega, went bust. (afp)

IBP/net

International

Monday, January 7, 2019

11

KPU allows campaign team to present vision-mission separately Francisco BATISTA / Venezuelan Presidency / AFP

This handout photo released by the Miraflores presidential palace press office shows Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro delivering a message in Caracas, Venezuela on December 31, 2018.

Venezuela’s assembly rejects legitimacy of Maduro second term

CARACAS - Venezuela’s opposition-controlled but toothless National Assembly declared Nicolas Maduro’s presidency illegitimate on Saturday, calling on the military to support efforts to “restore democracy.”

The United States, which has sanctioned Venezuelan officials and entities, hailed the legislature as “the only legitimate and last remaining democratically elected institution” in the country.

“We reaffirm the illegitimacy of Nicolas Maduro,” the assembly’s new president Juan Guaido said after being sworn in at the start of a new legislative session.

“As of January 10, he will be usurping the presidency and consequently this National Assembly is the only legitimate representative of the people.”

Maduro, who has presided over a virtual collapse of the economy in the once-rich OPEC member state, is set to be sworn in on Thursday for a second six-year term after elections widely condemned by the international community.

The ballot, on May 20, was boycotted by most of the opposition.

On Friday, foreign ministers from 12 Latin American countries and Canada announced in Lima that their governments would not recognize Maduro as president if he attempts to remain in office and urged him to turn over power to the National Assembly.

The Maduro government accused the so-called Lima Group of “encouraging a coup d’etat” on instructions from Washington. Mexico, which is a member of the group, withheld its support for the statement.

Guaido, in a speech attended by lawmakers and members of the diplomatic corps, declared that the military’s chain of command had been “broken or usurped,” but

called on the armed forces to support efforts “to restore democracy.”

He committed to “generate conditions for a government of transition and to call free elections.”

The US State Department said it “celebrates” the assembly officials’ swearing-in, a ceremony attended by charge d’affaires James Story.

“The National Assembly should inspire hope in the Venezuelan people for a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic future, even as the corrupt and authoritarian Maduro regime and its allies seek to deny Venezuelans that right,” State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

- Hands tied -

The National Assembly has been largely sidelined by a separate regime-created Constituent Assembly, which called the elections at a time when most major opposition figures were in jail or banned from running.

Washington, which called the vote a “sham,” refused along with the European Union and the Lima Group countries to recognize the results.

“Maduro is a usurper, an invader and should be removed,” said Delsa Solorzano, an opposition deputy.

But she denied that the call for armed forces’ support was “to carry out a coup d’etat.”

The Supreme Court, which has consistently sided with Maduro, rendered the National Assembly powerless after the opposition gained the majority in 2016.

“Nothing will come out of the assembly that can have the least impact,” said Peter Hakim, of the Inter-American Dialogue, saying it has been “stripped of power and authority.”

“Our hands are tied,” Solorzano acknowledged. (afp)

JAKARTA - The General Election Commission (KPU) allowed the presidential candidates` campaign team to deliver their vision and mission separately after the two candidate pairs had disagreed on the mechanism of presentation, earlier planned on Jan 9.

“We have decided last night. The candidate pairs can present their vision and mission on their own. The time and location will be decided by them. The KPU will not facilitate this,” KPU Chairman Arief Budiman remarked after a meeting on the presidential candidates` debate here on Saturday.

The presidential-vice presidential candidates can deliver their vision and mission as many times as possible before their debate on Jan 17.

“It is up to them, whether they want to present it (the vision and mission) once, twice, or not at all,” Budiman noted.

He admitted to it being difficult for the commission to accommodate both teams harboring different aspirations, while in fact, there is no regulation in place that necessitates candidates to disseminate information of their vision and mission.

“It is different with the debate of presidential-vice presidential candidates that is stipulated in the law,” he stated. The plan to present the candidates` vision and mission was initiated by the KPU and both pairs` campaign teams.

“That was our idea. The KPU proposed its idea, and both pairs also shared their views. We discussed this,” he noted, adding that the commission will facilitate the presentation after the two teams reached an agreement on implementing the delivery of the vision and mission.

“Presentation of the vision and mission is aimed at providing complete information on the candidates` vision and mission and not partial information, while in a debate, this might be conveyed partially,” Budiman remarked.

The Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pair success team expressed regret over the KPU`s decision to cancel the presentation of the presidential and vice presidential candidates` vision and mission, earlier planned on Jan 9.

“Honestly, we deeply regret the decision. The KPU should continue its plan on the presidential candidates` presentation of their vision and mission before the debate of the candidates,” Sudirman Said, director of the National Winning team of the Prabowo-Sandiaga pair, remarked in a statement here on Saturday.

Sudirman reiterated the importance of the candidates offering an explanation on their vision and mission directly to the public to demonstrate that they truly understand the problems faced by the nation.

“Of course, the public has the right to get first-hand information from the candidates. How they solve the problems should be conveyed and also to what extent they comprehend the problems of this nation,” he stated. (ant)

IBP/ant

Man calling for help in video is Indonesian hostage: ministry JAKARTA - The Foreign Affairs Ministry has confirmed that the man begging for help in a video that went viral in Malaysia is an Indonesian held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines.

The man was identified as Samsul Sangunim, who was taken hostage in Gaya Island, Semporna, Malaysia, on September 11, 2018, along with another Indonesian Usman Yunus.

Yunus managed to escape on

Dec 5 and had been reunited with his family in Indonesia.

“Since the first incident of hostage-taking of Indonesians in 2016, such kind of video had often been sent by the kidnappers,” the ministry`s Director for Indonesian Protection, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, noted in a short message here on Saturday.

In the 10-second video, Sangunim, in pink short pants, is seen crying while yelling out, “help me, boss, help me, boss, help.”

Sangunim was seen kneeling in a newly dug hole, while at the back, two men were pointing long-barrel rifles at him.

According to sources in the Philippines, the video was sent by the Abu Sayyaf group to the owner of the fishing ship to demand ransom for Sangunim`s release.

Sangunim was captured along with a Malaysian and two Indonesians in a fishing boat in the waters near the Philippines` Tawi

Tawi island chain.

Most negotiations to release the hostages were believed to be made directly with families or the ship owners.

According to media reports in the Philippines, Abu Sayyaf demanded 4 million peso (some Rp1 billion) of ransom for the release of Yunus and Sangunim.

They were allegedly kidnapped

by Hatib Sawadjan and Indang Susukan.

Responding to the video, Iqbal

reiterated that the Indonesian government had continued its attempts to free three Indonesians still held hostage in the Southern Philippines.

“During the process, the safety of hostages has always become our main concern,” Iqbal noted.

Since 2016, a total of 36 Indonesians, mostly ship crews, were taken hostages in Southern Philippines. Some 33 of them had been freed, while three others are still held hostage. (ant)

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Monday, January 7, 2019

Destination

International

Monday, January 7, 2019

International

Raptors rebound to beat Bucks, Warriors-Kings hit record threes

BANGLI - Puncak Penulisan Temple consists of 11 terraces and the first of five temple complex, the other temples are Pura Panarajon, Pura Ratu Penyarikan, Pura Ratu, Pura Daha Tua and Pura Taman Danu. The striking features of this temple are the bales housing the ancient stone statues and lingga dating from the 11th-13th centuries, one of which is of Queen Mahendratta.

Pucak Penulisan Temple is situated at 1745 meters above sea level about 3 kms from Kintamani, or 30 kms from the capital town of Bangli regency, on the east side of the road leading to Denpasar or Singaraja.

Puncak Penulisan Temple

Based on the old-Balinese manuscripts, it was told that Bukit Penulisan is also called Bukit Tunggal since its location is separated from the chain of mountains, stretching along from west to east, dividing Bali island into 2 parts, the northern and southern Bali. Around IX century on the peak of this Bukit Penulisan, the temple of Tegeh Koripan was constructed which is commonly called Pura Pucak Penulisan because it is located at the peak of Penulisan Hill. The temple of Puncak Penulisan, beside its location on a hill, composed of several terraces, even up to 11 terraces.

These terraces reveal the continuation of the pyramidal from of cul-

tural aspects of the megalithic age.

Its is also a complexes respectively called Pura Danu and Pura Taman Danu, located on the third called Pura Ratu Penyarikan, located on the 4th terrace also on the west part of the temple. The 4th complex, Pura Ratu Daha Tua, is located at the west side on the 1611 terrace.

The last or the fifth complex is Pura Panarajon situated on the eastside of the peak. This complex is the highest one compared to the four former complexes.

Inside of this temple complex, visitors can find stone made statues and are believed to be derived from olden Balinese period as the remains of the megalithic culture.

Puncak Penulisan Temple is one of the Hindu temples made in megalithic era. It is estimated begun to construct in the year 300 AD (the Bronze Age) and followed in the 10th century until the end of the Majapahit Kingdom in 1343 AD. The unique of this temple are the Bale building, the ancient stone statues and Lingga from the 11th-13th Centuries. One of the statues is Queen Mahendratta. This Temple is a place for worship of Lord Shiva which is the manifestation of Almighty God. This temple has a high historical value and some of the interesting points that makes Pura Puncak Penulisan different from other temples. Temple

building has two concepts where the first concept drawn from prehistory which could be seen clearly, especially from a storied building structure. The Second concept is about the construction of this temple. Temple Construction reach 7 levels heights with the first and second levels connected by stairs.

At the 3rd level there is Pura Dana and Pura Taman Dana, at the 4th level there is Pura Ratu Panyarikan until 6 level to have Pura Ratu Dahatua. The 7th level is the highest place where we can meet Pelinggih (Main temple building), Pengaruman building, Piyasan building and Gedong building as a place to keep ancient objects.

LOS ANGELES - Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam scored 30 points each as the Toronto Raptors used a balanced attack to outduel the Milwaukee Bucks 123-116 in a battle of the top two NBA teams.

Leonard was back to his old self on Saturday night following an emotional return to San Antonio on Thursday to face his former team, who bottled him up and routed the Raptors 125-107.

But he got plenty of help from a strong supporting cast as Toronto seized command in the second and third quarters and then survived a Milwaukee rally in the fourth.

“We thought we didn’t play great defence last game so we wanted to come out aggressive and pass the ball and get some more open shots and it fell in for us tonight,” Leonard said.

Siakam finished with a careerhigh 30, Serge Ibaka added 25 points and nine rebounds, Fred VanVleet had 21 points, and Danny Green 12 points and nine rebounds as the Raptors beat the Bucks for the first time this season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 43 points and 18 rebounds for Milwaukee, who came into the contest on a five-game winning streak. Malcolm Brogdon added 15 points, and Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe each had 14.

While the Raptors were trying to forget about being trounced in the Alamo City, the Bucks were coming off a 144-112 victory over Atlanta on Friday.

The Raptors salted the game away with a 15-2 fourth quarter surge which was highlighted by a three pointer from Siakam that

gave them a 110-98 lead with just over five minutes to play.

“We came out tonight with a pass-first mindset and to take open shots. It worked out, all of us had 20 plus,” Leonard said.

Trailing by as much as 13, the Bucks opened the fourth quarter with a 14-4 run and led 96-95 with 8:12 left.

Elsewhere, Stephen Curry scored 42 points and finished with 10 three pointers as the Golden State Warriors stormed back to the beat the Sacramento Kings 127-123.

The teams combined to make 41 three-pointers, breaking the record for the most threes in a contest.

The previous record of 40 three-pointers was set last February in a game between the Minnesota Timberwolves (19) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (21).

Golden State, who blew a 20-point lead and lost 135134 in overtime to Houston on Thursday, had another big lead disappear in the third quarter Saturday -- but they managed to regroup and rally past the Kings in the fourth.

Kevin Durant added 29 points, nine assists and five rebounds, and Klay Thompson scored 20 points to help the Warriors complete a three-game sweep of the season series.

Curry scored 20 of his 42 in the final quarter and also made a pair of free throws with nine seconds to go.

Buddy Hield scored 32 points on a career-high eight threes for Sacramento, who went on a 15-0 run in the first half. The Kings set a franchise record with 20 baskets from beyond the arc. (afp)

Copyright 2019 NBAE Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images/AFP

Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors dunks the ball against the San Antonio Spurs on January 3, 2019 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.

TONY ASHBY / AFP

Roger Federer and his mixed doubles partner Belinda Bencic of Switzerland with the Hopman Cup after defeating runners-up Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber of Germany in the final on day eight of the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth on January 5, 2019.

‘Heartbreaking’: tennis stars lament potential end of Hopman Cup

PERTH - The likely demise of the Hopman Cup after three decades of the unique mixed teams tennis tournament has been greeted with sadness by players at this year’s edition, with Serena Williams calling the prospect “heartbreaking”.

Swiss duo Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Germans Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s final in front of a sell-out crowd in Perth, but it is expected to be the last instalment of the event.

A dramatic finish to what was arguably the best Hopman Cup ever -- which also saw Federer and Serena face off for the first time in a historic mixed doubles clash -- came down to a single match point shared by both sides in the final.

However, the event is widely tipped to be scrapped to make way for the new ATP World Team Cup, which will start next year.

While Tennis Australia has a contract with the West Australian State Government to run the ITFsanctioned tournament until 2022, the new ATP event would make it very hard for the Hopman Cup to attract top men’s players.

American superstar Serena, who was playing in Perth for the fifth time in her career and has won the title twice, said she was unaware of speculation on the Hopman’s fate, but that she was upset by the prospect of it vanishing.

“Obviously it would be heartbreaking,” she said.

German world number two Kerber, who has reached successive finals in the past two Hopman Cups, was saddened by the news.

“I really love the tournament,” she said. “We all will be sad that it is the last time at Hopman Cup. “Playing here as a team with your partner, playing the mixed which is exciting, I will miss it.”

Launched in 1989 by former Australian players Paul McNamee and Charlie Fancutt and named after Australian tennis great Harry Hopman, the Hopman Cup has been used as preparation for the Australian Open by three decades of players and has held a unique place in the tennis world as the only top level mixed teams tournament.

- ‘Unbelievable event’ Swiss legend Roger Federer, with five appearances in Perth including one partnered with his future wife Miroslava Vavrinec back in 2002, said it would be “a pity” if the event did not continue.

“We had an unbelievable event here for so many years -- the Hopman Cup has been very successful from a player’s viewpoint,” the three-time winner said.

“The players have always enjoyed

this event, so let’s hope it continues in some shape and form,” said Federer, adding that he believed a mixed teams event was good for tennis.

“Where and how and what, honestly I don’t know,” he added.

Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, who played four times at the Hopman and won the title with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2014, was mortified by the prospect of the event disappearing.

“That would be the worst thing ever,” she said.

“Losing the Hopman Cup after losing Davis Cup and everything that is happening with the ITF, I think it’s a big shame.

“I think people, what they enjoy about this competition, is the fact that it’s mixed.

“It’s just a unique and special competition and losing it, I would be very sad.”

Zverev, beaten in the final two years in a row, said he hoped there would be a chance to atone and that he hadn’t played his last Hopman match.

“It will be tough to swallow because I will remember this as our last ever match,” he said.

“It was a great match, but we came so close and lost it, so I hope there will be many more chances to play the Hopman Cup.” (afp)

8

Monday, January 7, 2019

Monday, January 7, 2019

Plucky Kyrgyzstan go from dead goats to Asian Cup hopefuls

Paul ELLIS / AFP

Tranmere Rovers’ English defender Steve McNulty (L) vies with Tottenham Hotspur’s English midfielder Dele Alli (R) during the English FA Cup third round football match between Tranmere Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur at Prenton Park in Birkenhead, north west England, on January 4, 2019.

Alli vows Spurs ‘won’t get carried away again’ as Son absence looms Dele Alli has admitted his Tottenham Hotspur team were guilty of complacency in the shock defeat

by Wolves that derailed their Premier League title bid.

But the England midfielder has insisted there will be no repeat of that error as Mauricio Pochettino’s team chase silverware on four fronts in 2019.

That task will be made harder by the impending loss of in-form South Korean international Son Heung-min, who will be absent for a month as he represents his country at the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

But having ended 2018 with that shock 3-1 home loss to Wolves in the league, Spurs responded with a 3-0 victory at Cardiff and Friday’s 7-0 FA Cup success at fourth-tier Tranmere Rovers.

That performance on Merseyside suggested Alli and his team-mates had learnt a painful lesson from the Wolves defeat. “I don’t think the manager needed to say too much after that, to be honest, as players we were disappointed,” he said.

“We had been in great form before that and maybe we got a little bit carried away with ourselves.

“They’re a fantastic team and maybe we just thought we would win the game. But you can’t do that if you want to

win things and be a top, top team.

“You have to be clinical and ruthless in every game and you can’t afford to take your foot off the gas and we all had a look at ourselves after and we know we can’t let that happen.”

In the short term, Tottenham move onto a League Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Tuesday and also have the Champions League last 16, against Borussia Dortmund, to look forward to next month.

- ‘Unbelievable’ Son -

But after a Sunday, January 13th, home league game with a revitalised Manchester United, Spurs will face that schedule without Son who was inspirational at Tranmere where he scored one and set up two goals in a nine-minute spell at the start of the second half. “’Sonny’ leaving any team would be a great miss because he’s a great player but, at the same time, we’ve got players that have been working hard and are ready to come in,” said Alli.

“He’s obviously in great form and it will be sad to see him go but he will be back and we just keep going.”

Alli added: “I think seeing him every day in training, playing with him in games, you can see the quality he has.

“He’s an unbelievable player, with both feet, and has an eye for goals and he can produce magic out of nothing. So no-one’s really surprised to see him in this form because he is a fantastic player and has amazing qualities.

“But who knows? Lucas (Moura) is a fantastic player as well, or whoever the manager decodes to put in. It will change for different games, the team always does, and everyone has been working hard.”

Alli’s own form heading into the new year capped off a memorable 2018 in which he emerged as one of the biggest stars of the English game -- a year he is keen to build upon in 2019 as he attempts to end Spurs’ decade-plus wait for a trophy.

“As players you want to get as far into the cup as we can, hopefully win it. We want to win trophies, that’s our aim and we’ve been playing well, we’ve been getting quite far in recent years without quite having the finishing product at the end and not getting over the line,” he said. “But it’s about time for us, as players, we need to start winning things.”

As for his individual aims, Alli said: “I want to keep improving as a player and as a person as well but I’m not going to stop.

“I’m going to keep learning and try to be better than I was last year and the year before that.” (afp)

Better known for horseback wrestling, eagle hunting and dead goat polo, Kyrgyzstan are hoping to turn heads at this month’s Asian Cup football tournament.

The former Soviet republic has made significant progress since joining the Asian Football Confederation in 1994 and the outsiders warned they will be no pushovers in their debut appearance at the continent’s showpiece event.

Kyrgyzstan’s White Falcons face China on Monday in their opening game in the United Arab Emirates before meeting title favourites South Korea and the Philippines, but coach Aleksandr Krestinin struck a defiant tone. “We are not here just to make up the numbers,” he told AFP. “We are serious, competitive participants and we will fight to get through to the last 16. It is a new experience for us, but the whole country is behind us.”

An impoverished, landlocked nation of around six million people, Kyrgyzstan is fiercely proud of its nomadic traditions, many of which are not for the faint-hearted.

The mountainous central Asian country is home to nearly 20 forms of wrestling, bone tossing and a handful of ancient sports famous for their eyepopping ferocity.

Most notable among them is “kokboru” -- where riders on horseback battle each other to grab a headless goat carcass from the dirt and throw it into a goal the size of a children’s paddling pool.

Once at the crossroads of the Silk Road, Kyrgyzstan has nevertheless made significant strides in football since gaining independence in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

They have risen to 91st in the FIFA world rankings -- 12th in Asia, above Qatar, Uzbekistan, and North Korea -and are blessed with genuine talent in players such as Anton Zemlianukhin and Vitaly Lux.

Group C look likely to hinge on results against Marcello Lippi’s China and Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Philippines, also Asian Cup first-timers.

South Korea, runners-up four years ago, should prove too strong even without free-scoring Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, who arrives in time for their final group game against China.

“To play against the best teams and players is the ideal situation for our development as a team and individuals,” insisted Krestinin. “We just need to make sure we are prepared for the challenge.”

Krestinin exuded a quiet confidence before Monday’s crunch tie against China in Al Ain. “There has been so much positive emotion across our country since we qualified for the Asian Cup,” said the 40-year-old. “But our first goal is to go through the group stage. Every team in our group has the same goals. “We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.” (afp)

- ‘Nothing to lose’ -

“To qualify for the Asian Cup is a remarkable achievement for us,” said Krestinin, whose side have benefited from the expansion of the Asian Cup from 16 to 24 teams.

“It’s something the whole country has been eagerly waiting for. “The Kyrgyz football federation is working to develop the sport despite minimal support from the government,” added the Russian. “We are staying updated on the new trends and trying to play modern football.”

However, their hopes of surviving

KARIM SAHIB / AFP

The coach of Kyrgyzstan’s national football team guides a training session at the stadium in Al-Ain, ahead of the UAE 2019 AFC Asian Cup, on January 6, 2019.

Adrian DENNIS / AFP

9

Chelsea’s Spanish striker Alvaro Morata (C) gestures during the English FA Cup third round football match between Chelsea and Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge in London on January 5, 2019.

Morata hits double for FA Cup holders Chelsea as Gillingham knock out Cardiff

Alvaro Morata scored twice as holders Chelsea began their FA Cup defence with a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in a match where a tearful Cesc Fabregas appeared to bid farewell to English football.

The third round is the stage where top-flight clubs enter the world’s oldest senior knockout football tournament and has traditionally been associated with upsets.

But there was only one ‘giantkilling’ on Saturday with third-tier Gillingham beating Premier League Cardiff 1-0.

Championship side Bristol City defeated top flight basement club Huddersfield by the same score thanks to Josh Brownhill’s 72ndminute goal and Crystal Palace left it late to see off fourth-tier Grimsby 1-0.

Meanwhile second division Derby, managed by former England midfielder Frank Lampard, came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Premier League strugglers Southampton.

Newcastle were also held to a draw, a Matt Ritchie penalty five minutes from time ensuring a 1-1 result against Championship club Blackburn.

But Arsenal, the record 13-times FA Cup winners, won 3-0 at Blackpool. Both Morata and Fabregas have been linked with moves away from Stamford Bridge in the January transfer window -- the latter is reportedly set to join a Monaco side managed by former Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry.

Captain for the day Fabregas saw his poor 30th-minute penalty saved

by Luke Steele but two goals in the space of 10 minutes in the second half from the previously misfiring Morata, settled the tie.

- ‘Fantastic Cesc’ -

Chelsea coach Carlo Cudicini, taking press questions instead of

manager Mauricio Sarri, was uncertain when asked if Fabregas had played his last game for the Blues.

“I personally don’t know,” he said.

“He (Fabregas) has been fantastic for the teams he played for before us and the contribution he has given to this club and to this team has been amazing. Cesc is a top, top player.”

Cardiff conceded eight minutes from time when midfielder Elliott List scored for south-east club Gillingham.

“We wouldn’t have scored in a million years,” admitted Neil Warnock, the Cardiff manager.

Delighted Gills boss Steve Lowell, born in Swansea -- Cardiff’s arch Welsh rivals -- added: “I haven’t played against many Premiership teams before so it’s got to be the best, hasn’t it? It’s a great result.”

Southampton were cruising following Nathan Redmond goals early in each half but Derby hit back with two in quick succession after the hour mark through Jack Marriott and Tom Lawrence.

Everton eventually saw off fourthtier Lincoln 2-1 at Goodison Park as Ademola Lookman and Bernard put the Toffees 2-0 up by the 14th minute but the hosts pulled a goal back in the 28th minute with Michael Bostwick’s effort.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer enjoyed a fifth successive win since becoming interim manager of Manchester United following the dismissal of Jose Mourinho with a 2-0 win over Reading.

United, last season’s losing finalists, scored twice before half-time, through Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku.

“You can’t ask for more than going through but the way we played wasn’t the best,” Solskjaer told the BBC. Marko Arnautovic helped West Ham beat Championship club Bir-

mingham 2-0 scoring in the second minute but was substituted after 19 minutes by manager Manuel Pellegrini.

“He felt a pain in his back at the beginning,” said Pellegrini. “He wanted to continue after that, but it was not good to take a risk.”

Andy Carroll, the man who replaced Arnautovic, made it 2-0 in the 90th minute with his first goal since April.

Elsewhere, an all-Premier League clash saw Brighton win 3-1 away to south coast rivals Bournemouth.

Premier League strugglers Burnley needed a late penalty from Chris Wood to see off third-tier Barnsley 1-0.

- Bizarre build up -

Arsenal had a bizarre build-up to their tie when a Blackpool fan climbed onto the roof of the coach taking the squad to Bloomfield Road.

Eventually, after being spoken to by police officers, the man came down off the roof after some 40 minutes before he was arrested.

Joel Willock, one of four teenagers in Arsenal’s side, scored twice before half-time, with Alex Iwobi added a third goal late on.

“We imposed our quality on the game and it was good to see the young players do well today as well,” said Arsenal manager Unai Emery after his FA Cup debut.

League One leaders Portsmouth, the 2008 FA Cup winners, needed an Andre Green stoppage-time goal in a 1-0 victory away to Championship high-flyers Norwich, down to 10 men after Grant Haley’s early red card.

Liverpool, the Premier League leaders, play Wolves at Anfield on Monday. Tottenham Hotspur became the first club into the fourth round this season with a 7-0 rout of fourth-tier Tranmere on Friday.(afp)

8

Monday, January 7, 2019

Monday, January 7, 2019

Plucky Kyrgyzstan go from dead goats to Asian Cup hopefuls

Paul ELLIS / AFP

Tranmere Rovers’ English defender Steve McNulty (L) vies with Tottenham Hotspur’s English midfielder Dele Alli (R) during the English FA Cup third round football match between Tranmere Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur at Prenton Park in Birkenhead, north west England, on January 4, 2019.

Alli vows Spurs ‘won’t get carried away again’ as Son absence looms Dele Alli has admitted his Tottenham Hotspur team were guilty of complacency in the shock defeat

by Wolves that derailed their Premier League title bid.

But the England midfielder has insisted there will be no repeat of that error as Mauricio Pochettino’s team chase silverware on four fronts in 2019.

That task will be made harder by the impending loss of in-form South Korean international Son Heung-min, who will be absent for a month as he represents his country at the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

But having ended 2018 with that shock 3-1 home loss to Wolves in the league, Spurs responded with a 3-0 victory at Cardiff and Friday’s 7-0 FA Cup success at fourth-tier Tranmere Rovers.

That performance on Merseyside suggested Alli and his team-mates had learnt a painful lesson from the Wolves defeat. “I don’t think the manager needed to say too much after that, to be honest, as players we were disappointed,” he said.

“We had been in great form before that and maybe we got a little bit carried away with ourselves.

“They’re a fantastic team and maybe we just thought we would win the game. But you can’t do that if you want to

win things and be a top, top team.

“You have to be clinical and ruthless in every game and you can’t afford to take your foot off the gas and we all had a look at ourselves after and we know we can’t let that happen.”

In the short term, Tottenham move onto a League Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Tuesday and also have the Champions League last 16, against Borussia Dortmund, to look forward to next month.

- ‘Unbelievable’ Son -

But after a Sunday, January 13th, home league game with a revitalised Manchester United, Spurs will face that schedule without Son who was inspirational at Tranmere where he scored one and set up two goals in a nine-minute spell at the start of the second half. “’Sonny’ leaving any team would be a great miss because he’s a great player but, at the same time, we’ve got players that have been working hard and are ready to come in,” said Alli.

“He’s obviously in great form and it will be sad to see him go but he will be back and we just keep going.”

Alli added: “I think seeing him every day in training, playing with him in games, you can see the quality he has.

“He’s an unbelievable player, with both feet, and has an eye for goals and he can produce magic out of nothing. So no-one’s really surprised to see him in this form because he is a fantastic player and has amazing qualities.

“But who knows? Lucas (Moura) is a fantastic player as well, or whoever the manager decodes to put in. It will change for different games, the team always does, and everyone has been working hard.”

Alli’s own form heading into the new year capped off a memorable 2018 in which he emerged as one of the biggest stars of the English game -- a year he is keen to build upon in 2019 as he attempts to end Spurs’ decade-plus wait for a trophy.

“As players you want to get as far into the cup as we can, hopefully win it. We want to win trophies, that’s our aim and we’ve been playing well, we’ve been getting quite far in recent years without quite having the finishing product at the end and not getting over the line,” he said. “But it’s about time for us, as players, we need to start winning things.”

As for his individual aims, Alli said: “I want to keep improving as a player and as a person as well but I’m not going to stop.

“I’m going to keep learning and try to be better than I was last year and the year before that.” (afp)

Better known for horseback wrestling, eagle hunting and dead goat polo, Kyrgyzstan are hoping to turn heads at this month’s Asian Cup football tournament.

The former Soviet republic has made significant progress since joining the Asian Football Confederation in 1994 and the outsiders warned they will be no pushovers in their debut appearance at the continent’s showpiece event.

Kyrgyzstan’s White Falcons face China on Monday in their opening game in the United Arab Emirates before meeting title favourites South Korea and the Philippines, but coach Aleksandr Krestinin struck a defiant tone. “We are not here just to make up the numbers,” he told AFP. “We are serious, competitive participants and we will fight to get through to the last 16. It is a new experience for us, but the whole country is behind us.”

An impoverished, landlocked nation of around six million people, Kyrgyzstan is fiercely proud of its nomadic traditions, many of which are not for the faint-hearted.

The mountainous central Asian country is home to nearly 20 forms of wrestling, bone tossing and a handful of ancient sports famous for their eyepopping ferocity.

Most notable among them is “kokboru” -- where riders on horseback battle each other to grab a headless goat carcass from the dirt and throw it into a goal the size of a children’s paddling pool.

Once at the crossroads of the Silk Road, Kyrgyzstan has nevertheless made significant strides in football since gaining independence in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

They have risen to 91st in the FIFA world rankings -- 12th in Asia, above Qatar, Uzbekistan, and North Korea -and are blessed with genuine talent in players such as Anton Zemlianukhin and Vitaly Lux.

Group C look likely to hinge on results against Marcello Lippi’s China and Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Philippines, also Asian Cup first-timers.

South Korea, runners-up four years ago, should prove too strong even without free-scoring Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, who arrives in time for their final group game against China.

“To play against the best teams and players is the ideal situation for our development as a team and individuals,” insisted Krestinin. “We just need to make sure we are prepared for the challenge.”

Krestinin exuded a quiet confidence before Monday’s crunch tie against China in Al Ain. “There has been so much positive emotion across our country since we qualified for the Asian Cup,” said the 40-year-old. “But our first goal is to go through the group stage. Every team in our group has the same goals. “We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.” (afp)

- ‘Nothing to lose’ -

“To qualify for the Asian Cup is a remarkable achievement for us,” said Krestinin, whose side have benefited from the expansion of the Asian Cup from 16 to 24 teams.

“It’s something the whole country has been eagerly waiting for. “The Kyrgyz football federation is working to develop the sport despite minimal support from the government,” added the Russian. “We are staying updated on the new trends and trying to play modern football.”

However, their hopes of surviving

KARIM SAHIB / AFP

The coach of Kyrgyzstan’s national football team guides a training session at the stadium in Al-Ain, ahead of the UAE 2019 AFC Asian Cup, on January 6, 2019.

Adrian DENNIS / AFP

9

Chelsea’s Spanish striker Alvaro Morata (C) gestures during the English FA Cup third round football match between Chelsea and Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge in London on January 5, 2019.

Morata hits double for FA Cup holders Chelsea as Gillingham knock out Cardiff

Alvaro Morata scored twice as holders Chelsea began their FA Cup defence with a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in a match where a tearful Cesc Fabregas appeared to bid farewell to English football.

The third round is the stage where top-flight clubs enter the world’s oldest senior knockout football tournament and has traditionally been associated with upsets.

But there was only one ‘giantkilling’ on Saturday with third-tier Gillingham beating Premier League Cardiff 1-0.

Championship side Bristol City defeated top flight basement club Huddersfield by the same score thanks to Josh Brownhill’s 72ndminute goal and Crystal Palace left it late to see off fourth-tier Grimsby 1-0.

Meanwhile second division Derby, managed by former England midfielder Frank Lampard, came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Premier League strugglers Southampton.

Newcastle were also held to a draw, a Matt Ritchie penalty five minutes from time ensuring a 1-1 result against Championship club Blackburn.

But Arsenal, the record 13-times FA Cup winners, won 3-0 at Blackpool. Both Morata and Fabregas have been linked with moves away from Stamford Bridge in the January transfer window -- the latter is reportedly set to join a Monaco side managed by former Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry.

Captain for the day Fabregas saw his poor 30th-minute penalty saved

by Luke Steele but two goals in the space of 10 minutes in the second half from the previously misfiring Morata, settled the tie.

- ‘Fantastic Cesc’ -

Chelsea coach Carlo Cudicini, taking press questions instead of

manager Mauricio Sarri, was uncertain when asked if Fabregas had played his last game for the Blues.

“I personally don’t know,” he said.

“He (Fabregas) has been fantastic for the teams he played for before us and the contribution he has given to this club and to this team has been amazing. Cesc is a top, top player.”

Cardiff conceded eight minutes from time when midfielder Elliott List scored for south-east club Gillingham.

“We wouldn’t have scored in a million years,” admitted Neil Warnock, the Cardiff manager.

Delighted Gills boss Steve Lowell, born in Swansea -- Cardiff’s arch Welsh rivals -- added: “I haven’t played against many Premiership teams before so it’s got to be the best, hasn’t it? It’s a great result.”

Southampton were cruising following Nathan Redmond goals early in each half but Derby hit back with two in quick succession after the hour mark through Jack Marriott and Tom Lawrence.

Everton eventually saw off fourthtier Lincoln 2-1 at Goodison Park as Ademola Lookman and Bernard put the Toffees 2-0 up by the 14th minute but the hosts pulled a goal back in the 28th minute with Michael Bostwick’s effort.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer enjoyed a fifth successive win since becoming interim manager of Manchester United following the dismissal of Jose Mourinho with a 2-0 win over Reading.

United, last season’s losing finalists, scored twice before half-time, through Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku.

“You can’t ask for more than going through but the way we played wasn’t the best,” Solskjaer told the BBC. Marko Arnautovic helped West Ham beat Championship club Bir-

mingham 2-0 scoring in the second minute but was substituted after 19 minutes by manager Manuel Pellegrini.

“He felt a pain in his back at the beginning,” said Pellegrini. “He wanted to continue after that, but it was not good to take a risk.”

Andy Carroll, the man who replaced Arnautovic, made it 2-0 in the 90th minute with his first goal since April.

Elsewhere, an all-Premier League clash saw Brighton win 3-1 away to south coast rivals Bournemouth.

Premier League strugglers Burnley needed a late penalty from Chris Wood to see off third-tier Barnsley 1-0.

- Bizarre build up -

Arsenal had a bizarre build-up to their tie when a Blackpool fan climbed onto the roof of the coach taking the squad to Bloomfield Road.

Eventually, after being spoken to by police officers, the man came down off the roof after some 40 minutes before he was arrested.

Joel Willock, one of four teenagers in Arsenal’s side, scored twice before half-time, with Alex Iwobi added a third goal late on.

“We imposed our quality on the game and it was good to see the young players do well today as well,” said Arsenal manager Unai Emery after his FA Cup debut.

League One leaders Portsmouth, the 2008 FA Cup winners, needed an Andre Green stoppage-time goal in a 1-0 victory away to Championship high-flyers Norwich, down to 10 men after Grant Haley’s early red card.

Liverpool, the Premier League leaders, play Wolves at Anfield on Monday. Tottenham Hotspur became the first club into the fourth round this season with a 7-0 rout of fourth-tier Tranmere on Friday.(afp)

10

Monday, January 7, 2019

Destination

International

Monday, January 7, 2019

International

Raptors rebound to beat Bucks, Warriors-Kings hit record threes

BANGLI - Puncak Penulisan Temple consists of 11 terraces and the first of five temple complex, the other temples are Pura Panarajon, Pura Ratu Penyarikan, Pura Ratu, Pura Daha Tua and Pura Taman Danu. The striking features of this temple are the bales housing the ancient stone statues and lingga dating from the 11th-13th centuries, one of which is of Queen Mahendratta.

Pucak Penulisan Temple is situated at 1745 meters above sea level about 3 kms from Kintamani, or 30 kms from the capital town of Bangli regency, on the east side of the road leading to Denpasar or Singaraja.

Puncak Penulisan Temple

Based on the old-Balinese manuscripts, it was told that Bukit Penulisan is also called Bukit Tunggal since its location is separated from the chain of mountains, stretching along from west to east, dividing Bali island into 2 parts, the northern and southern Bali. Around IX century on the peak of this Bukit Penulisan, the temple of Tegeh Koripan was constructed which is commonly called Pura Pucak Penulisan because it is located at the peak of Penulisan Hill. The temple of Puncak Penulisan, beside its location on a hill, composed of several terraces, even up to 11 terraces.

These terraces reveal the continuation of the pyramidal from of cul-

tural aspects of the megalithic age.

Its is also a complexes respectively called Pura Danu and Pura Taman Danu, located on the third called Pura Ratu Penyarikan, located on the 4th terrace also on the west part of the temple. The 4th complex, Pura Ratu Daha Tua, is located at the west side on the 1611 terrace.

The last or the fifth complex is Pura Panarajon situated on the eastside of the peak. This complex is the highest one compared to the four former complexes.

Inside of this temple complex, visitors can find stone made statues and are believed to be derived from olden Balinese period as the remains of the megalithic culture.

Puncak Penulisan Temple is one of the Hindu temples made in megalithic era. It is estimated begun to construct in the year 300 AD (the Bronze Age) and followed in the 10th century until the end of the Majapahit Kingdom in 1343 AD. The unique of this temple are the Bale building, the ancient stone statues and Lingga from the 11th-13th Centuries. One of the statues is Queen Mahendratta. This Temple is a place for worship of Lord Shiva which is the manifestation of Almighty God. This temple has a high historical value and some of the interesting points that makes Pura Puncak Penulisan different from other temples. Temple

building has two concepts where the first concept drawn from prehistory which could be seen clearly, especially from a storied building structure. The Second concept is about the construction of this temple. Temple Construction reach 7 levels heights with the first and second levels connected by stairs.

At the 3rd level there is Pura Dana and Pura Taman Dana, at the 4th level there is Pura Ratu Panyarikan until 6 level to have Pura Ratu Dahatua. The 7th level is the highest place where we can meet Pelinggih (Main temple building), Pengaruman building, Piyasan building and Gedong building as a place to keep ancient objects.

LOS ANGELES - Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam scored 30 points each as the Toronto Raptors used a balanced attack to outduel the Milwaukee Bucks 123-116 in a battle of the top two NBA teams.

Leonard was back to his old self on Saturday night following an emotional return to San Antonio on Thursday to face his former team, who bottled him up and routed the Raptors 125-107.

But he got plenty of help from a strong supporting cast as Toronto seized command in the second and third quarters and then survived a Milwaukee rally in the fourth.

“We thought we didn’t play great defence last game so we wanted to come out aggressive and pass the ball and get some more open shots and it fell in for us tonight,” Leonard said.

Siakam finished with a careerhigh 30, Serge Ibaka added 25 points and nine rebounds, Fred VanVleet had 21 points, and Danny Green 12 points and nine rebounds as the Raptors beat the Bucks for the first time this season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 43 points and 18 rebounds for Milwaukee, who came into the contest on a five-game winning streak. Malcolm Brogdon added 15 points, and Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe each had 14.

While the Raptors were trying to forget about being trounced in the Alamo City, the Bucks were coming off a 144-112 victory over Atlanta on Friday.

The Raptors salted the game away with a 15-2 fourth quarter surge which was highlighted by a three pointer from Siakam that

gave them a 110-98 lead with just over five minutes to play.

“We came out tonight with a pass-first mindset and to take open shots. It worked out, all of us had 20 plus,” Leonard said.

Trailing by as much as 13, the Bucks opened the fourth quarter with a 14-4 run and led 96-95 with 8:12 left.

Elsewhere, Stephen Curry scored 42 points and finished with 10 three pointers as the Golden State Warriors stormed back to the beat the Sacramento Kings 127-123.

The teams combined to make 41 three-pointers, breaking the record for the most threes in a contest.

The previous record of 40 three-pointers was set last February in a game between the Minnesota Timberwolves (19) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (21).

Golden State, who blew a 20-point lead and lost 135134 in overtime to Houston on Thursday, had another big lead disappear in the third quarter Saturday -- but they managed to regroup and rally past the Kings in the fourth.

Kevin Durant added 29 points, nine assists and five rebounds, and Klay Thompson scored 20 points to help the Warriors complete a three-game sweep of the season series.

Curry scored 20 of his 42 in the final quarter and also made a pair of free throws with nine seconds to go.

Buddy Hield scored 32 points on a career-high eight threes for Sacramento, who went on a 15-0 run in the first half. The Kings set a franchise record with 20 baskets from beyond the arc. (afp)

Copyright 2019 NBAE Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images/AFP

Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors dunks the ball against the San Antonio Spurs on January 3, 2019 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.

TONY ASHBY / AFP

Roger Federer and his mixed doubles partner Belinda Bencic of Switzerland with the Hopman Cup after defeating runners-up Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber of Germany in the final on day eight of the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth on January 5, 2019.

‘Heartbreaking’: tennis stars lament potential end of Hopman Cup

PERTH - The likely demise of the Hopman Cup after three decades of the unique mixed teams tennis tournament has been greeted with sadness by players at this year’s edition, with Serena Williams calling the prospect “heartbreaking”.

Swiss duo Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Germans Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s final in front of a sell-out crowd in Perth, but it is expected to be the last instalment of the event.

A dramatic finish to what was arguably the best Hopman Cup ever -- which also saw Federer and Serena face off for the first time in a historic mixed doubles clash -- came down to a single match point shared by both sides in the final.

However, the event is widely tipped to be scrapped to make way for the new ATP World Team Cup, which will start next year.

While Tennis Australia has a contract with the West Australian State Government to run the ITFsanctioned tournament until 2022, the new ATP event would make it very hard for the Hopman Cup to attract top men’s players.

American superstar Serena, who was playing in Perth for the fifth time in her career and has won the title twice, said she was unaware of speculation on the Hopman’s fate, but that she was upset by the prospect of it vanishing.

“Obviously it would be heartbreaking,” she said.

German world number two Kerber, who has reached successive finals in the past two Hopman Cups, was saddened by the news.

“I really love the tournament,” she said. “We all will be sad that it is the last time at Hopman Cup. “Playing here as a team with your partner, playing the mixed which is exciting, I will miss it.”

Launched in 1989 by former Australian players Paul McNamee and Charlie Fancutt and named after Australian tennis great Harry Hopman, the Hopman Cup has been used as preparation for the Australian Open by three decades of players and has held a unique place in the tennis world as the only top level mixed teams tournament.

- ‘Unbelievable event’ Swiss legend Roger Federer, with five appearances in Perth including one partnered with his future wife Miroslava Vavrinec back in 2002, said it would be “a pity” if the event did not continue.

“We had an unbelievable event here for so many years -- the Hopman Cup has been very successful from a player’s viewpoint,” the three-time winner said.

“The players have always enjoyed

this event, so let’s hope it continues in some shape and form,” said Federer, adding that he believed a mixed teams event was good for tennis.

“Where and how and what, honestly I don’t know,” he added.

Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, who played four times at the Hopman and won the title with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2014, was mortified by the prospect of the event disappearing.

“That would be the worst thing ever,” she said.

“Losing the Hopman Cup after losing Davis Cup and everything that is happening with the ITF, I think it’s a big shame.

“I think people, what they enjoy about this competition, is the fact that it’s mixed.

“It’s just a unique and special competition and losing it, I would be very sad.”

Zverev, beaten in the final two years in a row, said he hoped there would be a chance to atone and that he hadn’t played his last Hopman match.

“It will be tough to swallow because I will remember this as our last ever match,” he said.

“It was a great match, but we came so close and lost it, so I hope there will be many more chances to play the Hopman Cup.” (afp)

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Monday, January 7, 2019

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International

RLD

Gloves come off as Greek elections loom

ATHENS - As Greece enters an election year, the two main political parties are deeply polarised setting the stage for a no-holds-barred campaign.

With the ballot scheduled for October but expected as early as March, hostility between the ruling leftist Syriza party and the frontrunning New Democracy conservatives has hit fever pitch.

“We know they plan to hold dirty elections,” New Democracy head Kyriakos Mitsotakis said of his Syriza rivals in a recent speech, dismissing government accusations of kickbacks allegedly pocketed by his party while in power prior to 2015 as “savage propaganda”.

Both sides accuse each other of marshalling web trolls to spread misinformation. New Democracy says the leftists have liberally dished out well-paid state jobs to a legion of ill-qualified friends and allies.

In turn, the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras points to ongoing investigations targeting years of alleged kickbacks to conservative ex-ministers from Swiss pharma multinational Novartis and German engineering giant Siemens.

- State vs Skai -

The government has identified prominent media group Skai as a key source of what it sees as unfair criticism of its policies. In addition to frequently attacking the station’s broadcasts, Tsipras’ party is boycotting its talk shows.

Relations hit rock-bottom last month when a bomb exploded outside Skai’s Athens headquarters, prompting media group owner Yiannis Alafouzos to say Tsipras’ government was “morally” responsible for the attack.

“There is a climate that not only tolerates but often encourages extreme forms of expression in the public space,” Nikos Konstandaras, a veteran columnist for liberal daily Kathimerini that is part of the Skai group, wrote after the bombing.

“Today, the political polarisation that breeds such

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

violence is intensifying,” he added.

Brought to power on an anti-austerity ticket in 2015 after decades on the sidelines, Tsipras’ government faced an overwhelmingly hostile media.

His response was to completely overhaul the powerful TV sector and force channel owners -- who had played kingmaker between New Democracy and the Pasok socialists for over two decades -- to pay millions of euros for new operating licenses.

“In Greece, the dependence of mainstream media on the state is the most extreme in Europe, it is only comparable to Turkey,” George Pleios, head of media studies at the National University of Athens, wrote in a recent article.

- Fates entwined -

With media under the control of businessmen mainly active in construction and shipping, ownership has long been a means of securing state contracts and favourable bank loans, adds Nikos Smyrnaios, a digital media professor at Toulouse university.

“In this way, when the (economic) crisis struck, state (bankruptcy) brought about a similar fate for the media,” he notes.

Alongside the conservative and socialist parties who had ruled the country prior to the crisis, mainstream media were also discredited, argues Stelios Papathanassopoulos, professor of media organisation and policy at the University of Athens.

The anti-austerity demonstrations that helped propel Syriza to power also assisted the rise of social media and Twitter in Greece, mainly to the benefit of the left.

“The young, who at the time formed the bulk of Syriza voters, challenged the accuracy of (mainstream) media and turned to alternative networks,” Papathanassopoulos told AFP. After two years of bitter rivalry between Tsipras and those he labelled “oligarchs”, three major media groups changed hands to avoid bankruptcy, and Greece’s most powerful TV station before the crisis, Mega, went bust. (afp)

IBP/net

International

Monday, January 7, 2019

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KPU allows campaign team to present vision-mission separately Francisco BATISTA / Venezuelan Presidency / AFP

This handout photo released by the Miraflores presidential palace press office shows Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro delivering a message in Caracas, Venezuela on December 31, 2018.

Venezuela’s assembly rejects legitimacy of Maduro second term

CARACAS - Venezuela’s opposition-controlled but toothless National Assembly declared Nicolas Maduro’s presidency illegitimate on Saturday, calling on the military to support efforts to “restore democracy.”

The United States, which has sanctioned Venezuelan officials and entities, hailed the legislature as “the only legitimate and last remaining democratically elected institution” in the country.

“We reaffirm the illegitimacy of Nicolas Maduro,” the assembly’s new president Juan Guaido said after being sworn in at the start of a new legislative session.

“As of January 10, he will be usurping the presidency and consequently this National Assembly is the only legitimate representative of the people.”

Maduro, who has presided over a virtual collapse of the economy in the once-rich OPEC member state, is set to be sworn in on Thursday for a second six-year term after elections widely condemned by the international community.

The ballot, on May 20, was boycotted by most of the opposition.

On Friday, foreign ministers from 12 Latin American countries and Canada announced in Lima that their governments would not recognize Maduro as president if he attempts to remain in office and urged him to turn over power to the National Assembly.

The Maduro government accused the so-called Lima Group of “encouraging a coup d’etat” on instructions from Washington. Mexico, which is a member of the group, withheld its support for the statement.

Guaido, in a speech attended by lawmakers and members of the diplomatic corps, declared that the military’s chain of command had been “broken or usurped,” but

called on the armed forces to support efforts “to restore democracy.”

He committed to “generate conditions for a government of transition and to call free elections.”

The US State Department said it “celebrates” the assembly officials’ swearing-in, a ceremony attended by charge d’affaires James Story.

“The National Assembly should inspire hope in the Venezuelan people for a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic future, even as the corrupt and authoritarian Maduro regime and its allies seek to deny Venezuelans that right,” State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

- Hands tied -

The National Assembly has been largely sidelined by a separate regime-created Constituent Assembly, which called the elections at a time when most major opposition figures were in jail or banned from running.

Washington, which called the vote a “sham,” refused along with the European Union and the Lima Group countries to recognize the results.

“Maduro is a usurper, an invader and should be removed,” said Delsa Solorzano, an opposition deputy.

But she denied that the call for armed forces’ support was “to carry out a coup d’etat.”

The Supreme Court, which has consistently sided with Maduro, rendered the National Assembly powerless after the opposition gained the majority in 2016.

“Nothing will come out of the assembly that can have the least impact,” said Peter Hakim, of the Inter-American Dialogue, saying it has been “stripped of power and authority.”

“Our hands are tied,” Solorzano acknowledged. (afp)

JAKARTA - The General Election Commission (KPU) allowed the presidential candidates` campaign team to deliver their vision and mission separately after the two candidate pairs had disagreed on the mechanism of presentation, earlier planned on Jan 9.

“We have decided last night. The candidate pairs can present their vision and mission on their own. The time and location will be decided by them. The KPU will not facilitate this,” KPU Chairman Arief Budiman remarked after a meeting on the presidential candidates` debate here on Saturday.

The presidential-vice presidential candidates can deliver their vision and mission as many times as possible before their debate on Jan 17.

“It is up to them, whether they want to present it (the vision and mission) once, twice, or not at all,” Budiman noted.

He admitted to it being difficult for the commission to accommodate both teams harboring different aspirations, while in fact, there is no regulation in place that necessitates candidates to disseminate information of their vision and mission.

“It is different with the debate of presidential-vice presidential candidates that is stipulated in the law,” he stated. The plan to present the candidates` vision and mission was initiated by the KPU and both pairs` campaign teams.

“That was our idea. The KPU proposed its idea, and both pairs also shared their views. We discussed this,” he noted, adding that the commission will facilitate the presentation after the two teams reached an agreement on implementing the delivery of the vision and mission.

“Presentation of the vision and mission is aimed at providing complete information on the candidates` vision and mission and not partial information, while in a debate, this might be conveyed partially,” Budiman remarked.

The Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pair success team expressed regret over the KPU`s decision to cancel the presentation of the presidential and vice presidential candidates` vision and mission, earlier planned on Jan 9.

“Honestly, we deeply regret the decision. The KPU should continue its plan on the presidential candidates` presentation of their vision and mission before the debate of the candidates,” Sudirman Said, director of the National Winning team of the Prabowo-Sandiaga pair, remarked in a statement here on Saturday.

Sudirman reiterated the importance of the candidates offering an explanation on their vision and mission directly to the public to demonstrate that they truly understand the problems faced by the nation.

“Of course, the public has the right to get first-hand information from the candidates. How they solve the problems should be conveyed and also to what extent they comprehend the problems of this nation,” he stated. (ant)

IBP/ant

Man calling for help in video is Indonesian hostage: ministry JAKARTA - The Foreign Affairs Ministry has confirmed that the man begging for help in a video that went viral in Malaysia is an Indonesian held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines.

The man was identified as Samsul Sangunim, who was taken hostage in Gaya Island, Semporna, Malaysia, on September 11, 2018, along with another Indonesian Usman Yunus.

Yunus managed to escape on

Dec 5 and had been reunited with his family in Indonesia.

“Since the first incident of hostage-taking of Indonesians in 2016, such kind of video had often been sent by the kidnappers,” the ministry`s Director for Indonesian Protection, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, noted in a short message here on Saturday.

In the 10-second video, Sangunim, in pink short pants, is seen crying while yelling out, “help me, boss, help me, boss, help.”

Sangunim was seen kneeling in a newly dug hole, while at the back, two men were pointing long-barrel rifles at him.

According to sources in the Philippines, the video was sent by the Abu Sayyaf group to the owner of the fishing ship to demand ransom for Sangunim`s release.

Sangunim was captured along with a Malaysian and two Indonesians in a fishing boat in the waters near the Philippines` Tawi

Tawi island chain.

Most negotiations to release the hostages were believed to be made directly with families or the ship owners.

According to media reports in the Philippines, Abu Sayyaf demanded 4 million peso (some Rp1 billion) of ransom for the release of Yunus and Sangunim.

They were allegedly kidnapped

by Hatib Sawadjan and Indang Susukan.

Responding to the video, Iqbal

reiterated that the Indonesian government had continued its attempts to free three Indonesians still held hostage in the Southern Philippines.

“During the process, the safety of hostages has always become our main concern,” Iqbal noted.

Since 2016, a total of 36 Indonesians, mostly ship crews, were taken hostages in Southern Philippines. Some 33 of them had been freed, while three others are still held hostage. (ant)

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International

Monday, January 7, 2019

Bali News

International

BUSINESS

Monday, January 7, 2019

5

With Brexit 12 weeks away, uncertainty squeezing UK economy

LONDON — With Britain just 12 weeks away from the day it is meant to leave the European Union, one thing is becoming clear — uncertainty over what Brexit will mean is hurting the economy.

A raft of economic figures released Friday showed the British economy weakening at the turn of the year just as Prime Minister Theresa May delayed a parliamentary vote on the Brexit deal she agreed on with the EU. House prices are down and business optimism in the key services sector is at its secondweakest level since the global financial crisis a decade ago.

One of Britain’s leading mortgage providers said house prices fell in December by their biggest amount in six and a half years. The Nationwide Building Society said that house prices, a barometer of the health of the wider economy, fell by a monthly rate of 0.7 percent, the biggest monthly decline since July 2012. On an annual ba-

sis, prices were up only 0.5 percent, the lowest since February 2013.

“It is likely that the recent slowdown is attributable to the impact of the uncertain economic outlook on buyer sentiment, given that it has occurred against a backdrop of solid employment growth, stronger wage growth and continued low borrowing costs,” said Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist.

The big uncertainty surrounding the British economy relates to Brexit, which is officially due to take place on March 29. May delayed the vote on her deal to the middle of this month after realizing she was heading for a big defeat. As things stand, it looks like her deal, which foresees relatively close ties between Britain and the EU in the

trade of goods, will struggle to win enough support.

What would happen then is unclear. Some lawmakers back another Brexit referendum while others think the country would be fine crashing out of the EU after some initial turbulence. Given the uncertain outcome of the vote in Parliament, both the EU and Britain are preparing for a possible “nodeal” Brexit. The British government, for example, is stockpiling pharmaceuticals and has bought a number of super-sized fridges to keep them viable.

The Bank of England, which warned in November that a “nodeal” Brexit could see the British economy contract by a whopping 8 percent within a few months, also

published figures showing a further slowdown at the end of 2018.

It found mortgage approvals for house purchases fell significantly in November to a seven-month low and that year-on-year unsecured consumer credit growth slowed during the month to the lowest level since March 2015.

And a closely watched survey found business activity rising at one of the slowest rates seen since the referendum. Financial information company IHS Markit and an industry group, the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, said their purchasing managers index — a broad gauge of economic activity — rose in December to 51.6 points from November’s 51.0. Though the index remains above the 50 expansion threshold, it was still the second-lowest reading since July 2016.

Manufacturing saw increased

activity, but mainly due to stockpiling by firms ahead of a potential “no-deal” Brexit that could see tariffs imposed on British exports, gridlock at ports and disruptions to the movement of labor.

Confidence in the services sector, which accounts for around 80 percent of the British economy, was at its second-weakest since March 2009, when the country was in a deep recession following the global financial crisis. Brexit uncertainty was by far the most prominent concern voiced by businesses.

“Indecision is squeezing the life out of activity, new orders, and consumer confidence and with the gloomiest expectations for the future since July 2016, the sector is moving through a dark tunnel without a speck of light at the end it seems,” said Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply.(ap)

Caruk, a Rare and Sacred Gamelan IBP/kmb

An old gamelan instrument called Caruk made its first appearance at the Bali Arts Festival (BAF) this year. The Caruk gamelan troupe from Pau Village, Banjarangkan performed music that is rarely heard, on the Amgsoka stage of the Denpsar Art Center. “The caruk gamelan instrument is estimated to have originated in the fifteenth century and this is the fifth generation of this particular gamelan troupe” explained art coordinator of Pau customary village, Nengah Sukirta. Pau Village and Tangkas Village are the only places in Klungkung where caruk gamlean can be found, said Sukirta adding that they are only played for Deva Yajna and Pitri Yajna religious cermonies.

“For Pitri Yajna rituals, caruk gamelan is played during the cremation ceremony during menek tumpang salu, menek bea and mapurwadaksina rites that culminate in the nyekah ritual. For Dewa Yajna rituals, caruk gamelan is

played during the mamungkah rite.

It is played at the peak of the ritual when the deities circle the offerings clockwise –known as murwa daksina” he elaborated.

Head of Pau customary village’s caruk gamelan troupe, I Wayan

Suendra, said that this gamelan instrument is a rare and sacred instrument. Caruk gamelan consists of two small xylophones and one saron that are always played together. “We also have an extra player so for the BAF performance

Enjoying mutton satay may have been a commonplace. Tasting mutton curry has also been too often.

But wait… what about tasting mutton lawar? Well, this is a new one, so that it must be delicious and different. This lawar (one of Balinese delicacies) made from mutton is not an ordinary yet a quite popular menu among local people and tourists. This traditional menu is rarely made. Other than having expensive ingredient, the preparation process is also quite complicated.

Warung Kakwick99 is a dining place specializing in offering mutton lawar. It is located in the heart of Kuta tourism area, precisely at Pertokoan Desa Adat Kuta on Jalan Kubu Anyar, Badung. It is opened every day. Aside from selling the lawar delicacy, there are also complementary menus such as satay, mutton soup and many kinds of drink. Each package has included white mutton lawar, white rice, serapah, mutton bone soup and three skewers of satay.

During promotion period, each portion is sold for IDR 35,000.

Then, after the promotion ends next month, it will return to normal price namely at IDR 40,000 per portion, including drinks. Meanwhile, the choice of drink consists of mineral water, bottled tea, Java ginger, sweet tea ice, orange ice, coffee, ginseng coffee, lemon ice, lemon squash, virgin mogito, blue ocean, young coconut, small Bintang beer, large Bintang beer, and Radler beer.

Made Dwi Putra Harimbawa, the owner and one of the chefs when met by Bali Travel News, stated that tough mutton along with its distinctive smell is processed to become a delicious servings. Various menus are served by using Balinese authentic spices. “With this spice, the texture and distinctive aroma of the mutton is no longer felt. Visitors will just feel the aroma of the strong spices. “The recipe is the same, but there is a touch of few secret recipes derived from my grandfather,” he said.

This calm man admitted that his stall only serves one menu package made from mutton. It happens because it has great opportunities and market demand around the Kuta area. “I observe that people here and surrounding areas are willing to come from far distance to Kuta just to look for mutton delicacies and this is an opportunity that I take advantage of,” said Putra Harimbawa, claiming to also receive orders via online motorcycle taxis.

Although it is newly opened, the Warung Kakwick99 is always crowded with visitors. Sometimes the menus have run out before the closing hour. The warung opened from 10:00 to 17:00 perhaps has been closed early at 14:00 because all the menus are already sold out.

“Although using Balinese spices, this menu is not spicy. The meat is obtained from young goats remaining to have freshness as the key to producing a different taste,” said this man who graduated from management studies. (kmb)

there were four musicians” he Suendra. Suendra added that nine different caruk gamelan compositions were handed down by the ancestors, however because the palm-leaf manuscripts on which they were written are hard to read, only five of the compositions are played. All five were performed at this year’s BAF: the Tabuh Ririgan, Tabuh Rejang, Tabuh Ombak Segara, Tabuh Panji Marga and Tabuh Manu Kaba.

“For a very long time only five of the compositions can be played because of the difficulty in reading

the lontars, but we are determined to find a way to read the others so that we can perform them in next year’s BAF”, explained Suendra.

Currently, there are only four people in Pau customary village who are actively involved playing gamelan so Suendra is eager to encourage younger people to learn to play. “The notation for caruk gamelan music is different than other gamelan so it is harder to learn. It takes many years to master.

After the BAF we will start to teach young children, which may take even longer”, he said. (kmb)

Mutton Lawar, How Does It Taste?

NIKLAS HALLE’N / AFP

Pedestrians walk past souvenirs, including postcards depicting members of Britain’s Royal Family in central London on January 4, 2019. British lawmakers will in mid-January finally vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s draft Brexit deal with Brussels, after she delayed a December vote amid staunch opposition to her plan.

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Bali News

Monday, January 7, 2019

International

Sambel Pangi in Purple Rice attracts tourist’s appetite

GIANYAR — Unexpectedly, sambel pangi or Pangium edunale condiment can be a tourist attraction in the culinary field whereas it is Balinese traditional food.

This condiment is served on top of purple rice, a typical dish of the Lembah Ayung Restaurant.

Chef of Lembah Ayung Restaurant, I Wayan Jayantika, when met not long ago stated that sambel pangi or in Indonesian is known as Sambel Kluek, may not be known widely at this time, especially by millennial generation prefering international foods.

But this pangi condiment is even used by one of the restaurants in Ubud whose guests are dominated by foreigners.

It is the Lembah Ayung Restaurant located in the Pramana Watukurung Resort area. This restaurant is one of the restaurants serving the pangi condiment in its mixed rice in what the so-called purple rice.

He said the sambal pangi is intentionally added to the presentation of purple rice in its place.

In addition to providing a unique taste sensation, sambal pangi is also intended to introduce the food commonly consumed by

Balinese people. “The response of tourists is also positive, many are fond of this sambal pangi,” he said.

To make condiment, several types of kitchen spices are needed, namely onion and thinly sliced chili mixed with pangi and cooking oil. This pangi condiment is then served on mixed rice or purple rice. A portion of the pangi condiment is also used to mix beef dish to be served with the purple rice. The purple rice itself also consists of several other side dishes, such as vegetable with spicy sauce, fish satay, chicken cooked in coconut milk, chicken egg and fried bean with grated coconut. “Raw condiment is also served in addition to other types of condiments,” he said.

Purple rice is a color concept of the resort managing the Lembah Ayung Restaurant. However, the presentation of purple rice uses brown rice. “At first, we had time to use purple rice from purple sweet potatoes, but the quality was not good, especially after being left alone. So, I decided to use brown rice which has many benefits for human body,” he added. (kmb42)

IBP/kmb

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Far-right Bolsonaro puts stamp on Brazil in first week

IBP/eka

The tradition of Ngerebeg or often called Makotek held every Tumpek Kuningan at Munggu, customary village, Mengwi, Badung.

Ngerebeg tradition at Munggu village as tribute to royal heroes

MANGUPURA — The tradition of Ngerebeg or often called Makotek held every Tumpek Kuningan at Munggu, customary village, Mengwi, Badung, serves as a tribute to the heroes, disaster repellent from negative or bad things, and a means to unite citizens. This was conveyed by chief of Munggu customary village, I Made Rai Sujana, at local Puseh and Desa Temple, on Saturday (Jan. 5).

Sambel Pangi in Purple Rice

Monday, January 7, 2019

International

Amid the procession, he explained briefly on the meanings.

In the past, the Mengwi kingdom headquartered at Munggu with the king named Ida Cokorda Nyoman Sakti Munggu. When defending his territory in Blambangan, East Java, before the Mengwi troops named goak selem or black crow troops departed, precisely on the Tumpek Kuningan Day, the king of Mengwi performed a meditation at Dalem Kahyangan Wisesa Temple, Munggu. The king received a revelation from his meditation. The return of his troops with victory or success in the war was then commemorated with the tradition of ngerebeg.

“So, that on Tumpek Kuningan, the tradition of raids continues to be commemorated at Munggu customary village which is a tribute to the victory of Mengwi’s royal war, as the respect for the

heroes,” he explained.

Related to the tradition as disaster repellent, he told that it was initially carried out with a spear. However, during the Dutch colonial period the tradition was banned because it was thought to be a rebellion. This tradition had not been organized for several times. As a result, outbreaks of disease or hugs attacked villagers, even many people died. This condition made some customary and religious leaders negotiate with the Dutch, and finally the tradition was allowed to be held again. However, the facilities used are not spears, but replaced with pulet wooden stick. “Since then, the tradition of ngerebeg formerly used spears is replaced with a pulet wooden stick, with the length of 3.5 meters. Based on such belief, the ngerebeg tradition serves as repellent or keeps

away from negative things,” he explained.

The third meaning of the tradition is serving as a means to unite citizens. This tradition is followed by almost all men aged 14 years and over from 12 hamlets at Munggu customary village. They mutually mingle while carrying wooden sticks and walking around the village area. When they arrive in several places such as road intersection they gather and unite the end of the stick to form the pyramid. Occasionally, one of the young men will climb up the pile of the sticks.

“So, this tradition is to unite young people from 12 hamlets across the Munggu customary village. By carrying out the ngerebeg tradition, they will definitely do positive things to strengthen the sense of unity among the youth,” he concluded. (eka)

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, came out swinging in his very first week in office, introducing changes to remake his country around his far-right agenda -but proving less ambitious than expected on economic reforms.

Many measures announced since his investiture Tuesday reflected the 63-year-old former paratrooper ’s desire to break with decades of center-left politics and embrace a nationalist vision of the sort espoused by his ideological ally, US President Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro declared Brazil and the United States to be “friends” and said in his first post-inauguration TV interview he was open to looking at his country hosting a US military base, citing regional instability from neighboring Venezuela and its backer Russia.

He also issued decrees reducing protection of indigenous land rights and the LGBTQ community, and ordered that non-governmental organizations come under government monitoring.

His government announced it has launched a purge of government contractors deemed not to fully support Bolsonaro’s ultraconservatism.

And his pro-free-market economy minister, Paulo Guedes, said the government’s number-one priority was to

tackle Brazil’s costly and unsustainable pension system.

Investors applauded the first bold steps, sending the stock market to a record high and strengthening the Brazilian real against the dollar.

- Confusion But on Thursday and Friday, Bolsonaro sowed some confusion on other issues when he spoke unscripted to journalists.

First, he spoke of a minimum retirement age that was well below what his economic team is mulling, undermining hopes that he was going to firmly tackle the pension problem that consumes a third of public spending.

Then he expressed wariness about a multi-billion-dollar planned tie-up between planemaker Embraer and US giant Boeing, sending the Brazilian company’s shares diving and calling into question his marketfriendly campaign rhetoric.

And Bolsonaro also announced a tax increase contrary to a campaign pledge.

His chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, hastily said Bolsonaro was “wrong” on the tax hike.

The other topics, however, were not fully explained by Bolsonaro aides, leaving the impression of a gap between the president’s ambitions and the ministers he has tasked with turning Brazil’s economy around.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, r e p o r t s emerged Saturday of discomfort among top military brass at Bolsonaro’s idea of maybe having a US military base on Brazilian soil.

That dissent could r e a c h B o l s o n a r o ’s cabinet, where seven of his 22 ministers are retired military officers. (afp)

EVARISTO SA / AFP

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro receives military honours upon arriving at Brasilia’s Air Base for the ceremony in which Lieutenant-Brigadier Antonio Carlos Moretti takes the helm of the Brazilian Air Force, on January 4, 2019.

AFP

A picture taken on December 6, 2018 shows an oil painting of former South African president and Anti Apartheid icon Nelson Mandela on the first floor of the Rand Club in Johannesburg.

Johannesburg’s grandest old colonial club seeks new image

JOHANNESBURG - With its imposing columned facade, hunting trophies and oil portraits, the Rand Club in Johannesburg’s city centre is a relic of South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past.

Founded in 1887 by British mining magnate Cecil Rhodes, it was the favoured venue for white businessmen and free-wheeling gold prospectors to strike deals and socialise in the hushed library or at the 31-metre-long (102-feet) teak bar, reputedly the longest in Africa.

But Alicia Thompson, a black woman born in Johannesburg, is seeking to reposition the club, which has struggled to stay open in recent years, by attracting the city’s “young hustlers” of today while preserving its heritage.

Thompson, a 46-year-old beauty business owner who is the club’s deputy chairman, said that she had faced “not one iota of resistance” in her efforts to haul the club into the modern era.

“I grew up in Johannesburg, I frequented the city and I used to see this building that I was not allowed to enter,” said Thompson.

“It was this hallowed, ivory tower and I didn’t know what happened inside. Then I attended a wedding here in 2010, and I couldn’t believe that this gem was withheld from us for all our life.”

Thompson has seen the number of full-time members -- paying $720 (632 euros) a year -- grow recently to nearly 500 after years of decline, while the numbers of student and absentee members are also up.

“My attitude to members is just to make it your space,” she said.

A life-sized portrait of Rhodes, an imperialist businessman and politician inextricably linked with racism and colonial exploitation, still hangs in a second-floor room.

But the room itself, which previously bore his name, has been renamed the Founders’ Room following an initiative by younger members.

- ‘Our history is our history’ Books from another era bearing the words “kaffir” (an offensive racial slur) and “native” still line the shelves of the library, alongside a fireplace, wingback leather armchairs and a typewriter.

“Some of our history is very unimpressive -- but I’m not a ‘fallist’,” said member Lucky Dinake, 24, a black councillor from the main opposition Democratic Alliance party.

“Fallist” refers to supporters of

the “Rhodes Must Fall” movement sparked in South Africa in 2015 by students seeking the removal of statues of Rhodes and other colonial symbols from university campuses.

“Our history is our history. Our responsibility is to learn from it, move forward, not to tear it down,” Dinake told AFP. Outside the library’s tall windows, workers hurried along the roads of the Marshalltown district while minibuses packed with commuters sped past.

Over the years, the club’s fortunes have reflected the mixed fortunes of the surrounding inner-city streets.

Unlike “clublands” in cities like London and New York in upscale neighbourhoods, Johannesburg’s city centre has grappled with businesses fleeing, rampant crime as well as derelict and illegally occupied buildings.

But work is under way to rehabilitate the area with high-end booksellers opening nearby in recent years as well as investment in public transport and policing.

“The club is becoming a lot more relevant and a lot more accessible to more people, taking advantage of our location. In Joburg, there’s a lot of renewal,” said Dinake. (afp)

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Monday, January 7, 2019

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Monday, January 7, 2019

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To market tourism 2019, Badung targets dozens of countries

Kazakhstan: Welcome to the Pleasure Dome

ASTANA - For hundreds of years the nomads of Central Asia roamed over an enormous territory that stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Tien Shen mountains and as far south as Afghanistan.

Fought over, at first by the three dzus or clans known in the West as the Great, Middle and Little Hordes, and then annexed by the Soviets, Kazakhstan remained an enigma, its vast size – roughly that of western Europe – and inaccessibility put it beyond the reach of all but the most adventurous of travellers.

The Xanadu of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem was a ‘savage and enchanted’ land of sacred rivers, caves of ice and ‘twice five miles of fertile ground’. It is almost as if his words were written for Kazakhstan whose rivers and holy places were sacred to the pre-Islamic shamanistic society that once dwelt there.

And 200 years after Coleridge wrote the opening lines, the country is itself opening up. Thousands of miles of plains, mountains and glaciers, stunning canyons and natural monuments shaped by the wind, ancient cave paintings and glyphs can still be seen – as can modern cities complete with entertainment centres and shopping malls, built from scratch in the middle of the steppe.

Astana

Astana, the new capital is President Nursultan Nazabayev’s Xanadu.

Once a quiet trading post on the fringes of the silk route, for the past ten years it has been the country’s new capital and the population has exploded as people move to the city to work and study. There’s something slightly surreal about watching a city take shape in front of your eyes, vast construction projects are everywhere and even at night one can hear the sound of building.

Last year, the President inaugurated the Palace of Peace, an enormous glass pyramid built by the British architect Norman Foster. Surprisingly tardis-like it holds an opera house and on its upper floors, there are meeting rooms, office space and at the top, a curious, blindingly white conference suite with incredible panoramic views across the city.

In keeping with the feeling of other-worldliness that permeates the

place, the glass has been tinted and giant doves, the size of cows have been printed onto the windows. At least the sky is always blue for the lucky conference goers who have to walk up through a lush ‘sky garden’ to reach the eyrie. Only the president, says our guide, is allowed to use the lift all the way to the top.

From October to April, the ground is almost entirely covered with deep snow. While this makes getting around Astana tricky enough – it is certainly not a city designed with pedestrians in mind – it is an excellent time of the year to visit. The River Ishim which runs through the centre of the city is frozen solid and plays host to a number of skiers, walkers. There are also ice fishermen who huddle under home made plastic windbreaks which cover the entire body while they wait to catch tiny fry for bait.

But the most fun with ice is surely that on offer at the free ice-sculpture park where adults and children alike take great pleasure in the massive sculptures, some of which are big enough to climb up and slide down.

Night-time, when the sculptures are illuminated (like everything else in this city where the lights are always on) is the most popular time for families. It isn’t unusual to find groups of friends playing hide and seek among the exhibits and good naturedly helping each other on the slides. Modern architecture buffs will find plenty of interest in Astana. A substantial part of the city is being rebuilt, at the president’s behest to provide space for a new capital worthy of a nation with a significant amount of oil reserves.

A vast new presidential office and the parliament have already been finished and new areas for civil servants, diplomats and businesses are planned.

Almaty

But until Astana becomes less of a building site, the jewell in the crown will still be Almaty. The country’s biggest city’s more human scale and its more varied architecture imbue it with a sense of reality that Astana seems determined to eschew.

In the summer Almaty’s wide, leafy boulevards take on a European air. Cafes spring up and the streets buzz with people. But a winter visit can be tremendously rewarding for those prepared to wrap up well.

Walking really is the best way to explore Almaty. Unlike Astana where someone clearly forgot to include pedestrians in the master plan, Almaty has pavements which one can still usually find in spite of the piles of snow dumped each morning at the roadside by the snow ploughs.

Kazakhs of course don’t seem to find it difficult to negotiate. Women in incredible floor length furs, skintight jeans and eight inch stiletto heels negotiate the huge piles of snow at the side of the road with barely a second glance. Public transport exists – for those who can master the bus system but this is still a city where anyone who can prefers to drive. Taxis are plentiful (except in the afternoon rush hour) but an informal system also operates and if you stick out a hand someone will almost certainly stop and invite you – for a price best negotiated at the roadside – to hop in.

When the Panfilov Park, the largest green space in the heart of the city is covered with a thick layer of freshly fallen snow and icicles hang from the trees, the scene is of a winter wonderland. Not surprisingly, on Sundays it is a favourite destination for families. Parents haul children on traditional, home made sledges to

feed the pigeons in the square in front of the Russian Orthodox cathedral, one of the loveliest buildings in the whole city.

Constructed entirely of wood, without a single nail, the church is a colourful confection of brightly painted domes topped with crosses that glint in the sunlight. If you are lucky, you might catch sight of a wedding party or a soberly dressed but smiling priest hurrying inside where the all enveloping warmth and the scent of candles is intoxicating.

Weekends tend to be when families get together and another popular place for meeting is the Medeo skating rink.

Only a short drive from the centre of Almaty, Medeo is a favoured hangout, especially for groups of young people and on a clear day, the location, overlooking the city affords spectacular views.

Cuisine

Kazakhs have a rich cultural heritage and the city’s museum is not to be missed. It is a vast building, with particularly good displays of ethnography and beautiful textiles from the country’s nomadic past including beautifully carved bowls and ladles for serving kumyss, the

traditional drink of mare’s milk and chubut, fermented camel milk. A few of the displays have short English descriptions.

If you fancy trying kumyss for yourself, the Green Market is the place to go. As its name suggests, it is the main source for fresh produce and is still very popular in spite of the supermarkets which have opened in the city in the last few years.

MANGUPURA — Badung Tourism Office has prepared dozens of countries as tourism promotion destinations in 2019. The program involving the Regional Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) will begin from the India scheduled for January.

Head of the Badung Tourism Office, Made Badra, claimed that such efforts are meant to reach the target of tourist visit set at 6.85 million foreign tourists and 15 million domestic tourists in 2019. This figure increased from 2018 with the target of 6.5 million foreign tourists and 10 million domestic tourists.

“Every time making an overseas promotion, we always have a target, where in 2019 Badung is targeted to reach 6.8 million foreign tourist visits. On that account, we have to work hard,” said Made Badra when confirmed on Wednesday (Jan. 2).

This bureaucrat from Kuta said the promotion program costs around IDR 20 billion. However, the consideration in the parent regional budget 2019 was agreed to reach around IDR 8.1 billion used to target at five countries. “In the proposal is mentioned 11 countries, but only eight countries were then approved. Meanwhile, the consideration in the parent regional budget in 2019 amounts to around IDR 8.1 billion,” he explained.

According to him, his office will set a target for every promotion overseas, so that the target of 6.8 million foreign tourist visits in 2019 can be achieved. “Earlier this year in the second week we are going to make promotion to India. It is still being coordinated with the BPPD to invite a number

of stakeholders,” he said.

He said that he would also work on 5 tourism villages and festivals, national and international promotion activities, capacity building and professionalism of tourism human resources, utilization of digital applications for management and logistics, development of public service campaigns about sanitation, security, digital (free Wi-Fi), public services at airport and strategic places as part of the branding strategies. Besides, it also includes the development of smart city destination, tourism village, digital tourism and cultural tourism.

Based on the data of the Badung Tourism Office, the Badung Sales Mission 2019 will be carried out to a number of potential countries namely (January) to India with the target of 408.23 people; (February) to Hungary targeting 12,719 people, Czechoslovakia targeting 1,500 people and Austria targeting 28,247 people; (March) to Germany targeting 285,740 people, Switzerland targeting 65,573 people and France targeting 283,819 people.

Then, in April the promotion is resumed to Australia targeting 1,350,337 people and New Zealand 139,854 people; (May) to Canada targeting 95,503 people; (June) to Korea targeting 248,470 people; (July) to Italy targeting 77,824 people; (August) to Russia targeting 143,291 students; (September) to the United States targeting of 297,121 people; (October) to Japan targeting 397,612 people; (November) to England targeting 378,028 people and the Netherlands targeting 160,988 people. (kmb27)

Nature

But it is Kazakhstan’s endless steppe – and the biodiversity that flourishes there that that must be the highlight of a visit. Three hours from Almaty, the Charryn Canyon is an extraordinary depression that runs for almost 150 miles. With the snow capped mountains that mark the border with China and the deep ochres and reds of the sandstone in the canyon it is one of the country’s most impressive sights. The drive follows a road that leaves Almaty passing first the last few wooden houses in the city with original snowboards decorated with filigree patterns, and then through numerous small auls or tiny villages where the most people earn their living from growing and drying tobacco. (net)

IBP/kmb

In 2019 Badung is targeted to reach 6.8 million foreign tourist visits.

IBP/kmb28

In Tabanan district, based on data from the Tabanan Environment Agency (DLH), the average volume of plastic waste per day reaches 12 tons.

Daily plastic waste reaches 12 tons

Customary village strengthened to support regulation on plastic waste

TABANAN — Bali Gubernatorial Regulation regarding the control of plastic waste has got the support from a number of parties because the high volume of plastic waste is very threatening to the environment. In Tabanan district, based on data from the Tabanan Environment Agency (DLH), the average volume of plastic waste per day reaches 12 tons. All this time the management or sorting of plastic waste is carried out by the officers at Mandung Landfill.

“Regarding the Gubernatorial Regulation on plastic waste that will be implemented in the Bali province, we will also immediately implement and of course we will coordinate with other relevant agencies,” said the Head of the DLH Tabanan, AA Raka Icwara, on Wednesday (Jan. 2).

Before the issuance of the gubernatorial regulation, Tabanan district, said Raka Icwara, had a local regulation No. 6/2013 regarding the management of household waste and household-like garbage as well as Regent’s Regulation No. 68 of 2017 and a circular from the Tabanan regent to each sub-district about intensifying waste management in each sub-district.

Separately, Deputy Regent of Tabanan, Komang Gede Sanjaya, said the new regulation should continuously be disseminated to the public. Moreover, the customary villages also need to be involved more intensively.

“The existence of garbage has been very worrying and damaged to the environment. Indeed it is required a rule to control it,” said Deputy Regent Sanjaya.

He admitted that in the future implementation, definitely he would find some obstacles due to the

difficulty of changing the mindset and habits of people who are used to plastic usage.

Communities need to be informed and start getting used to reducing the use of disposable plastic items to minimize pollution. “Plastic waste is very difficult to decompose, so that its use must begin to be reduced and switch to eco-friendly materials,” he said.

And in this short term, the efforts to reduce the use of plastic waste need to involve the entire customary villages.

The involvement of customary villages, said Deputy Regent Sanjaya, enables a plastic waste reduction program to be carried out properly. The reason is that the community will be very obedient to customary rules in the form of awig-awig (customary village bylaw) and perarem (appendix to awig-awig) so that the involvement of customary villages in handling plastic waste will be very effective.

“I think the involvement of customary villages in handling plastic waste will be much more effective because it will be followed by the community, so customary villages really need to be involved in this matter,” he stressed.

Furthermore, in Tabanan itself, there are already examples of villages having applied the rules regarding the waste, especially plastic waste with sanctions that bind villagers and other people. The village is Munduktemu in Pupuan sub-district having created a Lisa (see and collect waste) program that teaches people to maintain cleanliness and not littering. For people who are caught dumping litter, especially plastic waste, they will receive severe sanctions. “Munduktemu village is an example for handling waste that directly involves the community. This must be followed by other villages,” he said. (kmb28)

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Monday, January 7, 2019

Bali News

International

Karang Sewu Beach at Gilimanuk increasingly favored Unfortunately trash remains strewn

NEGARA - Karang Sewu Beach at Gilimanuk, located in the area of West Bali National Park (TNBB), is an interesting tourist spot to visit. This beach is not far from the Gilimanuk crossing harbor to Banyuwangi.

This object is famous for its stunning sunrise view. This is what causes tourists to come to this area.

By and large, in order to be able to watch the stunning sunrise, the best time to visit is in the morning.

This Karang Sewu Beach is part of the West Bali National Park, belonging to the utilization zone. The location is not far from Gilimanuk Harbor, approximately 300 meters to the highway heading for the city of Denpasar. Administratively, this beach is included in the Melaya subdistrict, Jembrana district, West Bali.

Head of the TNBB, Agus Ngurah Krisna K, stated on Saturday (Jan. 5) that the national park jointly manages the Karang Sewu tourist object with the Gilimanuk Community Communication Forum (FKKSMG). Previously, the

Karang Sewu area was taken advantage by the community group for peddling site, boat rental, fishermen and guides, especially to maintain cleanliness, preservation and orderliness at Karang Sewu.

The facilities built in the Karang Sewu area with a budget of IDR 3.8 billion consist of pedestrian, tourist monitoring posts, barbed wire fences, tourist docks and roundabout land mark.

To get there, visitors can pass through the Gilimanuk-Denpasar Highway. Then, just look at the right side of the road, you will find the existence of the entrance to the beach. It only takes five minutes to travel and will arrive at Karang Sewu. In addition to presenting stunning sunrise views, this Karang Sewu Beach also has other beautiful views. At Karang Sewu, there

are extensive grasslands.

Tourists can do various activities because this meadow has a flat and open soil structure. Several jujube trees also grow on this Karang Sewu Beach. These trees can be used as a shelter when overheating.

Likewise, there are soothing and beautiful mangrove forests.

A favorite selfie spot for visitors to the Karang Sewu Beach is on the wooden bridge jutting towards the sea. Many tourists take narcissistic photos at this place at sunrise.

With the beach facilities and structures owned, this place is often chosen as holiday destination for families. Children will feel happy when running in the vast meadows.

Meanwhile, parents can calmly watch children play under the shade of the trees.

As seen on Saturday (Jan. 5), many visitors seemed to come to the area of Karang Sewu Beach.

Especially during religious and public holidays, according to a number of merchants, quite a lot of people make a visit to the beach.

After the Karang Sewu tourist attraction was better organized and various facilities have been built, the operator charges admission ticket to visitors. The entrance ticket costs IDR 10,000 per person per day and ticket for car costs IDR 10,000 per day.

According to one of the entrance

ticket attendants, the ticket has been determined based on the Indonesian Government Regulation No. 12/2014 dated February 14, 2014.

Now, the Karang Sewu area has been equipped with a large parking area and gazebos.

From the parking area, you can enter by walking through the jogging track spreading quite long and turning. Then, explore the quite long wooden bridge and pass through the mangrove forest. You can get around to the rocky coastal area. On the wooden pier, you can take pictures with stunning views.

A row of exotic jujube trees, beautiful pier, several gazebos and seating are awaiting. Likewise, the Karang Sewu youth group offers several other interesting selfie spots at IDR 5,000 per person. Decorative rafts made from bamboo decorated with bamboo roots look so unique and arranged like a door or gebyog. Definitely, some other selfie spots are no less attractive.

A high Bali Starling statue is also built to attract visitors. They can also enjoy riding boats offered by groups of fishermen at affordable price. When raining, there are people offering umbrella rental including 3D umbrellas. In hot weather, it can make the atmosphere cool and anti-glare. Right when it’s raining, it is getting more beautiful as the umbrella will change and beautiful flowers will appear.

Avy, the wife of Teguh, the Karang Sewu coordinator, said that during holidays the visitors to selfie

spots can reach dozens of people.

“Even though it has just been arranged, many visitors have come to take selfie. The tariff is only IDR 5,000,” she said She admitted to only replace his husband to be in charge of the selfie spot because he was driving around by boat. “Well, sometimes we can get IDR 100,000 a day or sometimes more. If the visitors are quiet, we only get a few,” she explained.

Seeing the number of visitors, the Karang Sewu tourist attraction is still littered with plastic waste in several corners. This happens due to the lack of garbage can facilities so that garbage is disposed of carelessly. “Large dust bins should be provided at every corner. So, visitors can dispose of garbage in its place or they are appealed to care about the environment since entering the location,” said Yanti, a visitor who spontaneously picked up garbage at Karang Sewu with her colleagues.

According to Agus Ngurah Krisna, the garbage cans prepared are often lost. On January 2, his management together with FKKSMG did cleanup activities along with a group of friends and especially merchants. “As scheduled, starting from tomorrow, we will do cleanup again. Last year there were no special cleaning staff assigned at the location. This year we will assign cleaning staff responding to the high interest in tourist visits,” he explained. (120)

Trans Sarbagita bus less efficient and not on target

DENPASAR - Operated since August 18, 2011, now the existence of Trans Sarbagita (Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan) bus is getting worse. Moreover, the provincial government of Bali stopped the Trans Sarbagita bus’ route because it is considered wasteful to Regional Budget. Actually, the initial goal of the Trans Sarbagita bus was launched to unravel congestion in Bali. However, public transportation is less attractive to the people of Bali.

A lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering, Udayana University, Prof.

Dr. Putu Rumawan Salain, stated

that one of the factors causing people not to favor the Trans Sarbagita bus is that Balinese people are not interested because of poor facilities. Thus, it causes the community, especially students, to be reluctant to use the public facilities to go to school. Actually, when viewed from the permanent population of Denpasar City, currently reaching almost 900,000 people, such public transportation is needed. Moreover, today Denpasar City is developing into a city based on smart city.

Therefore, he advised the government to revive public transportation and all parties must dissemi-

nate it. If necessary, the government must make clear regulations and review which zoning can still be developed to revive the public transportation.

“If necessary, the community, especially students, are required to use the Trans Sarbagita bus to go to campus. So, there is no term to exclude public transportation because after all public transportation is needed by the community other than for breaking down congestion in the city,” said Prof. Rumawan some time ago.

Similar opinion was revealed by the Head of the Public Administration

Graduate Program at the Warmadewa University (Unwar), Dr. A.A. Gde Raka. He said the torpidity of Trans Sarbagita bus public transport is caused by the prestige culture of Balinese people that does not understand the benefits of public transportation.

Moreover, most Balinese people feel ashamed of using public transportation to go to work or to school or to campus. In addition, almost all Balinese people have private motorcycle because buying a motorcycle at this time is very easy compared to a few years before. In addition, the existence of online transportation such as GoJek and Grab is also one of the factors

causing Balinese people to prefer transportation mode of this digital age.

On that account, he said it is very difficult to get people to use Trans Sarbagita bus transportation. Moreover, the purpose of Trans Sarbagita bus is mostly not in accordance with the goals of most Balinese people in general. “This government program is very good, but the target is not right. It is effective but not efficient. If wishing, it can use minivan by targeting schools.

Apparently it is more effective, efficient and right on target,” he affirmed. (win)

 Founder : K.Nadha,  General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra  Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra.

Bangli: Swasrina, Buleleng: Mudiarta, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Eka Parananda, Klungkung: Bagiarta. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto.  Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post

Activities

International

Monday, January 7, 2019

New Menu at Artichoke at Radisson Blu Bali Uluwatu

A rt i c h o k e R e s ta u rant, an all-day dining venue at Radisson Blu Bali Uluwatu is delighted to introduce its brand new menu featuring Indonesian specialties and International favourites.

Focusing mainly on the tasty comfort foods and healthy items such as whole grains, gluten free bread and organic items, guests can enjoy the meal along with the sun and the ocean breeze at the shady arcade or the sunny terrace by the vast pool gardens. The new menu would delight any food connoisseur; there’s the Blu Power Bowl and Japanese Nori Bowl for the health conscious and the traditional and

succulent Rendang and Artichoke Mac & Cheese for those seeking comfort foods. Artichoke is open breakfast 6.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. and for lunch & dinner from 11.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m. Perched along the cliffs of Uluwatu, Radisson Blu Bali Uluwatu overlooks the Indian Ocean and local farmland, giving you amazing views from each of spacious hotel rooms and suites.

Iconic, stylish and sophisticated, Radisson Blu creates excitingly individual hotels for individual minds. We delight our travel savvy, modern guests with a genuine, inviting ambiance. We create excitement with our stun-

ning, leading edge design. And we strive to engage each and every guest through our innovative and very relevant range of holistic facilities and services, including fast Free Internet. We’ve packaged it all neatly together, with our unique Yes I Can!SM service

ethos and our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.

Radisson Blu features 380 unique hotels, open or coming soon, in the world’s most desirable destinations: dynamic major cities, nearby airport gateways and in the most sought after leisure hotspots.

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It’s a perfect equation that adds up to a highly individual - and unforgettable – 360° hospitality experience, unrivalled anywhere in the world today.Radisson Blu. Designed for you.JI Pemutih, Pecatu, Bali | Ph: +62 361 3008 888 | www. radissonblu.com

16 Pages Number 12 11th year

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Price: Rp 3.000,-

Monday, January 7, 2019

Jury to decide whether Ed Sheeran copied Marvin Gaye

CALIFORNIA - A US judge has rejected a request by Ed Sheeran for a lawsuit accusing him of ripping off a Marvin Gaye song to be dismissed.

Instead, District Judge Louis Stanton ruled that a jury should decide on whether parts of Let’s Get It On, released in 1973, were copied in the singer’s 2014 number one and Grammy-winning hit Thinking Out Loud.

In a decision which has now been made public, the judge said there were “substantial similarities between several of the two works’ musical elements”.

Sheeran, 27, denies copying the song.

His defence team argues that Thinking Out Loud is characterised by “sombre, melancholic tones, addressing long-lasting romantic love”, while Let’s Get It On is a “sexual anthem”.

Despite this, Judge Stanton said they could be viewed as having the same “aesthetic appeal”.

However, in his ruling, the judge also said it was disputed whether the harmonic rhythm of Let’s Get It On was deserving of copyright protection or whether it was too common.

The lawsuit has been brought against Sheeran, as well as co-writer Amy Padge, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and the Atlantic record label, by the estate and heirs of late producer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Let’s Get It On with Gaye. (afp)

Trump says little progress as govt shutdown in third week

Talks aimed at ending a partial US government shutdown which entered its third week on Saturday made little progress but were to continue on Sunday, President Donald Trump said.

‘A Star Is Born’ expected to win big at Golden Globes

LOS ANGELES - Box office hit music romance “A Star Is Born” is the frontrunner going into Sunday’s Golden Globes, the first Hollywood awards gala of the year -- and usually the sassiest of them all.

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Sheeran’s defence team say the songs have different characteristics.

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Monday, January 7, 2019

In this file photo US singer/ actress Lady Gaga (L) and US actor/director Bradley Cooper pose on the red carpet upon arrival for the UK premiere of the film “A Star is Born” in central London on September 27, 2018.

Tinseltown’s A-listers will strut down the red carpet for the first time this awards season at the Beverly Hilton, in the run-up to the allimportant Oscars on February 24.

Hosting the gala -- which begins at 5:00 pm (0100 GMT Monday) -- will be actress Sandra Oh and comedian Andy Samberg. As the only awards show where booze is served, the evening is usually more colorful than showbiz’s other big nights.

“It’s going to be great. I think people are ready and could use a little smile,” Samberg said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Even though Dick Cheney biopic “Vice” leads the film nominations with six, “Star” -- and its power duo of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper -- is the movie with the most buzz heading into Sunday

night, and most critics predict it will take home the coveted best drama film honors.

“We’re expecting “A Star Is Born” to take it down in the end, solidifying its Oscar frontrunner status,” industry trade publication Variety said in its predictions. “’A Star is Born’ has everything going for it including box office and critical success,” Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at industry data firm ComScore, told AFP. But he cautioned that the Globes -- which are handed out by the 90odd members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association -- are notoriously unpredictable.

“This year’s nominees across the major categories are all incredibly deserving so anything could happen,” Dergarabedian said.

This year, the Globes come

at the start of voting for Oscar nominations, and while they are not always a clear predictor of Academy Award success, they are a bellwether of momentum.

If there is a sure bet on Sunday night, it is that Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” a cinematic ode to his childhood in 1970s Mexico City, will win for best foreign film. He is also up for best director.

Competing against the Mexican filmmaker for that prize are Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman”), Peter Farrelly (“Green Book”), Adam McKay (“Vice”) and Cooper, who made his debut behind the camera with “Star,” directing himself.

For the experts polled by awards prediction website Gold Derby, “A Star Is Born” is a lock for best drama film, and Cuaron will take home top director honors. (afp)

An impasse with lawmakers over Trump’s demand for billions of dollars to pay for a wall on the border with Mexico has shut 25 percent of the government since December 22.

Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday met with representatives of Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Republican-controlled Senate, as well as Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives which since last Thursday is under Democratic control.

“V.P. Mike Pence and team just left the White House. Briefed me on their meeting with the Schumer/ Pelosi representatives. Not much

headway made today. Second meeting set for tomorrow,” Trump said on Twitter.

Under the previous Republicancontrolled Congress, the Senate unanimously passed a measure to fully fund the government until February 8, allowing more time for debate on issues including border security.

That measure was also under House consideration but Trump on December 20 reversed course and rejected it under pressure from ultraconservative lawmakers and media personalities.

While the US military and other major agencies are still fully fund-

ed, the impasse has left 800,000 government workers from other departments furloughed or working without pay.

Those on the job and not being paid include airline security officers from the Transportation Security Administration, FBI agents, and others.

The shutdown has left the Smithsonian museums, a major tourist draw, shuttered, garbage piling up at national parks, and workers concerned about

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry transports passengers on January 5, 2019, in New York, as the US government shutdown enters its third week. New York state funds are being used to keep the attractions open during the shutdown which has affected US National Parks.

paying their bills. The shutdown has also been a factor in stock market volatility.

Building a wall along the 2,000mile (3,200-kilometer) US-Mexico frontier was a central plank in the 2016 election campaign of Trump, who has sought to equate immigrants with crime, drugs and gangs.

“This is national security we’re talking about,” he said on Friday. (afp)

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