Edition Tuesday, January 16, 2018 | International Bali Post

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

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

16 Pages Number 30 10th year

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Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Japanese pop group chants cryptocurrency choruses TOKYO - A Japanese pop group hopped on the bitcoin bandwagon on Friday, dedicating themselves to singing and dancing about the cryptocurrencies that have taken the world by storm, and especially their homeland. In their debut, the eight “Virtual Currency Girls”, or Kasotsuka Shojo in Japanese, cavorted in maid costumes with frilly skirts and fullface professional wrestling-style masks with fuzzy pom-pom ears, extolling the virtues of decentralised digital currencies such as bitcoin. “They’re so convenient you kind of have to wonder why we didn’t have them before,” said Rara Naruse, 18, the group’s leader. “We want everyone to learn more about them.” Each group member adopted the guise of a different cryptocurrency, offering a brief self-introduction to 20 fans gathered at the venue in downtown Tokyo. Then they launched into “The Moon, Cryptocurrencies and Me”, a stirring anthem incorporating lines such as “Be careful about

your password! Don’t use the same one!” to warn against the dangers of trading cryptocurrency, and also more obscure ones, in English, such as “Hot day, forget myself, go to the moon.” Naruse emphasized on the group’s website that it is not out to promote investment, but rather to teach people about cryptocurrencies in an entertaining way. The maid costumes aimed to raise the group’s popularity with the use of a globally recognisable “uniform,” she added. Naturally, all merchandise sold at the venue is paid for in bitcoin, as are concert tickets and the members’ salaries. “I know absolutely nothing about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but I want to make sure I have some on hand for further concerts and to buy merchandise,” said fan Kensaku Nagao, 46. Japan and South Korea are home to some of the bigger digital exchanges, with investors piling in as growth in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies soared last year, provoking regulators’ concerns. (rtr)

REUTERS

Members of Japan’s idol group “Virtual Currency Girls”.

Cast member Dwayne Johnson attends a news conference promoting his new film “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” in Beijing, China, January 4, 2018.

‘Jumanji’ Dominates MLK Weekend, ‘The Post’ Leads Newcomers REUTERS/Jason Lee

LOS ANGELES - Sony’s “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” is dominating the North American box office to easily win the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend with about $33.4 million at 3,849 sites, estimates showed Sunday. Fox’s “The Post” is leading the rest of the pack handily and topped forecasts with $22.2 million at 2,819 locations for FridayMonday after expanding from 36 sites. The opening of Lionsgate’s Liam Neeson’s thriller “The Commuter” also topped expectations in third place with $16 million at 2,892 venues. The fifth weekend of DisneyLucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” with $14.7 million at 3,090 sites is fourth and Fox’s fourth weekend of “The Greatest Showman” with $14.5 million at 2,938 screens takes fifth place at the holiday box office. Warner. Bros.’ launch of family comedy “Paddington 2” was battling for sixth place with Uni-

versal’s second weekend of “Insidious: The Last Chapter” with about $14.1 million each. Sony’s launch of action-thriller “Proud Mary” came in eighth with $12 million at 2,125 sites followed by Universal’s fourth weekend of “Pitch Perfect” with $6.7 million at 2,505 sites and Focus Features’ eighth weekend of “Darkest Hour” with $5.7 million at 1,693 venues. Overall business was solid rather than spectacular with a fourday total in the $190 million range, according to comScore. “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” which will finish the holiday with nearly $290 million in 29 days, now ranks as the eighth highest grosser released in 2017. “’Jumanji’ has in essence hit

the reset button and is now behaving more like a film in its second weekend rather than its fourth,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore. “In the wake of a startling late run ascension to the number one spot, ‘Jumanji’ continues to energize the early 2018 box office marketplace while this weekend taking on a host of wide release newcomers.” Disney noted Sunday that “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” had reached a worldwide total of $1.264 billion, topping Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” ($1.263 billion) and Universal’s “The Fate of the Furious” ($1.236 billion) to become the top global release of 2017 and the tenth-highest global release of all time. (rtr)

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Tuesday, January 16, 2018

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Antara Foto/Elo via REUTERS

Workers and security examine the damage after a mezzanine floor collapsed at the Indonesia Stock Exchange building in Jakarta, Indonesia January 15, 2018 in this photo taken by Antara Foto.

Scores injured as Indonesia stock exchange building lobby floor collapses

JAKARTA - A mezzanine floor overlooking the main lobby of the Indonesian Stock Exchange building collapsed on Monday, injuring scores of people, many of them students, under slabs of concrete and other debris. The high-rise building, constructed in the late 1990s, is part of a twotower complex in the heart of the financial district and houses dozens of other offices including the World Bank. It was the target of a car bombing by Islamist militants in September 2000. Police ruled out a bomb as a cause of Monday’s collapse. They said more than 70 people had been injured, but no deaths had been reported. Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan visited the site and said the city will “audit the building”, which was last inspected by authorities in May. “I have conveyed to the building’s management that the audit of the construction should start tonight so that the activities of the

stock exchange are not disturbed,” Baswedan told reporters. Safety standards are often loosely enforced in Indonesia. Last year, a fire that ripped through a fireworks factory on the outskirts of Jakarta killed around 50 people in one of the country’s worst industrial accidents. A police investigation found multiple safety violations. Many of the injured were university students who were on the mezzanine floor when it collapsed.

“There was a rumbling noise but it wasn’t an explosion. It was like something had fallen, and suddenly the floor we were standing on fell away,” said student Alfita, 20, who uses one name. She escaped with light bruises. Dramatic CCTV footage aired on television showed a floor shearing away in a matter of seconds under the students. Reuters could not immediately authenticate the video. “Slabs of concrete started to

fall, there was lots of dust. Water pipes had burst,” said Megha Kapoor, who works in the building and was in the lobby at the time. Police cordoned off the complex as people fled the building and the more seriously injured were taken away by stretcher. Triana Tambunan, business development manager at MRCC Siloam hospital, one of the hospitals near the building, said 30 people had been admitted so far. Victims were being treated at four hospitals. “The bone fractures may be serious. We need to carry out further evaluations,” she said, adding there were at least three suspected fractures.

Stock exchange president director Tito Sulistio said the exchange would pay for the treatment of the visiting students. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said she hoped the collapse would not affect investor confidence in the tropical Southeast Asian archipelago. The exchange resumed business in the afternoon as per schedule. (rtr) 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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