I N T E R N A T I O N A L
16 Pages Number 249 7th year
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Wednesday, December 16, 2015
‘Force Awakens’ carpet includes Stormtroopers, droids, stars
LOS ANGELES — The next generation of “Star Wars” films kicked off with an elaborate debut for “The Force Awakens” Monday that served as a proverbial passing of the lightsaber to new groups of fighters dueling in a cinematic galaxy far, far away. “The Force Awakens” premiere had familiar elements for a “Star Wars” event: Stormtroopers marched and droids rolled down the red carpet. Later, Carrie Fisher joked for cameras and Harrison Ford and Lupita Nyong’o reflected on the next phase
of the franchise. The world’s first screening of the seventh “Star Wars” film attracted a constellation of stars, including Spike Lee, Jon Favreau, Janelle Monae, Elizabeth Banks and Sofia Vergara. While many opted for chic red carpet
REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Actor Mark Hamill waves as he arrives at the premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in Hollywood, California December 14, 2015.
attire, Joseph Gordon-Levitt showed up dressed as Jedi master Yoda. John Williams’ soaring score played in a massive opaque tent that built on years of secrecy surrounding the film, which some expect to break box office records when it is released on Friday. At one point, Fisher turned the microphone on her co-star, Oscar Isaac, and conducted an interview that included her dropping an expletive. Ford reflected on the impact of the film and the role that catapulted him to superstardom. “Well, in the ‘70s nobody knew what to anticipate,” Ford said in an interview with Starwars.com. “Nobody had ever seen anything like it. Now we have to live up to what the first films delivered.” Before the film’s human stars arrived, the droid BB-8 rolled by the cameras. The soccerball-esque droid has been a popular fixture in trailers for the seventh “Star Wars” film, and it was soon joined by series mainstays C-3PO and R2-D2. Despite being in charge of “The Force Awakens” for the past three years, director J.J. Abrams seemed overwhelmed by the magnitude of the premiere. “It’s very surreal. I’ve never seen
mation and “intentional infliction of emotional distress,” staunchly rejects the sex assault allegations that have derailed his career and sullied his once sterling reputation. “Mr. Cosby states plainly that he neither drugged nor sexually assaulted the defendants, and that each defendant has maliciously and knowingly published multiple false statements and accusations” against him, the statement said. The allegations of rape and sex assault
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Wednesday, December 16, 2015 India worries it compromised too much on climate treaty Page 6
Vardy and Mahrez tip of Leicester’s iceberg Page 8
Saudi Arabia forms Islamic counterterrorism coalition Page 13
Alarming, black stone still being stolen from Mt. Batur
REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Actors Billy Dee Williams (L) and Harrison Ford arrive at the premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in Hollywood, California December 14, 2015. this kind of thing,” he told Starwars. com. “It’s insane. I feel enormously guilty for this community, this neighborhood.” The carpet melded classic “Star Wars” figures with the new generation that will carry the weight of two more sequels, video games, comic books, toys and other merchandise.
Abrams and Lucas posed together for photos, and both men took time to chat with fans before heading into the premiere. Original trilogy cast members Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams attended, as did series newcomers Max von Sydow, Gwendolyn Christie, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. (ap)
Bill Cosby sues seven sex assault accusers
NEW YORK - Disgraced TV icon Bill Cosby, who allegedly used his celebrity over the years to sexually assault more than 50 women, has filed a defamation suit against seven of his accusers, his attorney said Monday. The famed comedian, 78, once among America’s biggest television stars, filed suit in a court in Springfield, Massachusetts, his attorney Monique Pressley said in a statement. Cosby’s suit, accusing the women of defa-
WEATHER FORECAST 23 - 32 Dps
were part of “an effort to cause damage to Mr. Cosby’s reputation and to extract financial gains” from him, the attorney charged. Pressley added that the allegations have caused “significant and lasting discredit” to the actor’s reputation. The suit does not seek specific damages, but asks that the court impose the maximum monetary sanctions allowed by law. The seven women named in the suit were Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, Linda
Traitz, Louisa Moritz, Barbara Bowman, Joan Tarshis and Angela Leslie, Pressley said. Meanwhile, Boston University on Monday became the latest of several universities to revoke an honorary degree awarded to the actor as a result of the scandal. Cosby has been a star standup comedian and celebrity television pitchman for decades, but attained his greatest fame for his role as the lovable family doctor and pater familias in the hit 1980s sitcom “The Cosby Show.” (afp)
AP Photo, File
In this July 30, 2015, file photo, a fireman talks on his walkie talkie as he and his team battle peatland fire on a field in Pemulutan, South Sumatra, Indonesia. Indonesia’s economy took a $16-billion hit this year from forest fires that cloaked Southeast Asia in haze, more than double the sum spent on rebuilding Aceh after the 2004 tsunami, the World Bank said Tuesday.
MOUNT Batur in Kintamani is one of the mountains of Bali’s that is well known amongst travellers as a beautiful place for hiking and enjoying the verdant view. Located just 45 minutes from the town of Bangli, the air here is fresh and cool and Mt. Batur is one of the attractions that the district of Bangli is most proud of. Unfortunately, on the occasion of International Mountain Day, Friday (Dec. 11), it came to the attention of the public that Mount Batur -that currently holds the status of ‘geopark’, still faces a number of issues. As one enters the area of Penelokan, Mount Batur becomes clearly visible, and at first glance the surface of the mountain looks very beautiful covered as it is with black stone and sand that give the impression of a variety of colours. Naturally many people are attracted to this mountain and find it hard to leave. Visitors are also brought a lot of peace by the lapping waves of Lake Batur, located at the foot of the mountain. Its bluish green colour invariably dazzles visitors. However once the visitor takes a closer look, the beauty that they glimpsed from a distance soon turns into something else altogether. Continue to page 2 Geosite ...
Fires cost Indonesia $16 billion, twice the tsunami bill
JAKARTA - Indonesia’s economy took a $16-billion hit this year from forest fires that cloaked Southeast Asia in haze, more than double the sum spent on rebuilding Aceh after the 2004 tsunami, the World Bank said Tuesday. The fires and resulting haze are an annual occurrence caused by slash-and-burn land clearance. But the blazes in 2015 were the worst for some years, causing air quality to worsen dramatically and many to fall ill across the region. In a quarterly update on the Indonesian economy, the World Bank said the fires had devastated 2.6 million hectares (6.4 million acres) of forest and farmland across the
archipelago from June to October. The cost to Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is estimated at 221 trillion rupiah ($16.1 billion), equivalent to 1.9 percent of predicted GDP this year, it said. In contrast, it cost $7 billion to rebuild Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh after it was engulfed 11 years ago by a quaketriggered tsunami, with the loss of tens of thousands of lives, the
bank said. “The economic impact of the fires has been immense,” said World Bank Indonesia country director Rodrigo Chaves. Fire has long been a popular way of quickly and cheaply clearing land on Indonesia’s Sumatra island and the Indonesian part of Borneo, to make way for lucrative palm oil plantations. But the fires burn out of control and produce noxious haze during the months-long dry season, particularly when started on carbonrich peatland. The World Bank said that if every hectare burned in 2015
were converted to palm oil, the value would be about $8 billion. Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of the oil, used in numerous everyday goods from biscuits to shampoo. “So on the one hand 16 billion dollars cost to the public, on the other hand, eight billion dollars -- lots of money -- to a handful of individuals,” said World Bank environmental specialist Ann Jeannette Glauber. The estimated costs are based on an analysis of the types of land burned and take into account the impact on agriculture, forestry,
trade, tourism and transportation, as well as short-term effects of the haze such as school closures and on health. More than half a million people suffered acute respiratory infections in Indonesia, while many in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia also fell ill. (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.