Edition Tuesday, February 20, 2018 | Internasional Bali Post

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 54 10th year

Price: Rp 3.000,-

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

‘Black Panther’ Smashes Records With $218 Million at Holiday Weekend Box Office

e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018 Members of emergency and rescue team search for the plane that crashed in a mountainous area of central Iran, February 19, 2018.

LOS ANGELES - Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther” is heading for a super-heroic $218 million debut over the four-day President’s Day weekend at 4,020 North American locations, estimates showed Sunday.

That number means that “Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman and directed by Ryan Coogler, has doubled its original tracking in less than a month.

The film, which carries an estimated $200 million production cost, had been tracking to bring in between an impressive $100 and $120 million when first estimates emerged on Jan. 25. Since then, “Black Panther” has become a must-see movie for many moviegoers, underlined when Thursday previews brought in $25.2 million, the largest Thursday night preview gross for a February opener and the secondlargest preview gross for a Marvel film.

The film’s estimated three-day gross of $192 million is the highest debut ever for a February film and the fifth highest of all time. Combined with an estimated international debut of $169 million from 69 percent of the international market, the estimated global debut stands at $361 million through Sunday.

“Black Panther” has demolished the record for the largest Presidents Day weekend, blowing past “Deadpool’s” 2016 mark of $152 million. Overall

North American moviegoing for the four-day period should hit $300 million -- far above the $278 million mark in 2016, according to comScore.

“This is proof that the big screen experience may arguably be the most powerful platform of change in our society,” said Paul Dergarabedian,” senior media analyst with comScore. “The emotional, communal, immersive and bigger than life theatrical experience has an impact that virtually no other medium can match.”

Comscore’s PostTrak survey of the audience showed outstanding numbers with 77 percent rating “Black Panther” as “excellent” and another 18 percent as “very good.”

Boseman portrays King T’Challa, ruler of Wakanda, a technologically advanced society, who conflicts with Michael B. Jordan’s Eric Killmonger, who intends to take over the throne. Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, and Daniel Kaluuya also star. It’s received an A+ CinemaScore, the only Marvel film to have done so besides 2012’s “The Avengers.” (rtr)

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

A group of men gather in front of a poster advertising the film “Black Panther” on its opening night of screenings at the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 cinemas in Manhattan, New York, U.S., February 15, 2018.

‘Three Billboards’ leads the pack at politically edged BAFTA awards

REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Martin McDonagh, Peter Czernin, Sam Rockwell and Graham Broadbent, pose with Frances McDormand, as they hold their trophies for Best Film for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri’ at the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Britain February 18, 2018.

LONDON - Dark comedy “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” was the biggest winner at the BAFTA Film Awards, held in London on Sunday, an event which saw the campaign for women’s rights in the entertainment industry take centre stage.

“Three Billboards” won five awards, including best film, best actress for its lead performer Frances McDormand and a supporting actor award for Sam Rockwell. Writerdirector Martin McDonagh also won for the film’s original screenplay.

The U.S.-set film also won the best British film honours, qualifying on the basis of its creative team and the companies involved in producing it, many of whom are British.

Though “Three Billboards” took home the most trophies, it did not dominate proceedings, with a number of critically well-received films also garnering recognition.

Mexican director Guillermo del Toro took the directing honours for his fantasy “The Shape of Water,” Gary Oldman took the top male acting prize for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour,” and Allison Janney was honoured for her supporting turn in “I, Tonya.”

Pixar animation “Coco” won for best animated film, while Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” won for best sound, and Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver” won for editing. Daniel Kaluuya, the British star of “Get Out” took the rising star award.

The “Time’s Up” campaign against sexual misconduct was a recurring theme throughout the evening. Many of the female attendees wore black outfits in a gesture of protest.

In his acceptance speech, McDonagh expressed the hope that such protests would bring about change.

“Our film is a hopeful one in lots of

ways but it’s also an angry one, and as we’ve seen this year, sometimes anger is the only way to get people to listen and to change, so we’re thrilled that BAFTA has recognised this,” he said.

In addition, many in attendance wore badges citing the campaign against sexual harassment, while honourees and presenters, including Sam Rockwell and British actress Lily James expressed support for the movement.

The night’s biggest female winner, McDormand, did not join in the sartorial protest, saying in her acceptance speech that though she supported the movement, she had “a little trouble with compliance.”

Other notable winners included cinematographer Roger Deakins, who won for his work on “Blade Runner 2049.” Deakins is also nominated at next month’s Academy Awards for his work on the film. (rtr)

You can find International Bali Post at: 1 Kuta Beach Club Jl. Bakung Sari Kuta 2 Wen Dys Kuta the Coffe Bear Jl. Pantai Kuta 3 Seminyak Paradiso Bali Hotel Jl. Camplung Tanduk 4 Ramayana Resort&Spa Jl. Bakung Sari Kuta 5 The Lokha Legian Resort&Spa Jl. Padma Legian Kuta 6 66 Corner Live Sport Emtertaiment Jl. Doble Six/Werkudara 23 7 Leghawa Grill Jl. D.Tamblingan No. 51 8 Retno Barr dan Restoran Jl. D.Tamblingan No.126 A Sanur 9 Elkomedor Jl. D.Tamblingan 140

10 Malaika Scret 11 Snack Shack 12 Warung Lokal 13 Cokro Cafee 14 T.J.Bar 15 J & N Kebab 16 Goanna Bar 17 Batu Jimbar 18 Ramayana Cafee

Jl. D.Poso No 68 Jl. D.Poso No. 50D Jl. D.Poso No. 39 Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur Jl. D.Tamblingan

19 Smirnof Cafee Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 20 Legwa Hotel Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 21 Nu Laser Cafee Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 22 Ganesa Book Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 23 All For Daiving Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 24 Barocca Jl.Petitenget 17 DKerobokan 25 Lantern Jl.Petitenget 17E Kerobokan 26 Shearlock Jl.Petitenget 17C Kerobokan Klod 27 Cafe Degan Jl.Petitenget 9 Kerobokan Klod

28 Kopi Made Jl. Raya Puputan No. 106 Dps 29 Dimsum Manan Jl. Raya Niti Mandala Renon No 148 30 Furama Jl. Raya Niti Mandala No. 148 Renon 31 Warung Subah Renon Jl. Mohamad Yamin No.18 32 Ayam Betutu khas Gilimanuk Jl. Merdeka No.88 Renon 33 Bali Bakery Jl. Hayam Wuruk 184 Denpasar

Iran cannot confirm missing plane found, freeze hampers search

REUTERS/Tasnim News Agency

LONDON - The wreckage of an Iranian plane that crashed with 65 people on board was found in central Iran, state media said on Monday, but aviation authorities could not confirm the report. The Aseman Airlines flight from Tehran disappeared from radar screens on Sunday 50 minutes into its journey to the southwestern city of Yasuj. It is believed to have gone down in a mountainous area near the town of Semirom. No one is expected to have survived.

The deputy governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province was quoted by state media as saying the wreckage was found near Dengezlu city, in Semirom county, in Isfahan province. A few minutes later, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation said it could not confirm the wreckage had been discovered.

“We are facing a total enigma.

We do not know anything about the crash,” Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency shortly after his arrival in Semirom.

Iran asked European countries and China to help the search with satellite imagery, Iranian Space Agency deputy head Mojtaba Saradeghi was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

A member of the Red Crescent rescue team was quoted as saying

by ISNA news agency that “a dark spot” had been seen near Dengezlu village that “might be a trace to the crashed plane”. ISNA did not elaborate.

GLACIAL TEMPERATURES Glacial temperatures and moun-

tainous terrain hampered rescue teams. Helicopters and mountain rescue personnel from the armed forces and the Red Crescent, as well as local volunteers, were involved in the search, state television reported. “Five units started the search operation in the early hours of the morning, in -16 degrees,” a local Red Crescent official was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency, reporting minus 16 degrees Celsius or 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Military reconnaissance drones were also searching the area. The

twin-engined turboprop ATR 72 was just over 24 years old. According to data cited by the Flight Safety Foundation’s aviation-safety. net website, it had been restored to service just three months ago after being in storage for six years.

Planemaker ATR said the cause of the accident was not yet known.

Based in the French city of Toulouse, ATR is a joint venture between Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo.

Iran has suffered several plane crashes in the past few decades.

Tehran blames U.S. sanctions for preventing it from importing new aircraft or spare parts. A deal with world powers on Iran’s nuclear programme has lifted some of those sanctions, opening the way for Iranian airlines to update their fleets.

Aseman signed a deal last year

to buy at least 30 Boeing 737 MAX jets. National carrier Iran Air has ordered 80 planes from Boeing and 100 from Airbus. A Boeing 727 plane crashed in northwestern Iran in 2011, killing 78 people, and a Caspian Airlines Tupolev bound for Armenia crashed in 2009, killing 168. In February 2003, an Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed in southeast Iran, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew. (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.

2

Bali News

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

More Chinese tourists arriving via Ngurah Rai Airport

MANGUPURA - The number of Chinese tourists arriving through Ngurah Rai airport has been increasing as regular flight schedules and chartered flights return to normal.

As reported by Communication and Legal Section Head of Ngurah Rai Airport, Ari Ahsanurrohim, during the period of the Lunar New Year, there were 53 flights to and from China per day (26 outgoing and 27 incoming). “This includes both regular flights and chartered flights”, he said.

Ahsanurrohim explained that the chartered flight are offered by Sriwijaya Air, Citilink and Lion Air, while regular flights are run by China Eastern, China Southern, China Airlines, Garuda and Eva Air. If there are not enough passengers however, these airlines will not operate their flights.

Although the flight schedules are back to normal, there are still 7 percent less Chinese tourists arriving than this time last year. In January 2017 the average number of Chinese tourist arrivals was 115,000 people, whereas January of these year saw 107, 000 Chinese passengers arriving. “The 7 percent decrease is for both incoming and outgoing flights”, he added.

These decrease he explained is due to the reduced

Tourism in Tulamben starts to revive

number of passengers on chartered flights. In the past these flights were 90 percent full but now they are only 60-70 percent full. |”We can say that things are back to normal but currently the numbers are still slightly down from last year. The eruption of Mount Agung is still having an impact”, he said.

For Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year, Ngurah Rai Airport provided a special performance for passengers with the theme “Lovely Chinese New Year”.

Ngurah Rai Airport’s management decorated the airport with romantic Valentine’s hearts and oriental nuanced decorations for the Year of the Dog. This included a Chinese Doll Diorama, a Chinese Photo-booth with a mei hua tree and leaves shaped into a heart along with typical Chinese lanterns with a touch of pink for Valentine’s day. Between February 14-18 there were also a number of activities such a the Valentine Lucky Shop, Barongsai Performance, Games and and live music at the international and domestic terminals.

Arriving passengers were welcomed with a Lion Dance, while those departing were treated to some live jazz. “We provide this entertainment for the departing passengers as they wait for their boarding call, so that they are not bored and leave Bali with a unforgettable memories”, added Arie. (kmb23)

IBP/file

Chinese tourists are arrving in Bali

Tulamben, Karangasem, is known as a tourist attraction with great diving and snorkelling. Tourism businesses in Tulamben are feeling optimistic these days as tourism starts to revive following the eruption of Mount Agung. Hotel occupancy rates have increased by about 30 percent with a majority of tourists coming from China.

Manager of Ocean View Tulamben Dive and Resort, Sita Marlina, said on Friday (Feb. 16) that Tulamben has beautiful underwater coral but that tourism has been slow slow since the alert warning for Mount Agung was raised to warning on September 22, 2017 but that this month tourists have started returning to this beautiful location.

“Currently, conditions are improving. Normally occupancy rates are in the range of 70 percent in January and Febuary, and we have been seeing about 30 percent more tourists”, she said.

Since the beginning of the year, there has been a 30 percent increase in the number of tourists visiting Tulamben, 2 thirds are from China and the rest from Russia. This is very different than in September and October when many places were fully booked but suddenly everyone cancelled.

“At that time, there was a lot of panic because it was the first time that Mount Agung had shown sign of activity since it erupted in the 60’s. This panic could be seen by the the tourist cancelling their reservations –especially tourists from turkey as there are no volcanoes in Turkey”, explained Marlina.

Occupancy rates plummeted, she said. In September most hotels were 90 percent full, but in October there were no tourists at all. IN November there was 60 percent occupancy and then in December again no tourists. Since the start of the year, things are getting better with the previously mentioned 30 percent increase in tourist visits, even though normally there are more tourists than that. “Oddly enough, January and February are actually considered to be the low season and July to November the high season”, she said.

Marlina and others like here continue to do promotion especially online related to the latest condition of Mount Agung, explaining that things in Bali and Tuamben in particular are fine.

There has been a lot of misinformation about about eh impact of Mount Agung. Marlina is offering 50 percent discounts until the end of March.

Visitors from the Netherlands and Germany, Margriet van Dijken and Sarah Krüger, whle visiting Tulamben for the first time said that they did not know anything about Mount Agung and that they were very happy to come and enjoy the underwater attractions and pleasant atmosphere of the area.

They both said that they would tell everyone back home that Bali is safe and that tourism in Tulamben is running as usual again. (kmb42)

Timpag village revives owl population plans to become tourism village

TABANAN - Timpag village wants to become a tourism village offering beautiful views of paddy fields as well as other more rare attractions like the Tyto Alba owls that call Timpag village home..

Headman of Timpag, I Gusti W. Sukewahana, said that in addition to being a tourist attraction, the Tyto alba owl species is also a natural mouse predator. The preservation and development of the owl population is a boon to farmers as

these birds help reduce the number of mide that attack their crops allowing the famers to more easily switch to organic farming without having to resort to using chemicals to kill the mice.

Timpag village is cooperating with the local subak to make owl nest for the tyto alba owls. These nests are knows as rubuha. Tyto alba owls to not make nest of their own so in order to entice the owls to live in the village, homes are being

prepared for them.

According to Sukewahana, currently 10 owls have been recorded to live in Timpag village. This bird lives in coconut trees, banyan trees or in the holes of roofs. Once these owls grow to maturity they leave their nest and seek a nest of their own. “A female owl can lay six eggs at a time. But once these small birds grow up they will no longer live with their mother. SO to keep the population living in Timpag

Village, we are going to make them nests”, explained Sukewahana.

To start with ten nests will be made at a distance of about 100 meters apart. The villagers also plan to accustom the birds to hunting for mice. “ “Tyto alba is a meat-eating bird and are good hunters but they will hunt whatever animal it is that they ate for the first time. So it is important that we introduce them to mouse meat so that they will hunt mice. If their first meal is chicken

then later they will hunt chicken”, said Sukewahana.

Having a strong owl population is expected to help reduce the number of mice and thus reduce the amount of pesticides needed in agriculture so that gradually all their crops can become organic.

The presence of organic farming, Tyto alba owls and the Gadungan dam built in 1936 can become Timpag village’s tourism assets. (kmb24)

 Founder : K.Nadha,  General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra  Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Dewa Farendra. 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

International

Activities

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

15

Bali Dynasty Resort’s Biggest Fundraising Event Raised Fund for Solemen Indonesia

B a l i D y n a s t y R esort recently hosted its 25th Back to Bali Dynasty Party at Subi Sport Bar in Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia, which has become the Resort’s biggest annual fundraising event each year. The event was a big success and attended by more than 180 loyal guests of Bali Dynasty Resort.

Over AUD 7,000 was raised from the dinner and raffle tickets sales, with 82 prizes were offered in raffle draws by the generous sponsors, including return flights to Bali by the platinum sponsor AirAsia, holiday accommodation in Bali and entry tickets for many of Bali’s top attractions.

All money raised is directed to Bali Dynasty’s Charity Account to alleviate the suffering of individuals in Bali through a collaborative work between Bali Dynasty Resort and Solemen Indonesia. Started in February 2016, the project is called “Help Friends for Life” and has been supporting many SoleBuddies with their ongoing long-term care and education as well as providing one-off donations such as wheelchairs, prosthetic legs and medical treatment. The charity biggest achievements to date are funding the Solemen House – a four bedroom haven for poor patients and families to stay at no cost; Solemen Car that transports them to the hospital for free and installing community toilets and shower blocks for the impoverished family in North Bali, giving 26 people access to basic and proper hygiene.

We’d like to thank our sponsors to this event: AirAsia, Asia Escape Holidays, Helloworld, Bintang Beer, Hatten Wines, C&M Italiano, Subi Sport Bar, Menjangan Dynasty Resort, Amadea Resort & Villas, Prime Plaza Hotel and Suites Sanur, Bali Safari & Marine Park, Bali Bird Park, Waterbom, Mason Adventure Tours, Bali Zoo Park, Bali Hai Cruise, Ena Dive, Odyssey Submarine, Sobek Bali Utama, Sketch & Portrait, Bali Nusa Dua Theatre, Marine Walk, Bali UTV, Vista Touristama, Taru Bali, GreenBikes Bali, Sardine Restaurant, Frockk, Dare2Wear and Ducatus.

14

Science

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

Bali News

International

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

3

West apron of 4.8 hectares prepared to support IMF event MANGUPURA — Expansion development of Ngurah Rai Airport is currently being speeded up. Indeed, so far the expansion of the apron or aircraft parking lot on the west side of the airport has been no construction work at all. There is only preparation for the installation of perimeter guardrail for workmanship area.

REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Israeli scientists participate in an experiment simulating a mission to Mars, at the D-MARS Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station project of Israel’s Space Agency, Ministry of Science, near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, February 18, 2018.

Israeli scientists complete mock Mars mission in Negev desert

RAMON CRATER - A team of six Israeli researchers on Sunday ended a four-day Mars habitat experiment in Israel’s Negev desert where they simulated living conditions on the Red Planet, Israel’s Science and Technology Ministry said.

The experiment was held near the isolated Israeli township of Mitzpe Ramon, whose surroundings resemble the

Martian environment in its geology, aridity, appearance and desolation, the ministry said.

The participants were investigating various fields relevant to a future Mars mission, including satellite communications, the psychological affects of isolation, radiation measurements and searching for life signs in soil.

Participant Guy Ron, a nuclear physics professor from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said the project was not only intended to look for new approaches in designing a future

mission to the Red Planet but to increase public interest.

“D-Mars is half about the research, and the other half is about the outreach. A major part of this project is getting public interest and getting students interested in space,” he said.

The “D-Mars” project was being held in Israel for the first time in cooperation with the Israel Space Agency. It is one of a number of Mars simulation projects taking place worldwide. (rtr)

‘Easy on the fries!’, Japan scientists tell hopeful bald people

TOKYO - Japanese scientists have warned that eating french fries will not cure baldness, after research was published suggesting that chemicals used in cooking fried potatoes could help fight hair loss.

A research team at Yokohama National University succeeded in producing clusters of 5,000 hair follicle germs (HFGs), the base organs that produce hair, with the aid of dimethylpolysiloxane, a material that was key to cultivating large numbers of HFGs. The team also succeeded in growing hair on the backs of mice

after transplantation in a relatively short period of time.

After dimethylpolysiloxane was reported as being used in oil to fry potatoes, researchers received a number of inquiries asking how many french fries people should eat to cure baldness.

“No matter how many fried potatoes you eat, you’ll never grow more hair. That’s a total misunderstanding that’s gone viral,” lead researcher Junji Fukuda told Reuters.

Fukuda said the research, published in the journal Biomaterials this month, was a breakthrough as

scientists had previously struggled to produce the large quantities of HFGs needed to generate significant hair growth.

“Up until now we’ve only been able to produce a few dozen hair follicle germs at a time, but with this new technology we’ve developed a simple method to produce hundreds and thousands,” Fukuda said.

The team have also received many serious inquiries from researchers and people seeking hair-regenerative medicine to offer their cells to test and develop the research, he said. (rtr)

According to Communication and Legal Section Head of Ngurah Rai Airport, Arie Ahsanurrohim, the apron area on the west side will be developed for 47.25 hectares. However, to support the implementation of the IMF Annual Meeting next October, Angkasa Pura I of Ngurah Rai Airport will complete first an area of 4.8 hectares only.

Arie said that indeed of the total contract to be done amounts to 47.25 hectares. However, there will be addition for roads and other supporting facilities so that it totally becomes 58 hectares. For apron expansion on the west side, it is currently awaiting additional environmental permits. So far, he claimed to have an environmental permit related to the reclamation, but only for an area of 1.5 hectares in 2014.

Meanwhile, the 47.25 hectares of land must be followed by a new permit because there is additional location of the original permit owned.

Currently, added Arie, the permit remains in the Ministry of Environment. He hoped it can be issued in March. “While waiting for the permit, we simultaneously submit it through the approach to the Bali provincial government to apply for the location permit, implementation permit and environmental permit because Bali provincial government will not be able to assess if the environmental permit is not available yet,” he added.

Related to the apron expansion on the west side using the reclamation option, he claimed to immediately do dissemination to the public. Indeed, when the project is worked on, it must be considered the sea currents. However, in this case, he claimed to have had a study regarding the ocean currents.

In the expansion of the airport, there are three work packages. They consist of apron expansion in the western side of the airport, the apron expansion in the eastern side of the airport as well as the construction of the VVIP building on the east side of the airport. All the three packages are currently in Detailed Design Engineering (DED) stage. (kmb23)

IBP/kmb23

Expansion development of Ngurah Rai Airport is currently being speeded up.

Cash register budgeted at IDR 10 billion

REUTERS/Ha Kwiyeon

Professor of Yokohama National University, Junji Fukuda (R) and a researcher in his team, pose with mice in cages at their lab at Yokohama National University in Yokohama, Japan, February 15, 2018. Picture taken February 15, 2018.

MANGUPURA - Badung district government will install hundreds of cash registers in every tourism service business. This effort is intended to increase revenue from the tax sector simply requiring the regional budget of approximately IDR 10 billion.

The program currently being in the process of tender in the Electronic Procurement Service (LPSE) of Badung district is just waiting for the winner.

“The online cash register will be installed as many as 500 units. It does not only target hotels but also

restaurants,” explained the Head of the Badung Revenue Services, Made Sutama, on Sunday (Feb. 18).

According to this bureaucrat from Pecatu village, South Kuta, with the application of this equipment, every transaction is directly monitored by the government. “We have done it since February 15, 2018. Just wait for the winner of the tender process,” he said.

He said the government itself in 2018 has set a target of approximately IDR 6.5 trillion for regional revenue and IDR 7.2 trillion for

regional budget plan (APBD). So, now all the efforts are underway to pursue the target.

“This device will not be only installed at hotels but also restaurants that have enormous potential.

Definitely, it is meant to increase revenues, especially hotel and restaurant tax (PHR) .We have a high target for that,” he explained.

As mentioned, his agency has performed dissemination related to the online cash register. This system is intended for taxpayers that do not have a cashier system in doing the transaction to

customers. Later on, the taxpayers will be given an online cash register by the government of Badung district.

“This online cash register is intended for taxpayers that do not have a system or remain to process their transactions manually. This web-based service is intended for tax payers having owned a system and server. More systems of this kind are installed at hotels, while tapping box are mostly installed in restaurants,” he explained.

As is known, by the end of 2017,

the revenue of hotel and restaurant tax showed a positive trend. Hotel tax was targeted to reach IDR 2.013 trillion and was realized at IDR 2.014 trillion or there was an excess of IDR 720.8 million. Restaurant tax was targeted to reach IDR 451.9 billion, and could be realized at IDR 472.6 billion or exceeded the target of IDR 20.7 billion. No doubt, his service was optimistic with the installation of 500 units of online cash register device so that revenues from the hotel and restaurant tax could increase in 2018. (kmb27)

4

Bali News

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

Mouse eradication by mass hunting

Australia, U.S., India and Japan in talks to establish Belt and Road alternative

BANGLI - The Agriculture, Food Security and Fisheries Agency (PKP) along with farmers and the Indonesian Military (TNI) conducted a mass mouse hunt in the paddy fileds of Subak Bekutal that were being attaced by the rodents.

Head of PKP Bangli, Wayan Sukartana, said the mass mouse hunt in Subak Bekutel was part of a special efforts to ensure food self-sufficiency with a focus on rice, corn and soybean commodities. Mass mouse hunts are one way to deal with this pest in an integrated an effective way. Mouse burrows are fumigated which causes the adults to emerge allowing them to be captured.

“The smaller mice that remain underground can easily be eradicated”, he explained.

Sukartana added that according to reports from his officers, about 5 hectares of paddy fields in Subak Bekutal were under attack my mice. Despite being classified as a moderate attack, the impact was nonetheless disruptive to the farmers. IN order to prevent eh mouse population from growing, PKP Bangli along with the Bangli Military District of the TNI performed the mouse hunt.

“The famers at Subak Bekutal has already harvested their rice so we could do the hunt quite easily”, he explained.

After the mouse hunt, clerat bait will be used for another week. The gambiershaped bait given to farmers is expected to eradicate mice completely. “We will evaluate other subak areas that are being attacked by pest. Normally Subak nocated ravines are prone to mouse attacks”, he explained. (nan)

REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

A man walks past a City Union Bank branch in Mumbai, India, February 19, 2018.

Mass mouse hunts are one way to deal with this pest in an integrated an effective way.

IBP/kmb

Residents of Kaliakah Proteste Neon box of woman in bikini dismantled by municipal police

IBP/kmb

The neon box billboard with an image of two women in bikinis.

NEGARA — After residents of Banyubiru hamlet, Kaliakah protest the presence of a newly installed ad by a nearby hotel, the offensive image was taken down by municipal police on Thursday night (Feb. 15). The neon box billboard with an image of two women in bikinis was considered impolite by local residents who considered it inappropriate for a public space – especially near residences.

Municipal police the National Political and Unity’s Office (Kesbangpol) and local pecalang responeded immediately to their protests securing the location and finally the offensive ad with in the neon box billboard with license No.53/311/SIR/ DPMPTSPTK / VI/2017 was dismantled just a few hours after it was installed. A number of residents revealed that the billboard at T-junction of Banyubiru had been installed at 19:30 and many people were surprised to

see the inappropriate content of the large neon box.

Local resident, 40 year old Mursidin, and others came to location to see for themselves and asked the three workers installing the neon box about the hotel owner. The workers argued that they had an official license from the Jembrana Integrated Investment and Licensing Office that is valid until July 28, 2018. Besides, the neon box is not displaying any pornographic content, they said. They continued to install the ad, but local residents were still protesting which slowly attracted a crowd so soon enough the pecalang came down to secure the location and reported the situation to the village authority. A number of residents who came down agreed that they felt uncomfortable with the large sized image of the ad.

Residents of Kaliakah, head of Jembrana Municipal Police, head of Kesbangpol Jembrana

and a number of officers from the Negara Police and Jembrana Police came down to the location and the Municipal Police contacted the Licensing Office on the matter.

Headman of Kaliakah, I Made Bagiarta, said the protests were triggered by what many consider to be an inappropriate advertisement in the neon box. The image of two women in bikinis that a local hotel had put up is considered to be inappropriate for a public space- particularly a village. The Jembrana Municipal Police finally took down the image as it was causing public unrest.

Chief of Jembrana Municipal Police, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Budi, said that the neon box is being held at his office for the time being.

Since a permit was obtained for the billboard, the hotel can place another more appropriate image in the box before it is installed again. (kmb26)

13

India’s federal investigators close bank branch at heart of fraud

MUMBAI - Indian investigators closed down a branch of a state-run bank that is at the heart of a $1.77 billion fraud and questioned more of its employees as they probed the biggest scam in the country’s banking history, police sources said on Monday.

Three people, including two employees of Punjab National Bank (PNB), India’s second largest state-run lender, were arrested and presented before a Mumbai court over the weekend in the case that involves billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is leading the probe, pasted a notice on the branch premises in south Mumbai barring anyone from entering the office.

The bank has said that the two employees arrested by police colluded with companies belonging to jeweller Modi and another jeweller Mehul Choksi. They issued fraudulent letters of undertaking to overseas branches of other Indian banks which lent money to the jewellers based on the guarantee from PNB.

All the letters of undertaking were issued by the two employees who were working at the Brady Road branch in south Mumbai.

Police searched the bank premises on Sunday and also questioned five more PNB officials, a source said, taking the total number bank staff who have been questioned so far to 11. Police also questioned some executives from Nirav Modi’s group, the source said.

PNB shares slid for a fourth straight day on Monday, falling 6.7 percent by 0614 GMT. The sell off has wiped out about $1.7 billion, or more than a quarter of the bank’s market value, since it disclosed the fraud last Wednesday. Other bank stocks with exposure to the fraudulent transactions that PNB says began in 2011 also fell.

UCO Bank, another state-run lender, said over the weekend it had

nearly $412 million in exposure to the fraudulent transactions carried out at PNB, sending its shares down more than 12 percent in Monday trading.

Union Bank of India and State Bank of India are among other lenders which have said they had exposure to the fraudulent transactions.

Jeweller Modi, whose clients include Hollywood stars such as Kate Winslet and Dakota Johnson, has not commented on the allegations. Police have said Modi and his family left India before PNB filed a complaint on the alleged fraud.

Including direct loans given to companies of Modi and Choksi, Indian banks are at the risk of taking a hit of more than $3 billion after the fraud, according to an internal tax department note seen

by Reuters. (rtr)

SYDNEY - Australia, the United States, India and Japan are talking about establishing a joint regional infrastructure scheme as an alternative to China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative in an attempt to counter Beijing’s spreading influence, the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday, citing a senior U.S. official.

The unnamed official was quoted as saying the plan involving the four regional partners was still “nascent” and “won’t be ripe enough to be announced’ during Australian Prime Minister Turnbull’s visit to the United States later this week.

The official said, however, that the project was on the agenda for Turnbull’s talks with U.S. President Donald Trump during that trip and was being seriously discussed. The source added that the preferred terminology was to call the plan an “alternative” to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, rather than a “rival.”

“No one is saying China should not build infrastructure,” the official was quoted as saying. “China might build a port which, on its own is not economically viable. We could make it economically viable by building a road or rail line linking that port.”

Representatives for Turnbull, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Trade Minister Steven Ciobo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, asked at a news conference about the report of four-way cooperation, said Japan, the United States, Australia, and Japan, Australia and India regularly exchanged views on issues of common interest.

“It is not the case that this is to counter China’s Belt and Road,” he said. Japan, meanwhile, plans to use

its official development assistance (ODA) to promote a broader “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy” including “high-quality infrastructure”, according to a summary draft of its 2017 white paper on ODA. The IndoPacific strategy has been endorsed

by Washington and is also seen as a counter to the Belt and Road Initiative. First mentioned during a speech

by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s to university students in Kazakhstan in 2013, China’s Belt and Road plan is a vehicle for the Asian country to take a greater role on the international stage by funding and building global transport and trade links in more than 60 countries.Xi has heavily promoted the initiative, inviting world leaders to Beijing last May for an inaugural summit at which he pledged $124 billion in funding for the plan, and enshrining it into the ruling Communist Party’s constitution in October.

Local Chinese governments as well as state and private firms have rushed to offer support by investing overseas and making loans.

In January, Beijing outlined its ambitions to extend the initiative to the Arctic by developing shipping lanes opened up by global warming, forming a “Polar Silk Road”.

The United States, Japan, India and Australia have recently revived four-way talks to deepen security cooperation and coordinate alternatives for regional infrastructure financing to that offered by China.

The so-called Quad to discuss and cooperate on security first met as an initiative a decade ago - much to the annoyance of China, which saw it as an attempt by regional democracies to contain its advances. The quartet held talks in Manila on the sidelines of the November ASEAN and East Asia Summits. (rtr)

AAP/David Crosling/via REUTERS

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull takes a selfie as he walks with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and members of the public during a parade as part of the Chinese New Year Festival in Melbourne, Australia, February 18, 2018.

12

International

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

BUSINESS

Bali News

year courses remain the norm. And the level of fees charged do not relate to the cost or quality of the course,” she will say.

The review “will examine how we can give people from disadvantaged backgrounds an equal chance to succeed”, including looking at grants for poor students, her office said. Education Secretary Damian Hinds said on Sunday that students could be charged variable tuition rates depending on the economic value of degrees in the subjects they study.

“What we need to look at is the different aspects of pricing, so the cost to put on the course, the value it is to the student and also the value to our society as a whole and to our economy for the future,” he told BBC’s Andrew Marr show.The opposition said such a system would only serve to lock poor students out of the best-paid professions.

“Charging more for the courses that help graduates earn the most would put off students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds from getting those same qualifications,” Labour education spokeswoman Angela Rayner said on Twitter. “So much for the PM’s talk about social mobility.

The Tories really haven’t grasped the reality of social mobility.”

Earlier on Sunday, a parliamentary committee said the government should cut the interest rate it charges on student loans, which are pegged at 3 percentage points above retail price inflation. The current rate of 6.1 percent is higher than most banks charge for mortgages or unsecured personal loans.

The British parliament’s Treasury Committee said the use of RPI as a benchmark was unfair, and the 3 percentage point premium introduced in 2012 was hard to justify. “The government must reconsider the use of high interest rates on student loans,” said Nicky Morgan, Conservative chair of the cross-party committee. (rtr) Shoppers enjoy last-minute Christmas shopping in the week before Christmas on Oxford Street in London, Britain December 19, 2017.

5

Trekking at Bindu Tourism Village

Feel the Authentic Bali

May launches review of high UK university fees, promising fairer deal

LONDON - Britain could reduce the burden of university fees on students and bring back grants for their living expenses, Prime Minister Theresa May will say on Monday, under pressure to lure younger voters a year after they cost her parliamentary majority.

May’s predecessor David Cameron, a fellow Conservative, tripled the cost of tuition for students from England and Wales to 9,000 pounds a year ($12,640), many times higher than the fees other EU countries charge their citizens. In 2016, the government also phased out all grants to help poorer students with living costs, replacing them with loans.

The opposition Labour Party says it wants to eliminate student fees and restore grants. May’s Conservatives, or Tories, have long defended their approach, arguing that requiring students to pay helps fund more places so more people can study, and puts more of the burden of the cost of higher education on those who benefit most from it.

Students do not have to make payments on their loans unless they earn above a minimum threshold, although they continue to accrue interest. Unpaid balances are wiped out after 30 years.

But the system is extremely unpopular with younger voters, angry about being the first British generation to start their careers carrying tens of thousands of pounds of debt. Young people voted heavily against the Conservatives in an election last year that surprisingly erased May’s majority, forcing her to form a minority government.

May will acknowledge that Britain now has “one of the most expensive systems of university tuition in the world”, and pledge to make it fairer, according to excerpts from her speech released in advance by her office.

“All but a handful of universities charge the maximum possible fees for undergraduate courses. Three-

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

Illuminated construction cranes are seen over buildings at night in Dublin, Ireland, November 13, 2017.

Ireland ramps up capital spending to catch-up after lost decade

DUBLIN - Ireland unveiled a 10-year capital investment programme on Friday that will continue to ramp up spending to ease bottlenecks in housing, health and transport and keep pace with the fastest growing economy and population in Europe.

Ireland had to sharply cut its capital budget and postpone major projects under an austerity drive that followed the 2008 financial crisis. With the state’s finances back under control, plans to double the budget over the next decade comes as spending pressures threaten to choke the economic recovery.

The government will commit 91 billion euros in exchequer funding over the 10 years to 2027, increasing the average capital spend per year to 9 billion euros from an average of 4.6 billion euros since spending began to be cut in 2009.

State-owned commercial companies will contribute a further 25 billion euros over that period, the government said.

“This marks a significant milestone in our country’s development, the point at which we put a lost decade behind us and move forward

into a new decade of expansion,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in a statement.

“It’s about investing to ensure our country is insulated against any possible challenges like Brexit.”

Key elements in the plan include a new metro service in Dublin to ease traffic that has increased significantly with economic growth and rising employment, and a new motorway to link the country’s second and third largest cities, Cork and Limerick.

To deal with a dearth of housing supply that has sharply hiked rents, house prices and become a growing concern for the large number of international multinationals based in Ireland, the government said it will aim to help boost annual supply to at least 25,000 homes by 2020, rising to 30-35,000 up to 2027.

A new body - the National Regeneration and Development

Agency - will be established to release strategically located land banks suitable for redevelopment for housing provision.

The plan includes 500 million euros in extra spending this year and over 2 billion euros over the next three years than was envisaged in last October’s budget for 2018.

By 2023, annual capital spending will pass the previous peak of 9 billion euros reached in 2008 before Ireland’s economic crisis brought the “Celtic Tiger” boom to a sudden halt.

It fell as low as 3.4 billion euros in 2013, among the lowest in the European Union in percentage terms.

Capital investment, which still represented just 2 percent of gross national income in 2016, will reach 3.8 percent by 2021 and average 4 percent on an annual basis from 2022 to 2027, the government said. (rtr)

Ngerebeg, Offering to Share Fruits with Monkeys at Alas Kedaton

Gamelan composition of bleganjur sounded so melodious. The traditional artists of this village played gamelan instrument accompanying the rows of housewives dressed in customary attires while upholding gebogan fruit arrangement and smiling sincerely. A flock of monkeys, the local forest dwellers, were jokingly and jubilantly hopping over lush branches. They seemed to know that the gebogan procession was a happy day filled with joy of sharing fruits.

It is the description of ritual procession for monkeys at Alas Kedaton tourist attraction, Kukuh, Marga, Tabanan, on Saniscara Kliwon Uye took place lively, Saturday (Jan. 20). It has become a tradition that every thanksgiving ritual of monkeys was filled with procession of ngrebeg gebogan (parade of fruit arrangement) as high as 2 meters. “We always carry out the procession every day Tumpek Kandang or Tumpek Uye,” said Secretary of Kukuh customary village, I Gusti Ngurah Pujayasa. ngerebeg di alas kedaton Pujayasa said that thanksgiving ritual at Alas Kedaton also becomes a moment to teach children to love animals. It happened because many residents came to witness the parade of fruit arrangement while taking their children, then gave food to the flock of monkeys. “The celebration of Tumpek Kandang is one of the applications of the Tri Hita Karana teachings in the matter of Palemahan or environmental aspect that maintains

harmonious relationship with animals.

Coordinator of Alas Kedaton attraction, Kukuh customary village with the management board of Alas Kedaton and merchant group regularly holds thanksgiving ritual for the monkeys. However, since one and a half year ago a new tradition of ngrebeg gebogan of two-meter high was held. “Tumpek Uye today is the third time for implementing gebogan parade.

This serves as a form of our gratitude for the welfare graced by God. Expression of our gratitude to monkeys and fruit bats of Alas Kedaton through a parade can attract tourists,” said Pujayasa.

In this ceremony, the merchant group of Alas Kedaton also contributed 22 pieces of gebogan of small size. Both fruit gebogan offerings of the management board and merchant group of Alas Kedaton contain local fruits such as red guava, tomatoes, corn, carrots, bananas, rambutan, papaya, mango and beans.

Before the parade, it was commenced with thanksgiving ritual in the middle

courtyard of Alas Kedaton Temple.

After that, it was resumed with praying together, and presented fruit gebogan before God Almighty. After the prayers, it was continued with parading the gebogan in the middle courtyard of Kahyangan Kedaton Temple and in the outermost courtyard. Ultimately, the gebogan was placed in the outermost courtyard.

A flock of monkeys then approached and picked up the fruits presented by the people of Kukuh. People coming with their children took the fruit and distributed it to the flock of monkeys.

The fruits were directly invaded by monkeys. They looked tame. After getting the fruits, the monkeys jumped into the tree, while another flock came forward to pick up the fruits. The beautiful moments when people were besieged by monkeys became the target of camera of photographers, including tourists. They were happy to capture the moment of tame monkeys at Alas Kedaton. (kmb)

Do you want to try trekking the track of Bindu tourism village? Evidently, the tourism village located at Bindu hamlet, Mekar Buana, Abiansemal, Badung, has more than one trekking route. Moreover, this new route is more beautiful, challenging and very unique. On that account, choosing this new route really needs guts, so that participants can feel the real atmosphere of Bali.

There are six German travelers having tried this new trekking route. They are married couples consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Mayer, Mr. and Mrs. Muller as well as Mr. and Mrs. Ziegler. The travelers having profession as entrepreneurs and workers really enjoyed the trekking tourist attraction. “The track is really challenging so that we are quite impressed. We will continue to think of this memory until arriving at home,” said Mrs. Brigitte.

They were staying at Perani Pangi Villas at Bindu tourism village. Indeed they are eager to walk around the village. “I’ve visited other villages in Bali, but this Bindu village is the most unique.

Beautiful nature is rich in local plants. Local people are friendly and have seriousness in preserving their culture as well as clean environment,” added Mrs. Brigitte.

Atmosphere of Bindu village is also very unique.

It was felt when exploring the new route continuously developed by the local tourism awareness group (Pokdarwis) as the operator of the trekking tourist attraction. “I’ve tried other trekking villages, but this is the most memorable. Everything is available and complete here, so that I can experience the real Bali at Bindu village,” she said seriously.

During the trip, they encountered various rare plants, fruits, rice crops, corn, garden balsam and marigold that they have never imagined before.

Besides, they very much enjoyed traditional bamboo bridge. “We pass over a very unique traditional bridge. It’s afraid but slightly courageous,” said Mr. Ziegler.

On the way, they also found various kinds of animal such as birds, rats, lizards, dragonflies, chickens, dogs and others. They were surprised to see a snake.

“At first, I am afraid to see a snake, but it does not matter. We really feel close to the rich environment with its inhabitants and the plants,” said this friendly man.

They were also impressed with the shower formerly used as a bathing place by local people before development of toilet at people’s home. They were happy when crossing the embankment of paddy fields with intriguing grasses and felt magical aura during the procession of melukat or purificatory rite with prayascita offering and wearing tridatu (white, red and black) thread to clean physically and psychically. “I really feel something different because it turns out on my birthday I get a purificatory rite,” said Mr. Andreas.

Before doing the blessing at Tanah Hyang Balinese Healing Center, the six travelers were served with young coconut drink. They had a look at various types of herbal medicinal plants and the process of paddy plants from planting to harvesting. “Really, we finally know about the process of cooking rice from husked rice. Previously, we just hear about it,” he concluded.

After that, they looked around Balinese house applying what the so-called kosala-kosali (Balinese geomancy). They did not only feel comfortable in the house, but also felt different vibrations. Next, they enjoyed Balinese traditional menus, such as lawar, meat with gravy, shredded meat, fried condiment, pepes and others. While enjoying the meals, they were entertained with traditional rindik music. (kmb)

6

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

W

International

RLD

Russian team in shock over Games doping scandal GANGNEUNG - Russian athletes and sports officials voiced disbelief on Monday that one of their Winter Games medallists was being investigated for suspected doping, a scandal that could imperil Russia’s efforts to regain full Olympic status.

Alexander Krushelnitsky, who competes in curling, one of the Games’ least physically taxing sports, is suspected of testing positive for meldonium, a banned substance that increases blood flow and improves exercise capacity.

“It’s stupid, but Alexander is not stupid, so I don’t believe

it,” Russian women’s curling coach Sergei Belanov said.

He echoed a general bewilderment among curling athletes who could not fathom why anyone would use drugs that aid endurance in a sport that is a kind of chess on ice, needing steady hands and concentration rather than physical fitness.

Krushelnitsky, who won bronze with his wife Anastasia Bryzgalova in mixed-doubles curling in Pyeongchang, has not responded to a request for comment.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has launched a doping procedure against him, but no hearing date has been fixed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call in Moscow that it was too early to draw conclusions about the ongoing probe.

Russian delegation spokesman Konstantin Vybornov told Reuters that Krushelnitsky had surrendered his Games accreditation and left the Olympic village while awaiting the result of a second sample later on Monday.

The suspected doping violation has come at a delicate time for Russia which is trying to draw a line under years of drugcheating scandals and is competing at Pyeongchang as neutral athletes, unable to use their own flag or national symbols.

“We were all shocked when we found out yesterday. Of course we very much hope it was some kind of mistake,” Russian curler Viktoria Moiseeva told reporters, adding that the team believed Krushelnitsky was innocent.

“With us it’s not faster, higher, stronger; it’s about being more accurate. I can’t imagine what kind of drugs you could use in curling ... so it’s very hard to believe.”

FLAG BAN

REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

Alexander Krushelnitsky, an Olympic athlete from Russia, sweeps. Picture taken February 13, 2018.

Russia has been accused of running a state-backed, systematic doping programme for years, an allegation Moscow denies. As a result, its athletes are competing at Pyeongchang as neutral “Olympic Athletes from Russia” (OAR).

Russia’s curling federation told Reuters on Monday it had launched an internal investigation of the doping case.

“The federation is now creating an emergency commission in which all information will be investigated and verified.

We know that our athlete is not guilty,” federation president Dmitry Svishchev said.

He had earlier said that Russian curlers were tested on Jan. 22 before arriving in South Korea and the tests were negative.

Moiseeva said it would be dreadful if the case hurt Russia’s chances of regaining full Olympic status for future Games.

“It’s a catastrophe, if it’s not just one Olympics but others too - it will throw sport in our country into turmoil. It’s awful just to think about, to be honest.”

The Russians had been hoping that a clean record at Pyeongchang would persuade the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow them to march at the closing ceremony on Feb. 25 with the Russian flag and in national uniform.

The IOC said on Monday that any doping violation would be decided by CAS and that a decision would come very quickly after analysis of a B sample.

If confirmed, the violation would be considered by the IOC’s OAR Implementation panel, the body in charge of monitoring the OAR team’s behaviour at the Games. (rtr)

Trump blasts Oprah over 60 Minutes episode

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump blasted media mogul Oprah Winfrey on Twitter on Sunday night over a segment on CBS’s 60 Minutes program and again said he hoped she would face him as an opponent in the 2020 presidential race.

Actress and television host Winfrey, now a contributor to the CBS program, led a panel of 14 Republican, Democrat and Independent voters from Grand Rapids, Michigan in a wide ranging discussion about Trump’s first

year in office.

Trump tweeted: “Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect.

Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!”

Winfrey has told various media outlets, including Entertainment Weekly, that she is not running for president, but has considered it, after there was much recent media

speculation.

The panelists ranged from voters who said “I love him more and more every day,” to others questioning Trump’s stability, saying, “All he does is bully people.”

Winfrey made no declarative statements for or against the president in the program. But she did ask questions ranging from whether the country is better off economically to whether respect for the country is eroding around the world. (rtr)

International

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

11

New Indonesia web system blocks more than 70,000 “negative” sites

JAKARTA - Indonesia has blocked more than 70,000 websites displaying “negative” content such as pornography or extremist ideology in the first month of using a new system to help purge the internet of harmful material, the communications minister told Reuters. The world’s most populous Muslimmajority country has stepped up efforts to control online content after a rise in hoax stories and hate speech, and amid controversial anti-pornography laws pushed by Islamic parties.

The so-called “crawling system” developed by a unit of staterun Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (Telkom) was launched in January, using 44 servers to search internet content and issue alerts when inappropriate material is found. “We just put some sort of key words there, most of them are pornographic,” said Minister of Communication and Information Rudiantara, who uses one name.

“Because after 2017 we have blocked almost 800,000 sites and more than 90 percent (of these were) pornographic,” said the minister. According to ministry data, the system, installed at a cost of around $15 million, helped block 72,407 pornography sites in January. The ministry also acts to get content removed from social media platforms if there are complaints from the public.

Indonesia threatened last year to block Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp Messenger, which is widely used in the country, unless obscene Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) images provided

by third parties were removed.

Authorities also blocked access to some channels on encrypted messaging service Telegram last year, saying it had several forums that were “full of radical and terrorist propaganda”.

Google, which is owned by Alphabet Inc, removed 73 LGBT-related apps from its Play Store last month, including the world’s largest gay dating app, Blued, on a request by Indonesia, a communications ministry official said. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community has faced a crackdown in Indonesia and the official said the contents of the apps contradicted cultural norms and contained pornographic content.

Google declined to comment.

Rudiantara said the relationship with social media companies and tech giants was improving and put some disagreements down to differences over what, for example, constitutes pornography.

“To us probably it is pornographic, because we refer to the laws of pornography in Indonesia. But for other parts of the world, they say it is not pornography, it is art,” he said.

“But now it’s getting better, particularly when we consider content associated with radicalism, terrorism... On that content, I think they respond very fast,” he said.

The minister also said that nine tech companies, including Google and Facebook, had recently pledged to help authorities fight fake news and hate speech during upcoming elections in the world’s third-biggest democracy.(rtr)

Mount Sinabung erupts again sending ash plume into Indonesian sky

An Indonesian volcano erupted Monday, sending a large column of ash and smoke about 5,000 metres into the air, leaving local villages coated in debris and officials scrambling to hand out face masks to residents.

Mount Sinabung on Sumatra island, which has been rumbling since 2010 and erupted in 2016, unleashed the thick plume after activity picked up recent days. “This was the biggest eruption for Sinabung this year,” said volcanology agency chief Kasbani, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. There was no report of injuries.

No one lives inside a previously announced no-go zone around the volcano. But hundreds of houses outside the seven-kilometre danger zone were covered in volcanic ash.

Officials have distributed face masks and urged

residents to stay indoors to avoid respiratory problems, said local disaster mitigation agency official Nata Nail Perangin-angin. “In some villages the visibility was barely five metres after the eruption - it was pitch black,” Perangin-angin added. Pressure inside the crater was threatening to spark collapses in its dome, the official said.

Sinabung roared back to life in 2010 for the first time in 400 years. After another period of inactivity it erupted once more in 2013, and has remained highly active since.

In 2016, seven people died in one of Sinabung’s eruptions, while a 2014 eruption left 16 people dead.

Indonesia is home to about130 volcanoes due to its position on the “Ring of Fire”, a belt of tectonic plate boundaries circling the Pacific Ocean where frequent seismic activity occurs. (ant)

Police ordered to arrest culprits of forest fires

U.S. President Donald Trump

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

P O N T I A N A K - We s t Kalimantan`s police chief Brig.

Gen. Didi Haryano, has instructed his staffs to arrest the arsonists forest and land fires in every region.

“We have tried to extinguish the land and forest fires at Wonodadi Street 2 and Patria Jaya Hamlet along with Regional military command XII and local people in

Rasau Jaya last night. There were two settlements that were almost burned by the fires there,” he said here on Sunday.

He said regional police and Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) with local people made efforts to extinguish the fires. Luckily, the fires did not burn the residents` houses.

Didi revealed there would be

many losses related to the fires, such as health problems, sea and air transportation`s disturbance because of the smoke.

He had experiences on land and forest fires impact to respiratory infections victims and transportation activity disturbances. He hoped this incident would not happen anymore in West Kalimantan. Didi expected

to cooperate with people in order to prevent land fires.

Forest and land fires started happening in West Kalimantan since this week. According to data of province`s Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), there was around 182 of 2,000 villages have been monitored in the land and forest fire movement.

“We expect the assistance from

police to prevent and punish the culprits behind the land and forest fires,” Head of West Kalimantan`s BPBD, TTA Nyarong said.

Nyarong said there was high indication of hot spots in West Kalimantan in 2015. Then, it decreased drastically in 2016 and 2017. He urged the people to prevent the fires before they escalated too far. (rtr)

10

Destination

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

Red Bull launch new F1 car with temporary livery

Pelaga Village

MANGUPURA - Pelaga Village, staircase steps and strategic location, about 63 km from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Pelaga located in the northernmost of Badung Regency offering an interesting agro tourism because ecological value is very high. Visitor can enjoy a wide variety of fruits and vegetables; the surrounding panoramic is really stunning.

As this Pelaga Village area is staircase and comprises of lost of hills, therefore it is often used for hill climbing or hiking activities with the starting line can be started from Penataran Puncak Mangu Temple, passing through several small temples, dried fields, forests and finally finishes at Bratan Lake, Bedugul. Overall, this village is charming for tracking.

There are at last two interesting venue which cannot be missed

when we are in Plaga. The first, Bagus Agrotourism is located on the slopes of Mount Catur (Balinese people call it Puncak Mangu) not far from Bedugul. This venue is located at the line of Bedugul Kintamani. We may enjoy a good variety of plant, such as flower, fruit, big trees. The second, Nung Nung Waterfall. This waterfall is approximately 70 meters high with the flow and water flow is high enough and surrounded by lush green trees make the surrounding atmosphere becomes and fresh.

A sudden cow is often organized by the local community. And even, a very interesting attraction to watch that the local community also often organizes is a bullock contest. The natural beauty of this vil­lage has been known since the previous century to release the tired or weariness and to have a

recreation altogether with the family. This is proven with the building of a rest house by the east indiea’s govern­ment in this location.

At this moment, the existence of this rest house has been renovated by the government of Badung Regency.

Pelaga village also becomes an alternative way from Denpasar to Batur by passing through the tourism object of Sangeh. A beautiful rice field, and a harmonious rural road.

Pelaga rs also very interesting for an activity of hiking a hill with the starting line at the temple of Penataran Puncak Mangu pass­ing through several small tem­ples, nee fields, farms, forests, and finishing at Beratan Lake, Bedugul. Penataran Puncak Mangu Temple is indeed very interesting because it offers a very beautiful and natural panorama of hill and cluster of nee fields. (rtr)

Looking Bar Manager,Bar Staff,Host /Hostess,Cashier,Cooks,Waiter/ ess,Stewards,Jl.Arjuna Legian Krm CV:info@hoipolloibali.com

Looking for Buttler Villa, High salary in area Seminyak Hub.(0361)4490319,CV to Email: asavillasproperty@gmail.com

Hotel Reservations Personnel needed in Jimbaran-Bali.Very Well Spoken And Written English is a must.Experience Work ing in the hospitality Industry is a plus.

Please send Cover letter and CV to hr@ lotus-hotel.com

Looking for Experienced Villa Garden maintenance,hard worker Good salary in area Seminyak Hub.(0361)4490319,CV to Email: asavillasproperty@gmail.com

Bukit Pandawa Golf Looking For Junior Accountant,Bachelor Degree in Accounting,min 2 yrs experience & able to joint immediately,completed CV to byboesono@gmail.com cc mwiriani@ baliragawisata.com

B.BP.001.01.18.0001035

B.BP.001.01.18.0001103

Looking For Staff Cook Helper, Experience 1 Year.Sent CV to: warungdua88x@gmail.com/8475139

B.BP.001.01.18.0001190

B.BP.001.01.18.0000579

B.BP.001.01.18.0000578

Looking for Staff IT/Web,Good English,Good Salary in Dps Hub.(0361)4490319,CV to Email: asavillasproperty@gmail.com

B.BP.001.01.18.0000580

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

David Clerihew/Red Bull Content Pool

After months of waiting, the brand new Aston Martin-Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB14 has been launched in special edition livery. Discover the car as the F1 season edges closer.

LONDON - Red Bull became the first of Formula One’s top three teams to lift the covers off their new-look car on Monday, a week before pre-season testing starts in Spain, but kept some secrets under wraps.

The four times world champions, third overall last year after winning three of the 20 races, are hoping to be back in the championship mix for the first time since Mercedes began to dominate in 2014.

Images of the RB14 car were revealed online, with a temporary blue and black livery and branding

for new title sponsor Aston Martin prominent.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who partners Dutch 20-year-old Max Verstappen in one of the sport’s most exciting driver pairings, was giving the car its track debut at Silverstone circuit.

Teams are each allowed two such ‘filming days’ a year, with lim-

GANGNEUNG - Inside the Pyeongchang venues the world’s finest winter sports athletes battle it out for medals, but outside the atmosphere is friendlier as athletes and collectors gather to trade the Olympic pins that are made as

mementos of each Games.

Every Olympics attracts enthusiasts like Bob Kalmuk from California who travel to watch the sports, meet people and trade the pins which are created by Olympic teams, sponsors and broadcasters.

Place Your Add Here

It is for Job Vacancy, Property, Selling or Buying

B.BP.031.01.18.0000667

Need Waiter/Waitess,IT/Design, Bartender,Cook for Resto in Kuta. Send CV + Foto to Email: wikamitra@yahoo. com Phone/WA :089693670981

B.BP.001.01.18.0000157

the casual viewer to differentiate the new car from the old: that isn’t going to be a problem this time around,” said Red Bull, who launched their car earlier than in the past.

The team, who use Renault engines re-branded Tag Heuer, said the stability of the rules after a big change for 2017 allowed them to get the new car out in good time rather than leaving it as late as possible.

“It’s been not uncommon to have the car finished, fired up for the first

time and shipped to Spain for the start of testing all on the same day,” added Red Bull, whose rivals Ferrari and champions Mercedes present their cars on Thursday.

“It serves a purpose -- but you wouldn’t do it if you didn’t have to, and this year we didn’t have to.

“It’s preferable to finish the car early and deal with any snags now, when the car is on a track a short drive from the factory, rather than using up one of our eight ultraprecious test days doing the same at the Circuit de Catalunya.” (rtr)

Medals not the only valuable Olympic memories

B.BP.004.01.18.0001194

Sales/Marketing,for HealthCare /Beauty Care, Experience, National Area,Apply to: versaindustries4@gmail. com

ited mileage and on special tyres.

Red Bull said the race-ready paint job would be unveiled at the Circuit de Catalunya next week.

The 2018 regulations mean all teams have had to introduce the prominent ‘halo’ head protection device, that rises from a central pillar and circles the driver’s head to shield from aerial impacts and flying wheels.

The aerodynamic ‘shark fins’, rear wing ‘monkey seats’ and ‘Tbars’ have been removed.

“Some years it’s difficult for

Please contact Gugiek : 08123840500

REUTERS/Eric Gaillard TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Gold medalist Martin Fourcade of France on the podium.

“I just got caught up in the Olympic fever back in ‘84 in Los Angeles, it just got me hooked,” a shivering Kalmuk said outside the Olympic skating centre in frigid conditions where he has laid out some of his collection of thousands of pins.

“I plan my vacations around going to the games.

“I like the summer games better because it’s warmer,” adds the veteran of 17 Olympic Games.

Kalmuk has brought display books filled with duplicates of pins he is willing to trade for new and in some cases more desirable ones to his collection and the first question he asks everyone is whether or not they have any pins to trade.

“I like pins from different national Olympic committees, I really the ones from Thailand, they were really well-made,” said Kalmuk, who attended the opening ceremony and is planning to watch

some of the ice hockey.

“Going back to ‘84, there were so many big, beautiful pins. Some are harder to get so you trade two for one on something.”

Though items like Olympic torches and medals can fetch huge sums at sports memorabilia auctions, the value of Olympic pins is mostly sentimental.

Helpful local volunteers are often rewarded for their efforts with a pin which is then worn on the lanyard holding their accreditation.

Many athletes, like American figure skater Mirai Nagasu, are also keen to take home as many as they can.

“It’s a long-time tradition, and we’re also given pins to trade and it gives us an opportunity to meet pin collectors and to trade with other athletes as well,” Nagasu told Reuters as she inspected the pins of Kalmuk and the other traders.

“In the village this Olympics,

there’s actually a pin quest game, you can collect Olympic pins. It’s kind of like Olympic pins and (TV game show) ‘Jeopardy’ at the same time.”

The 24-year-old Nagasu won bronze in the team figure skating and while the pins she trades may be less valuable, she is no less enthusiastic about them, even if she is not sure what she is going to do with them.

“Maybe I’ll display them,” she said as she traded two U.S. Olympic pins for a Harry Potter badge with another collector.

“I like to keep them on my lanyard -- I mean, this credential becomes something special, that’s something cool to have.

“It’s a cool tradition that only the Olympics has, I think every country participates and you get to collect pins from different countries, and it’s a chance to meet with other people.” (rtr)

8

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Sp rt

Napoli and Juventus continue see-saw battle in Serie A

Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos celebrates scoring their second goal

REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Real stage comeback at Betis, Costa strikes in Atletico win

BARCELONA - Real Madrid mounted a stirring second-half comeback helped by Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos to win 5-3 at Real Betis in a thrilling La Liga game on Sunday, demonstrating their awesome power in attack as well as their vulnerabilities.

Second-placed Atletico Madrid earlier won 2-0 at home to Athletic Bilbao as they cut the gap behind leaders Barcelona back to seven points after Diego Costa scored his first league goal in six weeks to finish off the resilient visitors.

Marco Asensio headed Real, who are fourth, in front after 11 minutes but Aissa Mandi nodded an equaliser in the 33rd before the visitors’ Nacho Fernandez diverted a fumbled Keylor Navas save into his own net to give Betis the lead four minutes later.

A party atmosphere had gripped the Benito Villamarin stadium but locally-born Real captain Ramos punctured the mood, as he has done so often in recent years, making it 2-2 with a towering header from a corner five minutes into the second half. Gareth Bale then spurned two good chances and it was left to hot-shot winger Asensio to put Real back in front with a strike across goal to complete a blistering counter-attack.

Ronaldo then looked to have sealed the win for Real with a net-busting strike from a tight angle in the 65th.

Substitute Sergio Leon pulled a goal back for Betis in the 85th minute to set up a tense finish but Real substitute Karim Benzema pounced in added time for Madrid’s 13th goal in three games to seal the three points, leaving Betis in ninth.

Real have 45 points from 23 games, 17 behind runaway leaders Barcelona, although they can climb above Valencia into third place if they win their game in hand at Leganes on Wednesday.

CRAZY GAME

“It was an end-to-end game, a crazy game but everyone likes games like that,” Real coach Zinedine Zidane told reporters. “We were up against opponents that are playing fantastic at the moment and we’re happy with the result in the end. I won’t think too much about the three goals we conceded, but instead about the five we scored.”

Real have had one of their worst seasons in recent memory but have returned to their ruthless best in their last three games, particularly in attack, hammering Real Sociedad 5-2 in their previous league game and then beating high-flying Paris St Germain 3-1 in their Champions League last-16 first leg.

Zidane made five changes from the team that started against PSG, bringing in Bale, Lucas Vazquez, Asensio and Mateo Kovacic for Luka Modric, Benzema, Isco and the injured Toni Kroos.

“We started the game very well then we sat back and when we did that it was a different game. The second half was completely different, we were spectacular,” he added.

Earlier, Diego Simeone’s Atletico side were made to fight for victory in a typically physical encounter with Bilbao but French forward Kevin Gameiro broke the Basque side’s resolve in the 67th minute with a low finish into the far bottom corner.

Costa, who missed the 4-1 win at FC Copenhagen in the Europa League last 32 tie in midweek with a knock, was denied a penalty in the first half but sealed the win with a near-post finish in the 80th after latching on to a through ball from Gameiro. The former Chelsea striker had been sent off for jumping into the stand to celebrate with Atletico fans after netting his last league goal against Getafe on Jan. 6 and toned down his celebration this time as he had already been booked. (rtr)

MILAN - Napoli stayed one point ahead of Juventus at the top of Serie A on Sunday after both teams won their ninth league games in a row, this time beating SPAL and Torino 1-0 respectively. Napoli captain Marek Hamsik thought he had scored a second, was booked for smashing into the corner flag and, to add insult to injury, saw the goal chalked off by the video assistant referee (VAR) after a twominute delay.

In the later game, AC Milan missed a penalty and had a goal ruled out by VAR in a 1-0 win over Sampdoria which extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches in all competitions.

The pattern at the top was the same as the previous three weekends when Juventus, chasing a seventh successive title, played first, won and briefly went top only to be pulled back by their rivals. Juventus will also play first for the next three rounds of matches, a situation which has drawn complaints from Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri.

Brazilian midfielder Allan finished off a typically incisive Napoli move to score the only goal in the sixth minute at rain-soaked San Paolo stadium. Hamsik’s secondhalf goal was ruled out for offside and, although replays showed it was the right decision, the incident raised more questions about the use of the video technology being trialled in Serie A, among others, this season.

Napoli’s stadium announcer, known as “Decibel Bellini” had gone through his entire ear-splitting celebratory routine and relegationthreatened SPAL were ready to kick off before the referee signalled that he was reviewing the goal. Napoli have 66 points from 25 games with Juventus on 65 and AS Roma a huge 15 behind in third place.

Juventus overcame an early

injury to striker Gonzalo Higuain as they bounced back from their disappointing 2-2 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League to edge their less glamorous neighbours in the Derby della Mole. “This was not a response (to the Tottenham game). Today, we produced a great performance and I’m proud of the lads and to coach this group,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.

Higuain appeared to twist his ankle and soldiered on for another 10 minutes before being replaced

by Federico Bernadeschi, who set up the goal when he pulled the ball back for Alex Sandro to tap in just after the half hour. Juventus have won seven and drawn one of their last eight matches against Torino.

Milan midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura sidefooted the winner from Davide Calabria’s cross after 13 minutes in an eventful game at San Siro. The hosts, who pulled level on 41 points with sixth-placed Sampdoria, could have gone ahead earlier but Ricardo Rodriguez’s weak penalty was saved by Emiliano Viviano.

Leonardo Bonucci thought he had added a second before halftime until VAR intervened. Milan had celebrated and Sampdoria were ready to restart when the decision was finally made, but replays showed that it was clearly offside.

Table-propping Benevento twice came from behind and then beat Crotone with an 89th minute goal by Cheick Diabate, the Malian scoring 12 minutes after coming on for his debut following his move on loan from Osmanlispor. Benevento stayed bottom with 10 points while Crotone have 21, four above the relegation zone. Erick Pulgar scored with a long-range free kick in the 88th minute to give Bologna a 2-1 win over Sassuolo in the day’s other game. (rtr)

REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

Napoli’s Marek Hamsik celebrates scoring their second goal before it is disallowed due to offside

9

Marseille in the hunt for second after Bordeaux win PARIS - Olympique de Marseille remained firmly in the race for second place in Ligue 1 when Florian Thauvin’s first-half goal gave them a 1-0 home win against Girondins de Bordeaux on Sunday.

Midfielder Thauvin headed home from Dimitri Payet’s corner in the 34th minute to put third-placed Marseille on 55 points from 26 games.

Monaco are second on 56 after thrashing Dijon 4-0 on Friday, 12 points behind runaway leaders Paris St Germain who beat Strasbourg 5-2 on Saturday. Earlier on Sunday, fourth-placed side Olympique Lyonnais lost touch in the race for second after they squandered a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at Lille.

Burkina Faso striker Bertrand Traore struck twice before the break, but the hosts fought back with goals by Nicolas Pepe and

REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

Marseille’s Florian Thauvin celebrates scoring their third goal with Maxime Lopez

Liverpool’s Ings inspired by tireless Firmino

Liverpool forward Danny Ings has praised hard-working strike partner Roberto Firmino, with the 25-year-old saying he had improved after studying the Brazilian’s relentless style of play. Ings, who has recovered from successive knee injuries, has fought his way back into the first team and marked his Champions League debut with an assist as Liverpool ran out 5-0 winners at Porto in the first leg of their last-16 tie last Wednesday.

“From the moment I started training back with the lads, I tried to learn every day – especially from

Bobby,” Ings told the club’s website. (www.liverpoolfc.com) “He is a fantastic player with the way he plays and the amount of work he does for the team, not just on the ball but off the ball as well.

“They are the things I have to look at and learn from, and that’s what I did over the months I was out. “Being back training with them every day, you get used to the patterns the manager wants and the intensity he wants. I’m learning every day from all the lads here and trying to be the best player I can be.”

Ings, who missed the majority of the last two seasons, is relishing the opportunity to get more time and helping Liverpool impose themselves in the league and in Europe.

“After that long period out and all the hard work I didn’t want to give up. It’s such a great club and a great team, it’s all I wanted to be part of,” Ings added.

“Going into the back end of the season now, I know that if I work hard enough I can get some more minutes and try to contribute to the team as much as I can. “I’m looking forward to it.” (rtr)

Luiz Araujo to salvage a point. The result put Lyon on 49 points from 26 games.

Lille dominated possession but OL were the more clinical as they went ahead in the 21st minute when Traore tapped in after keeper Mike Maignan had released a Memphis Depay cross into his path.

Traore found the back of the net again one minute from the break with a shot on the turn inside the area. He came close again in stoppage time with a curled effort that flew just wide of the top corner.

Lille, who are 17th on 27 points, reduced the arrears on 65 minutes, Pepe firing home from Araujo’s cross. He returned the favour by setting up Araujo, who beat Anthony Lopes with a fierce shot from 25 metres nine minutes from time. (rtr)

8

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Sp rt

Napoli and Juventus continue see-saw battle in Serie A

Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos celebrates scoring their second goal

REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Real stage comeback at Betis, Costa strikes in Atletico win

BARCELONA - Real Madrid mounted a stirring second-half comeback helped by Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos to win 5-3 at Real Betis in a thrilling La Liga game on Sunday, demonstrating their awesome power in attack as well as their vulnerabilities.

Second-placed Atletico Madrid earlier won 2-0 at home to Athletic Bilbao as they cut the gap behind leaders Barcelona back to seven points after Diego Costa scored his first league goal in six weeks to finish off the resilient visitors.

Marco Asensio headed Real, who are fourth, in front after 11 minutes but Aissa Mandi nodded an equaliser in the 33rd before the visitors’ Nacho Fernandez diverted a fumbled Keylor Navas save into his own net to give Betis the lead four minutes later.

A party atmosphere had gripped the Benito Villamarin stadium but locally-born Real captain Ramos punctured the mood, as he has done so often in recent years, making it 2-2 with a towering header from a corner five minutes into the second half. Gareth Bale then spurned two good chances and it was left to hot-shot winger Asensio to put Real back in front with a strike across goal to complete a blistering counter-attack.

Ronaldo then looked to have sealed the win for Real with a net-busting strike from a tight angle in the 65th.

Substitute Sergio Leon pulled a goal back for Betis in the 85th minute to set up a tense finish but Real substitute Karim Benzema pounced in added time for Madrid’s 13th goal in three games to seal the three points, leaving Betis in ninth.

Real have 45 points from 23 games, 17 behind runaway leaders Barcelona, although they can climb above Valencia into third place if they win their game in hand at Leganes on Wednesday.

CRAZY GAME

“It was an end-to-end game, a crazy game but everyone likes games like that,” Real coach Zinedine Zidane told reporters. “We were up against opponents that are playing fantastic at the moment and we’re happy with the result in the end. I won’t think too much about the three goals we conceded, but instead about the five we scored.”

Real have had one of their worst seasons in recent memory but have returned to their ruthless best in their last three games, particularly in attack, hammering Real Sociedad 5-2 in their previous league game and then beating high-flying Paris St Germain 3-1 in their Champions League last-16 first leg.

Zidane made five changes from the team that started against PSG, bringing in Bale, Lucas Vazquez, Asensio and Mateo Kovacic for Luka Modric, Benzema, Isco and the injured Toni Kroos.

“We started the game very well then we sat back and when we did that it was a different game. The second half was completely different, we were spectacular,” he added.

Earlier, Diego Simeone’s Atletico side were made to fight for victory in a typically physical encounter with Bilbao but French forward Kevin Gameiro broke the Basque side’s resolve in the 67th minute with a low finish into the far bottom corner.

Costa, who missed the 4-1 win at FC Copenhagen in the Europa League last 32 tie in midweek with a knock, was denied a penalty in the first half but sealed the win with a near-post finish in the 80th after latching on to a through ball from Gameiro. The former Chelsea striker had been sent off for jumping into the stand to celebrate with Atletico fans after netting his last league goal against Getafe on Jan. 6 and toned down his celebration this time as he had already been booked. (rtr)

MILAN - Napoli stayed one point ahead of Juventus at the top of Serie A on Sunday after both teams won their ninth league games in a row, this time beating SPAL and Torino 1-0 respectively. Napoli captain Marek Hamsik thought he had scored a second, was booked for smashing into the corner flag and, to add insult to injury, saw the goal chalked off by the video assistant referee (VAR) after a twominute delay.

In the later game, AC Milan missed a penalty and had a goal ruled out by VAR in a 1-0 win over Sampdoria which extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches in all competitions.

The pattern at the top was the same as the previous three weekends when Juventus, chasing a seventh successive title, played first, won and briefly went top only to be pulled back by their rivals. Juventus will also play first for the next three rounds of matches, a situation which has drawn complaints from Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri.

Brazilian midfielder Allan finished off a typically incisive Napoli move to score the only goal in the sixth minute at rain-soaked San Paolo stadium. Hamsik’s secondhalf goal was ruled out for offside and, although replays showed it was the right decision, the incident raised more questions about the use of the video technology being trialled in Serie A, among others, this season.

Napoli’s stadium announcer, known as “Decibel Bellini” had gone through his entire ear-splitting celebratory routine and relegationthreatened SPAL were ready to kick off before the referee signalled that he was reviewing the goal. Napoli have 66 points from 25 games with Juventus on 65 and AS Roma a huge 15 behind in third place.

Juventus overcame an early

injury to striker Gonzalo Higuain as they bounced back from their disappointing 2-2 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League to edge their less glamorous neighbours in the Derby della Mole. “This was not a response (to the Tottenham game). Today, we produced a great performance and I’m proud of the lads and to coach this group,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.

Higuain appeared to twist his ankle and soldiered on for another 10 minutes before being replaced

by Federico Bernadeschi, who set up the goal when he pulled the ball back for Alex Sandro to tap in just after the half hour. Juventus have won seven and drawn one of their last eight matches against Torino.

Milan midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura sidefooted the winner from Davide Calabria’s cross after 13 minutes in an eventful game at San Siro. The hosts, who pulled level on 41 points with sixth-placed Sampdoria, could have gone ahead earlier but Ricardo Rodriguez’s weak penalty was saved by Emiliano Viviano.

Leonardo Bonucci thought he had added a second before halftime until VAR intervened. Milan had celebrated and Sampdoria were ready to restart when the decision was finally made, but replays showed that it was clearly offside.

Table-propping Benevento twice came from behind and then beat Crotone with an 89th minute goal by Cheick Diabate, the Malian scoring 12 minutes after coming on for his debut following his move on loan from Osmanlispor. Benevento stayed bottom with 10 points while Crotone have 21, four above the relegation zone. Erick Pulgar scored with a long-range free kick in the 88th minute to give Bologna a 2-1 win over Sassuolo in the day’s other game. (rtr)

REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

Napoli’s Marek Hamsik celebrates scoring their second goal before it is disallowed due to offside

9

Marseille in the hunt for second after Bordeaux win PARIS - Olympique de Marseille remained firmly in the race for second place in Ligue 1 when Florian Thauvin’s first-half goal gave them a 1-0 home win against Girondins de Bordeaux on Sunday.

Midfielder Thauvin headed home from Dimitri Payet’s corner in the 34th minute to put third-placed Marseille on 55 points from 26 games.

Monaco are second on 56 after thrashing Dijon 4-0 on Friday, 12 points behind runaway leaders Paris St Germain who beat Strasbourg 5-2 on Saturday. Earlier on Sunday, fourth-placed side Olympique Lyonnais lost touch in the race for second after they squandered a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at Lille.

Burkina Faso striker Bertrand Traore struck twice before the break, but the hosts fought back with goals by Nicolas Pepe and

REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

Marseille’s Florian Thauvin celebrates scoring their third goal with Maxime Lopez

Liverpool’s Ings inspired by tireless Firmino

Liverpool forward Danny Ings has praised hard-working strike partner Roberto Firmino, with the 25-year-old saying he had improved after studying the Brazilian’s relentless style of play. Ings, who has recovered from successive knee injuries, has fought his way back into the first team and marked his Champions League debut with an assist as Liverpool ran out 5-0 winners at Porto in the first leg of their last-16 tie last Wednesday.

“From the moment I started training back with the lads, I tried to learn every day – especially from

Bobby,” Ings told the club’s website. (www.liverpoolfc.com) “He is a fantastic player with the way he plays and the amount of work he does for the team, not just on the ball but off the ball as well.

“They are the things I have to look at and learn from, and that’s what I did over the months I was out. “Being back training with them every day, you get used to the patterns the manager wants and the intensity he wants. I’m learning every day from all the lads here and trying to be the best player I can be.”

Ings, who missed the majority of the last two seasons, is relishing the opportunity to get more time and helping Liverpool impose themselves in the league and in Europe.

“After that long period out and all the hard work I didn’t want to give up. It’s such a great club and a great team, it’s all I wanted to be part of,” Ings added.

“Going into the back end of the season now, I know that if I work hard enough I can get some more minutes and try to contribute to the team as much as I can. “I’m looking forward to it.” (rtr)

Luiz Araujo to salvage a point. The result put Lyon on 49 points from 26 games.

Lille dominated possession but OL were the more clinical as they went ahead in the 21st minute when Traore tapped in after keeper Mike Maignan had released a Memphis Depay cross into his path.

Traore found the back of the net again one minute from the break with a shot on the turn inside the area. He came close again in stoppage time with a curled effort that flew just wide of the top corner.

Lille, who are 17th on 27 points, reduced the arrears on 65 minutes, Pepe firing home from Araujo’s cross. He returned the favour by setting up Araujo, who beat Anthony Lopes with a fierce shot from 25 metres nine minutes from time. (rtr)

10

Destination

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

Red Bull launch new F1 car with temporary livery

Pelaga Village

MANGUPURA - Pelaga Village, staircase steps and strategic location, about 63 km from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Pelaga located in the northernmost of Badung Regency offering an interesting agro tourism because ecological value is very high. Visitor can enjoy a wide variety of fruits and vegetables; the surrounding panoramic is really stunning.

As this Pelaga Village area is staircase and comprises of lost of hills, therefore it is often used for hill climbing or hiking activities with the starting line can be started from Penataran Puncak Mangu Temple, passing through several small temples, dried fields, forests and finally finishes at Bratan Lake, Bedugul. Overall, this village is charming for tracking.

There are at last two interesting venue which cannot be missed

when we are in Plaga. The first, Bagus Agrotourism is located on the slopes of Mount Catur (Balinese people call it Puncak Mangu) not far from Bedugul. This venue is located at the line of Bedugul Kintamani. We may enjoy a good variety of plant, such as flower, fruit, big trees. The second, Nung Nung Waterfall. This waterfall is approximately 70 meters high with the flow and water flow is high enough and surrounded by lush green trees make the surrounding atmosphere becomes and fresh.

A sudden cow is often organized by the local community. And even, a very interesting attraction to watch that the local community also often organizes is a bullock contest. The natural beauty of this vil­lage has been known since the previous century to release the tired or weariness and to have a

recreation altogether with the family. This is proven with the building of a rest house by the east indiea’s govern­ment in this location.

At this moment, the existence of this rest house has been renovated by the government of Badung Regency.

Pelaga village also becomes an alternative way from Denpasar to Batur by passing through the tourism object of Sangeh. A beautiful rice field, and a harmonious rural road.

Pelaga rs also very interesting for an activity of hiking a hill with the starting line at the temple of Penataran Puncak Mangu pass­ing through several small tem­ples, nee fields, farms, forests, and finishing at Beratan Lake, Bedugul. Penataran Puncak Mangu Temple is indeed very interesting because it offers a very beautiful and natural panorama of hill and cluster of nee fields. (rtr)

Looking Bar Manager,Bar Staff,Host /Hostess,Cashier,Cooks,Waiter/ ess,Stewards,Jl.Arjuna Legian Krm CV:info@hoipolloibali.com

Looking for Buttler Villa, High salary in area Seminyak Hub.(0361)4490319,CV to Email: asavillasproperty@gmail.com

Hotel Reservations Personnel needed in Jimbaran-Bali.Very Well Spoken And Written English is a must.Experience Work ing in the hospitality Industry is a plus.

Please send Cover letter and CV to hr@ lotus-hotel.com

Looking for Experienced Villa Garden maintenance,hard worker Good salary in area Seminyak Hub.(0361)4490319,CV to Email: asavillasproperty@gmail.com

Bukit Pandawa Golf Looking For Junior Accountant,Bachelor Degree in Accounting,min 2 yrs experience & able to joint immediately,completed CV to byboesono@gmail.com cc mwiriani@ baliragawisata.com

B.BP.001.01.18.0001035

B.BP.001.01.18.0001103

Looking For Staff Cook Helper, Experience 1 Year.Sent CV to: warungdua88x@gmail.com/8475139

B.BP.001.01.18.0001190

B.BP.001.01.18.0000579

B.BP.001.01.18.0000578

Looking for Staff IT/Web,Good English,Good Salary in Dps Hub.(0361)4490319,CV to Email: asavillasproperty@gmail.com

B.BP.001.01.18.0000580

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

David Clerihew/Red Bull Content Pool

After months of waiting, the brand new Aston Martin-Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB14 has been launched in special edition livery. Discover the car as the F1 season edges closer.

LONDON - Red Bull became the first of Formula One’s top three teams to lift the covers off their new-look car on Monday, a week before pre-season testing starts in Spain, but kept some secrets under wraps.

The four times world champions, third overall last year after winning three of the 20 races, are hoping to be back in the championship mix for the first time since Mercedes began to dominate in 2014.

Images of the RB14 car were revealed online, with a temporary blue and black livery and branding

for new title sponsor Aston Martin prominent.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who partners Dutch 20-year-old Max Verstappen in one of the sport’s most exciting driver pairings, was giving the car its track debut at Silverstone circuit.

Teams are each allowed two such ‘filming days’ a year, with lim-

GANGNEUNG - Inside the Pyeongchang venues the world’s finest winter sports athletes battle it out for medals, but outside the atmosphere is friendlier as athletes and collectors gather to trade the Olympic pins that are made as

mementos of each Games.

Every Olympics attracts enthusiasts like Bob Kalmuk from California who travel to watch the sports, meet people and trade the pins which are created by Olympic teams, sponsors and broadcasters.

Place Your Add Here

It is for Job Vacancy, Property, Selling or Buying

B.BP.031.01.18.0000667

Need Waiter/Waitess,IT/Design, Bartender,Cook for Resto in Kuta. Send CV + Foto to Email: wikamitra@yahoo. com Phone/WA :089693670981

B.BP.001.01.18.0000157

the casual viewer to differentiate the new car from the old: that isn’t going to be a problem this time around,” said Red Bull, who launched their car earlier than in the past.

The team, who use Renault engines re-branded Tag Heuer, said the stability of the rules after a big change for 2017 allowed them to get the new car out in good time rather than leaving it as late as possible.

“It’s been not uncommon to have the car finished, fired up for the first

time and shipped to Spain for the start of testing all on the same day,” added Red Bull, whose rivals Ferrari and champions Mercedes present their cars on Thursday.

“It serves a purpose -- but you wouldn’t do it if you didn’t have to, and this year we didn’t have to.

“It’s preferable to finish the car early and deal with any snags now, when the car is on a track a short drive from the factory, rather than using up one of our eight ultraprecious test days doing the same at the Circuit de Catalunya.” (rtr)

Medals not the only valuable Olympic memories

B.BP.004.01.18.0001194

Sales/Marketing,for HealthCare /Beauty Care, Experience, National Area,Apply to: versaindustries4@gmail. com

ited mileage and on special tyres.

Red Bull said the race-ready paint job would be unveiled at the Circuit de Catalunya next week.

The 2018 regulations mean all teams have had to introduce the prominent ‘halo’ head protection device, that rises from a central pillar and circles the driver’s head to shield from aerial impacts and flying wheels.

The aerodynamic ‘shark fins’, rear wing ‘monkey seats’ and ‘Tbars’ have been removed.

“Some years it’s difficult for

Please contact Gugiek : 08123840500

REUTERS/Eric Gaillard TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Gold medalist Martin Fourcade of France on the podium.

“I just got caught up in the Olympic fever back in ‘84 in Los Angeles, it just got me hooked,” a shivering Kalmuk said outside the Olympic skating centre in frigid conditions where he has laid out some of his collection of thousands of pins.

“I plan my vacations around going to the games.

“I like the summer games better because it’s warmer,” adds the veteran of 17 Olympic Games.

Kalmuk has brought display books filled with duplicates of pins he is willing to trade for new and in some cases more desirable ones to his collection and the first question he asks everyone is whether or not they have any pins to trade.

“I like pins from different national Olympic committees, I really the ones from Thailand, they were really well-made,” said Kalmuk, who attended the opening ceremony and is planning to watch

some of the ice hockey.

“Going back to ‘84, there were so many big, beautiful pins. Some are harder to get so you trade two for one on something.”

Though items like Olympic torches and medals can fetch huge sums at sports memorabilia auctions, the value of Olympic pins is mostly sentimental.

Helpful local volunteers are often rewarded for their efforts with a pin which is then worn on the lanyard holding their accreditation.

Many athletes, like American figure skater Mirai Nagasu, are also keen to take home as many as they can.

“It’s a long-time tradition, and we’re also given pins to trade and it gives us an opportunity to meet pin collectors and to trade with other athletes as well,” Nagasu told Reuters as she inspected the pins of Kalmuk and the other traders.

“In the village this Olympics,

there’s actually a pin quest game, you can collect Olympic pins. It’s kind of like Olympic pins and (TV game show) ‘Jeopardy’ at the same time.”

The 24-year-old Nagasu won bronze in the team figure skating and while the pins she trades may be less valuable, she is no less enthusiastic about them, even if she is not sure what she is going to do with them.

“Maybe I’ll display them,” she said as she traded two U.S. Olympic pins for a Harry Potter badge with another collector.

“I like to keep them on my lanyard -- I mean, this credential becomes something special, that’s something cool to have.

“It’s a cool tradition that only the Olympics has, I think every country participates and you get to collect pins from different countries, and it’s a chance to meet with other people.” (rtr)

6

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

W

International

RLD

Russian team in shock over Games doping scandal GANGNEUNG - Russian athletes and sports officials voiced disbelief on Monday that one of their Winter Games medallists was being investigated for suspected doping, a scandal that could imperil Russia’s efforts to regain full Olympic status.

Alexander Krushelnitsky, who competes in curling, one of the Games’ least physically taxing sports, is suspected of testing positive for meldonium, a banned substance that increases blood flow and improves exercise capacity.

“It’s stupid, but Alexander is not stupid, so I don’t believe

it,” Russian women’s curling coach Sergei Belanov said.

He echoed a general bewilderment among curling athletes who could not fathom why anyone would use drugs that aid endurance in a sport that is a kind of chess on ice, needing steady hands and concentration rather than physical fitness.

Krushelnitsky, who won bronze with his wife Anastasia Bryzgalova in mixed-doubles curling in Pyeongchang, has not responded to a request for comment.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has launched a doping procedure against him, but no hearing date has been fixed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call in Moscow that it was too early to draw conclusions about the ongoing probe.

Russian delegation spokesman Konstantin Vybornov told Reuters that Krushelnitsky had surrendered his Games accreditation and left the Olympic village while awaiting the result of a second sample later on Monday.

The suspected doping violation has come at a delicate time for Russia which is trying to draw a line under years of drugcheating scandals and is competing at Pyeongchang as neutral athletes, unable to use their own flag or national symbols.

“We were all shocked when we found out yesterday. Of course we very much hope it was some kind of mistake,” Russian curler Viktoria Moiseeva told reporters, adding that the team believed Krushelnitsky was innocent.

“With us it’s not faster, higher, stronger; it’s about being more accurate. I can’t imagine what kind of drugs you could use in curling ... so it’s very hard to believe.”

FLAG BAN

REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

Alexander Krushelnitsky, an Olympic athlete from Russia, sweeps. Picture taken February 13, 2018.

Russia has been accused of running a state-backed, systematic doping programme for years, an allegation Moscow denies. As a result, its athletes are competing at Pyeongchang as neutral “Olympic Athletes from Russia” (OAR).

Russia’s curling federation told Reuters on Monday it had launched an internal investigation of the doping case.

“The federation is now creating an emergency commission in which all information will be investigated and verified.

We know that our athlete is not guilty,” federation president Dmitry Svishchev said.

He had earlier said that Russian curlers were tested on Jan. 22 before arriving in South Korea and the tests were negative.

Moiseeva said it would be dreadful if the case hurt Russia’s chances of regaining full Olympic status for future Games.

“It’s a catastrophe, if it’s not just one Olympics but others too - it will throw sport in our country into turmoil. It’s awful just to think about, to be honest.”

The Russians had been hoping that a clean record at Pyeongchang would persuade the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow them to march at the closing ceremony on Feb. 25 with the Russian flag and in national uniform.

The IOC said on Monday that any doping violation would be decided by CAS and that a decision would come very quickly after analysis of a B sample.

If confirmed, the violation would be considered by the IOC’s OAR Implementation panel, the body in charge of monitoring the OAR team’s behaviour at the Games. (rtr)

Trump blasts Oprah over 60 Minutes episode

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump blasted media mogul Oprah Winfrey on Twitter on Sunday night over a segment on CBS’s 60 Minutes program and again said he hoped she would face him as an opponent in the 2020 presidential race.

Actress and television host Winfrey, now a contributor to the CBS program, led a panel of 14 Republican, Democrat and Independent voters from Grand Rapids, Michigan in a wide ranging discussion about Trump’s first

year in office.

Trump tweeted: “Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect.

Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!”

Winfrey has told various media outlets, including Entertainment Weekly, that she is not running for president, but has considered it, after there was much recent media

speculation.

The panelists ranged from voters who said “I love him more and more every day,” to others questioning Trump’s stability, saying, “All he does is bully people.”

Winfrey made no declarative statements for or against the president in the program. But she did ask questions ranging from whether the country is better off economically to whether respect for the country is eroding around the world. (rtr)

International

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

11

New Indonesia web system blocks more than 70,000 “negative” sites

JAKARTA - Indonesia has blocked more than 70,000 websites displaying “negative” content such as pornography or extremist ideology in the first month of using a new system to help purge the internet of harmful material, the communications minister told Reuters. The world’s most populous Muslimmajority country has stepped up efforts to control online content after a rise in hoax stories and hate speech, and amid controversial anti-pornography laws pushed by Islamic parties.

The so-called “crawling system” developed by a unit of staterun Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (Telkom) was launched in January, using 44 servers to search internet content and issue alerts when inappropriate material is found. “We just put some sort of key words there, most of them are pornographic,” said Minister of Communication and Information Rudiantara, who uses one name.

“Because after 2017 we have blocked almost 800,000 sites and more than 90 percent (of these were) pornographic,” said the minister. According to ministry data, the system, installed at a cost of around $15 million, helped block 72,407 pornography sites in January. The ministry also acts to get content removed from social media platforms if there are complaints from the public.

Indonesia threatened last year to block Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp Messenger, which is widely used in the country, unless obscene Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) images provided

by third parties were removed.

Authorities also blocked access to some channels on encrypted messaging service Telegram last year, saying it had several forums that were “full of radical and terrorist propaganda”.

Google, which is owned by Alphabet Inc, removed 73 LGBT-related apps from its Play Store last month, including the world’s largest gay dating app, Blued, on a request by Indonesia, a communications ministry official said. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community has faced a crackdown in Indonesia and the official said the contents of the apps contradicted cultural norms and contained pornographic content.

Google declined to comment.

Rudiantara said the relationship with social media companies and tech giants was improving and put some disagreements down to differences over what, for example, constitutes pornography.

“To us probably it is pornographic, because we refer to the laws of pornography in Indonesia. But for other parts of the world, they say it is not pornography, it is art,” he said.

“But now it’s getting better, particularly when we consider content associated with radicalism, terrorism... On that content, I think they respond very fast,” he said.

The minister also said that nine tech companies, including Google and Facebook, had recently pledged to help authorities fight fake news and hate speech during upcoming elections in the world’s third-biggest democracy.(rtr)

Mount Sinabung erupts again sending ash plume into Indonesian sky

An Indonesian volcano erupted Monday, sending a large column of ash and smoke about 5,000 metres into the air, leaving local villages coated in debris and officials scrambling to hand out face masks to residents.

Mount Sinabung on Sumatra island, which has been rumbling since 2010 and erupted in 2016, unleashed the thick plume after activity picked up recent days. “This was the biggest eruption for Sinabung this year,” said volcanology agency chief Kasbani, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. There was no report of injuries.

No one lives inside a previously announced no-go zone around the volcano. But hundreds of houses outside the seven-kilometre danger zone were covered in volcanic ash.

Officials have distributed face masks and urged

residents to stay indoors to avoid respiratory problems, said local disaster mitigation agency official Nata Nail Perangin-angin. “In some villages the visibility was barely five metres after the eruption - it was pitch black,” Perangin-angin added. Pressure inside the crater was threatening to spark collapses in its dome, the official said.

Sinabung roared back to life in 2010 for the first time in 400 years. After another period of inactivity it erupted once more in 2013, and has remained highly active since.

In 2016, seven people died in one of Sinabung’s eruptions, while a 2014 eruption left 16 people dead.

Indonesia is home to about130 volcanoes due to its position on the “Ring of Fire”, a belt of tectonic plate boundaries circling the Pacific Ocean where frequent seismic activity occurs. (ant)

Police ordered to arrest culprits of forest fires

U.S. President Donald Trump

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

P O N T I A N A K - We s t Kalimantan`s police chief Brig.

Gen. Didi Haryano, has instructed his staffs to arrest the arsonists forest and land fires in every region.

“We have tried to extinguish the land and forest fires at Wonodadi Street 2 and Patria Jaya Hamlet along with Regional military command XII and local people in

Rasau Jaya last night. There were two settlements that were almost burned by the fires there,” he said here on Sunday.

He said regional police and Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) with local people made efforts to extinguish the fires. Luckily, the fires did not burn the residents` houses.

Didi revealed there would be

many losses related to the fires, such as health problems, sea and air transportation`s disturbance because of the smoke.

He had experiences on land and forest fires impact to respiratory infections victims and transportation activity disturbances. He hoped this incident would not happen anymore in West Kalimantan. Didi expected

to cooperate with people in order to prevent land fires.

Forest and land fires started happening in West Kalimantan since this week. According to data of province`s Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), there was around 182 of 2,000 villages have been monitored in the land and forest fire movement.

“We expect the assistance from

police to prevent and punish the culprits behind the land and forest fires,” Head of West Kalimantan`s BPBD, TTA Nyarong said.

Nyarong said there was high indication of hot spots in West Kalimantan in 2015. Then, it decreased drastically in 2016 and 2017. He urged the people to prevent the fires before they escalated too far. (rtr)

12

International

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

BUSINESS

Bali News

year courses remain the norm. And the level of fees charged do not relate to the cost or quality of the course,” she will say.

The review “will examine how we can give people from disadvantaged backgrounds an equal chance to succeed”, including looking at grants for poor students, her office said. Education Secretary Damian Hinds said on Sunday that students could be charged variable tuition rates depending on the economic value of degrees in the subjects they study.

“What we need to look at is the different aspects of pricing, so the cost to put on the course, the value it is to the student and also the value to our society as a whole and to our economy for the future,” he told BBC’s Andrew Marr show.The opposition said such a system would only serve to lock poor students out of the best-paid professions.

“Charging more for the courses that help graduates earn the most would put off students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds from getting those same qualifications,” Labour education spokeswoman Angela Rayner said on Twitter. “So much for the PM’s talk about social mobility.

The Tories really haven’t grasped the reality of social mobility.”

Earlier on Sunday, a parliamentary committee said the government should cut the interest rate it charges on student loans, which are pegged at 3 percentage points above retail price inflation. The current rate of 6.1 percent is higher than most banks charge for mortgages or unsecured personal loans.

The British parliament’s Treasury Committee said the use of RPI as a benchmark was unfair, and the 3 percentage point premium introduced in 2012 was hard to justify. “The government must reconsider the use of high interest rates on student loans,” said Nicky Morgan, Conservative chair of the cross-party committee. (rtr) Shoppers enjoy last-minute Christmas shopping in the week before Christmas on Oxford Street in London, Britain December 19, 2017.

5

Trekking at Bindu Tourism Village

Feel the Authentic Bali

May launches review of high UK university fees, promising fairer deal

LONDON - Britain could reduce the burden of university fees on students and bring back grants for their living expenses, Prime Minister Theresa May will say on Monday, under pressure to lure younger voters a year after they cost her parliamentary majority.

May’s predecessor David Cameron, a fellow Conservative, tripled the cost of tuition for students from England and Wales to 9,000 pounds a year ($12,640), many times higher than the fees other EU countries charge their citizens. In 2016, the government also phased out all grants to help poorer students with living costs, replacing them with loans.

The opposition Labour Party says it wants to eliminate student fees and restore grants. May’s Conservatives, or Tories, have long defended their approach, arguing that requiring students to pay helps fund more places so more people can study, and puts more of the burden of the cost of higher education on those who benefit most from it.

Students do not have to make payments on their loans unless they earn above a minimum threshold, although they continue to accrue interest. Unpaid balances are wiped out after 30 years.

But the system is extremely unpopular with younger voters, angry about being the first British generation to start their careers carrying tens of thousands of pounds of debt. Young people voted heavily against the Conservatives in an election last year that surprisingly erased May’s majority, forcing her to form a minority government.

May will acknowledge that Britain now has “one of the most expensive systems of university tuition in the world”, and pledge to make it fairer, according to excerpts from her speech released in advance by her office.

“All but a handful of universities charge the maximum possible fees for undergraduate courses. Three-

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

Illuminated construction cranes are seen over buildings at night in Dublin, Ireland, November 13, 2017.

Ireland ramps up capital spending to catch-up after lost decade

DUBLIN - Ireland unveiled a 10-year capital investment programme on Friday that will continue to ramp up spending to ease bottlenecks in housing, health and transport and keep pace with the fastest growing economy and population in Europe.

Ireland had to sharply cut its capital budget and postpone major projects under an austerity drive that followed the 2008 financial crisis. With the state’s finances back under control, plans to double the budget over the next decade comes as spending pressures threaten to choke the economic recovery.

The government will commit 91 billion euros in exchequer funding over the 10 years to 2027, increasing the average capital spend per year to 9 billion euros from an average of 4.6 billion euros since spending began to be cut in 2009.

State-owned commercial companies will contribute a further 25 billion euros over that period, the government said.

“This marks a significant milestone in our country’s development, the point at which we put a lost decade behind us and move forward

into a new decade of expansion,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in a statement.

“It’s about investing to ensure our country is insulated against any possible challenges like Brexit.”

Key elements in the plan include a new metro service in Dublin to ease traffic that has increased significantly with economic growth and rising employment, and a new motorway to link the country’s second and third largest cities, Cork and Limerick.

To deal with a dearth of housing supply that has sharply hiked rents, house prices and become a growing concern for the large number of international multinationals based in Ireland, the government said it will aim to help boost annual supply to at least 25,000 homes by 2020, rising to 30-35,000 up to 2027.

A new body - the National Regeneration and Development

Agency - will be established to release strategically located land banks suitable for redevelopment for housing provision.

The plan includes 500 million euros in extra spending this year and over 2 billion euros over the next three years than was envisaged in last October’s budget for 2018.

By 2023, annual capital spending will pass the previous peak of 9 billion euros reached in 2008 before Ireland’s economic crisis brought the “Celtic Tiger” boom to a sudden halt.

It fell as low as 3.4 billion euros in 2013, among the lowest in the European Union in percentage terms.

Capital investment, which still represented just 2 percent of gross national income in 2016, will reach 3.8 percent by 2021 and average 4 percent on an annual basis from 2022 to 2027, the government said. (rtr)

Ngerebeg, Offering to Share Fruits with Monkeys at Alas Kedaton

Gamelan composition of bleganjur sounded so melodious. The traditional artists of this village played gamelan instrument accompanying the rows of housewives dressed in customary attires while upholding gebogan fruit arrangement and smiling sincerely. A flock of monkeys, the local forest dwellers, were jokingly and jubilantly hopping over lush branches. They seemed to know that the gebogan procession was a happy day filled with joy of sharing fruits.

It is the description of ritual procession for monkeys at Alas Kedaton tourist attraction, Kukuh, Marga, Tabanan, on Saniscara Kliwon Uye took place lively, Saturday (Jan. 20). It has become a tradition that every thanksgiving ritual of monkeys was filled with procession of ngrebeg gebogan (parade of fruit arrangement) as high as 2 meters. “We always carry out the procession every day Tumpek Kandang or Tumpek Uye,” said Secretary of Kukuh customary village, I Gusti Ngurah Pujayasa. ngerebeg di alas kedaton Pujayasa said that thanksgiving ritual at Alas Kedaton also becomes a moment to teach children to love animals. It happened because many residents came to witness the parade of fruit arrangement while taking their children, then gave food to the flock of monkeys. “The celebration of Tumpek Kandang is one of the applications of the Tri Hita Karana teachings in the matter of Palemahan or environmental aspect that maintains

harmonious relationship with animals.

Coordinator of Alas Kedaton attraction, Kukuh customary village with the management board of Alas Kedaton and merchant group regularly holds thanksgiving ritual for the monkeys. However, since one and a half year ago a new tradition of ngrebeg gebogan of two-meter high was held. “Tumpek Uye today is the third time for implementing gebogan parade.

This serves as a form of our gratitude for the welfare graced by God. Expression of our gratitude to monkeys and fruit bats of Alas Kedaton through a parade can attract tourists,” said Pujayasa.

In this ceremony, the merchant group of Alas Kedaton also contributed 22 pieces of gebogan of small size. Both fruit gebogan offerings of the management board and merchant group of Alas Kedaton contain local fruits such as red guava, tomatoes, corn, carrots, bananas, rambutan, papaya, mango and beans.

Before the parade, it was commenced with thanksgiving ritual in the middle

courtyard of Alas Kedaton Temple.

After that, it was resumed with praying together, and presented fruit gebogan before God Almighty. After the prayers, it was continued with parading the gebogan in the middle courtyard of Kahyangan Kedaton Temple and in the outermost courtyard. Ultimately, the gebogan was placed in the outermost courtyard.

A flock of monkeys then approached and picked up the fruits presented by the people of Kukuh. People coming with their children took the fruit and distributed it to the flock of monkeys.

The fruits were directly invaded by monkeys. They looked tame. After getting the fruits, the monkeys jumped into the tree, while another flock came forward to pick up the fruits. The beautiful moments when people were besieged by monkeys became the target of camera of photographers, including tourists. They were happy to capture the moment of tame monkeys at Alas Kedaton. (kmb)

Do you want to try trekking the track of Bindu tourism village? Evidently, the tourism village located at Bindu hamlet, Mekar Buana, Abiansemal, Badung, has more than one trekking route. Moreover, this new route is more beautiful, challenging and very unique. On that account, choosing this new route really needs guts, so that participants can feel the real atmosphere of Bali.

There are six German travelers having tried this new trekking route. They are married couples consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Mayer, Mr. and Mrs. Muller as well as Mr. and Mrs. Ziegler. The travelers having profession as entrepreneurs and workers really enjoyed the trekking tourist attraction. “The track is really challenging so that we are quite impressed. We will continue to think of this memory until arriving at home,” said Mrs. Brigitte.

They were staying at Perani Pangi Villas at Bindu tourism village. Indeed they are eager to walk around the village. “I’ve visited other villages in Bali, but this Bindu village is the most unique.

Beautiful nature is rich in local plants. Local people are friendly and have seriousness in preserving their culture as well as clean environment,” added Mrs. Brigitte.

Atmosphere of Bindu village is also very unique.

It was felt when exploring the new route continuously developed by the local tourism awareness group (Pokdarwis) as the operator of the trekking tourist attraction. “I’ve tried other trekking villages, but this is the most memorable. Everything is available and complete here, so that I can experience the real Bali at Bindu village,” she said seriously.

During the trip, they encountered various rare plants, fruits, rice crops, corn, garden balsam and marigold that they have never imagined before.

Besides, they very much enjoyed traditional bamboo bridge. “We pass over a very unique traditional bridge. It’s afraid but slightly courageous,” said Mr. Ziegler.

On the way, they also found various kinds of animal such as birds, rats, lizards, dragonflies, chickens, dogs and others. They were surprised to see a snake.

“At first, I am afraid to see a snake, but it does not matter. We really feel close to the rich environment with its inhabitants and the plants,” said this friendly man.

They were also impressed with the shower formerly used as a bathing place by local people before development of toilet at people’s home. They were happy when crossing the embankment of paddy fields with intriguing grasses and felt magical aura during the procession of melukat or purificatory rite with prayascita offering and wearing tridatu (white, red and black) thread to clean physically and psychically. “I really feel something different because it turns out on my birthday I get a purificatory rite,” said Mr. Andreas.

Before doing the blessing at Tanah Hyang Balinese Healing Center, the six travelers were served with young coconut drink. They had a look at various types of herbal medicinal plants and the process of paddy plants from planting to harvesting. “Really, we finally know about the process of cooking rice from husked rice. Previously, we just hear about it,” he concluded.

After that, they looked around Balinese house applying what the so-called kosala-kosali (Balinese geomancy). They did not only feel comfortable in the house, but also felt different vibrations. Next, they enjoyed Balinese traditional menus, such as lawar, meat with gravy, shredded meat, fried condiment, pepes and others. While enjoying the meals, they were entertained with traditional rindik music. (kmb)

4

Bali News

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

Mouse eradication by mass hunting

Australia, U.S., India and Japan in talks to establish Belt and Road alternative

BANGLI - The Agriculture, Food Security and Fisheries Agency (PKP) along with farmers and the Indonesian Military (TNI) conducted a mass mouse hunt in the paddy fileds of Subak Bekutal that were being attaced by the rodents.

Head of PKP Bangli, Wayan Sukartana, said the mass mouse hunt in Subak Bekutel was part of a special efforts to ensure food self-sufficiency with a focus on rice, corn and soybean commodities. Mass mouse hunts are one way to deal with this pest in an integrated an effective way. Mouse burrows are fumigated which causes the adults to emerge allowing them to be captured.

“The smaller mice that remain underground can easily be eradicated”, he explained.

Sukartana added that according to reports from his officers, about 5 hectares of paddy fields in Subak Bekutal were under attack my mice. Despite being classified as a moderate attack, the impact was nonetheless disruptive to the farmers. IN order to prevent eh mouse population from growing, PKP Bangli along with the Bangli Military District of the TNI performed the mouse hunt.

“The famers at Subak Bekutal has already harvested their rice so we could do the hunt quite easily”, he explained.

After the mouse hunt, clerat bait will be used for another week. The gambiershaped bait given to farmers is expected to eradicate mice completely. “We will evaluate other subak areas that are being attacked by pest. Normally Subak nocated ravines are prone to mouse attacks”, he explained. (nan)

REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

A man walks past a City Union Bank branch in Mumbai, India, February 19, 2018.

Mass mouse hunts are one way to deal with this pest in an integrated an effective way.

IBP/kmb

Residents of Kaliakah Proteste Neon box of woman in bikini dismantled by municipal police

IBP/kmb

The neon box billboard with an image of two women in bikinis.

NEGARA — After residents of Banyubiru hamlet, Kaliakah protest the presence of a newly installed ad by a nearby hotel, the offensive image was taken down by municipal police on Thursday night (Feb. 15). The neon box billboard with an image of two women in bikinis was considered impolite by local residents who considered it inappropriate for a public space – especially near residences.

Municipal police the National Political and Unity’s Office (Kesbangpol) and local pecalang responeded immediately to their protests securing the location and finally the offensive ad with in the neon box billboard with license No.53/311/SIR/ DPMPTSPTK / VI/2017 was dismantled just a few hours after it was installed. A number of residents revealed that the billboard at T-junction of Banyubiru had been installed at 19:30 and many people were surprised to

see the inappropriate content of the large neon box.

Local resident, 40 year old Mursidin, and others came to location to see for themselves and asked the three workers installing the neon box about the hotel owner. The workers argued that they had an official license from the Jembrana Integrated Investment and Licensing Office that is valid until July 28, 2018. Besides, the neon box is not displaying any pornographic content, they said. They continued to install the ad, but local residents were still protesting which slowly attracted a crowd so soon enough the pecalang came down to secure the location and reported the situation to the village authority. A number of residents who came down agreed that they felt uncomfortable with the large sized image of the ad.

Residents of Kaliakah, head of Jembrana Municipal Police, head of Kesbangpol Jembrana

and a number of officers from the Negara Police and Jembrana Police came down to the location and the Municipal Police contacted the Licensing Office on the matter.

Headman of Kaliakah, I Made Bagiarta, said the protests were triggered by what many consider to be an inappropriate advertisement in the neon box. The image of two women in bikinis that a local hotel had put up is considered to be inappropriate for a public space- particularly a village. The Jembrana Municipal Police finally took down the image as it was causing public unrest.

Chief of Jembrana Municipal Police, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Budi, said that the neon box is being held at his office for the time being.

Since a permit was obtained for the billboard, the hotel can place another more appropriate image in the box before it is installed again. (kmb26)

13

India’s federal investigators close bank branch at heart of fraud

MUMBAI - Indian investigators closed down a branch of a state-run bank that is at the heart of a $1.77 billion fraud and questioned more of its employees as they probed the biggest scam in the country’s banking history, police sources said on Monday.

Three people, including two employees of Punjab National Bank (PNB), India’s second largest state-run lender, were arrested and presented before a Mumbai court over the weekend in the case that involves billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is leading the probe, pasted a notice on the branch premises in south Mumbai barring anyone from entering the office.

The bank has said that the two employees arrested by police colluded with companies belonging to jeweller Modi and another jeweller Mehul Choksi. They issued fraudulent letters of undertaking to overseas branches of other Indian banks which lent money to the jewellers based on the guarantee from PNB.

All the letters of undertaking were issued by the two employees who were working at the Brady Road branch in south Mumbai.

Police searched the bank premises on Sunday and also questioned five more PNB officials, a source said, taking the total number bank staff who have been questioned so far to 11. Police also questioned some executives from Nirav Modi’s group, the source said.

PNB shares slid for a fourth straight day on Monday, falling 6.7 percent by 0614 GMT. The sell off has wiped out about $1.7 billion, or more than a quarter of the bank’s market value, since it disclosed the fraud last Wednesday. Other bank stocks with exposure to the fraudulent transactions that PNB says began in 2011 also fell.

UCO Bank, another state-run lender, said over the weekend it had

nearly $412 million in exposure to the fraudulent transactions carried out at PNB, sending its shares down more than 12 percent in Monday trading.

Union Bank of India and State Bank of India are among other lenders which have said they had exposure to the fraudulent transactions.

Jeweller Modi, whose clients include Hollywood stars such as Kate Winslet and Dakota Johnson, has not commented on the allegations. Police have said Modi and his family left India before PNB filed a complaint on the alleged fraud.

Including direct loans given to companies of Modi and Choksi, Indian banks are at the risk of taking a hit of more than $3 billion after the fraud, according to an internal tax department note seen

by Reuters. (rtr)

SYDNEY - Australia, the United States, India and Japan are talking about establishing a joint regional infrastructure scheme as an alternative to China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative in an attempt to counter Beijing’s spreading influence, the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday, citing a senior U.S. official.

The unnamed official was quoted as saying the plan involving the four regional partners was still “nascent” and “won’t be ripe enough to be announced’ during Australian Prime Minister Turnbull’s visit to the United States later this week.

The official said, however, that the project was on the agenda for Turnbull’s talks with U.S. President Donald Trump during that trip and was being seriously discussed. The source added that the preferred terminology was to call the plan an “alternative” to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, rather than a “rival.”

“No one is saying China should not build infrastructure,” the official was quoted as saying. “China might build a port which, on its own is not economically viable. We could make it economically viable by building a road or rail line linking that port.”

Representatives for Turnbull, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Trade Minister Steven Ciobo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, asked at a news conference about the report of four-way cooperation, said Japan, the United States, Australia, and Japan, Australia and India regularly exchanged views on issues of common interest.

“It is not the case that this is to counter China’s Belt and Road,” he said. Japan, meanwhile, plans to use

its official development assistance (ODA) to promote a broader “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy” including “high-quality infrastructure”, according to a summary draft of its 2017 white paper on ODA. The IndoPacific strategy has been endorsed

by Washington and is also seen as a counter to the Belt and Road Initiative. First mentioned during a speech

by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s to university students in Kazakhstan in 2013, China’s Belt and Road plan is a vehicle for the Asian country to take a greater role on the international stage by funding and building global transport and trade links in more than 60 countries.Xi has heavily promoted the initiative, inviting world leaders to Beijing last May for an inaugural summit at which he pledged $124 billion in funding for the plan, and enshrining it into the ruling Communist Party’s constitution in October.

Local Chinese governments as well as state and private firms have rushed to offer support by investing overseas and making loans.

In January, Beijing outlined its ambitions to extend the initiative to the Arctic by developing shipping lanes opened up by global warming, forming a “Polar Silk Road”.

The United States, Japan, India and Australia have recently revived four-way talks to deepen security cooperation and coordinate alternatives for regional infrastructure financing to that offered by China.

The so-called Quad to discuss and cooperate on security first met as an initiative a decade ago - much to the annoyance of China, which saw it as an attempt by regional democracies to contain its advances. The quartet held talks in Manila on the sidelines of the November ASEAN and East Asia Summits. (rtr)

AAP/David Crosling/via REUTERS

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull takes a selfie as he walks with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and members of the public during a parade as part of the Chinese New Year Festival in Melbourne, Australia, February 18, 2018.

14

Science

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

Bali News

International

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

3

West apron of 4.8 hectares prepared to support IMF event MANGUPURA — Expansion development of Ngurah Rai Airport is currently being speeded up. Indeed, so far the expansion of the apron or aircraft parking lot on the west side of the airport has been no construction work at all. There is only preparation for the installation of perimeter guardrail for workmanship area.

REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Israeli scientists participate in an experiment simulating a mission to Mars, at the D-MARS Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station project of Israel’s Space Agency, Ministry of Science, near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, February 18, 2018.

Israeli scientists complete mock Mars mission in Negev desert

RAMON CRATER - A team of six Israeli researchers on Sunday ended a four-day Mars habitat experiment in Israel’s Negev desert where they simulated living conditions on the Red Planet, Israel’s Science and Technology Ministry said.

The experiment was held near the isolated Israeli township of Mitzpe Ramon, whose surroundings resemble the

Martian environment in its geology, aridity, appearance and desolation, the ministry said.

The participants were investigating various fields relevant to a future Mars mission, including satellite communications, the psychological affects of isolation, radiation measurements and searching for life signs in soil.

Participant Guy Ron, a nuclear physics professor from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said the project was not only intended to look for new approaches in designing a future

mission to the Red Planet but to increase public interest.

“D-Mars is half about the research, and the other half is about the outreach. A major part of this project is getting public interest and getting students interested in space,” he said.

The “D-Mars” project was being held in Israel for the first time in cooperation with the Israel Space Agency. It is one of a number of Mars simulation projects taking place worldwide. (rtr)

‘Easy on the fries!’, Japan scientists tell hopeful bald people

TOKYO - Japanese scientists have warned that eating french fries will not cure baldness, after research was published suggesting that chemicals used in cooking fried potatoes could help fight hair loss.

A research team at Yokohama National University succeeded in producing clusters of 5,000 hair follicle germs (HFGs), the base organs that produce hair, with the aid of dimethylpolysiloxane, a material that was key to cultivating large numbers of HFGs. The team also succeeded in growing hair on the backs of mice

after transplantation in a relatively short period of time.

After dimethylpolysiloxane was reported as being used in oil to fry potatoes, researchers received a number of inquiries asking how many french fries people should eat to cure baldness.

“No matter how many fried potatoes you eat, you’ll never grow more hair. That’s a total misunderstanding that’s gone viral,” lead researcher Junji Fukuda told Reuters.

Fukuda said the research, published in the journal Biomaterials this month, was a breakthrough as

scientists had previously struggled to produce the large quantities of HFGs needed to generate significant hair growth.

“Up until now we’ve only been able to produce a few dozen hair follicle germs at a time, but with this new technology we’ve developed a simple method to produce hundreds and thousands,” Fukuda said.

The team have also received many serious inquiries from researchers and people seeking hair-regenerative medicine to offer their cells to test and develop the research, he said. (rtr)

According to Communication and Legal Section Head of Ngurah Rai Airport, Arie Ahsanurrohim, the apron area on the west side will be developed for 47.25 hectares. However, to support the implementation of the IMF Annual Meeting next October, Angkasa Pura I of Ngurah Rai Airport will complete first an area of 4.8 hectares only.

Arie said that indeed of the total contract to be done amounts to 47.25 hectares. However, there will be addition for roads and other supporting facilities so that it totally becomes 58 hectares. For apron expansion on the west side, it is currently awaiting additional environmental permits. So far, he claimed to have an environmental permit related to the reclamation, but only for an area of 1.5 hectares in 2014.

Meanwhile, the 47.25 hectares of land must be followed by a new permit because there is additional location of the original permit owned.

Currently, added Arie, the permit remains in the Ministry of Environment. He hoped it can be issued in March. “While waiting for the permit, we simultaneously submit it through the approach to the Bali provincial government to apply for the location permit, implementation permit and environmental permit because Bali provincial government will not be able to assess if the environmental permit is not available yet,” he added.

Related to the apron expansion on the west side using the reclamation option, he claimed to immediately do dissemination to the public. Indeed, when the project is worked on, it must be considered the sea currents. However, in this case, he claimed to have had a study regarding the ocean currents.

In the expansion of the airport, there are three work packages. They consist of apron expansion in the western side of the airport, the apron expansion in the eastern side of the airport as well as the construction of the VVIP building on the east side of the airport. All the three packages are currently in Detailed Design Engineering (DED) stage. (kmb23)

IBP/kmb23

Expansion development of Ngurah Rai Airport is currently being speeded up.

Cash register budgeted at IDR 10 billion

REUTERS/Ha Kwiyeon

Professor of Yokohama National University, Junji Fukuda (R) and a researcher in his team, pose with mice in cages at their lab at Yokohama National University in Yokohama, Japan, February 15, 2018. Picture taken February 15, 2018.

MANGUPURA - Badung district government will install hundreds of cash registers in every tourism service business. This effort is intended to increase revenue from the tax sector simply requiring the regional budget of approximately IDR 10 billion.

The program currently being in the process of tender in the Electronic Procurement Service (LPSE) of Badung district is just waiting for the winner.

“The online cash register will be installed as many as 500 units. It does not only target hotels but also

restaurants,” explained the Head of the Badung Revenue Services, Made Sutama, on Sunday (Feb. 18).

According to this bureaucrat from Pecatu village, South Kuta, with the application of this equipment, every transaction is directly monitored by the government. “We have done it since February 15, 2018. Just wait for the winner of the tender process,” he said.

He said the government itself in 2018 has set a target of approximately IDR 6.5 trillion for regional revenue and IDR 7.2 trillion for

regional budget plan (APBD). So, now all the efforts are underway to pursue the target.

“This device will not be only installed at hotels but also restaurants that have enormous potential.

Definitely, it is meant to increase revenues, especially hotel and restaurant tax (PHR) .We have a high target for that,” he explained.

As mentioned, his agency has performed dissemination related to the online cash register. This system is intended for taxpayers that do not have a cashier system in doing the transaction to

customers. Later on, the taxpayers will be given an online cash register by the government of Badung district.

“This online cash register is intended for taxpayers that do not have a system or remain to process their transactions manually. This web-based service is intended for tax payers having owned a system and server. More systems of this kind are installed at hotels, while tapping box are mostly installed in restaurants,” he explained.

As is known, by the end of 2017,

the revenue of hotel and restaurant tax showed a positive trend. Hotel tax was targeted to reach IDR 2.013 trillion and was realized at IDR 2.014 trillion or there was an excess of IDR 720.8 million. Restaurant tax was targeted to reach IDR 451.9 billion, and could be realized at IDR 472.6 billion or exceeded the target of IDR 20.7 billion. No doubt, his service was optimistic with the installation of 500 units of online cash register device so that revenues from the hotel and restaurant tax could increase in 2018. (kmb27)

2

Bali News

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

International

More Chinese tourists arriving via Ngurah Rai Airport

MANGUPURA - The number of Chinese tourists arriving through Ngurah Rai airport has been increasing as regular flight schedules and chartered flights return to normal.

As reported by Communication and Legal Section Head of Ngurah Rai Airport, Ari Ahsanurrohim, during the period of the Lunar New Year, there were 53 flights to and from China per day (26 outgoing and 27 incoming). “This includes both regular flights and chartered flights”, he said.

Ahsanurrohim explained that the chartered flight are offered by Sriwijaya Air, Citilink and Lion Air, while regular flights are run by China Eastern, China Southern, China Airlines, Garuda and Eva Air. If there are not enough passengers however, these airlines will not operate their flights.

Although the flight schedules are back to normal, there are still 7 percent less Chinese tourists arriving than this time last year. In January 2017 the average number of Chinese tourist arrivals was 115,000 people, whereas January of these year saw 107, 000 Chinese passengers arriving. “The 7 percent decrease is for both incoming and outgoing flights”, he added.

These decrease he explained is due to the reduced

Tourism in Tulamben starts to revive

number of passengers on chartered flights. In the past these flights were 90 percent full but now they are only 60-70 percent full. |”We can say that things are back to normal but currently the numbers are still slightly down from last year. The eruption of Mount Agung is still having an impact”, he said.

For Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year, Ngurah Rai Airport provided a special performance for passengers with the theme “Lovely Chinese New Year”.

Ngurah Rai Airport’s management decorated the airport with romantic Valentine’s hearts and oriental nuanced decorations for the Year of the Dog. This included a Chinese Doll Diorama, a Chinese Photo-booth with a mei hua tree and leaves shaped into a heart along with typical Chinese lanterns with a touch of pink for Valentine’s day. Between February 14-18 there were also a number of activities such a the Valentine Lucky Shop, Barongsai Performance, Games and and live music at the international and domestic terminals.

Arriving passengers were welcomed with a Lion Dance, while those departing were treated to some live jazz. “We provide this entertainment for the departing passengers as they wait for their boarding call, so that they are not bored and leave Bali with a unforgettable memories”, added Arie. (kmb23)

IBP/file

Chinese tourists are arrving in Bali

Tulamben, Karangasem, is known as a tourist attraction with great diving and snorkelling. Tourism businesses in Tulamben are feeling optimistic these days as tourism starts to revive following the eruption of Mount Agung. Hotel occupancy rates have increased by about 30 percent with a majority of tourists coming from China.

Manager of Ocean View Tulamben Dive and Resort, Sita Marlina, said on Friday (Feb. 16) that Tulamben has beautiful underwater coral but that tourism has been slow slow since the alert warning for Mount Agung was raised to warning on September 22, 2017 but that this month tourists have started returning to this beautiful location.

“Currently, conditions are improving. Normally occupancy rates are in the range of 70 percent in January and Febuary, and we have been seeing about 30 percent more tourists”, she said.

Since the beginning of the year, there has been a 30 percent increase in the number of tourists visiting Tulamben, 2 thirds are from China and the rest from Russia. This is very different than in September and October when many places were fully booked but suddenly everyone cancelled.

“At that time, there was a lot of panic because it was the first time that Mount Agung had shown sign of activity since it erupted in the 60’s. This panic could be seen by the the tourist cancelling their reservations –especially tourists from turkey as there are no volcanoes in Turkey”, explained Marlina.

Occupancy rates plummeted, she said. In September most hotels were 90 percent full, but in October there were no tourists at all. IN November there was 60 percent occupancy and then in December again no tourists. Since the start of the year, things are getting better with the previously mentioned 30 percent increase in tourist visits, even though normally there are more tourists than that. “Oddly enough, January and February are actually considered to be the low season and July to November the high season”, she said.

Marlina and others like here continue to do promotion especially online related to the latest condition of Mount Agung, explaining that things in Bali and Tuamben in particular are fine.

There has been a lot of misinformation about about eh impact of Mount Agung. Marlina is offering 50 percent discounts until the end of March.

Visitors from the Netherlands and Germany, Margriet van Dijken and Sarah Krüger, whle visiting Tulamben for the first time said that they did not know anything about Mount Agung and that they were very happy to come and enjoy the underwater attractions and pleasant atmosphere of the area.

They both said that they would tell everyone back home that Bali is safe and that tourism in Tulamben is running as usual again. (kmb42)

Timpag village revives owl population plans to become tourism village

TABANAN - Timpag village wants to become a tourism village offering beautiful views of paddy fields as well as other more rare attractions like the Tyto Alba owls that call Timpag village home..

Headman of Timpag, I Gusti W. Sukewahana, said that in addition to being a tourist attraction, the Tyto alba owl species is also a natural mouse predator. The preservation and development of the owl population is a boon to farmers as

these birds help reduce the number of mide that attack their crops allowing the famers to more easily switch to organic farming without having to resort to using chemicals to kill the mice.

Timpag village is cooperating with the local subak to make owl nest for the tyto alba owls. These nests are knows as rubuha. Tyto alba owls to not make nest of their own so in order to entice the owls to live in the village, homes are being

prepared for them.

According to Sukewahana, currently 10 owls have been recorded to live in Timpag village. This bird lives in coconut trees, banyan trees or in the holes of roofs. Once these owls grow to maturity they leave their nest and seek a nest of their own. “A female owl can lay six eggs at a time. But once these small birds grow up they will no longer live with their mother. SO to keep the population living in Timpag

Village, we are going to make them nests”, explained Sukewahana.

To start with ten nests will be made at a distance of about 100 meters apart. The villagers also plan to accustom the birds to hunting for mice. “ “Tyto alba is a meat-eating bird and are good hunters but they will hunt whatever animal it is that they ate for the first time. So it is important that we introduce them to mouse meat so that they will hunt mice. If their first meal is chicken

then later they will hunt chicken”, said Sukewahana.

Having a strong owl population is expected to help reduce the number of mice and thus reduce the amount of pesticides needed in agriculture so that gradually all their crops can become organic.

The presence of organic farming, Tyto alba owls and the Gadungan dam built in 1936 can become Timpag village’s tourism assets. (kmb24)

 Founder : K.Nadha,  General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra  Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Dewa Farendra. 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

International

Activities

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

15

Bali Dynasty Resort’s Biggest Fundraising Event Raised Fund for Solemen Indonesia

B a l i D y n a s t y R esort recently hosted its 25th Back to Bali Dynasty Party at Subi Sport Bar in Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia, which has become the Resort’s biggest annual fundraising event each year. The event was a big success and attended by more than 180 loyal guests of Bali Dynasty Resort.

Over AUD 7,000 was raised from the dinner and raffle tickets sales, with 82 prizes were offered in raffle draws by the generous sponsors, including return flights to Bali by the platinum sponsor AirAsia, holiday accommodation in Bali and entry tickets for many of Bali’s top attractions.

All money raised is directed to Bali Dynasty’s Charity Account to alleviate the suffering of individuals in Bali through a collaborative work between Bali Dynasty Resort and Solemen Indonesia. Started in February 2016, the project is called “Help Friends for Life” and has been supporting many SoleBuddies with their ongoing long-term care and education as well as providing one-off donations such as wheelchairs, prosthetic legs and medical treatment. The charity biggest achievements to date are funding the Solemen House – a four bedroom haven for poor patients and families to stay at no cost; Solemen Car that transports them to the hospital for free and installing community toilets and shower blocks for the impoverished family in North Bali, giving 26 people access to basic and proper hygiene.

We’d like to thank our sponsors to this event: AirAsia, Asia Escape Holidays, Helloworld, Bintang Beer, Hatten Wines, C&M Italiano, Subi Sport Bar, Menjangan Dynasty Resort, Amadea Resort & Villas, Prime Plaza Hotel and Suites Sanur, Bali Safari & Marine Park, Bali Bird Park, Waterbom, Mason Adventure Tours, Bali Zoo Park, Bali Hai Cruise, Ena Dive, Odyssey Submarine, Sobek Bali Utama, Sketch & Portrait, Bali Nusa Dua Theatre, Marine Walk, Bali UTV, Vista Touristama, Taru Bali, GreenBikes Bali, Sardine Restaurant, Frockk, Dare2Wear and Ducatus.

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 54 10th year

Price: Rp 3.000,-

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

‘Black Panther’ Smashes Records With $218 Million at Holiday Weekend Box Office

e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018 Members of emergency and rescue team search for the plane that crashed in a mountainous area of central Iran, February 19, 2018.

LOS ANGELES - Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther” is heading for a super-heroic $218 million debut over the four-day President’s Day weekend at 4,020 North American locations, estimates showed Sunday.

That number means that “Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman and directed by Ryan Coogler, has doubled its original tracking in less than a month.

The film, which carries an estimated $200 million production cost, had been tracking to bring in between an impressive $100 and $120 million when first estimates emerged on Jan. 25. Since then, “Black Panther” has become a must-see movie for many moviegoers, underlined when Thursday previews brought in $25.2 million, the largest Thursday night preview gross for a February opener and the secondlargest preview gross for a Marvel film.

The film’s estimated three-day gross of $192 million is the highest debut ever for a February film and the fifth highest of all time. Combined with an estimated international debut of $169 million from 69 percent of the international market, the estimated global debut stands at $361 million through Sunday.

“Black Panther” has demolished the record for the largest Presidents Day weekend, blowing past “Deadpool’s” 2016 mark of $152 million. Overall

North American moviegoing for the four-day period should hit $300 million -- far above the $278 million mark in 2016, according to comScore.

“This is proof that the big screen experience may arguably be the most powerful platform of change in our society,” said Paul Dergarabedian,” senior media analyst with comScore. “The emotional, communal, immersive and bigger than life theatrical experience has an impact that virtually no other medium can match.”

Comscore’s PostTrak survey of the audience showed outstanding numbers with 77 percent rating “Black Panther” as “excellent” and another 18 percent as “very good.”

Boseman portrays King T’Challa, ruler of Wakanda, a technologically advanced society, who conflicts with Michael B. Jordan’s Eric Killmonger, who intends to take over the throne. Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, and Daniel Kaluuya also star. It’s received an A+ CinemaScore, the only Marvel film to have done so besides 2012’s “The Avengers.” (rtr)

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

A group of men gather in front of a poster advertising the film “Black Panther” on its opening night of screenings at the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 cinemas in Manhattan, New York, U.S., February 15, 2018.

‘Three Billboards’ leads the pack at politically edged BAFTA awards

REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Martin McDonagh, Peter Czernin, Sam Rockwell and Graham Broadbent, pose with Frances McDormand, as they hold their trophies for Best Film for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri’ at the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Britain February 18, 2018.

LONDON - Dark comedy “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” was the biggest winner at the BAFTA Film Awards, held in London on Sunday, an event which saw the campaign for women’s rights in the entertainment industry take centre stage.

“Three Billboards” won five awards, including best film, best actress for its lead performer Frances McDormand and a supporting actor award for Sam Rockwell. Writerdirector Martin McDonagh also won for the film’s original screenplay.

The U.S.-set film also won the best British film honours, qualifying on the basis of its creative team and the companies involved in producing it, many of whom are British.

Though “Three Billboards” took home the most trophies, it did not dominate proceedings, with a number of critically well-received films also garnering recognition.

Mexican director Guillermo del Toro took the directing honours for his fantasy “The Shape of Water,” Gary Oldman took the top male acting prize for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour,” and Allison Janney was honoured for her supporting turn in “I, Tonya.”

Pixar animation “Coco” won for best animated film, while Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” won for best sound, and Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver” won for editing. Daniel Kaluuya, the British star of “Get Out” took the rising star award.

The “Time’s Up” campaign against sexual misconduct was a recurring theme throughout the evening. Many of the female attendees wore black outfits in a gesture of protest.

In his acceptance speech, McDonagh expressed the hope that such protests would bring about change.

“Our film is a hopeful one in lots of

ways but it’s also an angry one, and as we’ve seen this year, sometimes anger is the only way to get people to listen and to change, so we’re thrilled that BAFTA has recognised this,” he said.

In addition, many in attendance wore badges citing the campaign against sexual harassment, while honourees and presenters, including Sam Rockwell and British actress Lily James expressed support for the movement.

The night’s biggest female winner, McDormand, did not join in the sartorial protest, saying in her acceptance speech that though she supported the movement, she had “a little trouble with compliance.”

Other notable winners included cinematographer Roger Deakins, who won for his work on “Blade Runner 2049.” Deakins is also nominated at next month’s Academy Awards for his work on the film. (rtr)

You can find International Bali Post at: 1 Kuta Beach Club Jl. Bakung Sari Kuta 2 Wen Dys Kuta the Coffe Bear Jl. Pantai Kuta 3 Seminyak Paradiso Bali Hotel Jl. Camplung Tanduk 4 Ramayana Resort&Spa Jl. Bakung Sari Kuta 5 The Lokha Legian Resort&Spa Jl. Padma Legian Kuta 6 66 Corner Live Sport Emtertaiment Jl. Doble Six/Werkudara 23 7 Leghawa Grill Jl. D.Tamblingan No. 51 8 Retno Barr dan Restoran Jl. D.Tamblingan No.126 A Sanur 9 Elkomedor Jl. D.Tamblingan 140

10 Malaika Scret 11 Snack Shack 12 Warung Lokal 13 Cokro Cafee 14 T.J.Bar 15 J & N Kebab 16 Goanna Bar 17 Batu Jimbar 18 Ramayana Cafee

Jl. D.Poso No 68 Jl. D.Poso No. 50D Jl. D.Poso No. 39 Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur Jl. D.Tamblingan

19 Smirnof Cafee Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 20 Legwa Hotel Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 21 Nu Laser Cafee Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 22 Ganesa Book Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 23 All For Daiving Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 24 Barocca Jl.Petitenget 17 DKerobokan 25 Lantern Jl.Petitenget 17E Kerobokan 26 Shearlock Jl.Petitenget 17C Kerobokan Klod 27 Cafe Degan Jl.Petitenget 9 Kerobokan Klod

28 Kopi Made Jl. Raya Puputan No. 106 Dps 29 Dimsum Manan Jl. Raya Niti Mandala Renon No 148 30 Furama Jl. Raya Niti Mandala No. 148 Renon 31 Warung Subah Renon Jl. Mohamad Yamin No.18 32 Ayam Betutu khas Gilimanuk Jl. Merdeka No.88 Renon 33 Bali Bakery Jl. Hayam Wuruk 184 Denpasar

Iran cannot confirm missing plane found, freeze hampers search

REUTERS/Tasnim News Agency

LONDON - The wreckage of an Iranian plane that crashed with 65 people on board was found in central Iran, state media said on Monday, but aviation authorities could not confirm the report. The Aseman Airlines flight from Tehran disappeared from radar screens on Sunday 50 minutes into its journey to the southwestern city of Yasuj. It is believed to have gone down in a mountainous area near the town of Semirom. No one is expected to have survived.

The deputy governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province was quoted by state media as saying the wreckage was found near Dengezlu city, in Semirom county, in Isfahan province. A few minutes later, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation said it could not confirm the wreckage had been discovered.

“We are facing a total enigma.

We do not know anything about the crash,” Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency shortly after his arrival in Semirom.

Iran asked European countries and China to help the search with satellite imagery, Iranian Space Agency deputy head Mojtaba Saradeghi was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

A member of the Red Crescent rescue team was quoted as saying

by ISNA news agency that “a dark spot” had been seen near Dengezlu village that “might be a trace to the crashed plane”. ISNA did not elaborate.

GLACIAL TEMPERATURES Glacial temperatures and moun-

tainous terrain hampered rescue teams. Helicopters and mountain rescue personnel from the armed forces and the Red Crescent, as well as local volunteers, were involved in the search, state television reported. “Five units started the search operation in the early hours of the morning, in -16 degrees,” a local Red Crescent official was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency, reporting minus 16 degrees Celsius or 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Military reconnaissance drones were also searching the area. The

twin-engined turboprop ATR 72 was just over 24 years old. According to data cited by the Flight Safety Foundation’s aviation-safety. net website, it had been restored to service just three months ago after being in storage for six years.

Planemaker ATR said the cause of the accident was not yet known.

Based in the French city of Toulouse, ATR is a joint venture between Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo.

Iran has suffered several plane crashes in the past few decades.

Tehran blames U.S. sanctions for preventing it from importing new aircraft or spare parts. A deal with world powers on Iran’s nuclear programme has lifted some of those sanctions, opening the way for Iranian airlines to update their fleets.

Aseman signed a deal last year

to buy at least 30 Boeing 737 MAX jets. National carrier Iran Air has ordered 80 planes from Boeing and 100 from Airbus. A Boeing 727 plane crashed in northwestern Iran in 2011, killing 78 people, and a Caspian Airlines Tupolev bound for Armenia crashed in 2009, killing 168. In February 2003, an Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed in southeast Iran, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew. (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.