Edition Tuesday, March 20, 2018 | International Bali Post

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Tuesday, March 20, 2018

‘Black Panther’ Surpasses ‘Tomb Raider’ for Fifth Box Office Crown

LOS ANGELES - Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther” has maintained its momentum at the domestic box office, winning its fifth consecutive weekend with $27 million from 3,834 locations.

Alicia Vikander’s “Tomb Raider” finished second in its opening weekend in line with expectations with $23.5 million from 3,854 sites for Warner Bros. and MGM. The videogame-based action adventure score a B grade from moviegoers in CinemaScore exit polls.

Lionsgate-Roadside Attractions’ faith-based drama “I Can Only Imagine” outperformed forecasts with $17.1 million at 1,629 venues, notching the top perscreen average in the top 10 with $10,476. The studio plans to expand “I Can Only Imagine,” based on the story behind the hit song of the same name, to more than 2,000 sites next weekend.

Disney’s second weekend of time-travel adventure “A Wrinkle in Time” followed in fourth with $16.6 million at 3,980 locations, lifting its 10-day total to $61.1 million. “Wrinkle,” directed by Ava DuVernay, declined by exactly half from its opening weekend.

Fox’s launch of gay teen comedy-drama “Love,

Simon” took fifth with $11.5 million at 2,402 venues, amid strong support from critics with a 91 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Simon,” starring Nick Robinson as a conflicted high schooler, notched an A+ CinemaScore with the audience, giving Fox execs hope for strong word of mouth and extended playability. Females comprised 58 percent of ticket buyers.

“Black Panther” has become only the seventh title to pass the $600 million milestone at the North American box office, and is the second-fastest film to do so. It’s the fourth-highest fifth weekend of all time, and the first time a film has held the top spot for five weekends in a row since 2009’s “Avatar.”

“Black Panther” has totaled a stunning $605.4 million in 31 days. It’s poised to pass “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” ($619.8 million) for sixth place and “The Avengers” ($623.4 million) for fifth place on the alltime domestic list by the end of next weekend. And it’s likely to eventually pass “Jurassic World” at $652.3 million for fourth place and “Titanic” at $659 million for third place. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” tops the list at $936 million followed by “Avatar” at $760 million. (rtr)

IBP/net

Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther” has maintained its momentum at the domestic box office.

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Tuesday, March 20, 2018

IBP/net

Daryl Hannah

Daryl Hannah directs first feature, wants more women in film industry

AUSTIN - Film star Daryl Hannah returned to the red carpet with her debut as a feature film director and said the odds are stacked against women taking prominent roles in the film industry.

Her playful fantasy western shot on a shoe-string budget called “Paradox” stars music greats Neil Young and Willie Nelson. It premiered on Thursday at the South

by Southwest Film Festival in Austin.

“We made this in the spirit of fun,” she said in an interview at South by Southwest, which closed on Sunday. The film streams on Netflix this month.

Hannah, 57, whose career includes memorable roles in 1984’s “Splash” and the “Kill Bill” films in 2003 and 2004, welcomed moves in Hollywood to address sexual harassment and expand the influence of women in the movie industry.

“It is good that people are starting to at least acknowledge that there is an issue there and it is something that needs to be addressed,” she said.

Hannah made news late last year when she spoke out in a New Yorker magazine story along with

several other female actors who accused movie producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault.

Weinstein, co-founder of the Miramax studio, was one of Hollywood’s most powerful men before more than 70 women accused him of sexual misconduct, including rape. He has denied having nonconsensual sex with anyone.

Multiple accusations of sexual misconduct have been leveled against male actors, filmmakers and agents, and fresh attention has been brought to lingering questions over racial and gender fairness inequality in Hollywood.

Women wanting to make films have a tough time finding financing and being taken seriously, Hannah said, and when a female-driven movie does well, it is seen as a one-off.

But, she said, the tide may be turning.

“It is a patriarchal system that is beginning to feel a little bit that its foundation is being chipped away,” she said.

“After ‘Kill Bill,’ I never got another movie meeting. Not even a meeting or an offer,” Hannah added. (rtr)

Hundreds flee Australian bushfires that kill cattle, destroy homes

SYDNEY - Australian authorities urged people to remain alert on Monday as bushfires that have destroyed dozens of homes, killed cattle and forced hundreds of residents to flee continued to burn out of control in the southeast of the country.

No deaths or serious injuries were reported on Monday but the bushfires have caused extensive damage in rural areas of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW), Australia’s two most populous states. More than 100 houses were damaged or destroyed, authorities said. “At this stage (there have been) no lives lost,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said at a news conference in the small NSW coastal town of Tathra.

“It is just a great credit to the firefighters, to the volunteers, the emergency workers - all of the community has pulled together and provided such great support,” he said. The fires, believed to have been sparked by lightning on Saturday, were fanned by dry, hot winds as temperatures reached 41 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit) on Sunday.

Emergency officials said conditions should ease later on Monday but “watch and act” warnings remained in place for five locations.

The fire also set off an argument

among Australia’s politicians on whether climate change was a contributing factor to the blazes.

“You can’t attribute any particular event, whether it’s a flood or fire or a drought ...to climate change.

We are the land of droughts and flooding rains, we’re the land of bushfires,” Turnbull said.

Authorities said some 69 houses were destroyed and a further 39 were damaged and 30 caravans or cabins were also wiped out in Tathra, where residents fled to the beach on Sunday to avoid the flames as flying embers quickly carried the firefront forward. About 700 residents were evacuated to centres set up at the nearby town of Bega and several schools in affected areas were closed on Monday.

NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers earlier told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that five of 22 fires had not yet been contained. “There’s still a lot of fire around the landscape,” he said, warning that it would still be several days before

they were extinguished.

About 280 firefighters were battling the blazes, while 22,000 homes were without power in the region after high winds brought down trees, Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said late on Sunday. Bushfires are a common and deadly threat in Australia’s hot, dry summers, fuelled by highly flammable eucalyptus trees.

In January, hundreds of holidaymakers had to be evacuated by boat from the beaches of the Royal National Park south of Sydney when they became trapped by bushfires.

The 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria killed 173 people and injured more than 400. (rtr) News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.

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A helicopter drops water on a forest as a bushfire burns nearby, on the outskirts of the town of Cobden, located south west of Melbourne, Australia, March 18, 2018.

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Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Bali News

International

Intriguing changes to Omed-omedan I Gusti Ngurah Oka Putra, one of the descendants of the Oka Palace of Kaja hamlet, Sesetan, when met at his residence on Friday (Mar. 15) explained that the omed-omedan tradition started around the seventeenth and eighteenth century from his ancestor (Batara Kompyang) a senior figure of Sesetan village at that time.

Just before Nyepi Day, his ancestor named Anak Agung Made Raka suffered a severe illness.

“He had trouble standing up and could not walk.

He forbade the villagers from visiting him. The people of Kaja Hamlet however were sad that they could not visitMade Raka. Amidst their sadness and disappointment they decided to hold a tug of war known as omed-omedan. This is where the tradition originated from”, explained Turah Bima, familiarly known as Ngurah Oka. Made Raka was angered by the tug of war and ordered his family to bring him to the front of the royal palace so that he could tell the people to stop.

However, once he arrived to the front of the palace his sickness left him and he was completely cured.

So instead of following his intention to ban the tug of war, on the contrary he encouraged it. From that day forward every year on Nyepi Day the villagers would hold the omed-omedan. At that time the people did not know about catur brata penyepian (four abstinences) so the omed-omedan was still held on Nyepi Day. In the past, on Nyepi Day, people only abstained from lighting fires but as religious understandings and interpretations changed regarding Nyepi Day with the

The Omed-omedan tradition

implementation of catur brata penyepian encouraged by the government and the Hindu Dharma Council of Indonesia (PHDI), around the 1980’s, the tradition of omed-omedan was moved forward one day to Ngembak Geni.

The omed-omedan also got negative attention from neighbouring villages as it was associated with mass kissing, Ngurah Oka was angered by this judgment of his ancestral heritage and thus banned the omedomedan ritual around 1984. “I reject the false accusation disparaging our residents. Friction of the young people in the omed-omedan may happen, but the point is not the kissing”, he said.

An announcement was posted at the location of the omed-omedan ritual stating that the ritual was abolished. However despite the announcement, the villagers still gathered. Strangely two pigs fought to the blood at the site of the omed-omedan and then disappeared. I Gusti Ngurah Oka Putra along with hamlet leaders and community leaders met at the site to discuss the incident and possible outcomes. A decision was made and the hamlet apparatus summoned the youth club of Kaja hamlet, Sesetan, and told them to make preparations to carry out the omed-omedan tradition as it had been done in the past and to continue thence forth.

The ritual was coordinated by the descendants of the royal family who started with ngelawar (sacred pig dish preparation) at the royal palace. Later in the afternoon, the teenagers participating in the omed-omedan tradition took over. After following this procedure three years running, the sekaa taruna or customary village youth club took over the implementation of the tradition as they continue to this day. In past it was not only teenagers who took part in this traditional rite but married couples as well. In fact a couple was even involved in the opening of the ceremony. But today, explained Oka, only the sekaa taruna members take part. (ara)

IBP/Yudi Karnaedi

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

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No longer on Nyepi

EVERY Ngembak Geni, (the day after Nyepi), Kaja hamlet, Sesetan, holds their omedomedan traditional rite as they have since the time of the ancient kingdoms, however some changes have taken place in the implementation of this unique ritual.

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The garbage pile up after Nyepi

IBP/Sosiawan

After Nyepi volume of garbage soars SEMARAPURA - After the celebration of Nyepi celebration, and the implementation of Banyupinaruh, the volume of garbage in the district of Klungkung increased considerably compared to normal days. The Environment and Land Agency (DLHP) was thus overwhelmed. As seen on Sunday afternoon (Mar. 18), the piles of garbage Jalan Cokroaminoto and Jalan Melati, in Town of Semarapura gave an slovenly impression.

Normally the garbage is taken away in the morning.

Head of the DLHP Klungkung, Anak Agung Kirana, revealed that after Nyepi, the volume of garbage increased by 30 percent compared to normal days. “Or monitoring indicated a distinct increase in the volume of garbage”, said Kirana.

All available staff have been deployed to collect the garbage, however they are still feeling overwhelmed by the volume. “Our staff have been working around

the clock but are still struggling to deal with all the garbage. We are focusing on towns and villages but tomorrow we will start tackling the garbage on the beaches”, he said.

Both organic and non-organic garbage is disposed of at the Suwung landfill in Denpasar and at the Bangli regional landfill as Klungkung;s landfill in Sente hamlet, Dawan has been closed.

Garbage from certain villages is is processed independently by those who on waste processing unit (TOSS). “Only small amounts of garbage are transported to landfill and only at certain times”, he explained.

Garbage has been managed much better this year after Nyepi compared to previous years, as the public has taken more initiative is sorting garbage by type. “We can see that the gabage handling is better this year. It is neatly wrapped and easier to be collected”, added Kirana. (kmb45)

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Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Science

International

International

Earliest Homo sapiens exhibited unexpected sophistication

WASHINGTON - On a grassy African landscape, some of the earliest members of our species, Homo sapiens, engaged in surprisingly sophisticated behaviors including using color pigments, creating advanced tools and trading for resources with other groups of people.

Those findings were reported on Thursday by scientists who examined artifacts dating from 320,000 years ago unearthed in southern Kenya, roughly the same age as the earliest-known Homo sapiens fossils discovered elsewhere in Africa.

The researchers described ochre pigment that produced a bright-red color, which could have been used for body painting or other symbolic expression, and tools fashioned from obsidian, a volcanic rock that yields extremely sharp blades, that contrasted with clunkier ones used by earlier species in the human evolutionary lineage.

The researchers found abundant evidence of long-distance transfer of obsidian to the Olorgesailie Basin location from sites up to 55 miles (88 km) away over rugged terrain, leading them to believe it was acquired from another group through trade although it was unknown what was provided in exchange.

The findings indicate advances in technology and social structures unexpected so early in our species’ history, they said.

“My view is that these newly evolved mental and social abilities -- including awareness of distant groups, use of pigments and innovative technologies including projectile points -- were at the foundation of our species’ origin,” said paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Human Origins Program.

“They may have actually been the behaviors that distinguished our lineage/gene pool from other early human species.”

The team discovered pigment materials, a dark brownish color from manganese and bright red from ochre.

“The choice of importing the ochre from a distance rather than using a more common local material which accomplishes the same purpose argues that having a red face or hair or clothing or weapons also carried a symbolic message of some sort,” said paleoanthropologist Alison Brooks of George Washington University and the museum’s Human Origins Program.

The researchers described obsidian tools that were smaller, more carefully crafted and more specialized than larger stone tools called handaxes used by earlier human species.

The obsidian was used in a wide range of tools including scrapers, implements with chisel and gouging edges and also in small points that could be placed at the end of a wood or bone shaft for use as a projectile weapon. (rtr)

People’s militancy needs inspiring to love local fruits

DENPASAR — Militancy of Balinese people needs to be encouraged so as they increasingly love local products, including fruits.

Moreover, the island is dominated

by Hindus that often carry out religious ceremonies with fruit as one of the main ingredients. Local fruits must remain a host amid the rush of imported fruit.

“We already have regional regulation on local fruits. Now, it just needs to encourage because I think the trade is closely related to the issue for the sake of militancy so the community wants to love local products,” said Head of the Bali Trade and Industry Agency, I Putu Astawa, when confirmed on Thursday (Mar. 15).

According to Astawa, customary village plays an important role in establishing the militancy. It starts by reducing the use of imported fruits, and willingness to use local fruits such as mangosteen, rambutan, snakefruit and others. The love of the products yielded by local

farmers will also make Bali more independent in the future.

“People must continue to be educated in order to reduce the use of imported fruits, especially lately there are imported fruits alleged to contain bacteria. We must be careful. It’s better to use and love our fruit products,” he explained.

On the other hand, Astawa saw the Bali local fruit has big enough potential to be an export commodity. For instance, mangosteen from Pupuan, Tabanan, has started to be exported to China. His agency even already came to quarantine office that issued phytosanitary certificate. However, not all export destination countries require such certification.

“It means to guarantee that the products we export are free of white fleas and black ants. I came directly to Quarantine Office two days ago to make coordination so that there would be no obstacles to our exporters. Moreover, it is carried out by Balinese residents,” he said. (kmb32)

IBP/net

The Olorgesailie Basin excavation site in southern Kenya in this undated handout photograph released on March 15, 2018.

REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot

LYON - The fossilised skeleton of an unidentified type of dinosaur is set to be auctioned in Paris in June, and could fetch up to 1.8 million euros ($2.22 million), auctioneers said.

Almost nine metres long, the skeleton is unusually complete, at almost 70 percent whole.

It is believed to be from the carnivorous, theropod group of dinosaurs, which had hollow bones and three-toed feet, said Eric Mickeler, a paleontological expert working with auction house Aguttes.

But beyond that scientists are still stumped and have spot-

ted differences with known species, he added.

“Nothing else is known,” Mickeler said.

The skeleton, now on show in the French city of Lyon to possible buyers such as museums or private collectors before the June 4 auction, is estimated to be worth between 1.2 million and 1.8 million euros.

It was found in Wyoming, in the United States, in 2013 and belongs to an unnamed British businessman.

It will be installed on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower for the sale. Potential buyers can bid in euros or in digital currency bitcoin. (rtr)

IBP/eka

Local fruits must remain a host amid the rush of imported fruit.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Water police initiated to clean up plastic waste in the middle of the sea.

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IBP/kmb31

To keep marine preservation

Water police dive to clean up plastic waste

THE sea becomes a source of community life. However, lately the existence is increasingly apprehensive because it is more filled with garbage. Ahead of the Nyepi celebration, to jointly maintain the natural conservation, especially the sea, water police initiated to clean up plastic waste in the middle of the sea on Thursday (Mar. 15). Moreover, the officers immediately dived to collect plastic waste and transported it to mainland.

Mystery dinosaur skeleton to be auctioned in Paris

A skeleton of a theropod is displayed before its auction by Aguttes auction house in Lyon, France, march 15, 2018.

Bali News

Such plastic clean up action was concentrated on the tourism area in the waters of Blue Lagoon, Padangbai.

The idea of water police is also responded positively

by Deputy Chief of Karangasem Police, Supriadi Rahman, who also participated directly to lead the action of cleaning up the garbage in the middle of the sea. Fishermen group around the waters such as the Tanjung Jepun Fishermen Group and Antiga village, Manggis, were also very enthusiastic about following the marine clean-up action.

Chief of Karangasem Water Police, I Made Wartama, said that his authority initiated it in order to maintain sanitation of the sea from organic and nonorganic waste as well as preserve marine biota such as coral reef and marine animals remain sustainable. So, it can become an attraction of domestic and foreign tourists to come and enjoy marine tourism. The team cleaned up the waste on the surface and under the sea by diving. The diving led directly by deputy chief of Karangasem Water Police with two personnel of the Karangasem Water Police was assisted by two personnel of master dive at a depth of approximately 6 meters.

The activity lasted for about an hour.

Results of the action could obtain organic waste such as bamboo, tree trunks and non-organic waste (plastic) as much as two large plastic garbage bags.

The garbage was then taken ashore and dumped to a landfill located at Padangbai Pier. “This is the second we have done. We want to cultivate the love of the sea

to preserve the underwater and its ecosystem so that the sea of Karangasem remains sustainable,” he said.

In addition to the waters of Blue Lagoon, the other personnel also performed similar actions in other waters centered on the White Sandy Beach. The members were under the leadership of Unit Chief of Maintenance, I Komang Singkiryasa, in synergy with Community Care Environment of Trans Hero Candidasa chaired by I Wayan Smiley, village noncommissioned police officer at Bugbug, I Gusti Sindu.

They moved together with the group of people who are engaged in tourism to clean up garbage from the coast to the middle of the sea. “This beach is remarkably developed and widely known to tourists so that it should be clean, and build public awareness about the importance of coastal and marine conservation,” said Singkiryasa.

White Sandy Beach is a tourist area frequently used by tourists to sunbathe, swim and snorkel. Garbage collection was done manually by picking up all kinds of waste found along the beach and then put into container to be collected and disposed of in the proper place.

Chief of Community Care of Trans Hero Candidasa Area, I Wayan Smiley, looked enthusiastic in synergy with environmental groups of fishermen. “It must be sustainable,” he said.

Similar action was also simultaneously conducted on Candidasa Beach initiated by the managers of tourism facilities in the local area up to the Amed and Tulamben region pioneered by personnel of Kubu Police. Karangasem has coastline of about 87 km long. This shows the potential of Karangasem marine is quite high. However, this potential is covered by the amount of garbage in the middle of the sea. Moreover, the majority of marine debris in the middle of the sea is a highly decomposed plastic waste. Seeing this situation, public awareness of keeping the sea is still low.

Therefore, through this action, water police unit as a ‘sea guard’ hoped this action becomes an example of a simple way of taking care of the sea from the threat of waste. (kmb31)

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Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Bali News

International

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

International

Export of stamped batik increases 10-15 percent

Gilimanuk Harbor becomes a kind of lighthouse for the surrounding communities.

IBP/olo

People’s economy at Gilimanuk highly depends on queues

OVER time Gilimanuk is constantly changing. Before it becomes a densely populated area as what we find today, the harbor area was formerly in the form of forest and known to be haunted area.

Most of the residents occupying the areas are migrants from a number of regions in Bali and from outside Bali. They have lived and worked here to have grandchildren and even great grandchildren. From the past time to the present, people’s economy highly depends on the activities at Gilimanuk Harbor. When the condition is crowded to generate long queue, it becomes an opportunity to earn more. Conversely, when the condition is quiet then the economy of surrounding people also becomes sluggish.

Gilimanuk Harbor becomes a kind of lighthouse for the surrounding communities. Trade and service sectors are the mainstay of the community for their livelihood. No wonder many residents have been trading for decades around the Gilimanuk Harbor. “In the beginning, I only rent umbrellas (at the harbor) and then peddled the original snakefruit from Karangasem and lived nomadically,” said Ni Luh Sriasih, 63, one of the merchants at the market kiosk near Gilimanuk Maneuver Terminal. She is an example of a trader at Gilimanuk who has been persistent for tens of years.

Starting from peddling around the harbor area, she finally occupies a kiosk to sell Bali souvenirs and snacks. Believe it or not, this mother of five children until her old age, she is illiterate. Nevertheless, Sriasih can survive from trading up to tens of years. Her illiteracy was triggered by the condition she experienced in her childhood. This woman from Buleleng could only get education until first grade of elementary school.

Although she cannot read, she is very smart to count though without doodles. Similarly, she can also memorize all the merchandises. Moreover, in keep-

ing with the increasing number of her merchandise, she can operate a calculator. For her trading business, Sriasih is very fluent. She confessed the experience has made her like that.

“Now, it (Gilimanuk) has grown. In the past, there were only a few merchants at the harbor. There were only fruit and cloth merchants on bicycles and three ships operated during the day,” she recalled when she first started selling at Gilimanuk. The current condition of the harbor is far different which almost never sleeps or operates around the clock.

Additionally, people’s residence was also still far from the harbor separated by forest. It includes the house she occupies today at the Jineng Agung neighborhood formerly located far from the harbor. Nowadays, the forest area has grown into offices, shops and maneuver terminal. People can cross freely day and night. Likewise, the merchants sell almost for 24 hours, especially in the harbor area. Certain moments like long holidays, Nyepi, New Year and Lebaran become a blessing.

Chief of Gilimanuk customary village, I Ketut Galung, said that his customary village has about 700 families, where most of them are migrants from various districts in Bali. The diversity owned by each region then mingles and puts together at Gilimanuk customary village. This chief of customary village originally coming from Karangasem admitted that current condition of Gilimanuk harbor area is much different from the past.

“In the past, the harbor and people’s residence was separated by haunted forest, just like when passing Cekik where it was quite lonely and dark as well as no one was passing at night,” he said.

Unlike today, the harbor operates nearly for 24 hours. This man having worked for dozens of years at this harbor equally did not dismiss that community’s livelihood mostly depends on the activities at Gilimanuk Harbor. (olo)

DENPASAR - The export of stamped batik has increased 10-15 percent since 2016. Since the establishment in 1995, CV D’Agung which has stamped batik products has been export-oriented.

Successor of the CV D’Agung, I Gusti Agung Bagus Magha Bojana, said that his exports increased in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Moreover, the export is done once a week, or four times a month. His export destination is 100 percent to the United States. In the country, he has four clients having become his regular customers since 2000.

Sometimes, if there is excessive order, he is forced to reject it because his production capacity only reaches 6,000 pieces per month.

He preferred to give priority to quality in order to be continuously competitive against similar companies. That’s why he always rejects the order if exceeding the limits of his capability.

In addition to working on the orders, he also became a vendor of the same product. Each month, the man completing his master degree in information technology in the United States sells the products to the vendors as much as 10,000 pieces.

The orders are done by his employees with a wholesale system.

So, the income of an employee depends on the number of clothes they can finish. Many garment

companies are closed. According to him, it does not happen because the market is sluggish, but due to less optimal effort in managing employees. Therefore, he implements a wholesale system. “Garment companies are closed because of excessive employees, so that it must be careful when adding employees,” said this Deputy Treasurer of the Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) of Bali Chapter.

Stamped batik clothing production is the work of his employees.

There are about 30 employees working in the factory located on Jalan Nangka Selatan. They are also provided with a dormitory.

Superiority of stamped batik is not easily imitated. He receives fabrics from other companies. He just does the clothes sewing with the designed having been prepared by customers. Similarly, the batik motif is also on demand. So, he only works on based on the orders.

The stamped batik clothes are suitable for summer use in April, May and June.

Even though he does not have background in fashion design, he is diligent to work on his family business due to the call of responsibility. He also tried to pioneer his own business in accordance with the basic undergraduate education of Civil Engineering namely in the making of HPL block board. (kmb42)

IBP/may

Since the establishment in 1995, CV D’Agung which has stamped batik products has been export-oriented.

13

Hundreds flee Australian bushfires that kill cattle, destroy homes

REUTERS/Issei Kato

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe atttends at an upper house parliamentary session in Tokyo, Japan March 19, 2018.

Japan PM takes blame for loss of trust over scandal as polls dive, denies involvement

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his popularity plunging amid a cronyism scandal, took responsibility on Monday for a loss of trust in his government but denied he or his wife had intervened in a land sale to a school operator with ties to his wife.

The finance ministry’s announcement last week that documents about the discounted sale to educational body Moritomo Gakuen had been altered have sparked a political crisis for Abe, as suspicions swirl about a cover-up and opposition parties call for both the premier and Finance Minister Taro Aso to resign.

Interrogated by a parliamentary panel on Monday, Abe denied directing changes to the documents, in which references to Abe, his wife and Aso were removed from the finance ministry’s records of the land sale. He told the panel he had not even known of the documents’ existence.

“I did not direct that the documents be altered,” he said.

“In fact, I didn’t even know that they existed at all, so how could I have done that?”

Two opinion polls published over the weekend showed Abe’s support diving to its lowest since he took office in December 2012, and others showed a majority of

Japanese believed he bore some responsibility for the scandal.

In an apparent nod to those polls, several of which showed his support sinking into the 30-percent level, Abe acknowledged that public trust had been shaken.

“As head of the government, I keenly feel my responsibility in the matter of the people losing their trust in the administration,” he added.

“Ultimately, the responsibility lies with me as prime minister.

I would like to apologize once again.”

Opposition lawmakers said answers to their questions were unlikely to come from the premier or Aso and renewed their call for Nobuhisa Sagawa, who had headed the division that submitted the documents before he became tax agency chief in July, to testify in parliament. Sagawa resigned 10 days ago.

A majority of people in the opinion polls backed the calls for Sagawa to testify, as well as Abe’s wife, Akie. But Abe said on Monday that he would answer any questions on her behalf.

The scandal could dash Abe’s hopes of winning a third three-year term as head of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a September leadership election. (rtr)

SYDNEY - Australian authorities urged people to remain alert on Monday as bushfires that have destroyed dozens of homes, killed cattle and forced hundreds of residents to flee continued to burn out of control in the southeast of the country.

No deaths or serious injuries were reported on Monday but the bushfires have caused extensive damage in rural areas of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW), Australia’s two most populous states. More than 100 houses were damaged or destroyed, authorities said.

“At this stage (there have been) no lives lost,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said at a news conference in the small NSW coastal town of Tathra.

“It is just a great credit to the firefighters, to the volunteers, the emergency workers - all of the community has pulled together and provided such great support,” he said.

The fires, believed to have been sparked by lightning on Saturday, were fanned by dry, hot winds as temperatures reached 41 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit) on Sunday.

Emergency officials said conditions should ease later on Monday but “watch and act” warnings remained in place for five locations.

The fire also set off an argument among Australia’s politicians on whether climate change was a contributing factor to the blazes.

“You can’t attribute any particular event, whether it’s a flood or fire or a drought ...to climate change. We

are the land of droughts and flooding rains, we’re the land of bushfires,” Turnbull said.

Authorities said some 69 houses were destroyed and a further 39 were damaged and 30 caravans or cabins were also wiped out in Tathra, where residents fled to the beach on Sunday to avoid the flames as flying embers quickly carried the firefront forward.

About 700 residents were evacuated to centres set up at the nearby town of Bega and several schools in affected areas were closed on Monday.

NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers earlier told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that five of 22 fires had not yet been contained.

“There’s still a lot of fire around the landscape,” he said, warning that it would still be several days before they were extinguished.

About 280 firefighters were battling the blazes, while 22,000 homes were without power in the region after high winds brought down trees, Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said late on Sunday.

Bushfires are a common and deadly threat in Australia’s hot, dry summers, fuelled by highly flammable eucalyptus trees.

In January, hundreds of holidaymakers had to be evacuated by boat from the beaches of the Royal National Park south of Sydney when they became trapped by bushfires.

The 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria killed 173 people and injured more than 400. (rtr)

AAP/Dean Lewins/via REUTERS

Smoke rises near a destroyed car and home after a bushfire swept through the town of Tathra, located on the south-east coast of New South Wales in Australia, March 19, 2018.

12

International

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Bali News

International

North Bali is truly wealthy when it comes to traditional cultural practices that have been passed down uninterrupted for countless generations.

One example is the tradition known as ‘nyakan diwang’ that the people of Catur Desa Adat Dalem Tamblingan, Umajero Village, Gobleg, Munduk, Gesing continue to practice. Nyakan Diwang essentially means ‘cooking by the side of the road’ and this tradition manages to strengthen the peace and harmony amongst the people who practice it.

The process begins anywhere between midnight and dawn.

Qatar asks U.S. to investigate UAE bank for ‘financial warfare’

IBP/net

immediately, and we ask that you investigate whether NBAD has directly or indirectly supported the manipulation of Qatar’s markets, including through NBAD America’s dollar-clearing or correspondent banking services in the United States,” the letter said. FAB, which was created from the merger of First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi last year, denied it had tried to manipulate the riyal.

“FAB conducts its business in accordance with the highest professional standards and complies with the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which it operates.

FAB categorically refutes these rumours,” it said in a statement on Monday.

“FAB maintains strong working relationships with regulators across the globe and continually engages in constructive dialogue to ensure full compliance with the latest legal and regulatory requirements,” it said. The UAE government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Qatari government spokesman confirmed the letters had been sent to U.S. regulators but declined to comment on their content. New York-based law firm Paul, Weiss declined to comment. The U.S. Treasury and CFTC did not im-

mediately respond to requests for comment.

DIPLOMATIC PUSH

Qatar’s central bank said in December it had launched an investigation into possible manipulation of its markets by the countries that had imposed the economic blockade. Qatar, a small Gulf state and major gas exporter, denies the allegations that it has financed terrorism and says the blockade is an attempt to punish Doha for independent policies.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have refused to soften their demands which include Qatar cutting ties with Iran and shutting down statefunded broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Qatar, which is also home to the largest U.S. military base in the region, has repeatedly reached out to Washington to mediate in the crisis but the attempts have failed so far. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump, who has previously accused Qatar of sponsoring terrorism, sacked U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had publicly defended Qatar and pressured Trump to moderate his stance.

Tillerson’s sacking came ahead of a new diplomatic push to help mediate the dispute among America’s Gulf allies. The United States

is due to host a Gulf Cooperation Council summit later this year and before that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani are all due in Washington for separate state visits.

‘BOGUS QUOTES’

The Qatari central bank has previously accused unnamed banks of trying to manipulate the riyal by trading it between themselves offshore at artificially weak levels - to create an illusion Qatar’s economy was crumbling. The riyal has been pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 3.64 for more than a decade, but in the initial months of the boycott it traded as low as 3.8950 offshore.

In the letter to the U.S. Treasury, Qatar’s lawyers said they suspected NBAD was driving the riyal lower during illiquid periods, such as Islam’s Eid al-Adha holidays last year, “reinforcing the manufactured narrative that Qatar’s currency was increasingly volatile and its economy was too unstable for investment”.

“NBAD’s quotes - and those of other banks involved in the manipulation - were likely all bogus,” the letter said without naming the

5

Dalem Tamblingan Traditional Village

BUSINESS

LONDON - Qatar has asked U.S. regulators to investigate the U.S. subsidiary of the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of “bogus” foreign exchange deals designed to harm its economy as part of a blockade by Gulf neighbours.

The Central Bank of Qatar’s law firm has written a letter to the U.S. Treasury asking it to investigate NBAD Americas, the U.S. subsidiary of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), which is majority state-owned.

In a second letter, the lawyers - Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison - asked the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to investigate possible manipulation of Qatar’s currency, the riyal. The request for an investigation deepens the diplomatic crisis that erupted in June when Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain imposed an economic boycott on Qatar, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and Iran.

“We believe NBAD has participated in an extraordinary and unlawful scheme to wage financial warfare against Qatar, including through the manipulation of Qatari currency and securities markets,” said the letter to the U.S. Treasury dated Feb. 26, which has been seen by Reuters.

“These actions should be halted

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

banks and referring to foreign exchange quotes posted by NBAD. “There is evidence that at the same time NBAD was providing quotes with great frequency and at rates lower than the official rate of 3.64, its traders were unwilling to actually transact at those prices,” the letter said.

It cited one example on Nov. 22, 2017: when a counterparty reached out to NBAD to execute a deal, it was told by a representative of NBAD that it had no riyal to trade. FAB declined to comment when asked about the specific allegation.

The letter did not name the counterparty but said the central bank’s lawyers were ready to provide regulators with a recorded chat between the two sides, on a confidential basis. It said NBAD stopped quoting the riyal in December after Qatar vowed to investigate.

The central bank also pledged on Nov. 23 to satisfy any market demand for dollars and the riyal has since rebounded in offshore transactions to trade close to its peg.

Many bankers in the region say that with more than $300 billion in central bank reserves and sovereign wealth fund assets, Qatar has more than enough financial firepower to block any attack on its currency. (rtr)

Head of the Traditional Village of Munduk, Jro Putu Ardana, explained on Thursday (Mar 3) that the nyakan diwang tradition is part of the ‘Ngembak Geni’ celebrations that take place the day after the Holy Day of Nyepi (day of Silence). The people of Catur Desa Adat Dalem Tamblingan, and surrounding area feel their relations and communications thus become more intense and believe strongly in the power of nyakan diwang to give rise to a strong sense of community. “This tradition is related to Nyepi and so local residents will cook their food outside their house before bringing it inside. While they are cooking, their communication with their neighbors is woven into harmony as they exchange recipes. The value of togetherness is thus passed down from generation to generation with a feeling of peace and harmony. During this activity there is no separation among people and great joy is taken in tasting each others food” said Ardana.

Umajero Busungbiu Village public figure, I Nyoman Arya, added that the nyakan diwang tradition has been well guarded by the people of this village since long ago. “The people of Gobleg, Umajero, Munduk, Gesing and other villages in the area have passed down this tradition from generation to generation. Starting at midnight people are already getting ready to start cooking’’ he said.

The tradition of nyakan diwang’s meaning is philosophically related to a manifestation of the sense of gratitude

As a tradition, the Hindu community in Bali celebrates Galungan and Kuningan by delivering oblations accompanied with art activities. It also happens to the celebration of Galungan (Feb. 10) and Kuningan (Feb. 20), where during the feast the barong bangkung or barong bangkal troupe will definitely do ngelawang or street show.

Barong bangkal or barong bangkung is a large enough and old pig considered a mythical animal having a mystical power. Attires of the barong are made of black and

towards Creator for having provided blessings, abundance, safety and peace. “We do this to show our gratitude and every year we have been blessed with ease in conducting this activity”, added Arya.

Durign Nyepi, just like other Balinese, people here honor the four abstinences; amatigeni (no lighting of fire or lamps), amati lelanguan (no sensory pleasure), amatilelungan (no traveling/walking around), dan amatikarya (no work).

Through the nyakan diwang tradition as people gather outside their homes, they enjoy a friendly atmosphere and it is no surprise that they exchange friendly greetings. This type of activity truly strengthens the peace and harmony of the community. “By cooking together on the street, a feeling of togetherness arises and people naturally greet each other. This

activity -that takes place right after Nyepi, helps to safeguard togetherness” emphasised Arya.

Cooking implements such as makeshift hearths made of stone or brick are made ready for the dry wood that will be used as fuel for the fire. Mornings in the mountain are cold so the first thing that people prepare is hot water for coffee or tea. Then they start cooking rice and other dishes. “While enjoying the atmosphere of the early morning, local residents prepare their meals over the course of an hour or two. Once everything is cooked, the food is brought inside to be enjoyed by the family. Another aspect of this unique tradition is the exchanging of recipes with neighbours” he said. (kmb)

Barong Bangkung Street Show white velvet. However, in general, the attires are not pretentious like that of other types of barong.

In every show, the barong bangkung is also equipped with trinkets of ate leaves and the dancers are wearing checkered trousers and rattles tied on legs, so that when moving they will generate rattling sound. Barong bangkal is carried by two dancers and the performances are held in the streets and around the village.

With the presence of barong show, villagers will feel they have been protected by deities marked

IBP/kmb

by the arrival of barong bangkal or barong bangkung. The show is accompanied with batel bebarongan gamelan music consisting of drums, tawa-tawa, kelenang, kelenong, cymbals and kempur.

The word ngelawang is derived from the word lawang meaning ‘door,’ a term in the Balinese language that means a gallivanting show from one house to another or from one village to another. This gallivanting show with diverse Balinese artistic traditions is performed by art troupe.

Allegedly this traditional show sources from a Hindu mythology, namely Shiva Tattva. Once upon a time Lord Shiva and Goddess Uma are making love in improper place and time, so that harmony shakes.

As a result, it brings in misery for mankind and other living beings.

After realizing his fault, Lord Shiva sent gods to calm down the situation and reassure the whole universe. When arriving on earth, the gods created and performed a variety of art forms. Through the love of art show the whole universe is back to peaceful condition.

The meaning of purification in

the Shiva Tattva mythology is also harmonious with the content of disaster repellent in the legend on the insolence destruction of Mayadenawa that was then celebrated as the starting point of Galungan, the celebration of victory of dharma (truth) against adharma (untruth).

Ngelawang poses a cultural energy having a spiritual aspect, arts and entertainment.

This tradition means to expel evil spirits and protects population from any plagues or diseases caused by evil spirits (bhuta kala).

When performing ngelawang, homeowners will usually offer an oblation with sesari (money).

Ngelawang tradition inherited from generation to generation means to neutralize the universe, reject all kinds of diseases interfering with human life, including psychically driving away those having evil intention.

By and large, this street show is performed five days before Galungan to the celebration of Kuningan. In the 1970s, the nomadic art crystallized into art event that jazzed up the Galungan. In recent years, this art tends to go extinct in

line with the changing of times, so that it is difficult to find this kind of performance.

Values of education

Ngelawang does not only pose an attractive art show, but also contains positive values. In addition to preserving local culture, it also serves as a medium of creativity to sharpen educational values, norms, ethics and moral.

They do this art activity in togetherness while making others happy through entertainment.

Ngelawang is carried out with joy, so that the interaction among them serves as a form of character education and cultivation of artistic values as well as has the meaning of socialization.

In harmony with the development of times, ngelawang has different purposes. There are people only doing the ngelawang to maintain tradition, just run a hobby and raise funds. Apparently, the latest development is widely practiced by barong troupe, so that the location of the show is chosen specifically such as in tourist areas like Kuta, Ubud, Sanur and others. (kmb)

6

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

W

RLD

REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Men stand in front of a screen showing preliminary results of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the presidential election, at the headquarters of Russia’s Central Election Commission in Moscow, Russia March 19, 2018.

Putin savours record win, securing six more years at Russia’s helm

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin basked in his biggest ever election victory on Monday, extending his rule over the world’s largest country for another six years at a time when his ties with the West are on a hostile trajectory.

Putin’s victory will take his political dominance of Russia to nearly a quarter of a century, until 2024, making him the longest ruler since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Putin, who will be 71 at the end of his term, has promised to beef up Russia’s defences against the West and raise living standards.

In an outcome that was never in doubt, the Central Election Commission, with nearly 100 percent of the votes counted, announced that Putin, who has run Russia as president or prime minister since 1999, had won 76.68 percent of the vote.

With more than 56 million votes, it was Putin’s biggest ever win and the largest by any post-Soviet Russian leader.

In a late-night victory speech near Red Square, Putin told a cheering crowd the win was a vote of confidence in what he had achieved in tough conditions.

“It’s very important to maintain this unity,” said Putin, before leading the crowd in repeated chants of “Russia! Russia!”

Backed by state TV and the ruling party, and credited with an approval rating around 80 percent, he faced no credible threat from a field of seven challengers.

His nearest rival, Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, won 11.8 percent while nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky got 5.6 percent. His most vocal opponent, anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, was barred from running.

Critics alleged that officials had compelled people

to come to the polls to ensure that boredom with the one-sided contest did not lead to low participation.

“NO SERIOUS COMPLAINTS”

Near-final figures put turnout at 67.47 percent, just shy of the 70 percent the Kremlin was reported to have been aiming for before the vote.

The Central Election Commission said on Monday morning that it had not registered any serious complaints of violations. Putin loyalists said the result was a vindication of his tough stance towards the West.

“I think that in the United States and Britain they’ve understood they cannot influence our elections,” Igor Morozov, a member of the upper house of parliament, said on state television.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down suggestions on Monday that tensions with the West had boosted turnout, saying the result showed that people were united behind Putin’s plans to develop Russia.

He said Putin would spend the day fielding calls of congratulation, meeting supporters, and holding talks with the losing candidates.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was among the first to offer his congratulations to Putin, but Heiko Maas, Germany’s new foreign minister, questioned whether there had been fair political competition.

Opposition leader Navalny is expected to call for protests demanding a re-run of an election that he says was neither free nor fair. International observers were due to give their verdict later on Monday.

The longer-term question is whether Putin will now soften his anti-Western rhetoric.

His bellicose language reached a crescendo in a state-of-the-nation speech before the election when he unveiled new nuclear weapons, saying they could strike almost any point in the world. (rtr)

International

International

U.S. Republicans to Trump: Let Mueller do his job

WASHINGTON - Republican senators warned President Donald Trump on Sunday not to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and said the president must let federal investigators looking into Russian meddling in the U.S. election do their jobs.

The Republican president has renewed his Twitter attacks on both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Mueller’s probe since the firing on Friday of the bureau’s former deputy director, Andrew McCabe, two days before he was eligible to retire with a full pension.

Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who has criticized Trump harshly, said the president’s latest comments appeared to be aimed at the firing of Mueller. Senator Lindsey Graham, another Republican, said if Trump were to dismiss Mueller, it would mark “the beginning of the end of his presidency.”

AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, said: “As the speaker has always said, Mr. Mueller and his team should be able to do their job.”

In an effort to tamp down the chatter, White House lawyer Ty Cobb issued a statement on Sunday night saying Trump was not weighing Mueller’s removal.

“In response to media speculation and related questions being posed to the Administration, the White House yet again confirms that the President is not considering or discussing the firing of the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller,” he said.

The Republican comments underscored the risks for Trump if he goes too far to thwart the federal probe.

“I don’t know what the designs are on Mueller, but it seems to be building toward that (firing

Robert Mueller

him), and I just hope it doesn’t go there, because it can’t. We can’t in Congress accept that,” Flake told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“So I would expect to see considerable pushback in the next couple of days urging the president not to go there.”

In a series of tweets over the weekend, Trump accused the FBI leadership of lies, corruption and leaking information. He called the Russia probe a politically motivated witch hunt.

“The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime,” Trump said on Saturday.

On Sunday, he attacked former FBI Director James Comey and McCabe, top officials who were involved in the Russia probe and subsequently fired.

The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Moscow conducted an influence campaign aimed at swaying the 2016 presidential election to Trump over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Mueller is investigating the Russian meddling and any possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

On Saturday, Trump’s personal lawyer John Dowd urged the Justice Department official overseeing Mueller, Rod Rosenstein, to “bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss James Comey.”

Republican U.S. Representative Trey Gowdy criticized Dowd in an interview with “Fox News Sunday.”

“I think the president’s attorney, frankly, does him a disservice when he says that and when he frames the investigation that way,” Gowdy said. “If you have an innocent client, Mr. Dowd, act like it.” (rtr)

IBP/net

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

11

President engages in conversation with Indonesian students in Wellington JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and First Lady Iriana engaged in a conversation with 29 students from Indonesia at the Waterfront Wellington on Monday. Deputy for Protocol, Press, and Media of the Presidential Secretariat Bey Machmudin noted that the warm ambience was apparent when President Jokowi held a casual conversation with dozens of Indonesian students studying in New Zealand.

During the conversation, President Jokowi and First Lady Iriana also walked along with 29 students, of which 15 were from Papua. The president and First Lady Iriana walked from the hotel in the CBD area of Wellington to the Waterfront, a distance of one kilometer.

The head of state and First Lady Iriana thereafter sat along with the 29 students on one side of the Waterfront near the Te Papa Museum.

Apart from the students, Indonesian people staying in New Zealand had also joined the president and his entourage, one of them being Marvijs Ajoomi, a lecturer from Papua, who had an interesting story to share with the president.

“I came here when I was 15 years old. I could not speak English at all at that time. I am grateful to be given an opportunity, from high school until post graduation.

Now, I am teaching at one of the universities here,” he remarked.

The president also received some suggestions from the students, one of them being to increase employ-

ment opportunities for overseas graduates.

Currently, employment opportunities are few and far for graduates to serve and apply their knowledge to advance Indonesia. One of the students remarked that the knowledge they had gained can be a form of investment to ensure continued progress of the country in future.

On the occasion, the president was heedful of all suggestions.

In addition, President Jokowi highlighted that the government was currently building infrastructure in Papua. “The government is currently building roads, bridges, airports, and harbors, so people can have broader access to the isolated areas,” he explained. In addition to conversing with the students, the president also took time off to do a vlog recording and signed a car bearing the number plate “JOKOWI.” The car belonged to Dedy Muardi, an Indonesian from Yogyakarta, who has been living in Auckland since 2001. The distance from Auckland to Wellington is quite far, about a 10 hours` drive by car, but he drove all the way to meet the Indonesian president.

President Jokowi and Mrs. Iriana were accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Political, Law, and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, State Secretary Pratikno, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, and Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand Tantowi Yahya. (rtr)

IBP/ant

The migrant worker activists rally in Jakarta protesting the death of Indonesian worker in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia executes Indonesian migrant worker Four school students and a teacher drowned from Madura in Mamuju river

MAMUJU - Four elementary school students and a teacher drowned in a river in the District of Mamuju Tengah, South Sulawesi on Sunday.

The bodies of the victims were found at 16.00 local time two hours after they were swept downstream by strong current of the river of Budong Budong in the village of Parigi, a witness said.

The four school students were

identified as Tasya (12), Sari (12), Lisda (12), Sari (12) and the teacher was Riska Azis.

“The students and their teacher were out on a recreation in the river when suddenly they were swept by strong current,” Syawal a security man said.

The river was not too deep but the current was strong dragging them farther to the middle of the river, he said. (ant)

JAKARTA - The Foreign Ministry confirmed the execution of Zaini Misrin, an Indonesian migrant worker from Bangkalan, Madura, East Java, in Saudi Arabia. “That is right,” Director of Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Legal Entities of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry Lalu Muhammad Iqbal stated in connection with the execution of Misrin through a short message here on Monday.

According to Iqbal, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry will hold a press briefing on Monday afternoon related to Misrin`s case and the handling of cases of

Indonesian citizens or migrant workers, who are threatened with death sentence abroad. The Saudi Arabian government had reported that Misrin was executed in Mecca on Sunday.

According to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, the Saudi Arabian authorities have not informed about the execution or submitted the “mandatory consular notification” to Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) concerning Indonesian migrant issues.

“Yes, we have informed our NGO friends about this,” he noted. Details on the case of Misrin will be presented by the Foreign Ministry during a press briefing this afternoon. (ant)

10

Destination

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

International

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

International

Resurgent Del Potro returns to the top with Indian Wells triumph

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tions, and will assist you with all the equipment, all of which meets international safety standards. Bali Canyon Tubing is an adventure tour operated by Bali Quad Adventures, and combined adventure packages are available. Canyon tubing tours start from USD 89 for adults and USD 59 for kids, while combined quad tours are USD 169 for adults and USD 99 for kids. (net)

CALIFORNIA - An emotional Juan Martin del Potro could barely believe he had finally won a Masters 1000 series title at the 51st attempt at Indian Wells on Sunday but is determined to keep the trophies coming in his late career renaissance.

The tall Argentine with a rocket of a forehand has endured years of injury-induced heartbreak but on Sunday was back at the very top of the game, beating no less than Roger Federer in an enthralling Indian Wells final.

“It’s so big,” Del Potro said. “I cannot believe I won this tournament, beating Roger in a great final and level of tennis.

“I’m number six in the world, I think? Which is so good to me.

And I’m excited to keep working ... I just want to keep winning titles like this if I can.”

Del Potro was tipped as a future world number one in 2009 after the then 20-year-old reached the French Open semi-finals, the Australian Open quarter-finals before capturing his maiden grand slam at Flushing Meadows.

He failed to break the dominance of Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the years following, though, and a string of career-threatening wrist injuries hampered his game and almost forced him to give up on tennis.

“I was close to quitting tennis because I had three surgeries on my wrist and I couldn’t fix the

problem,” the 29-year-old recalled earlier this week at the BNP Paribas Open.

“I got depressed at home for a long while, and I wasn’t happy doing the effort to recover my wrist.

That’s what I was thinking about, quitting tennis.

“But thank God I’m here and healthy, and I’m playing tennis again. I’m doing this because I love it.”

The Argentine has regained form over the last two seasons but although he entered Sunday’s final on a 10-match winning streak, he was still inevitably playing underdog to Swiss world number one Federer.

Never short of fighting spirit even when his joints were unable to back it up, del Potro saved three match points and blew one of his own on the way to a victory that snapped Federer’s 17-match winning streak this year.

“It was an unbelievable match in all ways. We played a great level of tennis. The people were excited on every single point,” Del Potro said.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay calm in the tie-break of the second set, but then the calmness came again in the end of the match and I played good in the tie-break.”

Del Potro, who had already won his first title of the season at Acapulco earlier in March, will be looking for the 23rd of his career at next week’s Miami Open. (rtr)

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Dovizioso pips Marquez to win MotoGP opener in Qatar

QATAR - Italian Andrea Dovizioso won the Qatar Grand Prix for Ducati by the blink of an eye on Sunday as MotoGP served up a seasonopening thriller at the floodlit Losail circuit.

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First-placed Ducati Team rider Andrea Dovizioso of Italy, second-placed Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez of Spain, and third-placed Movistar Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi of Italy pose on the podium.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Juan Martin Del Potro poises with the championship trophy after defeating Roger Federer (not pictured) in the men’s finals in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Honda’s reigning world champion Marc Marquez finished a mere 0.027 seconds behind the man who took last season’s title battle down to the wire.

Valentino Rossi, the Italian great starting his 23rd grand prix season at the age of 39 and with a new twoyear Yamaha contract freshly signed, joined them on the podium after the night-time race.

Dovizioso had started eighth but seized the lead from Frenchman Johann Zarco, who had set the pace from pole position, with five laps to go and pulled away with Marquez in close pursuit.

The Spaniard made his move at the last corner of the last lap but failed to make it stick, with Dovizioso using the Ducati’s power to take his ninth MotoGP win.

Britain’s Cal Crutchlow was fourth for LCR Honda, the best non-factory rider, with Zarco dropping to eighth as his tyres lost performance.

“It was a perfect race, perfect weekend,” said Dovizioso of his first win in Qatar after three times

finishing runner-up.

“We did a really bad start but I was calm. I recovered very slowly and saved a lot the tyres and was able to push at the end,” added the Italian.

“As always with Marc, the last lap is very difficult but I was able to beat him again.”

Marquez, winner of four of the last five MotoGP titles, did all he could at a track he sees as one of his most difficult.

“When Dovi was pushing I was losing the front, losing the rear but anyway I arrived close in the last corner. I tried,” said the Spaniard.

“Again he beat me, but I’m very happy. Here a podium was the main target.”

In a tightly-fought race, with the pack jostling for position behind Zarco before Dovizioso’s move, the gap between winner and Honda’s Dani Pedrosa in seventh place was just 4.6 seconds.

Rossi took the chequered flag 0.797 behind Dovizioso with Spanish team mate Maverick Vinales, last year’s winner in Qatar, sixth.

“I expect more compared to last year, because with this year’s bike I feel good,” said Rossi, who won one race in 2017 and finished fifth overall despite breaking his leg at the end of August. (rtr)

8

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Sp rt Barca race towards title after Atletico defeat, Ronaldo scores four

BARCELONA - Barcelona took a giant step towards winning the La Liga title after they beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 on Sunday and nearest challengers Atletico Madrid lost 2-1 at Villarreal, giving the Catalans an 11-point lead at the top of the standings. Cristiano Ronaldo scored four times as champions Real Madrid thrashed Girona 6-3 in a hugely entertaining game and moved to within four points of unseating Atletico in second place.

Paco Alcacer took the place of suspended striker Luis Suarez in the starting line-up and scored a first goal in three months to put Barca ahead in the eighth minute at the Nou Camp, side-footing home a pass from Jordi Alba. Lionel Messi scored for the sixth game in a row in all competitions and for the 25th time in this league campaign when he doubled Barca’s lead in the 30th minute with a deadly strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Atletico forward Antoine Griezmann won and converted a penalty to put his side ahead at Villarreal in the 20th minute. However, Turkey striker Enes Unal headed in a deserved equaliser in the 82nd and then struck the winner from close range in stoppage time.

The visitors had forward Vitolo sent off moments later for pushing Villarreal forward Nicola Sansone.

Barca lead the standings on 75 points with nine games remaining. Atletico are second with 64, while Real are third on 60. Valencia are fourth while Villarreal climbed above Sevilla into fifth after Vincenzo Montella’s side were beaten 2-1 at Leganes. The Catalans were rampant in the first half and could have taken a heavier lead into the break as Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho hit the woodwork twice and his compatriot Paulinho struck a post.

Hughes could be ‘perfect fit’ for Southampton, says Hojbjerg

Newly-appointed manager Mark Hughes has made a positive impact at Southampton and could be the right man to reinvigorate the struggling Premier League club, midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has said. Hughes, who was named as Argentine Mauricio Pellegrino’s replacement last week, took charge of his first game as Southampton beat Wigan Athletic 2-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.

“I think I speak on everyone’s behalf when it’s been positive and he has given energy and good vibes, a new fresh start,” Hojbjerg is quoted as saying by the Daily Echo.

“He worked a lot on intensity and the discipline and desire to take the extra meters, to do what we have to do as a team and an individual in our own position and the basics. “Like we have said many times we have a really good team, some really good players, and

The unbeaten league leaders slowed down in the second half and Athletic came into the game for the first time but they rarely came close to troubling goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

“We scored twice in the first half and could have really finished them off, then in the second half we took our foot off the pedal without realising,” Barca coach Ernesto Valverde told a news conference. “The two halves were very different, perhaps conditioned by the first. There weren’t many chances in the second half, for us or them.”

Atletico have not managed to beat Villarreal at home or away since April 2015 and were fortunate to take the lead from the spot after Griezmann appeared to go down easily following a challenge from Jaume Costa.

SLACK DEFENDING

The home side pushed for an equaliser in the second half and Atletico coach Diego Simeone sacrificed Griezmann for captain Gabi with 10 minutes remaining to try and protect the lead but his side ended up losing the game due to slack defending. “There’s no explanation for what happened, we didn’t defend well from the two set pieces and next time we need to be more focused,” said Atletico midfielder Saul Niguez.

Ronaldo struck four goals in a game for the first time this season in Real’s thrilling win over Girona.

The Portuguese striker has now netted 22 times in the league this season, trailing Messi by just three goals.

Ronaldo leapfrogged Luis Suarez into second place on the Liga’s top scorer’s list.

“Cristiano is very important to us, he transmits an incredible amount of energy for the team,” Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “Cristiano’s ambition is tremendous. But I also want to highlight the work of his team mates, who help him a lot. We scored some spectacular goals today which was down to the whole team.” (rtr)

REUTERS/Albert Gea

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their second goal as Athletic Bilbao’s Mikel San Jose and Benat look dejected

9

maybe this is the perfect fit. Nothing is perfect in this world but this is a good start.”

The former Stoke City boss has a tougher task on his hands in the league, where Southampton are two points adrift of safety in 18th position with eight games left to play but Hojbjerg is focusing on the positives. “This is nice, a great feeling and also football. One week ago the world went down and today we are in the semi-final of the FA Cup,” Hojbjerg added.

“This of course doesn’t change the standing on the league but let’s focus on this and smile about the semi-final. “After defeat you always want to hit back even harder and I think we did that today.”

Hughes will take charge of his first league game when Southampton travel to 17th-placed West Ham United on March 31 before their FA Cup semi-final tie against Chelsea next month. (rtr)

Alves sends PSG 17 points clear in Ligue 1 Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino after the match

Pochettino looking beyond FA Cup in Tottenham evolution Tottenham Hotspur must build a winning culture in major competitions like the Premier League and Champions League to develop as a club rather than focusing on domestic cup competitions, manager Mauricio Pochettino has said.

The north London side booked an FA Cup semi-final spot by beating Swansea City 3-0 in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

“I never said that it’s not important to win this competition,” Pochettino told reporters.

“This type of competition is about enjoying the process and about enjoying when you lift the trophy, but it’s not going to give a different level or status as winning

the Premier League or the Champions League to put the club on a higher level.

“For me, when you are consistently winning in the Premier League or the best competition in the world like the Champions League, that helps you to create (a winning mentality).”

Goals from Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela helped Tottenham breeze past Swansea and set up a semi-final against Manchester United next month.

Tottenham are fourth in the league, four points adrift of secondplaced United, and travel to fifthplaced Chelsea, who are five points behind them, on April 1. (rtr)

PARIS - Brazilian defender Dani Alves struck late to give Paris St Germain a 2-1 victory at Nice on Sunday as they extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to a massive 17 points. The kickoff was brought forward to 1200GMT to ensure maximum exposure in Asia and PSG, who now have 83 points from 31 games, were keen to impress.

They failed to do so in a lacklustre performance but Alves’s 82nd-minute header was enough for them to edge closer to a seventh French league title. Nice, who hit the woodwork through Mario Balotelli in the second half, opened the scoring through Allan Saint-Maximin, whose early goal was quickly cancelled out by Angel Di Maria.

Later on Sunday, Olympique de Marseille lost ground in the race for second when Memphis Depay’s last-minute goal earned Olympique Lyonnais a 3-2 win at the Stade Velodrome.

Third-placed Marseille, on 59 points and seven behind Monaco, opened the scoring courtesy of a Rolando first-half strike. However, Adil Rami’s own goal and Houssem Aouar put Lyon in front.

Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff

Southampton manager Mark Hughes celebrates after Cedric Soares scores their second goal

Kostas Mitroglou equalised in the closing stages, only for Depay to strike again for the visitors, who are fourth on 57 points.

At the Allianz Riviera, Saint-Maximin beat PSG keeper Alphonse Areola from close range after being perfectly set up by Alassane Plea on 17 minutes. That spurred PSG into action and the visitors equalised just four minutes later thanks to Di Maria, who found the back of the net with a left-footed effort. Balotelli went close to restoring Nice’s lead eight minutes before the break, but his curled effort shaved the far post.

PSG had a chance on the hour, but Nice keeper Walter Benitez pulled off a superb save to tip Alves’s bicycle kick over the bar. Balotelli forced Areola into another brilliant save two minutes later as Nice piled on the pressure. The Italian hit the woodwork 15 minutes from time with a header, while at the other end PSG forward Kylian Mbappe headed over the bar. Alves proved to be the most accurate with his head, meeting Adrien Rabiot’s cross in the 82nd minute to beat Benitez and seal the win. (rtr)

8

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Sp rt Barca race towards title after Atletico defeat, Ronaldo scores four

BARCELONA - Barcelona took a giant step towards winning the La Liga title after they beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 on Sunday and nearest challengers Atletico Madrid lost 2-1 at Villarreal, giving the Catalans an 11-point lead at the top of the standings. Cristiano Ronaldo scored four times as champions Real Madrid thrashed Girona 6-3 in a hugely entertaining game and moved to within four points of unseating Atletico in second place.

Paco Alcacer took the place of suspended striker Luis Suarez in the starting line-up and scored a first goal in three months to put Barca ahead in the eighth minute at the Nou Camp, side-footing home a pass from Jordi Alba. Lionel Messi scored for the sixth game in a row in all competitions and for the 25th time in this league campaign when he doubled Barca’s lead in the 30th minute with a deadly strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Atletico forward Antoine Griezmann won and converted a penalty to put his side ahead at Villarreal in the 20th minute. However, Turkey striker Enes Unal headed in a deserved equaliser in the 82nd and then struck the winner from close range in stoppage time.

The visitors had forward Vitolo sent off moments later for pushing Villarreal forward Nicola Sansone.

Barca lead the standings on 75 points with nine games remaining. Atletico are second with 64, while Real are third on 60. Valencia are fourth while Villarreal climbed above Sevilla into fifth after Vincenzo Montella’s side were beaten 2-1 at Leganes. The Catalans were rampant in the first half and could have taken a heavier lead into the break as Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho hit the woodwork twice and his compatriot Paulinho struck a post.

Hughes could be ‘perfect fit’ for Southampton, says Hojbjerg

Newly-appointed manager Mark Hughes has made a positive impact at Southampton and could be the right man to reinvigorate the struggling Premier League club, midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has said. Hughes, who was named as Argentine Mauricio Pellegrino’s replacement last week, took charge of his first game as Southampton beat Wigan Athletic 2-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.

“I think I speak on everyone’s behalf when it’s been positive and he has given energy and good vibes, a new fresh start,” Hojbjerg is quoted as saying by the Daily Echo.

“He worked a lot on intensity and the discipline and desire to take the extra meters, to do what we have to do as a team and an individual in our own position and the basics. “Like we have said many times we have a really good team, some really good players, and

The unbeaten league leaders slowed down in the second half and Athletic came into the game for the first time but they rarely came close to troubling goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

“We scored twice in the first half and could have really finished them off, then in the second half we took our foot off the pedal without realising,” Barca coach Ernesto Valverde told a news conference. “The two halves were very different, perhaps conditioned by the first. There weren’t many chances in the second half, for us or them.”

Atletico have not managed to beat Villarreal at home or away since April 2015 and were fortunate to take the lead from the spot after Griezmann appeared to go down easily following a challenge from Jaume Costa.

SLACK DEFENDING

The home side pushed for an equaliser in the second half and Atletico coach Diego Simeone sacrificed Griezmann for captain Gabi with 10 minutes remaining to try and protect the lead but his side ended up losing the game due to slack defending. “There’s no explanation for what happened, we didn’t defend well from the two set pieces and next time we need to be more focused,” said Atletico midfielder Saul Niguez.

Ronaldo struck four goals in a game for the first time this season in Real’s thrilling win over Girona.

The Portuguese striker has now netted 22 times in the league this season, trailing Messi by just three goals.

Ronaldo leapfrogged Luis Suarez into second place on the Liga’s top scorer’s list.

“Cristiano is very important to us, he transmits an incredible amount of energy for the team,” Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “Cristiano’s ambition is tremendous. But I also want to highlight the work of his team mates, who help him a lot. We scored some spectacular goals today which was down to the whole team.” (rtr)

REUTERS/Albert Gea

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their second goal as Athletic Bilbao’s Mikel San Jose and Benat look dejected

9

maybe this is the perfect fit. Nothing is perfect in this world but this is a good start.”

The former Stoke City boss has a tougher task on his hands in the league, where Southampton are two points adrift of safety in 18th position with eight games left to play but Hojbjerg is focusing on the positives. “This is nice, a great feeling and also football. One week ago the world went down and today we are in the semi-final of the FA Cup,” Hojbjerg added.

“This of course doesn’t change the standing on the league but let’s focus on this and smile about the semi-final. “After defeat you always want to hit back even harder and I think we did that today.”

Hughes will take charge of his first league game when Southampton travel to 17th-placed West Ham United on March 31 before their FA Cup semi-final tie against Chelsea next month. (rtr)

Alves sends PSG 17 points clear in Ligue 1 Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino after the match

Pochettino looking beyond FA Cup in Tottenham evolution Tottenham Hotspur must build a winning culture in major competitions like the Premier League and Champions League to develop as a club rather than focusing on domestic cup competitions, manager Mauricio Pochettino has said.

The north London side booked an FA Cup semi-final spot by beating Swansea City 3-0 in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

“I never said that it’s not important to win this competition,” Pochettino told reporters.

“This type of competition is about enjoying the process and about enjoying when you lift the trophy, but it’s not going to give a different level or status as winning

the Premier League or the Champions League to put the club on a higher level.

“For me, when you are consistently winning in the Premier League or the best competition in the world like the Champions League, that helps you to create (a winning mentality).”

Goals from Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela helped Tottenham breeze past Swansea and set up a semi-final against Manchester United next month.

Tottenham are fourth in the league, four points adrift of secondplaced United, and travel to fifthplaced Chelsea, who are five points behind them, on April 1. (rtr)

PARIS - Brazilian defender Dani Alves struck late to give Paris St Germain a 2-1 victory at Nice on Sunday as they extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to a massive 17 points. The kickoff was brought forward to 1200GMT to ensure maximum exposure in Asia and PSG, who now have 83 points from 31 games, were keen to impress.

They failed to do so in a lacklustre performance but Alves’s 82nd-minute header was enough for them to edge closer to a seventh French league title. Nice, who hit the woodwork through Mario Balotelli in the second half, opened the scoring through Allan Saint-Maximin, whose early goal was quickly cancelled out by Angel Di Maria.

Later on Sunday, Olympique de Marseille lost ground in the race for second when Memphis Depay’s last-minute goal earned Olympique Lyonnais a 3-2 win at the Stade Velodrome.

Third-placed Marseille, on 59 points and seven behind Monaco, opened the scoring courtesy of a Rolando first-half strike. However, Adil Rami’s own goal and Houssem Aouar put Lyon in front.

Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff

Southampton manager Mark Hughes celebrates after Cedric Soares scores their second goal

Kostas Mitroglou equalised in the closing stages, only for Depay to strike again for the visitors, who are fourth on 57 points.

At the Allianz Riviera, Saint-Maximin beat PSG keeper Alphonse Areola from close range after being perfectly set up by Alassane Plea on 17 minutes. That spurred PSG into action and the visitors equalised just four minutes later thanks to Di Maria, who found the back of the net with a left-footed effort. Balotelli went close to restoring Nice’s lead eight minutes before the break, but his curled effort shaved the far post.

PSG had a chance on the hour, but Nice keeper Walter Benitez pulled off a superb save to tip Alves’s bicycle kick over the bar. Balotelli forced Areola into another brilliant save two minutes later as Nice piled on the pressure. The Italian hit the woodwork 15 minutes from time with a header, while at the other end PSG forward Kylian Mbappe headed over the bar. Alves proved to be the most accurate with his head, meeting Adrien Rabiot’s cross in the 82nd minute to beat Benitez and seal the win. (rtr)

10

Destination

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

International

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

International

Resurgent Del Potro returns to the top with Indian Wells triumph

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CALIFORNIA - An emotional Juan Martin del Potro could barely believe he had finally won a Masters 1000 series title at the 51st attempt at Indian Wells on Sunday but is determined to keep the trophies coming in his late career renaissance.

The tall Argentine with a rocket of a forehand has endured years of injury-induced heartbreak but on Sunday was back at the very top of the game, beating no less than Roger Federer in an enthralling Indian Wells final.

“It’s so big,” Del Potro said. “I cannot believe I won this tournament, beating Roger in a great final and level of tennis.

“I’m number six in the world, I think? Which is so good to me.

And I’m excited to keep working ... I just want to keep winning titles like this if I can.”

Del Potro was tipped as a future world number one in 2009 after the then 20-year-old reached the French Open semi-finals, the Australian Open quarter-finals before capturing his maiden grand slam at Flushing Meadows.

He failed to break the dominance of Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the years following, though, and a string of career-threatening wrist injuries hampered his game and almost forced him to give up on tennis.

“I was close to quitting tennis because I had three surgeries on my wrist and I couldn’t fix the

problem,” the 29-year-old recalled earlier this week at the BNP Paribas Open.

“I got depressed at home for a long while, and I wasn’t happy doing the effort to recover my wrist.

That’s what I was thinking about, quitting tennis.

“But thank God I’m here and healthy, and I’m playing tennis again. I’m doing this because I love it.”

The Argentine has regained form over the last two seasons but although he entered Sunday’s final on a 10-match winning streak, he was still inevitably playing underdog to Swiss world number one Federer.

Never short of fighting spirit even when his joints were unable to back it up, del Potro saved three match points and blew one of his own on the way to a victory that snapped Federer’s 17-match winning streak this year.

“It was an unbelievable match in all ways. We played a great level of tennis. The people were excited on every single point,” Del Potro said.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay calm in the tie-break of the second set, but then the calmness came again in the end of the match and I played good in the tie-break.”

Del Potro, who had already won his first title of the season at Acapulco earlier in March, will be looking for the 23rd of his career at next week’s Miami Open. (rtr)

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Dovizioso pips Marquez to win MotoGP opener in Qatar

QATAR - Italian Andrea Dovizioso won the Qatar Grand Prix for Ducati by the blink of an eye on Sunday as MotoGP served up a seasonopening thriller at the floodlit Losail circuit.

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REUTERS/Ibraheem Al Omari

First-placed Ducati Team rider Andrea Dovizioso of Italy, second-placed Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez of Spain, and third-placed Movistar Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi of Italy pose on the podium.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Juan Martin Del Potro poises with the championship trophy after defeating Roger Federer (not pictured) in the men’s finals in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Honda’s reigning world champion Marc Marquez finished a mere 0.027 seconds behind the man who took last season’s title battle down to the wire.

Valentino Rossi, the Italian great starting his 23rd grand prix season at the age of 39 and with a new twoyear Yamaha contract freshly signed, joined them on the podium after the night-time race.

Dovizioso had started eighth but seized the lead from Frenchman Johann Zarco, who had set the pace from pole position, with five laps to go and pulled away with Marquez in close pursuit.

The Spaniard made his move at the last corner of the last lap but failed to make it stick, with Dovizioso using the Ducati’s power to take his ninth MotoGP win.

Britain’s Cal Crutchlow was fourth for LCR Honda, the best non-factory rider, with Zarco dropping to eighth as his tyres lost performance.

“It was a perfect race, perfect weekend,” said Dovizioso of his first win in Qatar after three times

finishing runner-up.

“We did a really bad start but I was calm. I recovered very slowly and saved a lot the tyres and was able to push at the end,” added the Italian.

“As always with Marc, the last lap is very difficult but I was able to beat him again.”

Marquez, winner of four of the last five MotoGP titles, did all he could at a track he sees as one of his most difficult.

“When Dovi was pushing I was losing the front, losing the rear but anyway I arrived close in the last corner. I tried,” said the Spaniard.

“Again he beat me, but I’m very happy. Here a podium was the main target.”

In a tightly-fought race, with the pack jostling for position behind Zarco before Dovizioso’s move, the gap between winner and Honda’s Dani Pedrosa in seventh place was just 4.6 seconds.

Rossi took the chequered flag 0.797 behind Dovizioso with Spanish team mate Maverick Vinales, last year’s winner in Qatar, sixth.

“I expect more compared to last year, because with this year’s bike I feel good,” said Rossi, who won one race in 2017 and finished fifth overall despite breaking his leg at the end of August. (rtr)

6

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

W

RLD

REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Men stand in front of a screen showing preliminary results of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the presidential election, at the headquarters of Russia’s Central Election Commission in Moscow, Russia March 19, 2018.

Putin savours record win, securing six more years at Russia’s helm

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin basked in his biggest ever election victory on Monday, extending his rule over the world’s largest country for another six years at a time when his ties with the West are on a hostile trajectory.

Putin’s victory will take his political dominance of Russia to nearly a quarter of a century, until 2024, making him the longest ruler since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Putin, who will be 71 at the end of his term, has promised to beef up Russia’s defences against the West and raise living standards.

In an outcome that was never in doubt, the Central Election Commission, with nearly 100 percent of the votes counted, announced that Putin, who has run Russia as president or prime minister since 1999, had won 76.68 percent of the vote.

With more than 56 million votes, it was Putin’s biggest ever win and the largest by any post-Soviet Russian leader.

In a late-night victory speech near Red Square, Putin told a cheering crowd the win was a vote of confidence in what he had achieved in tough conditions.

“It’s very important to maintain this unity,” said Putin, before leading the crowd in repeated chants of “Russia! Russia!”

Backed by state TV and the ruling party, and credited with an approval rating around 80 percent, he faced no credible threat from a field of seven challengers.

His nearest rival, Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, won 11.8 percent while nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky got 5.6 percent. His most vocal opponent, anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, was barred from running.

Critics alleged that officials had compelled people

to come to the polls to ensure that boredom with the one-sided contest did not lead to low participation.

“NO SERIOUS COMPLAINTS”

Near-final figures put turnout at 67.47 percent, just shy of the 70 percent the Kremlin was reported to have been aiming for before the vote.

The Central Election Commission said on Monday morning that it had not registered any serious complaints of violations. Putin loyalists said the result was a vindication of his tough stance towards the West.

“I think that in the United States and Britain they’ve understood they cannot influence our elections,” Igor Morozov, a member of the upper house of parliament, said on state television.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down suggestions on Monday that tensions with the West had boosted turnout, saying the result showed that people were united behind Putin’s plans to develop Russia.

He said Putin would spend the day fielding calls of congratulation, meeting supporters, and holding talks with the losing candidates.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was among the first to offer his congratulations to Putin, but Heiko Maas, Germany’s new foreign minister, questioned whether there had been fair political competition.

Opposition leader Navalny is expected to call for protests demanding a re-run of an election that he says was neither free nor fair. International observers were due to give their verdict later on Monday.

The longer-term question is whether Putin will now soften his anti-Western rhetoric.

His bellicose language reached a crescendo in a state-of-the-nation speech before the election when he unveiled new nuclear weapons, saying they could strike almost any point in the world. (rtr)

International

International

U.S. Republicans to Trump: Let Mueller do his job

WASHINGTON - Republican senators warned President Donald Trump on Sunday not to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and said the president must let federal investigators looking into Russian meddling in the U.S. election do their jobs.

The Republican president has renewed his Twitter attacks on both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Mueller’s probe since the firing on Friday of the bureau’s former deputy director, Andrew McCabe, two days before he was eligible to retire with a full pension.

Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who has criticized Trump harshly, said the president’s latest comments appeared to be aimed at the firing of Mueller. Senator Lindsey Graham, another Republican, said if Trump were to dismiss Mueller, it would mark “the beginning of the end of his presidency.”

AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, said: “As the speaker has always said, Mr. Mueller and his team should be able to do their job.”

In an effort to tamp down the chatter, White House lawyer Ty Cobb issued a statement on Sunday night saying Trump was not weighing Mueller’s removal.

“In response to media speculation and related questions being posed to the Administration, the White House yet again confirms that the President is not considering or discussing the firing of the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller,” he said.

The Republican comments underscored the risks for Trump if he goes too far to thwart the federal probe.

“I don’t know what the designs are on Mueller, but it seems to be building toward that (firing

Robert Mueller

him), and I just hope it doesn’t go there, because it can’t. We can’t in Congress accept that,” Flake told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“So I would expect to see considerable pushback in the next couple of days urging the president not to go there.”

In a series of tweets over the weekend, Trump accused the FBI leadership of lies, corruption and leaking information. He called the Russia probe a politically motivated witch hunt.

“The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime,” Trump said on Saturday.

On Sunday, he attacked former FBI Director James Comey and McCabe, top officials who were involved in the Russia probe and subsequently fired.

The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Moscow conducted an influence campaign aimed at swaying the 2016 presidential election to Trump over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Mueller is investigating the Russian meddling and any possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

On Saturday, Trump’s personal lawyer John Dowd urged the Justice Department official overseeing Mueller, Rod Rosenstein, to “bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss James Comey.”

Republican U.S. Representative Trey Gowdy criticized Dowd in an interview with “Fox News Sunday.”

“I think the president’s attorney, frankly, does him a disservice when he says that and when he frames the investigation that way,” Gowdy said. “If you have an innocent client, Mr. Dowd, act like it.” (rtr)

IBP/net

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

11

President engages in conversation with Indonesian students in Wellington JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and First Lady Iriana engaged in a conversation with 29 students from Indonesia at the Waterfront Wellington on Monday. Deputy for Protocol, Press, and Media of the Presidential Secretariat Bey Machmudin noted that the warm ambience was apparent when President Jokowi held a casual conversation with dozens of Indonesian students studying in New Zealand.

During the conversation, President Jokowi and First Lady Iriana also walked along with 29 students, of which 15 were from Papua. The president and First Lady Iriana walked from the hotel in the CBD area of Wellington to the Waterfront, a distance of one kilometer.

The head of state and First Lady Iriana thereafter sat along with the 29 students on one side of the Waterfront near the Te Papa Museum.

Apart from the students, Indonesian people staying in New Zealand had also joined the president and his entourage, one of them being Marvijs Ajoomi, a lecturer from Papua, who had an interesting story to share with the president.

“I came here when I was 15 years old. I could not speak English at all at that time. I am grateful to be given an opportunity, from high school until post graduation.

Now, I am teaching at one of the universities here,” he remarked.

The president also received some suggestions from the students, one of them being to increase employ-

ment opportunities for overseas graduates.

Currently, employment opportunities are few and far for graduates to serve and apply their knowledge to advance Indonesia. One of the students remarked that the knowledge they had gained can be a form of investment to ensure continued progress of the country in future.

On the occasion, the president was heedful of all suggestions.

In addition, President Jokowi highlighted that the government was currently building infrastructure in Papua. “The government is currently building roads, bridges, airports, and harbors, so people can have broader access to the isolated areas,” he explained. In addition to conversing with the students, the president also took time off to do a vlog recording and signed a car bearing the number plate “JOKOWI.” The car belonged to Dedy Muardi, an Indonesian from Yogyakarta, who has been living in Auckland since 2001. The distance from Auckland to Wellington is quite far, about a 10 hours` drive by car, but he drove all the way to meet the Indonesian president.

President Jokowi and Mrs. Iriana were accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Political, Law, and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, State Secretary Pratikno, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, and Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand Tantowi Yahya. (rtr)

IBP/ant

The migrant worker activists rally in Jakarta protesting the death of Indonesian worker in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia executes Indonesian migrant worker Four school students and a teacher drowned from Madura in Mamuju river

MAMUJU - Four elementary school students and a teacher drowned in a river in the District of Mamuju Tengah, South Sulawesi on Sunday.

The bodies of the victims were found at 16.00 local time two hours after they were swept downstream by strong current of the river of Budong Budong in the village of Parigi, a witness said.

The four school students were

identified as Tasya (12), Sari (12), Lisda (12), Sari (12) and the teacher was Riska Azis.

“The students and their teacher were out on a recreation in the river when suddenly they were swept by strong current,” Syawal a security man said.

The river was not too deep but the current was strong dragging them farther to the middle of the river, he said. (ant)

JAKARTA - The Foreign Ministry confirmed the execution of Zaini Misrin, an Indonesian migrant worker from Bangkalan, Madura, East Java, in Saudi Arabia. “That is right,” Director of Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Legal Entities of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry Lalu Muhammad Iqbal stated in connection with the execution of Misrin through a short message here on Monday.

According to Iqbal, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry will hold a press briefing on Monday afternoon related to Misrin`s case and the handling of cases of

Indonesian citizens or migrant workers, who are threatened with death sentence abroad. The Saudi Arabian government had reported that Misrin was executed in Mecca on Sunday.

According to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, the Saudi Arabian authorities have not informed about the execution or submitted the “mandatory consular notification” to Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) concerning Indonesian migrant issues.

“Yes, we have informed our NGO friends about this,” he noted. Details on the case of Misrin will be presented by the Foreign Ministry during a press briefing this afternoon. (ant)

12

International

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Bali News

International

North Bali is truly wealthy when it comes to traditional cultural practices that have been passed down uninterrupted for countless generations.

One example is the tradition known as ‘nyakan diwang’ that the people of Catur Desa Adat Dalem Tamblingan, Umajero Village, Gobleg, Munduk, Gesing continue to practice. Nyakan Diwang essentially means ‘cooking by the side of the road’ and this tradition manages to strengthen the peace and harmony amongst the people who practice it.

The process begins anywhere between midnight and dawn.

Qatar asks U.S. to investigate UAE bank for ‘financial warfare’

IBP/net

immediately, and we ask that you investigate whether NBAD has directly or indirectly supported the manipulation of Qatar’s markets, including through NBAD America’s dollar-clearing or correspondent banking services in the United States,” the letter said. FAB, which was created from the merger of First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi last year, denied it had tried to manipulate the riyal.

“FAB conducts its business in accordance with the highest professional standards and complies with the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which it operates.

FAB categorically refutes these rumours,” it said in a statement on Monday.

“FAB maintains strong working relationships with regulators across the globe and continually engages in constructive dialogue to ensure full compliance with the latest legal and regulatory requirements,” it said. The UAE government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Qatari government spokesman confirmed the letters had been sent to U.S. regulators but declined to comment on their content. New York-based law firm Paul, Weiss declined to comment. The U.S. Treasury and CFTC did not im-

mediately respond to requests for comment.

DIPLOMATIC PUSH

Qatar’s central bank said in December it had launched an investigation into possible manipulation of its markets by the countries that had imposed the economic blockade. Qatar, a small Gulf state and major gas exporter, denies the allegations that it has financed terrorism and says the blockade is an attempt to punish Doha for independent policies.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have refused to soften their demands which include Qatar cutting ties with Iran and shutting down statefunded broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Qatar, which is also home to the largest U.S. military base in the region, has repeatedly reached out to Washington to mediate in the crisis but the attempts have failed so far. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump, who has previously accused Qatar of sponsoring terrorism, sacked U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had publicly defended Qatar and pressured Trump to moderate his stance.

Tillerson’s sacking came ahead of a new diplomatic push to help mediate the dispute among America’s Gulf allies. The United States

is due to host a Gulf Cooperation Council summit later this year and before that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani are all due in Washington for separate state visits.

‘BOGUS QUOTES’

The Qatari central bank has previously accused unnamed banks of trying to manipulate the riyal by trading it between themselves offshore at artificially weak levels - to create an illusion Qatar’s economy was crumbling. The riyal has been pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 3.64 for more than a decade, but in the initial months of the boycott it traded as low as 3.8950 offshore.

In the letter to the U.S. Treasury, Qatar’s lawyers said they suspected NBAD was driving the riyal lower during illiquid periods, such as Islam’s Eid al-Adha holidays last year, “reinforcing the manufactured narrative that Qatar’s currency was increasingly volatile and its economy was too unstable for investment”.

“NBAD’s quotes - and those of other banks involved in the manipulation - were likely all bogus,” the letter said without naming the

5

Dalem Tamblingan Traditional Village

BUSINESS

LONDON - Qatar has asked U.S. regulators to investigate the U.S. subsidiary of the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of “bogus” foreign exchange deals designed to harm its economy as part of a blockade by Gulf neighbours.

The Central Bank of Qatar’s law firm has written a letter to the U.S. Treasury asking it to investigate NBAD Americas, the U.S. subsidiary of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), which is majority state-owned.

In a second letter, the lawyers - Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison - asked the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to investigate possible manipulation of Qatar’s currency, the riyal. The request for an investigation deepens the diplomatic crisis that erupted in June when Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain imposed an economic boycott on Qatar, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and Iran.

“We believe NBAD has participated in an extraordinary and unlawful scheme to wage financial warfare against Qatar, including through the manipulation of Qatari currency and securities markets,” said the letter to the U.S. Treasury dated Feb. 26, which has been seen by Reuters.

“These actions should be halted

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

banks and referring to foreign exchange quotes posted by NBAD. “There is evidence that at the same time NBAD was providing quotes with great frequency and at rates lower than the official rate of 3.64, its traders were unwilling to actually transact at those prices,” the letter said.

It cited one example on Nov. 22, 2017: when a counterparty reached out to NBAD to execute a deal, it was told by a representative of NBAD that it had no riyal to trade. FAB declined to comment when asked about the specific allegation.

The letter did not name the counterparty but said the central bank’s lawyers were ready to provide regulators with a recorded chat between the two sides, on a confidential basis. It said NBAD stopped quoting the riyal in December after Qatar vowed to investigate.

The central bank also pledged on Nov. 23 to satisfy any market demand for dollars and the riyal has since rebounded in offshore transactions to trade close to its peg.

Many bankers in the region say that with more than $300 billion in central bank reserves and sovereign wealth fund assets, Qatar has more than enough financial firepower to block any attack on its currency. (rtr)

Head of the Traditional Village of Munduk, Jro Putu Ardana, explained on Thursday (Mar 3) that the nyakan diwang tradition is part of the ‘Ngembak Geni’ celebrations that take place the day after the Holy Day of Nyepi (day of Silence). The people of Catur Desa Adat Dalem Tamblingan, and surrounding area feel their relations and communications thus become more intense and believe strongly in the power of nyakan diwang to give rise to a strong sense of community. “This tradition is related to Nyepi and so local residents will cook their food outside their house before bringing it inside. While they are cooking, their communication with their neighbors is woven into harmony as they exchange recipes. The value of togetherness is thus passed down from generation to generation with a feeling of peace and harmony. During this activity there is no separation among people and great joy is taken in tasting each others food” said Ardana.

Umajero Busungbiu Village public figure, I Nyoman Arya, added that the nyakan diwang tradition has been well guarded by the people of this village since long ago. “The people of Gobleg, Umajero, Munduk, Gesing and other villages in the area have passed down this tradition from generation to generation. Starting at midnight people are already getting ready to start cooking’’ he said.

The tradition of nyakan diwang’s meaning is philosophically related to a manifestation of the sense of gratitude

As a tradition, the Hindu community in Bali celebrates Galungan and Kuningan by delivering oblations accompanied with art activities. It also happens to the celebration of Galungan (Feb. 10) and Kuningan (Feb. 20), where during the feast the barong bangkung or barong bangkal troupe will definitely do ngelawang or street show.

Barong bangkal or barong bangkung is a large enough and old pig considered a mythical animal having a mystical power. Attires of the barong are made of black and

towards Creator for having provided blessings, abundance, safety and peace. “We do this to show our gratitude and every year we have been blessed with ease in conducting this activity”, added Arya.

Durign Nyepi, just like other Balinese, people here honor the four abstinences; amatigeni (no lighting of fire or lamps), amati lelanguan (no sensory pleasure), amatilelungan (no traveling/walking around), dan amatikarya (no work).

Through the nyakan diwang tradition as people gather outside their homes, they enjoy a friendly atmosphere and it is no surprise that they exchange friendly greetings. This type of activity truly strengthens the peace and harmony of the community. “By cooking together on the street, a feeling of togetherness arises and people naturally greet each other. This

activity -that takes place right after Nyepi, helps to safeguard togetherness” emphasised Arya.

Cooking implements such as makeshift hearths made of stone or brick are made ready for the dry wood that will be used as fuel for the fire. Mornings in the mountain are cold so the first thing that people prepare is hot water for coffee or tea. Then they start cooking rice and other dishes. “While enjoying the atmosphere of the early morning, local residents prepare their meals over the course of an hour or two. Once everything is cooked, the food is brought inside to be enjoyed by the family. Another aspect of this unique tradition is the exchanging of recipes with neighbours” he said. (kmb)

Barong Bangkung Street Show white velvet. However, in general, the attires are not pretentious like that of other types of barong.

In every show, the barong bangkung is also equipped with trinkets of ate leaves and the dancers are wearing checkered trousers and rattles tied on legs, so that when moving they will generate rattling sound. Barong bangkal is carried by two dancers and the performances are held in the streets and around the village.

With the presence of barong show, villagers will feel they have been protected by deities marked

IBP/kmb

by the arrival of barong bangkal or barong bangkung. The show is accompanied with batel bebarongan gamelan music consisting of drums, tawa-tawa, kelenang, kelenong, cymbals and kempur.

The word ngelawang is derived from the word lawang meaning ‘door,’ a term in the Balinese language that means a gallivanting show from one house to another or from one village to another. This gallivanting show with diverse Balinese artistic traditions is performed by art troupe.

Allegedly this traditional show sources from a Hindu mythology, namely Shiva Tattva. Once upon a time Lord Shiva and Goddess Uma are making love in improper place and time, so that harmony shakes.

As a result, it brings in misery for mankind and other living beings.

After realizing his fault, Lord Shiva sent gods to calm down the situation and reassure the whole universe. When arriving on earth, the gods created and performed a variety of art forms. Through the love of art show the whole universe is back to peaceful condition.

The meaning of purification in

the Shiva Tattva mythology is also harmonious with the content of disaster repellent in the legend on the insolence destruction of Mayadenawa that was then celebrated as the starting point of Galungan, the celebration of victory of dharma (truth) against adharma (untruth).

Ngelawang poses a cultural energy having a spiritual aspect, arts and entertainment.

This tradition means to expel evil spirits and protects population from any plagues or diseases caused by evil spirits (bhuta kala).

When performing ngelawang, homeowners will usually offer an oblation with sesari (money).

Ngelawang tradition inherited from generation to generation means to neutralize the universe, reject all kinds of diseases interfering with human life, including psychically driving away those having evil intention.

By and large, this street show is performed five days before Galungan to the celebration of Kuningan. In the 1970s, the nomadic art crystallized into art event that jazzed up the Galungan. In recent years, this art tends to go extinct in

line with the changing of times, so that it is difficult to find this kind of performance.

Values of education

Ngelawang does not only pose an attractive art show, but also contains positive values. In addition to preserving local culture, it also serves as a medium of creativity to sharpen educational values, norms, ethics and moral.

They do this art activity in togetherness while making others happy through entertainment.

Ngelawang is carried out with joy, so that the interaction among them serves as a form of character education and cultivation of artistic values as well as has the meaning of socialization.

In harmony with the development of times, ngelawang has different purposes. There are people only doing the ngelawang to maintain tradition, just run a hobby and raise funds. Apparently, the latest development is widely practiced by barong troupe, so that the location of the show is chosen specifically such as in tourist areas like Kuta, Ubud, Sanur and others. (kmb)

4

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Bali News

International

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

International

Export of stamped batik increases 10-15 percent

Gilimanuk Harbor becomes a kind of lighthouse for the surrounding communities.

IBP/olo

People’s economy at Gilimanuk highly depends on queues

OVER time Gilimanuk is constantly changing. Before it becomes a densely populated area as what we find today, the harbor area was formerly in the form of forest and known to be haunted area.

Most of the residents occupying the areas are migrants from a number of regions in Bali and from outside Bali. They have lived and worked here to have grandchildren and even great grandchildren. From the past time to the present, people’s economy highly depends on the activities at Gilimanuk Harbor. When the condition is crowded to generate long queue, it becomes an opportunity to earn more. Conversely, when the condition is quiet then the economy of surrounding people also becomes sluggish.

Gilimanuk Harbor becomes a kind of lighthouse for the surrounding communities. Trade and service sectors are the mainstay of the community for their livelihood. No wonder many residents have been trading for decades around the Gilimanuk Harbor. “In the beginning, I only rent umbrellas (at the harbor) and then peddled the original snakefruit from Karangasem and lived nomadically,” said Ni Luh Sriasih, 63, one of the merchants at the market kiosk near Gilimanuk Maneuver Terminal. She is an example of a trader at Gilimanuk who has been persistent for tens of years.

Starting from peddling around the harbor area, she finally occupies a kiosk to sell Bali souvenirs and snacks. Believe it or not, this mother of five children until her old age, she is illiterate. Nevertheless, Sriasih can survive from trading up to tens of years. Her illiteracy was triggered by the condition she experienced in her childhood. This woman from Buleleng could only get education until first grade of elementary school.

Although she cannot read, she is very smart to count though without doodles. Similarly, she can also memorize all the merchandises. Moreover, in keep-

ing with the increasing number of her merchandise, she can operate a calculator. For her trading business, Sriasih is very fluent. She confessed the experience has made her like that.

“Now, it (Gilimanuk) has grown. In the past, there were only a few merchants at the harbor. There were only fruit and cloth merchants on bicycles and three ships operated during the day,” she recalled when she first started selling at Gilimanuk. The current condition of the harbor is far different which almost never sleeps or operates around the clock.

Additionally, people’s residence was also still far from the harbor separated by forest. It includes the house she occupies today at the Jineng Agung neighborhood formerly located far from the harbor. Nowadays, the forest area has grown into offices, shops and maneuver terminal. People can cross freely day and night. Likewise, the merchants sell almost for 24 hours, especially in the harbor area. Certain moments like long holidays, Nyepi, New Year and Lebaran become a blessing.

Chief of Gilimanuk customary village, I Ketut Galung, said that his customary village has about 700 families, where most of them are migrants from various districts in Bali. The diversity owned by each region then mingles and puts together at Gilimanuk customary village. This chief of customary village originally coming from Karangasem admitted that current condition of Gilimanuk harbor area is much different from the past.

“In the past, the harbor and people’s residence was separated by haunted forest, just like when passing Cekik where it was quite lonely and dark as well as no one was passing at night,” he said.

Unlike today, the harbor operates nearly for 24 hours. This man having worked for dozens of years at this harbor equally did not dismiss that community’s livelihood mostly depends on the activities at Gilimanuk Harbor. (olo)

DENPASAR - The export of stamped batik has increased 10-15 percent since 2016. Since the establishment in 1995, CV D’Agung which has stamped batik products has been export-oriented.

Successor of the CV D’Agung, I Gusti Agung Bagus Magha Bojana, said that his exports increased in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Moreover, the export is done once a week, or four times a month. His export destination is 100 percent to the United States. In the country, he has four clients having become his regular customers since 2000.

Sometimes, if there is excessive order, he is forced to reject it because his production capacity only reaches 6,000 pieces per month.

He preferred to give priority to quality in order to be continuously competitive against similar companies. That’s why he always rejects the order if exceeding the limits of his capability.

In addition to working on the orders, he also became a vendor of the same product. Each month, the man completing his master degree in information technology in the United States sells the products to the vendors as much as 10,000 pieces.

The orders are done by his employees with a wholesale system.

So, the income of an employee depends on the number of clothes they can finish. Many garment

companies are closed. According to him, it does not happen because the market is sluggish, but due to less optimal effort in managing employees. Therefore, he implements a wholesale system. “Garment companies are closed because of excessive employees, so that it must be careful when adding employees,” said this Deputy Treasurer of the Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) of Bali Chapter.

Stamped batik clothing production is the work of his employees.

There are about 30 employees working in the factory located on Jalan Nangka Selatan. They are also provided with a dormitory.

Superiority of stamped batik is not easily imitated. He receives fabrics from other companies. He just does the clothes sewing with the designed having been prepared by customers. Similarly, the batik motif is also on demand. So, he only works on based on the orders.

The stamped batik clothes are suitable for summer use in April, May and June.

Even though he does not have background in fashion design, he is diligent to work on his family business due to the call of responsibility. He also tried to pioneer his own business in accordance with the basic undergraduate education of Civil Engineering namely in the making of HPL block board. (kmb42)

IBP/may

Since the establishment in 1995, CV D’Agung which has stamped batik products has been export-oriented.

13

Hundreds flee Australian bushfires that kill cattle, destroy homes

REUTERS/Issei Kato

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe atttends at an upper house parliamentary session in Tokyo, Japan March 19, 2018.

Japan PM takes blame for loss of trust over scandal as polls dive, denies involvement

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his popularity plunging amid a cronyism scandal, took responsibility on Monday for a loss of trust in his government but denied he or his wife had intervened in a land sale to a school operator with ties to his wife.

The finance ministry’s announcement last week that documents about the discounted sale to educational body Moritomo Gakuen had been altered have sparked a political crisis for Abe, as suspicions swirl about a cover-up and opposition parties call for both the premier and Finance Minister Taro Aso to resign.

Interrogated by a parliamentary panel on Monday, Abe denied directing changes to the documents, in which references to Abe, his wife and Aso were removed from the finance ministry’s records of the land sale. He told the panel he had not even known of the documents’ existence.

“I did not direct that the documents be altered,” he said.

“In fact, I didn’t even know that they existed at all, so how could I have done that?”

Two opinion polls published over the weekend showed Abe’s support diving to its lowest since he took office in December 2012, and others showed a majority of

Japanese believed he bore some responsibility for the scandal.

In an apparent nod to those polls, several of which showed his support sinking into the 30-percent level, Abe acknowledged that public trust had been shaken.

“As head of the government, I keenly feel my responsibility in the matter of the people losing their trust in the administration,” he added.

“Ultimately, the responsibility lies with me as prime minister.

I would like to apologize once again.”

Opposition lawmakers said answers to their questions were unlikely to come from the premier or Aso and renewed their call for Nobuhisa Sagawa, who had headed the division that submitted the documents before he became tax agency chief in July, to testify in parliament. Sagawa resigned 10 days ago.

A majority of people in the opinion polls backed the calls for Sagawa to testify, as well as Abe’s wife, Akie. But Abe said on Monday that he would answer any questions on her behalf.

The scandal could dash Abe’s hopes of winning a third three-year term as head of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a September leadership election. (rtr)

SYDNEY - Australian authorities urged people to remain alert on Monday as bushfires that have destroyed dozens of homes, killed cattle and forced hundreds of residents to flee continued to burn out of control in the southeast of the country.

No deaths or serious injuries were reported on Monday but the bushfires have caused extensive damage in rural areas of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW), Australia’s two most populous states. More than 100 houses were damaged or destroyed, authorities said.

“At this stage (there have been) no lives lost,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said at a news conference in the small NSW coastal town of Tathra.

“It is just a great credit to the firefighters, to the volunteers, the emergency workers - all of the community has pulled together and provided such great support,” he said.

The fires, believed to have been sparked by lightning on Saturday, were fanned by dry, hot winds as temperatures reached 41 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit) on Sunday.

Emergency officials said conditions should ease later on Monday but “watch and act” warnings remained in place for five locations.

The fire also set off an argument among Australia’s politicians on whether climate change was a contributing factor to the blazes.

“You can’t attribute any particular event, whether it’s a flood or fire or a drought ...to climate change. We

are the land of droughts and flooding rains, we’re the land of bushfires,” Turnbull said.

Authorities said some 69 houses were destroyed and a further 39 were damaged and 30 caravans or cabins were also wiped out in Tathra, where residents fled to the beach on Sunday to avoid the flames as flying embers quickly carried the firefront forward.

About 700 residents were evacuated to centres set up at the nearby town of Bega and several schools in affected areas were closed on Monday.

NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers earlier told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that five of 22 fires had not yet been contained.

“There’s still a lot of fire around the landscape,” he said, warning that it would still be several days before they were extinguished.

About 280 firefighters were battling the blazes, while 22,000 homes were without power in the region after high winds brought down trees, Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said late on Sunday.

Bushfires are a common and deadly threat in Australia’s hot, dry summers, fuelled by highly flammable eucalyptus trees.

In January, hundreds of holidaymakers had to be evacuated by boat from the beaches of the Royal National Park south of Sydney when they became trapped by bushfires.

The 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria killed 173 people and injured more than 400. (rtr)

AAP/Dean Lewins/via REUTERS

Smoke rises near a destroyed car and home after a bushfire swept through the town of Tathra, located on the south-east coast of New South Wales in Australia, March 19, 2018.

14

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Science

International

International

Earliest Homo sapiens exhibited unexpected sophistication

WASHINGTON - On a grassy African landscape, some of the earliest members of our species, Homo sapiens, engaged in surprisingly sophisticated behaviors including using color pigments, creating advanced tools and trading for resources with other groups of people.

Those findings were reported on Thursday by scientists who examined artifacts dating from 320,000 years ago unearthed in southern Kenya, roughly the same age as the earliest-known Homo sapiens fossils discovered elsewhere in Africa.

The researchers described ochre pigment that produced a bright-red color, which could have been used for body painting or other symbolic expression, and tools fashioned from obsidian, a volcanic rock that yields extremely sharp blades, that contrasted with clunkier ones used by earlier species in the human evolutionary lineage.

The researchers found abundant evidence of long-distance transfer of obsidian to the Olorgesailie Basin location from sites up to 55 miles (88 km) away over rugged terrain, leading them to believe it was acquired from another group through trade although it was unknown what was provided in exchange.

The findings indicate advances in technology and social structures unexpected so early in our species’ history, they said.

“My view is that these newly evolved mental and social abilities -- including awareness of distant groups, use of pigments and innovative technologies including projectile points -- were at the foundation of our species’ origin,” said paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Human Origins Program.

“They may have actually been the behaviors that distinguished our lineage/gene pool from other early human species.”

The team discovered pigment materials, a dark brownish color from manganese and bright red from ochre.

“The choice of importing the ochre from a distance rather than using a more common local material which accomplishes the same purpose argues that having a red face or hair or clothing or weapons also carried a symbolic message of some sort,” said paleoanthropologist Alison Brooks of George Washington University and the museum’s Human Origins Program.

The researchers described obsidian tools that were smaller, more carefully crafted and more specialized than larger stone tools called handaxes used by earlier human species.

The obsidian was used in a wide range of tools including scrapers, implements with chisel and gouging edges and also in small points that could be placed at the end of a wood or bone shaft for use as a projectile weapon. (rtr)

People’s militancy needs inspiring to love local fruits

DENPASAR — Militancy of Balinese people needs to be encouraged so as they increasingly love local products, including fruits.

Moreover, the island is dominated

by Hindus that often carry out religious ceremonies with fruit as one of the main ingredients. Local fruits must remain a host amid the rush of imported fruit.

“We already have regional regulation on local fruits. Now, it just needs to encourage because I think the trade is closely related to the issue for the sake of militancy so the community wants to love local products,” said Head of the Bali Trade and Industry Agency, I Putu Astawa, when confirmed on Thursday (Mar. 15).

According to Astawa, customary village plays an important role in establishing the militancy. It starts by reducing the use of imported fruits, and willingness to use local fruits such as mangosteen, rambutan, snakefruit and others. The love of the products yielded by local

farmers will also make Bali more independent in the future.

“People must continue to be educated in order to reduce the use of imported fruits, especially lately there are imported fruits alleged to contain bacteria. We must be careful. It’s better to use and love our fruit products,” he explained.

On the other hand, Astawa saw the Bali local fruit has big enough potential to be an export commodity. For instance, mangosteen from Pupuan, Tabanan, has started to be exported to China. His agency even already came to quarantine office that issued phytosanitary certificate. However, not all export destination countries require such certification.

“It means to guarantee that the products we export are free of white fleas and black ants. I came directly to Quarantine Office two days ago to make coordination so that there would be no obstacles to our exporters. Moreover, it is carried out by Balinese residents,” he said. (kmb32)

IBP/net

The Olorgesailie Basin excavation site in southern Kenya in this undated handout photograph released on March 15, 2018.

REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot

LYON - The fossilised skeleton of an unidentified type of dinosaur is set to be auctioned in Paris in June, and could fetch up to 1.8 million euros ($2.22 million), auctioneers said.

Almost nine metres long, the skeleton is unusually complete, at almost 70 percent whole.

It is believed to be from the carnivorous, theropod group of dinosaurs, which had hollow bones and three-toed feet, said Eric Mickeler, a paleontological expert working with auction house Aguttes.

But beyond that scientists are still stumped and have spot-

ted differences with known species, he added.

“Nothing else is known,” Mickeler said.

The skeleton, now on show in the French city of Lyon to possible buyers such as museums or private collectors before the June 4 auction, is estimated to be worth between 1.2 million and 1.8 million euros.

It was found in Wyoming, in the United States, in 2013 and belongs to an unnamed British businessman.

It will be installed on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower for the sale. Potential buyers can bid in euros or in digital currency bitcoin. (rtr)

IBP/eka

Local fruits must remain a host amid the rush of imported fruit.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Water police initiated to clean up plastic waste in the middle of the sea.

3

IBP/kmb31

To keep marine preservation

Water police dive to clean up plastic waste

THE sea becomes a source of community life. However, lately the existence is increasingly apprehensive because it is more filled with garbage. Ahead of the Nyepi celebration, to jointly maintain the natural conservation, especially the sea, water police initiated to clean up plastic waste in the middle of the sea on Thursday (Mar. 15). Moreover, the officers immediately dived to collect plastic waste and transported it to mainland.

Mystery dinosaur skeleton to be auctioned in Paris

A skeleton of a theropod is displayed before its auction by Aguttes auction house in Lyon, France, march 15, 2018.

Bali News

Such plastic clean up action was concentrated on the tourism area in the waters of Blue Lagoon, Padangbai.

The idea of water police is also responded positively

by Deputy Chief of Karangasem Police, Supriadi Rahman, who also participated directly to lead the action of cleaning up the garbage in the middle of the sea. Fishermen group around the waters such as the Tanjung Jepun Fishermen Group and Antiga village, Manggis, were also very enthusiastic about following the marine clean-up action.

Chief of Karangasem Water Police, I Made Wartama, said that his authority initiated it in order to maintain sanitation of the sea from organic and nonorganic waste as well as preserve marine biota such as coral reef and marine animals remain sustainable. So, it can become an attraction of domestic and foreign tourists to come and enjoy marine tourism. The team cleaned up the waste on the surface and under the sea by diving. The diving led directly by deputy chief of Karangasem Water Police with two personnel of the Karangasem Water Police was assisted by two personnel of master dive at a depth of approximately 6 meters.

The activity lasted for about an hour.

Results of the action could obtain organic waste such as bamboo, tree trunks and non-organic waste (plastic) as much as two large plastic garbage bags.

The garbage was then taken ashore and dumped to a landfill located at Padangbai Pier. “This is the second we have done. We want to cultivate the love of the sea

to preserve the underwater and its ecosystem so that the sea of Karangasem remains sustainable,” he said.

In addition to the waters of Blue Lagoon, the other personnel also performed similar actions in other waters centered on the White Sandy Beach. The members were under the leadership of Unit Chief of Maintenance, I Komang Singkiryasa, in synergy with Community Care Environment of Trans Hero Candidasa chaired by I Wayan Smiley, village noncommissioned police officer at Bugbug, I Gusti Sindu.

They moved together with the group of people who are engaged in tourism to clean up garbage from the coast to the middle of the sea. “This beach is remarkably developed and widely known to tourists so that it should be clean, and build public awareness about the importance of coastal and marine conservation,” said Singkiryasa.

White Sandy Beach is a tourist area frequently used by tourists to sunbathe, swim and snorkel. Garbage collection was done manually by picking up all kinds of waste found along the beach and then put into container to be collected and disposed of in the proper place.

Chief of Community Care of Trans Hero Candidasa Area, I Wayan Smiley, looked enthusiastic in synergy with environmental groups of fishermen. “It must be sustainable,” he said.

Similar action was also simultaneously conducted on Candidasa Beach initiated by the managers of tourism facilities in the local area up to the Amed and Tulamben region pioneered by personnel of Kubu Police. Karangasem has coastline of about 87 km long. This shows the potential of Karangasem marine is quite high. However, this potential is covered by the amount of garbage in the middle of the sea. Moreover, the majority of marine debris in the middle of the sea is a highly decomposed plastic waste. Seeing this situation, public awareness of keeping the sea is still low.

Therefore, through this action, water police unit as a ‘sea guard’ hoped this action becomes an example of a simple way of taking care of the sea from the threat of waste. (kmb31)

2

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Bali News

International

Intriguing changes to Omed-omedan I Gusti Ngurah Oka Putra, one of the descendants of the Oka Palace of Kaja hamlet, Sesetan, when met at his residence on Friday (Mar. 15) explained that the omed-omedan tradition started around the seventeenth and eighteenth century from his ancestor (Batara Kompyang) a senior figure of Sesetan village at that time.

Just before Nyepi Day, his ancestor named Anak Agung Made Raka suffered a severe illness.

“He had trouble standing up and could not walk.

He forbade the villagers from visiting him. The people of Kaja Hamlet however were sad that they could not visitMade Raka. Amidst their sadness and disappointment they decided to hold a tug of war known as omed-omedan. This is where the tradition originated from”, explained Turah Bima, familiarly known as Ngurah Oka. Made Raka was angered by the tug of war and ordered his family to bring him to the front of the royal palace so that he could tell the people to stop.

However, once he arrived to the front of the palace his sickness left him and he was completely cured.

So instead of following his intention to ban the tug of war, on the contrary he encouraged it. From that day forward every year on Nyepi Day the villagers would hold the omed-omedan. At that time the people did not know about catur brata penyepian (four abstinences) so the omed-omedan was still held on Nyepi Day. In the past, on Nyepi Day, people only abstained from lighting fires but as religious understandings and interpretations changed regarding Nyepi Day with the

The Omed-omedan tradition

implementation of catur brata penyepian encouraged by the government and the Hindu Dharma Council of Indonesia (PHDI), around the 1980’s, the tradition of omed-omedan was moved forward one day to Ngembak Geni.

The omed-omedan also got negative attention from neighbouring villages as it was associated with mass kissing, Ngurah Oka was angered by this judgment of his ancestral heritage and thus banned the omedomedan ritual around 1984. “I reject the false accusation disparaging our residents. Friction of the young people in the omed-omedan may happen, but the point is not the kissing”, he said.

An announcement was posted at the location of the omed-omedan ritual stating that the ritual was abolished. However despite the announcement, the villagers still gathered. Strangely two pigs fought to the blood at the site of the omed-omedan and then disappeared. I Gusti Ngurah Oka Putra along with hamlet leaders and community leaders met at the site to discuss the incident and possible outcomes. A decision was made and the hamlet apparatus summoned the youth club of Kaja hamlet, Sesetan, and told them to make preparations to carry out the omed-omedan tradition as it had been done in the past and to continue thence forth.

The ritual was coordinated by the descendants of the royal family who started with ngelawar (sacred pig dish preparation) at the royal palace. Later in the afternoon, the teenagers participating in the omed-omedan tradition took over. After following this procedure three years running, the sekaa taruna or customary village youth club took over the implementation of the tradition as they continue to this day. In past it was not only teenagers who took part in this traditional rite but married couples as well. In fact a couple was even involved in the opening of the ceremony. But today, explained Oka, only the sekaa taruna members take part. (ara)

IBP/Yudi Karnaedi

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

15

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No longer on Nyepi

EVERY Ngembak Geni, (the day after Nyepi), Kaja hamlet, Sesetan, holds their omedomedan traditional rite as they have since the time of the ancient kingdoms, however some changes have taken place in the implementation of this unique ritual.

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The garbage pile up after Nyepi

IBP/Sosiawan

After Nyepi volume of garbage soars SEMARAPURA - After the celebration of Nyepi celebration, and the implementation of Banyupinaruh, the volume of garbage in the district of Klungkung increased considerably compared to normal days. The Environment and Land Agency (DLHP) was thus overwhelmed. As seen on Sunday afternoon (Mar. 18), the piles of garbage Jalan Cokroaminoto and Jalan Melati, in Town of Semarapura gave an slovenly impression.

Normally the garbage is taken away in the morning.

Head of the DLHP Klungkung, Anak Agung Kirana, revealed that after Nyepi, the volume of garbage increased by 30 percent compared to normal days. “Or monitoring indicated a distinct increase in the volume of garbage”, said Kirana.

All available staff have been deployed to collect the garbage, however they are still feeling overwhelmed by the volume. “Our staff have been working around

the clock but are still struggling to deal with all the garbage. We are focusing on towns and villages but tomorrow we will start tackling the garbage on the beaches”, he said.

Both organic and non-organic garbage is disposed of at the Suwung landfill in Denpasar and at the Bangli regional landfill as Klungkung;s landfill in Sente hamlet, Dawan has been closed.

Garbage from certain villages is is processed independently by those who on waste processing unit (TOSS). “Only small amounts of garbage are transported to landfill and only at certain times”, he explained.

Garbage has been managed much better this year after Nyepi compared to previous years, as the public has taken more initiative is sorting garbage by type. “We can see that the gabage handling is better this year. It is neatly wrapped and easier to be collected”, added Kirana. (kmb45)

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Tuesday, March 20, 2018

‘Black Panther’ Surpasses ‘Tomb Raider’ for Fifth Box Office Crown

LOS ANGELES - Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther” has maintained its momentum at the domestic box office, winning its fifth consecutive weekend with $27 million from 3,834 locations.

Alicia Vikander’s “Tomb Raider” finished second in its opening weekend in line with expectations with $23.5 million from 3,854 sites for Warner Bros. and MGM. The videogame-based action adventure score a B grade from moviegoers in CinemaScore exit polls.

Lionsgate-Roadside Attractions’ faith-based drama “I Can Only Imagine” outperformed forecasts with $17.1 million at 1,629 venues, notching the top perscreen average in the top 10 with $10,476. The studio plans to expand “I Can Only Imagine,” based on the story behind the hit song of the same name, to more than 2,000 sites next weekend.

Disney’s second weekend of time-travel adventure “A Wrinkle in Time” followed in fourth with $16.6 million at 3,980 locations, lifting its 10-day total to $61.1 million. “Wrinkle,” directed by Ava DuVernay, declined by exactly half from its opening weekend.

Fox’s launch of gay teen comedy-drama “Love,

Simon” took fifth with $11.5 million at 2,402 venues, amid strong support from critics with a 91 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Simon,” starring Nick Robinson as a conflicted high schooler, notched an A+ CinemaScore with the audience, giving Fox execs hope for strong word of mouth and extended playability. Females comprised 58 percent of ticket buyers.

“Black Panther” has become only the seventh title to pass the $600 million milestone at the North American box office, and is the second-fastest film to do so. It’s the fourth-highest fifth weekend of all time, and the first time a film has held the top spot for five weekends in a row since 2009’s “Avatar.”

“Black Panther” has totaled a stunning $605.4 million in 31 days. It’s poised to pass “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” ($619.8 million) for sixth place and “The Avengers” ($623.4 million) for fifth place on the alltime domestic list by the end of next weekend. And it’s likely to eventually pass “Jurassic World” at $652.3 million for fourth place and “Titanic” at $659 million for third place. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” tops the list at $936 million followed by “Avatar” at $760 million. (rtr)

IBP/net

Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther” has maintained its momentum at the domestic box office.

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

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

IBP/net

Daryl Hannah

Daryl Hannah directs first feature, wants more women in film industry

AUSTIN - Film star Daryl Hannah returned to the red carpet with her debut as a feature film director and said the odds are stacked against women taking prominent roles in the film industry.

Her playful fantasy western shot on a shoe-string budget called “Paradox” stars music greats Neil Young and Willie Nelson. It premiered on Thursday at the South

by Southwest Film Festival in Austin.

“We made this in the spirit of fun,” she said in an interview at South by Southwest, which closed on Sunday. The film streams on Netflix this month.

Hannah, 57, whose career includes memorable roles in 1984’s “Splash” and the “Kill Bill” films in 2003 and 2004, welcomed moves in Hollywood to address sexual harassment and expand the influence of women in the movie industry.

“It is good that people are starting to at least acknowledge that there is an issue there and it is something that needs to be addressed,” she said.

Hannah made news late last year when she spoke out in a New Yorker magazine story along with

several other female actors who accused movie producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault.

Weinstein, co-founder of the Miramax studio, was one of Hollywood’s most powerful men before more than 70 women accused him of sexual misconduct, including rape. He has denied having nonconsensual sex with anyone.

Multiple accusations of sexual misconduct have been leveled against male actors, filmmakers and agents, and fresh attention has been brought to lingering questions over racial and gender fairness inequality in Hollywood.

Women wanting to make films have a tough time finding financing and being taken seriously, Hannah said, and when a female-driven movie does well, it is seen as a one-off.

But, she said, the tide may be turning.

“It is a patriarchal system that is beginning to feel a little bit that its foundation is being chipped away,” she said.

“After ‘Kill Bill,’ I never got another movie meeting. Not even a meeting or an offer,” Hannah added. (rtr)

Hundreds flee Australian bushfires that kill cattle, destroy homes

SYDNEY - Australian authorities urged people to remain alert on Monday as bushfires that have destroyed dozens of homes, killed cattle and forced hundreds of residents to flee continued to burn out of control in the southeast of the country.

No deaths or serious injuries were reported on Monday but the bushfires have caused extensive damage in rural areas of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW), Australia’s two most populous states. More than 100 houses were damaged or destroyed, authorities said. “At this stage (there have been) no lives lost,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said at a news conference in the small NSW coastal town of Tathra.

“It is just a great credit to the firefighters, to the volunteers, the emergency workers - all of the community has pulled together and provided such great support,” he said. The fires, believed to have been sparked by lightning on Saturday, were fanned by dry, hot winds as temperatures reached 41 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit) on Sunday.

Emergency officials said conditions should ease later on Monday but “watch and act” warnings remained in place for five locations.

The fire also set off an argument

among Australia’s politicians on whether climate change was a contributing factor to the blazes.

“You can’t attribute any particular event, whether it’s a flood or fire or a drought ...to climate change.

We are the land of droughts and flooding rains, we’re the land of bushfires,” Turnbull said.

Authorities said some 69 houses were destroyed and a further 39 were damaged and 30 caravans or cabins were also wiped out in Tathra, where residents fled to the beach on Sunday to avoid the flames as flying embers quickly carried the firefront forward. About 700 residents were evacuated to centres set up at the nearby town of Bega and several schools in affected areas were closed on Monday.

NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers earlier told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that five of 22 fires had not yet been contained. “There’s still a lot of fire around the landscape,” he said, warning that it would still be several days before

they were extinguished.

About 280 firefighters were battling the blazes, while 22,000 homes were without power in the region after high winds brought down trees, Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said late on Sunday. Bushfires are a common and deadly threat in Australia’s hot, dry summers, fuelled by highly flammable eucalyptus trees.

In January, hundreds of holidaymakers had to be evacuated by boat from the beaches of the Royal National Park south of Sydney when they became trapped by bushfires.

The 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria killed 173 people and injured more than 400. (rtr) News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.

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A helicopter drops water on a forest as a bushfire burns nearby, on the outskirts of the town of Cobden, located south west of Melbourne, Australia, March 18, 2018.