Edisi 20 July 2017 Internasional Bali Post

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

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

16 Pages Number 134 9th year

Price: Rp 3.000,-

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Madonna seeks to stop NY auction of Tupac Shakur break-up letter

LOS ANGELES - Madonna attempted on Tuesday to stop an upcoming auction of a prison break-up letter from rapper Tupac Shakur and a note in which she called singer Whitney Houston and actress Sharon Stone “horribly mediocre.”

The “Rebel Heart” singer filed a request in New York Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order against New York auction house Gotta Have It Collectibles to halt the sale, due to start on Wednesday.

Madonna said in court documents that she was not aware until reading press reports that many of the items listed for auction, including the letter from her former boyfriend Shakur, were no longer in her possession. The items were consigned to auction by Darlene Lutz, whom Madonna described in court documents as a former friend and art consultant and said she had “betrayed my trust in an outrageous effort to obtain my possessions without my knowledge or consent.”

A representative for the auction house and Lutz said in an emailed statement that Madonna’s effort to stop the sale was “a completely baseless and meritless action,” and they would challenge her claims in court.

“We believe that her intent is nothing more than to besmirch the good reputations of the auction house and Ms Lutz,” the statement said.

In a letter dated January 1995 and written to Madonna by Shakur while he was in prison for sexual assault, the rapper said he ended their romance because he felt that dating a white woman could jeopardize his career.

“I felt due to my ‘image’ I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was. I never meant to hurt you,” he said. Shakur was killed at age 25 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996.

Also among the 20 items Madonna is seeking to remove from sale are a pair of her panties, an old checkbook, a hairbrush and personal photos. (rtr)

Thursday, July 20, 2017

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Singer Ed Sheeran performs on NBC’s ‘Today’ show in New York City, U.S., July 6, 2017.

Ed Sheeran spring cleans Twitter after ‘Thrones’ cameo

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Ed Sheeran’s Twitter page reappeared on Tuesday with a spring clean of old tweets after a brief disappearance prompted speculation that the singer had quit the social media platform after mixed reaction to his cameo on TV show “Game of Thrones.”

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

Singer Madonna

Sheeran’s Twitter account, which boasts 14 million followers, appeared to have been deactivated on Monday. On Tuesday, it was live again, but many of Sheeran’s 30,000 tweets, including recent posts and comments from fans, had been deleted.

A representative for the British singer did not immediately respond

to requests for comment.

Sheeran was active on Instagram on Tuesday, posting a photo of a cat and a picture from the set of “Game of Thrones.” On Sunday he also posted photos and a video of his “Game of Thrones” cameo.

Sheeran’s scene on Sunday’s HBO medieval fantasy series, in which he plays a singing soldier

who encounters character Arya Stark, garnered mixed reception from avid “Game of Thrones” fans. Many criticized his cameo as distracting in a show that does not usually use celebrities.

The 26-year-old singer, whose latest album, “Divide,” topped charts in the United States and Britain earlier this year, has been vocal about his dislike of Twitter.

He told Britain’s Sun newspaper earlier this month that it was “nothing but people saying mean things” and that he had stopped using the platform regularly. (rtr)

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AP/Photo/Markus Schreiber, File

FILE - In this July 14, 2017 file photo, French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Pierre de Villiers, right, drive down the Champs Elysees avenue during Bastille Day parade in Paris. France’s military chief has quit over a dispute with President Emmanuel Macron over defense spending, in a new challenge to Macron’s administration and his economic reforms.

French military chief quits over budget dispute with Macron

PARIS — France’s military chief quit Wednesday in a dispute with President Emmanuel Macron over budget cuts, in a new challenge to Macron’s administration and his economic reforms. The office of Gen. Pierre de Villiers, chief of staff of the armed forces, said he submitted his resignation to Macron at a security council meeting Wednesday and the president accepted.

Macron’s office did not immediately comment.

De Villiers lashed out at new spending curbs during a closeddoor parliamentary commission meeting last week, according to leaked reports. Macron then publicly upbraided him, saying, “it is not dignified to air certain debates in the public sphere. I made commitments (to budget cuts). I am your boss.”

Macron’s own comments have elicited criticism, notably by those who accuse him of authoritarian tendencies after he overwhelmingly won election in May and saw his new centrist party dominate last month’s parliamentary elections.

The resignation foreshadows the battles Macron will likely face as he tries to reduce the deficit and government spending and boost the stagnant economy.

While Macron has promised to boost defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2025 as part of France’s commitments to NATO, his budget minister last week announced limits on this year’s military expenses as part of an overall spending squeeze.

De Villiers, head of the military since 2014, insisted that it was his “duty” to express his concerns about military resources amid the sustained threat of extremist attacks.

Continued to page 6 News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.

2

Bali News

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Two victims can be evacuated

Car and bodies taken out to mainland traditionally

BANGLI - Hard work of the joint team consisting of the national SAR agency (Basarnas) Bali, regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD) Bangli, Bangli transportation agency, Bangli police, Indonesian military (TNI) and the surrounding community finally paid off.

Two casualties of the APV car plunged into the ravine in the waters of Lake Batur, precisely at Trunyan village, could be evacuated. It took hours for the officers and the surrounding community to evacuate the two bodies trapped in the car at the bottom of the lake. The cloudy lake water was very disturbing the evacuation process so the visibility at the bottom of the lake was very short.

As field monitoring conducted, the search for two tourists from Tangerang, Banten, began at 08:00. Prior to starting the evacuation process, the joint team initiated by presenting banten pejati at the crash site and in the local village shrine. The ritual made at the plunging site of the car is meant to request ease of search process for the two bodies. After that, the joint team continued to search for both victims remaining to get trapped in the car drowned in the waters of Lake Batur, precisely at Terunyan village.

To evacuate both bodies, the Basarnas Bali involved four divers namely I Gede Wahyu, I Wayan Merta, I Kadek Perdana Yasa and I Putu Agus Suparjaya, while the water police of Bali police and Bangli police deployed four divers. They dived in turn to search for the bodies of both victims and fasten rope onto the car. Several ways have been done to evacuate the victims. Ultimately, due to the hard work of all parties, the two victims could be evacuated.

It took hours for the officers assisted by the local community to evacuate the victims’ body. After two divers fought hard, at 10:10, diver team of Basarnas Bali successfully took out a female victim on behalf of Rita Ningsih, 50. After successfully taking out, then the victim was taken to Kedisan Pier to be further brought to Bangli Hospital by using ambulance considering that the divers’ condition was already overwhelmed, so the officers decided to take rest.

Approximately at 13:00 after having afternoon break,

the joint team conducted the second stage of the search for a male victim on behalf of Mukshin Mardona, 31.

The search found an obstacle because the lake water was in turbid and dark condition, so the divers were difficult to find out the victim. As the time went on, finally the officers followed the advice of the Terunyan community to use traditional way, namely by using two bamboos and four boats. However, in such a way the Terunyan society had also experienced obstacle as the rope fastened onto the car had several times broken. Thus, the divers should come down and re-fasten the rope onto the car at the bottom of the lake. After fighting hard, at 17:50, the victim Mukshin and APV car with license plate DK 712 YB could be taken out.

Chief of Bangli Police, I Gusti Agung Ngurah Ade Anom Panji, expressed his gratitude to the joint team and the Terunyan community for their participation in conducting the search for both victims. He admitted the team assisted by the community had indeed experienced a little obstacle in the process of taking out the victims as the lake water was cloudy. Thus, the divers could not see in the bottom of the lake due to such darkness. Additionally, several times the rope used to pull the car also broke up. So, the diver team should dive back to fasten the car into the bottom of the lake. “Indeed, there were many obstacles in the field. However, due to hard work of the team assisted by local community, finally the man’s body could be evacuated to mainland,” he said.

In the meantime, Operations Section Head of Basarnas Bali, I Gede Darmada, revealed that divers had experienced problems when diving into the bottom of the lake as the water was cloudy and dark. In addition, the rope fastened onto the car broke at a depth of 17 meters. This condition could make the joint team desperate. Moreover, at that time the condition at the bottom of the lake was aggravated by re-occurrence of sulfuric burst so it was very disturbing.

“Finally, the officers and local residents took out the car in traditional manner. The team was asked to help fasten the rope onto the car to be withdrawn. The victim Mukshin was found getting stuck in the back seat. In the meantime, the rear-glass broke, maybe it happened due to collision when it plunged,” said Darmada. (kmb41)

International

Proved to smuggle drugs, a Russian man sued 14 years

DENPASAR - Having been proved guilty of having smuggled 106.2 grams of drugs, the defendant Alexey Prusov, 28, from Russia, was sued with punishment for 14 years in prison on Tuesday (Jul. 18). Public Prosecutors, Ketut Sujaya and Eddy Arta Wijaya, before the judge Dr. Yanto, said the defendant was found guilty due to unlawfully or against the law to import first class drugs in the form of non-crops weighing more than 5 grams. On the verification, the defendant is ensnared with Article 113 paragraph 2 of the Law No.35/2009 on narcotics.

Prior to the conclusion, in the letter of his appeal, the prosecutor from the Bali Prosecutor’s Office considered a number of matters. As the incriminating reason, the defendant did not support the government’s program in combating narcotics, while the alleviating reason is the defendant has never been punished, and behaved politely in the trial.

In addition to the corporal punishment for 14 years, the defendant is also required to pay a fine worth IDR 2 billion.

“Unless paying the fine, he must replace with imprisonment for 6 months,” demanded the prosecutor.

Upon hearing the charges, the defendant accompanied by two lawyers, Pande Sugiantra and Valerian Libert Wange imme-

diately filed an oral defense. In their oral defense, the defendant essentially pleaded for leniency.

They reasoned that the defendant had admitted frankly, did not complicate the trial and regretted his actions.

Prosecutor Eddy Arta said that he remained on the stance, so the panel of judges adjourned the hearing with the agenda of the decision on next Wednesday (Jul. 26). To be known, the defendant having the address on Jalan Tegal Cupek, North Kuta, Badung, was arrested by police on January 6, 2016 at the Post Office on Jalan Sunset Road, Kuta, Badung.

The defendant was arrested after picking up the package addressed to the Post Office on Jalan Sunset Road, Box 80361.

The package known to contain narcotics alleged to be crystal meth was addressed to a person named Miche Kaiser. Prior to the arrest, initially on January 5, 2017, the Customs and Excise officer on duty in the Post Office noticed there was a suspicious item in the package sent to Miche Kaiser.

“On the suspicion, the officers then examined the package,” said prosecutor Eddy Arta. In fact, the suspicion of the officer was true, when opening the package, there was a clear plastic in it containing a brown crystal alleged to be crystal meth weighing 106.62 grams net. (kmb37)

Grabbing action occurs again in Kuta

MANGUPURA - Another grabbing action against foreign tourists occurred in the area of Kuta on Monday (Jul. 17). Such an action was recorded by CCTV of local resident and has been disseminated through social media. Responding to the incident, Chief of Kuta customary village, I Wayan Swarsa, who confirmed on Tuesday (Jul. 18) admitted that criminal action in the form of grabbing in Kuta is not a new problem.

Nevertheless, he was not surprised because such cases belong to classic problem.

“This incident is nothing new in Kuta, any criminal act can happen because there is a

chance,” he said.

According to him, the transmission of grabbing action video or other criminal actions occurred in Kuta has positive and negative values. Positively, the transmission is providing information for others, but on the other hand, it is badly affect the image of tourism in Kuta. “We affirm that Kuta is not as grotesque as chatted by social media users, Kuta remains our friendly home together,” he said.

Swarsa hoped the tourists will not be affected by massive information spread by social media community. Actually,

criminal incidents can happen everywhere.

Since Kuta becomes one of the tourism terminologies in Bali, then it seems to be a scary thing.

According to him, to create a safe condition amid the complexity of existing society is not an easy matter. So far, customary village as one of the institutions also contributes to help police and government pursuant to its capacity. “As an institution, we establish jagabaya (security guards) and Kuta Beach taskforce. To make everything run well, it requires process, space and time,” he added.

In the meantime, the Chief of LPM Kuta, Gusti Agung Made Agung, added that in the future it will coordinate with various parties such as customary villages, police and the government. His agency will conduct internal and external evaluations considering it is a dynamics as well as a challenge that must be faced together.

“We hope the coordination with police authority can be further improved. In addition, the government is expected to pay attention to the permit for night entertainment entrepreneurs that violate the established rules,” he said. (kmb23)

 Founder : K.Nadha,  General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra  Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Dewa Farendra. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto.  Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post

Activities

International

Thursday, July 20, 2017

15

Herb Library BBQ at Alaya Resort Jembawan Saturday, July 21 5PM Vernissage Art D Asia Taiwan-Singapore Indonesia Art exchange project Arma Museum

Jalan Raya Pengosekan, Ubud Sunday, July 22 Nu Moopn Celebration Sounds of Union Akasha:Restaurant &Juice Bar Jln. Sinta, Tegallalang

EVERY MONDAY Movie Monday19:00-21:00 Genius Cafe- Home to the entrepreneur Beach CLub Mertasari Beach (Next to Mercure), Sanur EVERY TUESDAY Ecstatic contact dance: Transformative journey Paradiso Ubud, Jalan Goutama Selatan, Ubud 100k includes dinner EVERY WEDNESDAY DEep Dive Dance Guided improvised movement 19:00-21:00 Paradiso Ubud Jalan Goutama Selatan, Ubud 100k EVERY THURSDAY African Drums with Catur SAng Klang Wijaya 16:00-18:00 Experience the healing power of drumming, all levels welcome

BY DONATION SUNDAY MARKETS 10AM 1PM Sunday Market at Batu Jimbar Jl. Danau Tablingan , Sanur 10AM-4PM The Sands Beach Club and Restaurant Sunday MArket Jl. Danau Tamblingan, No 27, Sanur 9:30AM-1PM Sunday Market @ Warung Sopa Jl. Sugriwas no36, Padang Tegal, Ubud 9AM-2PM Samadi Sunday Market Jalan. Padang Linjong 39, Canggu, 9AM-2PM Wednesday and Sunday Ubud Organik Market Jl. Raya Pengosekan across from Zens Hotel Tebesaya, Ubud 12PM-10PM Sunday Food Festival & Bazaar Byrdhouse Beach Club, Sanur 10AM-6PM, Mercure,last sunday of every month, jl. ,Mertasari, Sanur, fashion food and and kids activities The Coffee Spot, Jalan Peigenet 888X,Seminyak, last Sunday of every month, garage sale clothing, books, and hand-made jewellery

Love grilling out but don’t want to ruin your health goals? Then check out Herb Library BBQ special menu that offers plenty of plant-based grilling meals with Omnivore option on Saturday, 22 July 2017 from 6 PM onwards. Accompanied by a Balinese Dance Performance, enjoy your weekend retreat by the pool for IDR 250K++ at Herb Library, Alaya Resort Jembawan.Alaya Resort Jembawan is a boutique wellness retreat in the heart of Ubud that focuses on body, mind and spirit rejuvenation.

With its team of onsite experts, including an Ayurvedic doctor and yoga instructor, the resort offers lifestyle programs that are tailored to address any specific health concerns you may have.

This 37 room property is a healing sanctuary for personal renewal with affordable solutions to many of the issues caused by trying to exist in today’s fast paced world. It is a place where you are encouraged to slow down, eat nutritious food and return to the basics of simply living well. Advance bookings are essential through herblibrary@alayahotels. com or call to (+62 361) 908 3289.

Alaya Resort Jembawan | Jl. Jembawan, Ubud - Bali | Ph: +62 361 908 3289 | herblibrary@alayahotel. com | www.alayahotels.com

14

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Health

International

Alabama finds atypical mad cow case, no human threat seen

IBP/net

Maintaining stability in glycemic (‘blood sugar’) control may be important for prevention of depressive symptoms in elderly diabetic patients.

Blood sugar swings tied to depression in elderly with type 2 diabetes

TEL AVIV - Greater ups and downs of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a marker of longterm blood sugar levels, are associated with a higher number of symptoms of depression in elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes, a recent Israeli study finds.

“The results suggest that maintaining stability in glycemic (‘blood sugar’) control may be important for prevention of depressive symptoms in elderly diabetic patients,” Dr. Ramit Ravona-Springer from Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, and Tel-Aviv University told Reuters Health.

People with type 2 diabetes are twice as likely as people without diabetes to develop depression, which affects as many as a third of individuals 65 years and older. Variability in HbA1c has been associated with complications of diabetes, but there is little information about its relationship with depression, the study team writes in Diabetes Care.

Ravona-Springer’s team analyzed about nine years’ worth of data on 837 people with type 2 diabetes whose average age was nearly 73 years. The information included around 18 HbA1c measurements over the years for each participant, and results from a depression assessment at the start of the study period.

Average HbA1c was not associated with depressive symptoms, but the variability of HbA1c measurements was, such that each 1 percent increase in variability was associated with a 29 percent increase in the number of depressive symptoms, researchers found.

The relationship between HbA1c variability was

true regardless of HbA1c level, but it was strongest among people whose HbA1c was above 7 percent, a common target for blood sugar control.

The researchers admit that the results just show an association and don’t necessarily mean that blood sugar variability causes symptoms of depression.

Nevertheless, they conclude that better long-term stability of HbA1c - in other words, more consistent blood sugar control - might help to prevent depression in elderly people with type 2 diabetes.

“This study is ongoing,” Ravona-Springer said. “We thus expect to have even better understanding of the directional relationships of glycemic control and other diabetes-related characteristics with depression as we start analyzing longitudinal data,” she said in an email.

“The study hints at the importance of achieving stable A1c values at a certain age/point in a patient‘s diabetes history in contrast to trying to reduce A1c,” said Dr. Dominic Ehrmann from the Research Institute of the Diabetes Academy Mergentheim (FIDAM) in Bad Mergentheim, Germany, who has also studied the link between depression and diabetes.

“But (and this is a big but) this must be weighed against other clinical and medical objectives (e.g., complications, comorbidities, cognitive functioning),” he said by email.

“Depression/depressive symptoms should be an important factor in clinical decision making in elderly patients,” concluded Ehrmann, who wasn’t involved in the current study. “That is, the impact of therapy adjustments or changing treatment goals on depressive symptoms should be considered in clinical practice.” (rtr)

ALABAMA - An 11-year-old cow in Alabama tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday.

The cow tested positive for the atypical L-type of BSE after exhibiting clinical signs at an Alabama livestock market, the USDA said in a press release. Atypical BSE can arise spontaneously in cattle herds, usually in animals 8 years old or older.

“This animal never entered slaughter channels and at no time presented a risk to the food supply, or to human health in the United States,” the USDA said.

“Following delivery to the livestock market the cow later died at that location.”

The Alabama cow is the fifth detection of BSE in the United

Bali News

International

States, four of which were atypical.

“This finding of an atypical case will not change the negligible risk status of the United States, and should not lead to any trade issues,” the USDA added.

The only classical BSE case was an animal found in 2003 at a Washington farm that was imported from Canada and born before a 1997 ban on the use of cattle feed containing brain or spinal tissue, which can result in transmission of the disease.

China last month resumed imports of U.S. beef for the first time since banning them following the 2003 scare.

First detected in Britain in the 1980s, classical mad cow ravaged herds in parts of Europe until the early 2000s and was linked to the brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. (rtr)

Thursday, July 20, 2017

3

Rejection of reclamation must be accompanied with real action DENPASAR — Rejection against the Benoa Bay reclamation is suddenly echoed by a number of figures who are ready to compete in the Bali gubernatorial election 2018.

There are a row of names such as the senator in the Bali Regional Representatives (DPD) Arya Wedakarna, Regent of Tabanan Ni Putu Eka Wiryastuti, and the last one the incumbent Deputy Governor of Bali Ketut Sudikerta as having been spreading in social media. Their discourse is expected to be accompanied with real action and not just lip service to gain votes in the next gubernatorial election.

Benoa Bay

“Firstly, as chief of customary village, I reject the reclamation.

Surely, in other words this rejection must be carried out by all levels of society, so whoever they are, either Sudikerta, Eka Wiryastuti or Arya Wedakarna in the capacity as Balinese society as I have said earlier should reject the Benoa Bay reclamation,” said this Chief of Buduk customary village who is

IBP/file

also a member of the Agreement of Bali Customary Village Rejecting Benoa Bay Reclamation, Ida Bagus Ketut Purbanegara, as confirmed on Monday (Jul. 17).

Even though they speak in their capacity as a leader, namely the deputy governor, regent and senator, continued Purbanegara, the agreement (pasubayan) remains to respect their opinion.

Actually, that is the attitude expected by the pasubayan from the beginning.

“In this case, I speak with a little smile, I appreciate to their attitude, that they just rejected the reclamation, with the assumption that they just understood about it.

Why they just rejected it today, we suppose they just understood. In other words, it is better late than never,” he added.

Purbanegara hoped the rejection having been echoed is not only in the media but is also manifested into real action in accordance with their respective position that is remaining active. So far, the pa-

subayan and ForBALI have been too frequent to see and hear such a discourse.

“What is the real measure that will be done in the context of this rejection? Do not just limited be in the discourse. This is what we are waiting for, what they dare to do.

We already dare to go down the street to voice the rejection. Even though at that time, let’s say ... they were still a little busy so that ‘may not hear or not see what we do,’” he explained.

Purbanegara considered that rejection against reclamation by the officials is indeed inseparable from political nuances. However, the pasubayan will definitely ignore when it is coupled with real action.

“When it is only limited a discourse in media or lip service like that, sweetener before gubernatorial election, as I said earlier I will speak with a little smile, well… maybe I will laugh loudly later on, not a little smile anymore,” he concluded. (kmb32)

Parliament asks to strengthen control against cafés

IBP/net

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it discovered an 11-year-old cow with atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Alabama.

DENPASAR — Indications of the distribution of drugs in entertainment spots should be anticipated earlier. The measures to be made by Denpasar municipality are doing more intensive supervision. Relevant agencies are also requested to make data collection and issue permit to the café businesses having not been licensed, so that coaching can be carried out periodically.

This was confirmed by a member of Commission IV of the Denpasar House of Representatives, A.A. Gede Widiada, at his office on Monday (Jul. 17). He considered there are quite a lot of cafés in Denpasar, so it is required a clear regulation to be able to monitor such a business. After all, the business also absorbs a lot of labor. “If violating, they should be imposed with sanction according to existing rules,” said this NasDem politician.

Widiada also asked the government to immediately make the criteria of this kind of business. So far, the provisions governing this business are not yet clear. As a result, monitoring will be difficult. “The government must make obvious criteria, so that existence of such a business can be arranged,” said Widiada.

In the meantime, Regional Secretary of the Denpasar Tourism Office, Nyoman Nada, admitted there are only a few café businesses having been licensed.

In addition, many of the businesses are run inappropriate with the name. “Actually the café business is not much different from restaurant. However, in reality its function has changed. Many cafés are selling liquor,” he said.

He admitted that his agency has also provided coaching for the existing licensed business. However, when there is a drug trafficking, the team having provided with coaching does not get that far. “If under supervision there are violations, surely we direct them

to keep on the existing rules. For example, if they do not have permit, we’ll direct to submit permission,” he said.

Associated with the existence of Café Bibir, the division handling this affair in tourism office has conducted monitoring on May 31, 2017. From the monitoring results, the team could not enter because the business was closed. The team then checked to local village authority where the business is located, namely the Pemecutan Kelod village. In the village office the team equally could not get the legality of the business. (kmb12)

IBP/file

The measures to be made by doing more intensive supervision and control against cafés.

4

Thursday, July 20, 2017

HEAD Talk

Improve quality of world class hotel human resources

DENPASAR — Indonesian tourism now reaches a healthy growth point and the existence is recognized by the world. Aside from formation of new destinations and new tourism businesses, it also has something to do with the increased competitiveness of quality products and human resources. On the other hand, our neighboring countries also boost their tourism development in such a way that triggers a very tight competition.

This becomes a tickling challenge for the fighting power as a citizen. By promoting tourism, Indonesia will be able to become a great and respected nation in IBP/file the world. Tourism is a toll Nyoman Astama road in the efforts to alleviate socio-geographic isolation and poverty alleviation. At the same time, tourism can serve as an agent of change and boost economic movement with its extraordinary multiplier effect.

“Quality of human resources becomes a critical point in building a nation. That is why, as an industry player and tourism educator, we come to provide international quality education, training and certification, delivered by local citizen who master the world’s recognized academic as well as vocational skills and certifications. So, the development of Indonesian tourism can run on the right track to the right place as well,” said I Gede Wiwin Suyasa, the principal commissioner of the Global Hospitality Expert, on Monday (Jul. 17), when met at the HEAD Talk and the launch of the Hospitality Education And Development consisting of industry credentials, qualification certificate, academic plus and essential workshop at H Sovereign Hotel.

On the same occasion, it was also launched three tourism books compiled and written by native writers to Bali who are very concerned with hospitality industry. Nyoman Astama, Chairman of the IHGMA Bali launched a motivational book about success entitled ‘Success; YOU!”; Dede Ari Gunawan, President Director of Bali Citra International, also launched his motivational book about quality selfimprovement for a success entitled ‘The Courage of Living”; and the last book was launched by K. Swabawa, Director of Swaha Hospitality Management, entitled ‘Hotel General Manager Handbook’ carrying about knowledge and strategy of a GM in managing a hotel.

“Global Hospitality Expert (GHE), a division of Professional Hospitality Education and Development of the International Bali Institute of Tourism (STPBI), has been the Official Global Academic Partner of the American Hotel & Lodging Education Institute (AHLEI) since 2014. GHE holds license for professional education and professional certification,” he said.

President Director of GHE, Agus Yoga Iswara, said that the entire GHE programs are designed and intended as quality legitimacy of professionalism with international standard (industry credential), preparation for a career path from employee level up to general manager (qualification certificate), acceleration of academic and vocational learning of student level, instructor to educator (academic plus).

On the occasion, it was also signed a GHE cooperation draft with tourism schools such as the Nusa Dua Bali Tourism School (STPNB), Polytechnic International Bali (PIB), Elizabeth International and Mediterranean Bali.

The Global Hospitality Expert (GHE) was launched in warm atmosphere and the vivacity of industrial players and tourism education providers was clear to adopt the HEAD program. The event was also attended by invitees from the government agency and tourism association such as the IHRA, IHGMA, SKKBA, ICA, BVA, BHA, HFLA, IHKA, IFBEC, Bascomm, HFIA, HRA, BSWA, UHA, UHSA as well as hotel general managers and school leaders of tourism and hospitality. (kmb42)

Bali News

International

Thursday, July 20, 2017

International

Take advantage of natural dyes

Australian government demands answers on Minneapolis police shooting

Songket of Jembrana goes international

SONGKET weavers of Jembrana should be proud now. This handicraft work has gone international after the selection of this weaving cloth to represent Indonesia in an international craft exhibition entitled Hand Made Korea Summer 2017 in Seoul, South Korea. Putri Mas weaving group was chosen after going through the tight curation by national craft board and ministry of cooperatives and the MSME of Indonesia.

The songket of Jembrana obtaining the certificate of intellectual property right (HAKI) has distinctive characteristic putting forward the native style of Jembrana and genuinely handmade without mechanical intervention. In addition to Putri Mas weaving group, the exhibition will also be followed by 39 other craftsmen of Indonesia featuring metal, wood and knitted works.

Ketut Widiadnyana, 42, Leader of Putri Mas weaving group of Pendem, Jembrana, said that other than genuinely handmade, the Jembrana songket still retains the same motif since the kingdom era, showing off many natural elements such as flowers and animals with folklore base. It is different from songket from other regions in Bali. “The motif of Jembrana songket tends to be static and uncomplicated making it easier to be utilized in terms of fashion, unlike intricate motif

that often makes it difficult when cutting the fabric for pattern,” he explained.

Besides, in the coloring process, craftsmen will use more natural dyes from plants. For instance, they take advantage of turmeric, morina root, mango leaves and other plants remaining widely found in Jembrana.

Widiadnyana admitted to be proud as the woven cloth finally received recognition. He hoped from the exhibition in Korea he could know the direction of current handmade handicraft trend and various fashion innovations in accordance with the demand of overseas markets. In the exhibition, this group will bring three songket weaving clothes becoming the typical style of Jembrana including the lunar-stellar songket, nature songket and songket of Jembrana without a connection that he considers the only one in

Jembrana.

Head of the Jembrana Cooperative, Industry and Trade Agency, Made Gede Budhiarta, said the songket weaving cloth is one of the handicrafts having the characteristic pattern of Jembrana and has got certificate of intellectual property right.

This innovation is expected to be followed by other weaving craftsmen in appropriate with the market trend without leaving the pattern and legacy of Jembrana genuine motif.

Deputy Regent of Jembrana, Made Kembang Hartawan, also expected the craftsmen to be able to display the making process and materials used include telling the historical side of songket design on display. So, the exhibition will not just showcase the products, but also give information about the uniqueness of the native songket to Jembrana. (olo)

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)/Handout via REUTERS

An undated supplied image from Geoscience Australia shows a computer generated threedimensional view of the sea floor obtained from mapping data collected during the first phase of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

MH370 search data unveils fishing hotspots, ancient geological movements

SYDNEY - Detailed sea-floor maps made during the unsuccessful search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, released by Australia on Wednesday, could help increase the knowledge of rich fisheries and the prehistoric movement of the earth’s southern continents.

IBP/olo

The songket of Jembrana obtaining the certificate of intellectual property right (HAKI) has distinctive characteristic.

13

The Indian Ocean search ended in January after covering a lonely stretch of open water where undersea mountains larger than Mount Everest rise and a rift valley dotted with subsea volcanoes runs hundreds of kilometres long.

The whereabouts of the plane, which vanished in March 2014 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board, remains one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.

However, information gathered during painstaking surveys of some 120,000 sq km (46,000 sq miles) of the remote waters west of Australia should provide fishermen, oceanographers and geologists insight into the region in unprecedented detail, said Charitha Pattiaratchi, professor of coastal oceanography at the University of Western

Australia.

“There are the locations of seamounts which will attract a lot of international deep sea fishermen to the area,” Pattiaratchi told Reuters by phone.

High-priced fish such as tuna, toothfish, orange roughy, alfonsino and trevally are known to gather near the seamounts, where plankton swirl in the currents in the inhospitable waters.

Pattiaratchi said the location of seamounts would also help model the impact of tsunamis in the region, given undersea mountains help dissipate their destructive energy, and potentially change our understanding of the break-up of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana.

The data consists of threedimensional models of undersea

landforms as well as raw bathymetric survey information. It was published online by Geoscience Australia on Wednesday, with a further tranche due to be published next year.

“It is estimated that only 10 to 15 percent of the world’s oceans have been surveyed with the kind of technology used in the search for MH370, making this remote part of the Indian Ocean among the most thoroughly mapped regions of the deep ocean on the planet,” said Stuart Minchin, chief of Geoscience Australia’s environmental geoscience division.

Australia has not ruled out resuming the search for the Boeing 777 airliner but has said that would depend on finding “credible new evidence” about the plane’s whereabouts. (rtr)

SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the fatal shooting of an Australian woman by a Minneapolis police officer over the weekend “shocking” and “inexplicable” and said his diplomats were seeking answers from U.S. authorities.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Tuesday confirmed details of the shooting of Sydney native Justine Damond that have been reported in media accounts and also confirmed the identities of the two police officers involved in the incident.

Damond died of a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, fired through an open window of the patrol car, after two police officers responded to a call she made of a possible assault in her neighborhood, the agency said.

Turnbull said in a television interview on Wednesday morning in Australia (Tuesday evening in the United States) that he and the Australian consul-general in Chicago were seeking answers.

“How can a woman out in the street in her pajamas seeking assistance be shot like that?” the prime minister said in the interview with Nine Network. “It is a shocking killing, and yes, we are demanding answers on behalf of her family.”

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which reviews shootings involving Minneapolis police, was seeking civilian video of the incident.

The incident unfolded as Officers Mohamed Noor and Matthew Harrity were driving through an alley near where the shooting

occurred, searching for a suspect, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said.

At one point, Harrity told investigators, he was startled by a loud sound near the patrol car.

Immediately afterward, Damond approached the driver’s side of the squad car and Noor, who was in the passenger seat, fired his weapon through the open driver’s-side window, striking Noor, the agency said.

The agency said Noor, with the police department for 21 months, and Harrity, a one-year veteran, have been placed on administrative leave.

State investigators said agents interviewed Harrity on Tuesday.

They said Noor has declined to be interviewed, adding that Noor’s attorney did not provide information on when or if the officer would be available for questioning.

Noor’s lawyer, Tom Plunkett, did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement released earlier on Tuesday, Plunkett said that Noor extends his condolences to Damond’s family.

Damond’s family joined with friends and others in a silent dawn vigil on Sydney’s Freshwater Beach, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. A didgeridoo was played and a single rose thrown into the ocean.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota have questioned why the officers did not have their body cameras and vehicle dashboard camera turned on at the time of the incident. (rtr)

AAP/Mick Tsikas/via REUTERS

Australia’s Attorney-General George Brandis and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speak during a media conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, July 18, 2017.

12

International

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Bali News

International

BUSINESS

Have you ever tasted rambutan salad? Having tried, you will definitely get addicted because this kind of salad is relatively new. However, it has been already familiar among young people. Other than tasting chewy and sweet, rambutan salad is also very easy to make. Youngsters that like to hang out are fond of making it. Moreover, on Hindu feast, young people must have tried this salad.

No one can make sure, when this rambutan salad first appeared and who made it. This rambutan salad became famous when it appears in social media. Youngsters take advantage of technology to tease their friends. They prepare very neatly and attractively, so that many people are tempted to taste it. Well, it is just like a magnet, people have vied to make it though never tasted it before.

Rambutan salad does have a different taste. Other than being chewy, the flesh also tastes sweet.

Moreover, the water of its salad

BOGOTA - Colombia, which narrowly avoided getting its credit rating cut last year, is again at risk of a downgrade as it struggles to meet fiscal targets and investors tire of overly optimistic forecasts by the government of President Juan Manuel Santos. Most economists have already concluded that lower economic growth and weak oil prices will make it nearly impossible to meet the deficit target set just last month. Higher debt issuance, costs associated with a peace deal with Marxist FARC rebels and next year’s presidential election may exacerbate the situation. plan based on a fiscal deficit of 3.6 percent of gross domestic product this year and 3.1 percent for 2018. He put the price of oil at $51 a barrel in 2017 and $60 in 2018. Brent crude was at $48.95 on Tuesday, up 1.1 percent. Cardenas targeted growth at 2.3 percent this year and 3.5 percent next, well above the market’s forecast of 1.8 percent this year and 2.5 percent for 2018.

Cardenas also called for a 7.8 percent increase in domestic public debt borrowing for 2017, implying a big uptick, deepening market discomfort. “People didn’t look favorably at the government numbers and some investors have given orders to take profits and go to other markets with better prospects like Mexico,” said a fixed income investment banker who declined to be identified.

Foreign investors reduced their Colombian bond holdings by 1.23 trillion pesos ($406 million) in June, the first decrease since October and the biggest ever monthly outflow by this type of investor, according the finance ministry. Foreign investors own $20.7 billion in Colombian domestic public debt, or one-quarter of the total.

The yield on benchmark Colombian Treasury bonds maturing in July 2024 rose to 6.27

REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/Illustration /File Photo

Bank notes of different currencies, including Euro, U.S. Dollar, Turkish Lira or Brazilian Reais, are photographed in Frankfurt, Germany, in this illustration picture taken May 7, 2017. percent on Tuesday from 5.87 percent the day also have implications for meeting mediumbefore the financing plan was made public term fiscal goals. The government’s fiscal on June 14. Fitch is worried about the bond wiggle room becomes even tighter, taking issuance, warning that Colombia’s gross debt into account additional costs generated by the burden is close to 50 percent of GDP, nearly implementation of a peace accord with the 10 percentage points higher than the average Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. for countries with a similar credit rating.

That will cost about $3 billion annually “If they don’t do the necessary adjustment, over the next 15 years, Cardenas estimated then the debt’s going to continue to rise and in a recent interview. Add the extra social that could risk the rating,” Richard Francis, spending that typically happens during elecdirector of sovereign ratings for Fitch, told tion years, and the outlook becomes less Reuters. Moody’s said weaker growth will rosy.(rtr)

House to vote on Trump’s $1.6B border wall request next week

AP Photo/Christian Torres, File

FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2017, file photo, an agent of the border patrol, observes near the Mexico-US border fence, on the Mexican side, separating the towns of Anapra, Mexico and Sunland Park, N.M.

5

Mouth-watering Rambutan Salad

Colombia’s fiscal outlook puts investment, credit rating at risk “We believe there is a clear disconnect between reality and the current debt path depicted by the government,” said Mario Castro, Latin America strategist for Nomura in New York. He suggested the government was using overly optimistic economic assumptions and aiming to slash public investment in an unrealistic way, given infrastructure needs.

In a bid to calm investor concerns, Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas will trim 5 trillion pesos ($1.65 billion) from next year’s budget.

He is due to meet bondholders in New York on Tuesday to discuss the nation’s finances. The government avoided a downgrade by credit rating agencies last year after struggling to fill a financing gap as income slumped along with the price of oil, a key industry. Tax reform helped ward off a cut from BBB investment grade by agencies, even though many investors thought it did not go far enough and that another may be needed.

“It’s very likely that before the end of this year we will get a ratings cut,” said Juan David Ballen, chief economist at brokerage Casa de Bolsa. “The big question is whether they will lower us to investment grade still, or to speculative grade.”

In June Cardenas instituted a financing

Thursday, July 20, 2017

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are moving next week to fund President Donald Trump’s $1.6 billion request to begin construction of his oft-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Aides said Tuesday evening that GOP leaders have decided to attach the money — to build 74 miles of fencing and levee wall in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and near San Diego — to a spending bill for the Defense Department and a handful of other agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The wall money is strongly opposed by Democrats and some Republicans. But Trump is insistent on it and the GOP plan would give

Trump a much-needed victory on Capitol Hill after the failure of the Trump-backed effort to repeal and replace the Obama health law.

Adding the wall money to the defense spending measure, which includes huge increases for the Pentagon, would appear to ensure its passage through the House, despite opposition among some border state Republicans, and could set up a clash with Senate Democrats.

Trump has promised that Mexico would pay for the wall but hasn’t come up with a plan to force it to actually do so. Taxpayers will instead foot the bill.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced

Tuesday that GOP leaders had abandoned a plan to bundle all 12 of the annual spending bills for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 into a single omnibus package. That appeared to be too much for rank-and-file Republicans to digest, so McCarthy instead announced that funding for the Pentagon, the VA and the Energy Department would be tied together in a smaller, national security-focused measure.

A McCarthy aide and a spokeswoman for Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., confirmed the plan to include the wall money in next week’s bill.

But there probably won’t be an up-ordown vote on the funding.(ap)

Tipat Bantal War

IBP/kmb

Symbol of Male and Female

Tradition of tipat and bantal war organized at Kapal customary village is a unique tradition because the participating people will perform activities of mutual throwing by using tipat and bantal posing one of the favorite foods for the community of Bali.

It is an expression of gratitude to God for the blessing extended in the form of abundance of fertility in the environment. However, since it is a tradition and ritual, of course, this kind of tipat-bantal war will begin with a procession of presenting oblations and so forth before implemented.

The temple priest Jero Nyoman Lidriani said that preparation ceremony will be preceded by banten pejati, byakaonan and pangulapan.

After being presented, it will be followed by Hindu people or Kapal. After completing the presentation of offerings, it is resumed with joint prayers and matimpugan. perang tipat bantal It is commenced with jejatonan for 3 times in front of the bale agung temple or middle courtyard of the temple. Executor of the jejatonan itself is not arbitrary namely temple priest and village officials. Sometimes, it is followed by government officials such as the regent usually presented every 2 years. After that, it is carried

out in outermost courtyard by many people in accordance with norms.

“Formerly, it was only carried out in front of the bale agung pavilion. Since the current pilgrims are consisting of more people the pavilion is worried to get damaged.

Thus, the activities are continued in the outermost temple courtyard and only the jejatonan is still held in the bale agung,” he said.

Furthermore, he said that before starting matimpugan, all the pilgrims put soda offerings pursuant to their affordability and must contain tipat sirikan (rice bag) and six pieces of bantal fresh cake. The rice bag is placed in the temple while the bantal can be brought back home.

Similar opinion was conveyed

by I Ketut Sudarsana where the rice bag is incised transverse in the middle as a symbol of female genital or Pradhana while the bantal snack itself is a symbol of male genital or Purusa.

Encounter of both elements will

produce or bring up the seeds of life. In this case, it symbolizes the emergence and fertility for the seeds of food sources of society.

Besides, both entities symbolize the sea and mountains.

In the procession held at the outermost courtyard of the local temple, all the pilgrims that will throw rice bag are positioned in the south because it is a symbol of male or sea while in the north is the area of ??the pitch throwing group as the symbol of Purusa or mountains believed to be in the north. Then, even though there is impression of throwing each other to each participant, it will be attempted that tipat and bantal will hit each other in the air because it is the most important point of the tradition.

“After finishes, it is ended with a joint prayer while for the remnants scattered will be collected and then distributed to residents and made into fertilizer for their respective paddy field. It is believed to increase fertility,” he added. (kmb)

tastes very sweet. Certainly, it is naturally sweet. Lime sliced into circular pieces makes this salad distinctive, apart from looking beautiful. If wishing to get spicy flavor, you just need to add chili to taste.

The ingredients are rambutan and lime, while the seasonings include (white) sugar, salt and chili.

Indeed it tastes delicious, but do not eat this salad too much, because it can result in fever and cough. In this case, people are encouraged to control themselves so that do not be complacent in the enjoyment.

How to prepare it? First of all, exfoliate the skin of rambutan and then put into the basin. After that, add some salt, chili and white sugar and stir until blended (can be finely grounded). Add a lemon having been squeezed, so that it will be watery. Flesh of the rambutan and spices are then mixed together and stir to get well blended. Furthermore, thinly slice the lime ??and put on the flesh of rambutan. Now, it is ready to be served! (kmb)

Geger Temple, Spring Emerges When Seawater Recedes Geger Temple belongs is one of the dang kahyangan temples and is located at Peminge village, South Kuta.

Jro Mangku Made Sania, 62, was seen waiting for the pickup service after presenting the offerings of pilgrims at Geger Temple on Saturday (Apr. 29). To reach this temple, visitors must pass through dry fields and will occasionally see monkeys on the side of the road that leads to the temple.

It is said that Geger Temple was one of the resting places of Dang Hyang Dwijendra, a great Hindu sage.

The temple was renovated in 1985 and again 1991. Now, Geger Temple stands firmly on the reef that juts out onto Geger Beach, so the beautiful beach can be seen from the top of the temple. “Before Danghyang Dwijendra (Danghyang Nirartha) went to Uluwatu, he had time to rest here”, said Mangku Sania.

Geger Temple consists of a beji (spring), a shrine for Ida Danghyang Dwijendra, Ida Dalem Pamutih and Ida Bathara Simpang Dalem Nusa,

who use a tiger and a white monkey (maruti) as their vehicles. A number of public figures and officials have been to the temple to perform purification rites (malukat) and to ask for be blessed with offspring.

Geger Temple is supported by two hamlets in Peminge village, South Kuta. However, many people from beyind these hamlets also come to pray a Geger Temple, including people from Java.

Not far from Geger Temple, down the stairs and over some rocks, visitors arrive at the temple spring or beji ,that is located on Geger Beach behind a huge rock. The temple has several shrines, including a phallus or lingam where pilgrims do their purification rites. “During the full moon, new moon or on Kajeng Kliwon, there are eopel doing purification rites 24 hours a day” explained said Nyoman Romi, a merchant who sells his wares near the temple. The spring around the beji is only accessible when the sea recedes in the afternoon. (kmb)

6

Thursday, July 20, 2017

W

RLD

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) speaks with reporters about the apparent collapse of Republicans’ most recent effort to repeal and replace the Obamacare healthcare legislation at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. July 18, 2017.

Republican push to end Obamacare collapses in U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON - Republican efforts to overhaul or repeal Obamacare collapsed in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, dealing a sharp setback to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s seven-year quest to kill former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

The disarray in the Republican-controlled Senate rattled financial markets as it cast doubt on the chances of getting Trump’s other domestic policy priorities, such as tax reform, through a divided Congress.

Trump said he was disappointed by the failure and suggested he might let the insurance markets created under Obamacare go under and then, potentially, work with Democrats on a rescue.

“We’re probably in that position where we’ll just let Obamacare fail,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We will let Obamacare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us.”

U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced a vote on a straight repeal of Obamacare, which would take effect in two years, after it became clear on Monday night that he did not have enough support to pass an overhaul of the healthcare law. He said on Tuesday that the vote would take place “early next week.”

But prospects for the repeal vote appeared doomed with at least three Republican senators voicing opposition. Moderate Republican Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska quickly announced they would not back repeal. With Democrats united in opposition, Republicans can only afford to lose two votes to pass the measure in the Senate, where they have a slim 52-48 majority.

“I do not think that it’s going to be constructive to repeal a law that at this point is so interwoven within our healthcare system and then hope that over the next

two years we will come up with some kind of replacement,” Collins told reporters.

The failed effort to replace Obamacare raised new concerns for U.S. health insurers over whether the government would continue to fund billions of dollars in medical benefit subsidies.

Obamacare has boosted the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. About 20 million Americans gained insurance coverage through the law.

“This has been a very, very challenging experience for all of us,” McConnell said, adding that the chamber needed to move on to issues like tax reform and a spending package to bolster the country’s infrastructure.

Trump invited all Republican senators to discuss healthcare over lunch at the White House on Wednesday, a White House official said. “There is movement on healthcare,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity and without providing further details.

As the healthcare bill collapsed in the Senate, leaders in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives unveiled a budget plan putting a proposed tax code overhaul on the same partisan procedural path that led to the anti-Obamacare initiative’s chaotic downfall.

Republicans had hoped to finish with healthcare before an upcoming August recess so they could tackle a wide-ranging rewrite of the U.S. tax code in September. Separate talks on taxes appear unlikely to reach Trump’s pledge to reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent.

But their failure exposed the sharp divide within Republicans’ own ranks, with moderates concerned the healthcare bill’s Medicaid cuts would take insurance away from millions of low-income Americans while conservatives backed the cuts and wanted even more dramatic changes to Obamacare. (rtr)

International

Pro-Russian rebel leader in east Ukraine unveils plan for new state MOSCOW - The pro-Russian rebel leader of a breakaway region in eastern Ukraine proposed on Tuesday replacing Ukraine with a new federal state, in comments that could further undermine a 2015 peace deal that is already faltering.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko rejected the idea, describing Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), as part of “a puppet show”, with Russia pulling his strings in order to relay a message.

France and Germany, which are involved in diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine crisis, also condemned the proposal.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian agencies that Zakharchenko’s statement was Zakharchenko’s own initiative and that the Kremlin had learned about it from media reports.

Ukrainian officials contend that Russia wants to show the world, and the United States especially, that it can keep the crisis in a suspended state and deepen it if need be. A new U.S. envoy for the Ukraine crisis was appointed this month and Moscow and Washington are likely to start regularly

engaging on the issue.

Zakharchenko, who would scarcely have expected anything other than outright rejection from Kiev, said in a declaration that he and his allies were proposing a new state called Malorossiya (Little Russia) be set up with its capital in rebel-held Donetsk.

Malorossiya was the term used to describe swaths of modern-day Ukraine when they were part of the Russian Empire in tsarist times and is one many Ukrainians today regard as offensive.

Ukraine, a country of about 42.5 million people, declared independence from Moscow in 1991.

“We are proposing to residents of Ukraine a peaceful way out of a difficult situation without war. It’s our last proposal,” Zakharchenko said in a statement. The new state would be federal, with regions enjoying a large degree of autonomy.

He said the move was backed by delegates from various Ukrainian regions, but a statement from the neighbouring rebel territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic said it had been unaware of the initiative and did not support it. (rtr)

International

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Indonesia bans Hizbut group that seeks global caliphate

JAKARTA — The Indonesian government on Wednesday banned Hizbut Tahrir, an Islamic organization that wants to establish a global caliphate, under a new presidential decree criticized as draconian by rights groups. Hizbut’s legal status was revoked to protect national unity, said Freddy Haris, a director-general at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

The decree signed last week by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo gives the government almost unfet-

tered power to ban organizations deemed against the constitution and the official state ideology known as

Pancasila, which enshrines democracy and social justice. Rights groups say the decree undermines the right to freedom of association and governments could easily abuse its power.

But mainstream Muslim groups have supported it.

Haris said Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia listed Pancasila as an ideology of the organization in its articles of association “but in fact on the ground their activities were against Pancasila and the soul of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.” The measures follow months of sectarian tensions in the world’s most populous Muslim nation that shook the government and undermined Indonesia’s reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

Hizbut Tahrir, along with groups such as the violent Islamic Defenders Front, was behind a series of massive protests against the Jakarta governor, a minority Christian and Jokowi ally who was accused of blaspheming Islam. He subsequently lost a bid for re-election to a Muslim candidate and was imprisoned for two years for blasphemy despite prosecutors downgrading the charge to a lesser offense.

Hizbut, already banned or circumscribed in some countries, is estimated to have tens of thousands of members in Indonesia. Spokesman Ismail Yusanto said the group “will not remain silent” and plans to challenge the

decree in the Constitutional Court.

He criticized the ban as an arbitrary and tyrannical decision. About 2,000 people from Islamic groups protested against the decree in Jakarta on Tuesday, denouncing the government as repressive and tyrannical.

Police are signaling a hard-line against members of the disbanded group if they continue its activities.

National police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said all Hizbut activities including protests would be prohibited.

“Police will not allow them to hold protests since their organization is already illegal and unrecognized,”

Wasisto said. “They will definitely be dispersed.” Jokowi’s top security minister announced in May that the government planned to ban Hizbut but facing the prospect of a lengthy legal battle, Jokowi opted to sidestep courts with the controversial decree.

Separately, Rizieq Shihab, the leader of the Islamic Defenders Front, which gained a national platform for its hard-line views during the Jakarta protests, has fled Indonesia during a police investigation into alleged violations of Indonesia’s anti-pornography law, which his supporters say are trumped up charges. (ap)

AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2011 file photo, members of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia hold posters during a rally in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Indonesian government on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 banned Hizbut Tahrir, an organization that wants to establish a global caliphate, under a new presidential decree criticized as draconian by rights groups. Writings on the posters read “No to dictatorship or democracy, Yes to caliphate” and “Overthrow dictatorship, uphold the caliphate.”

Islamic figure discusses economic gaps with Jokowi

REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A local resident sits in his house, which was damaged by a recent shelling, in the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine July 18, 2017.

French...

From page 1 “I have always taken care ... to maintain a military model that guarantees the coherence between the threats that weigh on France and Europe, the missions of our armies that don’t stop growing, and the necessary budget means to fulfill them,” he said his resignation statement. “I no longer consider myself in a position to ensure the durability of the military model that I believe in, to guarantee the protection of France and the French,” he said. (ap)

11

JAKARTA - A revered Islamic figure has met President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to discuss economic gaps in the country. Buya Syafii Maarif from Muhammadiyah, one of the biggest Islamic organizations in Indonesia, said after the meeting that “economic gap is the primary issue which must be overcome as soon as possible. The government has already worked fast, but it still needs to be made faster. Unless it is done, a social tragedy like in May 1998 may recur, and if it happens, we will be destroyed.”

The former chief of Muhammadiyah admitted that the president has revoked a lot of land use permits held by conglomerates. “Many of their land permits have been revoked. Thank God,” he stated. Maarif noted that small and medium businesses must be empowered to reduce gaps to avoid social unrest, adding that he has already discussed the matter with three big businessmen.

He declined to disclose the names of the businessmen, but said that “nothing is done to overcome the gap, which may make people angry.” Maarif hoped that big businessmen would reach out to implement

his idea, which stated that each district and city must have a businessman who has populist commitment, so that a just growth may be the reference.

“The president shared my idea. It matched with what he said. It is the leftover of the Soehartos (former president) era. Hence, there are two challenges with one of them being the gap. It is like dry grass which is susceptible to fire and. It may also trigger any unrest like the one triggered using religious issue,” he explained. The second challenge discussed with Jokowi was radicalism, which was done using religion as its banner, such as ISIS. “Indonesian Muslims think that because they speak Arabic, they are considered representing religion. This is wrong. We cannot let it happen. They have destroyed the Philippines and other places,” he revealed.

Maarif remarked that Arab countries are now having difficulties dealing with them, adding that it is difficult to overcome them. Asked if he also discussed cabinet reshuffle, Maarif revealed that he had not. “I did not ask about it. In essence, it was about commitment to reduce the gap,” he concluded. (ant)

10

Destination

Thursday, July 20, 2017

International

Water Blow

Olympic champion Weertman wins 10k gold at Budapest worlds

MANGUPURA - Water Blow in Nusa Dua lets you witness the awesome power of nature as large waves from the Indian Ocean constantly crash against the jagged limestone edges on the peninsula’s south-eastern cliff. You can easily reach this purpose-built lookout along paved footpaths on the southern half of the ‘twin islands’. Here you’ll find 240 degrees of dramatic seascape, with the irregular splashes and sprays simply adding to the fun of it. An arch reading ‘Water Blow’ overhead leads you to the site, and a stone slab cautions visitors with inscriptions that read, “Strong Currents”, “Sudden Drop Off”, “Dangerous Shorebreak”, “Slippery Rocks”, “High Surf” and “Sharp Coral” along the way. Indeed, the crashing waves can reach up to several metres high. The lookout is a circular cement stage bordered by guardrails. It is built with a large stone in the middle with benches where you can take a seat and wait for each wave.

Enjoy the sweeping views and approach the Water Blow site at your own risk – the large surges can be dangerous, and there are no lifeguards around. The so called ‘water blows’ result from the narrowing crag below the cliff face that channel a massive surge of water up to 30m high from its base following strong currents. While it is a pleasant view for taking photos, be sure to protect your camera gear from the unpredictable splashes and sprays. The chances of getting completely drenched are extremely high.

This southern peninsula offers leisure walks along the paths that line its circumference, and it serves as a favourite weekend spot for locals and guests staying at the nearby resorts, including the likes of Grand Hyatt Bali and Inaya Putri Bali, with its flowering gardens and green lawns. The Water Blow site serves as a great stopover to cool off or catch a breath in between walks or jogs.

The site allows free access for the public.

(IBP/net)

Need: Product Development Officer,Experienced Pharmacy Products,Capable English/ Mandarin,Apply to versaindustries4@gmail.com

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B.BP.001.07.17.0001403

Thursday, July 20, 2017

International

BUDAPEST - Olympic champion Ferry Weertman added a world championship 10km gold to his Rio 2016 open-water title at Hungary’s Lake Balaton on Tuesday.

American Jordan Wilimovsky, world gold medallist in Kazan in 2015 but only fifth in Rio, took silver and France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier the bronze.

Olympic bronze medallist Olivier had won 5km gold on Saturday at the venue, some 130km south of Budapest.

Dutchman Weertman touched out after one hour 51 minutes and 58.5 seconds in the water, making the most of his longer reach to beat Wilimovsky by a mere tenth of a second in a three-man dash for the finish.

The gold was a first for the Netherlands in the event since it first featured at a world championships in 2001.

Britain’s Jack Burnell, disqualified in Rio, finished fourth and 1.5 seconds behind Olivier after being second at the halfway stage. The top six swimmers all finished within four seconds of each other.

The women’s 5km event is on Wednesday with the main swimming programme in the Budapest pool starting on Sunday. (rtr) Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the race.

Matthews back in the green jersey game as Kittel dropped

ROMANS-SUR-ISERE - Michael Matthews improved his chances of winning the points classification on the Tour de France, as the Australian claimed the 16th stage on Tuesday after his Sunweb team worked hard to keep green jersey holder Marcel Kittel out of contention.

Sunweb rode hard in the first climb of the day as German Kittel was dropped, making sure he would not come back, and they collected their third win in four stages after Matthews won stage 14 and Frenchman Warren Barguil prevailed on

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stage 13. Matthews collected points in the intermediate sprint and at the finish to narrow the gap with Kittel to 29, setting up a duel with the Quick-Step Floors rider in the final days of the race.

“It had been the same guy every year for five years (Peter Sagan), now this is going to be exciting,” said Matthews, who outsprinted Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen and German John Degenkolb.

Degenkolb complained that Matthews did not hold his line in the sprint, but the Australian was adamant he raced fairly.

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Team Sunweb rider Michael Matthews of Australia, BMC Racing rider Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium and Dimension Data rider Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway sprint towards the line.

“I saw the sprint on TV afterwards. I sprinted in the same direction, I did not change my line. I left a space between me and the barrier,” Matthews said, adding that Degenkolb had grabbed him by the neck after the finish.

“He grabbed me by the neck. The officials saw that, I don’t know what they’re going to do about it. I don’t think it’s very sportsmanlike.”

It was a bad day for Quick-Step Floors as Ireland’s Dan Martin, who started the day in fifth place overall, lost 51 seconds after a late peloton split as crosswinds swept the roads in the Rhone valley.

Martin slipped to seventh, 2:03 behind race leader Chris Froome, who retained the yellow jersey after his Team Sky’s brutal acceleration 14km from the line caused the decisive split in the peloton.

With several other top sprinters out of contention after being trapped behind, Matthews was the strongest of what was left of the bunch. Overall, Froome leads Italian Fabio Aru by 18 seconds.

“Everybody knew that the last 20 kilometres were in the wind and that’s where we decided to up the pace to make a selection,” said Froome.

Frenchman Romain Bardet, who was at the wrong end of the split, had his AG2RLa Mondiale team mate Oliver Naesen to thank as the Belgian champion produced a massive effort to bring him back into the front group. (rtr)

U.S. Open to top $50 million in prize money

NEW YORK - This year’s U.S. Open will become the first tennis tournament to top $50 million in prize money following a nine percent increase in the total purse, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said on Tuesday.

Winners of the men’s and women’s singles titles will each earn $3.7 million, while runners-up will pocket $1.825 million from the $50.4 million total pot.

The men’s and women’s doubles champion teams will each earn $675,000, also the highest in U.S. Open history.

The qualifying tournament for the season’s final grand slam will offer more than $2.9 million in prize money, a 49.2 percent increase from 2016.

“Five years ago, we committed to the players that total player compensation for players would reach $50 million at the U.S. Open, and we are honoring that commitment,” USTA President Katrina Adams said in a statement.

“In addition to unprecedented prize money increases, players also will see a host of new amenities at this year’s tournament including upgrades to player dining, a more generous meal allowance, upgrades to all player workout facilities, and additional quiet room space.

“Our goal is to make every experience at the U.S. Open, whether for the players, our fans, or our partners, the best, world-class experience possible.”

The U.S. Open runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York. (rtr)

8

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Sp rt

Schick decision adds to Juve’s difficult transfer campaign TURIN — Juventus’ transfer campaign has taken another hit with the announcement that Czech Republic forward Patrik Schick will not be joining the club due to a reported heart problem.

The Champions League runner-up says it “confirms that, in agreement with Sampdoria, it has decided not to finalize the transfer.”

Schick began medical exams with Juventus in June and was checked again last week.

Juventus was prepared to pay Sampdoria a transfer fee of 30 million euros ($35 million) for the 21-year-old Schick, who scored 11 goals for Sampdoria in his first season in Italy.

Antonio Conte

IBP/REUTERS

Chelsea manager Conte signs new two-year contract

LONDON - Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has signed a new two-year contract with the Premier League champions, saying they must work even harder this season to remain the top club in the country.

The deal does not extend the Italian’s commitment to the club because he signed a three-year deal when he joined in 2016, but British media reported he has been given improved terms.

“I am very happy to have signed a new contract with Chelsea. We worked extremely hard in our first year to achieve something amazing, which I am very proud of. Now we must work even harder to stay at the top,” 47-year-old Italian Conte said.

Conte, who managed Italy at Euro 2016, led Chelsea to the league title at his first attempt last term and they reached the FA Cup final which they lost to London rivals Arsenal.

The new contract will come as a relief to Chelsea fans after Conte was reported to be frustrated by the club missing out on Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku,

who was signed by Manchester United last week for 75 million pounds ($97.82 million).

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: “Antonio achieved incredible success last season, adapting to English football very quickly and leading us to the Premier League title.

“This new contract reflects our belief that he can continue to deliver results both domestically and as we return to European competition in the Champions League.”

Chelsea have signed defender Antonio Rudiger from AS Roma and midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco but need a striker with Spain’s Diego Costa expected to leave the club having not travelled on their pre-season tour to China and Singapore.

They have been linked with Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but the Bundesliga club said on Tuesday that the 28-year-old Gabon forward would not be leaving.

Chelsea also announced that Conte’s compatriots Paolo Vanoli and Davide Mazzotta had joined the west London club as assistant head coach and assistant/ player analysis respectively. (rtr)

Juventus has also lost two key starters with defender Leonardo Bonucci heading to rival AC Milan and fullback Dani Alves leaving for Paris Saint-Germain.

However, Juventus also announced Tuesday that Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny successfully completed his medical tests with the club ahead of a proposed transfer from Arsenal for a reported fee of 12 million euros ($14 million), plus 3 million euros ($3.5 million) in bonuses.

Szczesny spent the last two seasons on loan with Roma. Juventus is also near to concluding a deal for AC Milan fullback Mattia De Sciglio. (ap)

Aubameyang told

by Dortmund he will not be sold German side Borussia Dortmund will not sell prolific striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the 28-year-old failed to make a decision within a deadline provided by the club, the team’s sporting director Michael Zorc has said.

British and German media reports on Sunday said that Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke had given Aubameyang, who

scored 31 league goals in 32 games last season, a deadline to decide on his future, which has now expired.

“We consider the transfer window closed. The timing (of it all) was decisive in the end,” Zorc told German magazine Kicker on Tuesday.

The Gabon international scored twice in Dortmund’s 3-1 win over Italy’s AC Milan in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday. (rtr)

REUTERS/Stringer

Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang attempts a shot past AC Milan’s Gabriel Paletta.

9

Altidore, Valeri among 13 players added to MLS All-Star team

Thirteen players including Toronto’s Jozy Altidore and Portland’s Diego Valeri have been added to Major League Soccer’s All-Star team for the Aug. 2 game against Real Madrid in Chicago.

Two commissioner’s picks and 11 players named by All-Star

coach Veljko Paunovic were added Tuesday to the fan selections to represent the league at the game at Soldier Field.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber selected Kellyn Acosta of FC Dallas and Dom Dwyer of Sporting Kansas City.

Among the other players selected by Paunovic were Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei, Fire midfielder Dax McCarty and Galaxy defender Jelle Van Damme.

The overall roster includes 16 repeat All-Stars and eight newcomers.

Thirteen teams are represented. (ap)

Cassano cancels retirement plans and decides to keep playing

VERONA — Former Italy forward Antonio Cassano has decided to continue playing football after all — hours after telling friends and family he was going to retire.

After being dropped by Sampdoria and failing to play a single match last season, the 35-year-old Cassano signed with promoted Hellas Verona earlier this month before having second thoughts.

The former Roma and Real Madrid player says at a news conference, “I was very tired and I wanted to retire in a moment of weakness but then I changed my mind. If I had made that gut choice I would have made a ridiculous mistake.”

Cassano adds that the arrival of his family at Verona’s training camp convinced him to change his plans.

While considered one of the most naturally talented players in Italy, Cassano’s career has been derailed by a series of clashes with managers. He was also widely ridiculed and fined

by UEFA for his comments about gay players at the 2012 European Championship.

Cassano said at the time he hoped there were no homosexual players on the Italian national team, and used a derogatory word to describe gay players. (ap)

Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via AP

Toronto FC’s Jozy Altidore (17) celebrates with Victor Vazquez (7) after Altidore scored against Orlando City during an MLS soccer match Wednesday, July 5, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. The additional players with team affiliation: Goalkeeper: Frei (Seattle Sounders FC).

Defenders: Hernán Grana (FC Dallas), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Johan Kappelhof (Chicago Fire), Michael Parkhurst (Atlanta United), Van Damme (LA Galaxy).

Midfielders: Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy), McCarty (Chicago Fire), Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact), Valeri (Portland Timbers).

Forwards: Altidore (Toronto FC).

AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File

FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016 file photo, Sampdoria’s Antonio Cassano, left, is chased by Roma’s Miralem Pjanic during a Serie A soccer match Rome’s Olympic stadium.

Temperamental former Italy forward Antonio Cassano has decided to continue playing football _ hours after telling friends and family he was going to retire.

8

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Sp rt

Schick decision adds to Juve’s difficult transfer campaign TURIN — Juventus’ transfer campaign has taken another hit with the announcement that Czech Republic forward Patrik Schick will not be joining the club due to a reported heart problem.

The Champions League runner-up says it “confirms that, in agreement with Sampdoria, it has decided not to finalize the transfer.”

Schick began medical exams with Juventus in June and was checked again last week.

Juventus was prepared to pay Sampdoria a transfer fee of 30 million euros ($35 million) for the 21-year-old Schick, who scored 11 goals for Sampdoria in his first season in Italy.

Antonio Conte

IBP/REUTERS

Chelsea manager Conte signs new two-year contract

LONDON - Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has signed a new two-year contract with the Premier League champions, saying they must work even harder this season to remain the top club in the country.

The deal does not extend the Italian’s commitment to the club because he signed a three-year deal when he joined in 2016, but British media reported he has been given improved terms.

“I am very happy to have signed a new contract with Chelsea. We worked extremely hard in our first year to achieve something amazing, which I am very proud of. Now we must work even harder to stay at the top,” 47-year-old Italian Conte said.

Conte, who managed Italy at Euro 2016, led Chelsea to the league title at his first attempt last term and they reached the FA Cup final which they lost to London rivals Arsenal.

The new contract will come as a relief to Chelsea fans after Conte was reported to be frustrated by the club missing out on Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku,

who was signed by Manchester United last week for 75 million pounds ($97.82 million).

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: “Antonio achieved incredible success last season, adapting to English football very quickly and leading us to the Premier League title.

“This new contract reflects our belief that he can continue to deliver results both domestically and as we return to European competition in the Champions League.”

Chelsea have signed defender Antonio Rudiger from AS Roma and midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco but need a striker with Spain’s Diego Costa expected to leave the club having not travelled on their pre-season tour to China and Singapore.

They have been linked with Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but the Bundesliga club said on Tuesday that the 28-year-old Gabon forward would not be leaving.

Chelsea also announced that Conte’s compatriots Paolo Vanoli and Davide Mazzotta had joined the west London club as assistant head coach and assistant/ player analysis respectively. (rtr)

Juventus has also lost two key starters with defender Leonardo Bonucci heading to rival AC Milan and fullback Dani Alves leaving for Paris Saint-Germain.

However, Juventus also announced Tuesday that Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny successfully completed his medical tests with the club ahead of a proposed transfer from Arsenal for a reported fee of 12 million euros ($14 million), plus 3 million euros ($3.5 million) in bonuses.

Szczesny spent the last two seasons on loan with Roma. Juventus is also near to concluding a deal for AC Milan fullback Mattia De Sciglio. (ap)

Aubameyang told

by Dortmund he will not be sold German side Borussia Dortmund will not sell prolific striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the 28-year-old failed to make a decision within a deadline provided by the club, the team’s sporting director Michael Zorc has said.

British and German media reports on Sunday said that Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke had given Aubameyang, who

scored 31 league goals in 32 games last season, a deadline to decide on his future, which has now expired.

“We consider the transfer window closed. The timing (of it all) was decisive in the end,” Zorc told German magazine Kicker on Tuesday.

The Gabon international scored twice in Dortmund’s 3-1 win over Italy’s AC Milan in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday. (rtr)

REUTERS/Stringer

Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang attempts a shot past AC Milan’s Gabriel Paletta.

9

Altidore, Valeri among 13 players added to MLS All-Star team

Thirteen players including Toronto’s Jozy Altidore and Portland’s Diego Valeri have been added to Major League Soccer’s All-Star team for the Aug. 2 game against Real Madrid in Chicago.

Two commissioner’s picks and 11 players named by All-Star

coach Veljko Paunovic were added Tuesday to the fan selections to represent the league at the game at Soldier Field.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber selected Kellyn Acosta of FC Dallas and Dom Dwyer of Sporting Kansas City.

Among the other players selected by Paunovic were Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei, Fire midfielder Dax McCarty and Galaxy defender Jelle Van Damme.

The overall roster includes 16 repeat All-Stars and eight newcomers.

Thirteen teams are represented. (ap)

Cassano cancels retirement plans and decides to keep playing

VERONA — Former Italy forward Antonio Cassano has decided to continue playing football after all — hours after telling friends and family he was going to retire.

After being dropped by Sampdoria and failing to play a single match last season, the 35-year-old Cassano signed with promoted Hellas Verona earlier this month before having second thoughts.

The former Roma and Real Madrid player says at a news conference, “I was very tired and I wanted to retire in a moment of weakness but then I changed my mind. If I had made that gut choice I would have made a ridiculous mistake.”

Cassano adds that the arrival of his family at Verona’s training camp convinced him to change his plans.

While considered one of the most naturally talented players in Italy, Cassano’s career has been derailed by a series of clashes with managers. He was also widely ridiculed and fined

by UEFA for his comments about gay players at the 2012 European Championship.

Cassano said at the time he hoped there were no homosexual players on the Italian national team, and used a derogatory word to describe gay players. (ap)

Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via AP

Toronto FC’s Jozy Altidore (17) celebrates with Victor Vazquez (7) after Altidore scored against Orlando City during an MLS soccer match Wednesday, July 5, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. The additional players with team affiliation: Goalkeeper: Frei (Seattle Sounders FC).

Defenders: Hernán Grana (FC Dallas), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Johan Kappelhof (Chicago Fire), Michael Parkhurst (Atlanta United), Van Damme (LA Galaxy).

Midfielders: Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy), McCarty (Chicago Fire), Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact), Valeri (Portland Timbers).

Forwards: Altidore (Toronto FC).

AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File

FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016 file photo, Sampdoria’s Antonio Cassano, left, is chased by Roma’s Miralem Pjanic during a Serie A soccer match Rome’s Olympic stadium.

Temperamental former Italy forward Antonio Cassano has decided to continue playing football _ hours after telling friends and family he was going to retire.

10

Destination

Thursday, July 20, 2017

International

Water Blow

Olympic champion Weertman wins 10k gold at Budapest worlds

MANGUPURA - Water Blow in Nusa Dua lets you witness the awesome power of nature as large waves from the Indian Ocean constantly crash against the jagged limestone edges on the peninsula’s south-eastern cliff. You can easily reach this purpose-built lookout along paved footpaths on the southern half of the ‘twin islands’. Here you’ll find 240 degrees of dramatic seascape, with the irregular splashes and sprays simply adding to the fun of it. An arch reading ‘Water Blow’ overhead leads you to the site, and a stone slab cautions visitors with inscriptions that read, “Strong Currents”, “Sudden Drop Off”, “Dangerous Shorebreak”, “Slippery Rocks”, “High Surf” and “Sharp Coral” along the way. Indeed, the crashing waves can reach up to several metres high. The lookout is a circular cement stage bordered by guardrails. It is built with a large stone in the middle with benches where you can take a seat and wait for each wave.

Enjoy the sweeping views and approach the Water Blow site at your own risk – the large surges can be dangerous, and there are no lifeguards around. The so called ‘water blows’ result from the narrowing crag below the cliff face that channel a massive surge of water up to 30m high from its base following strong currents. While it is a pleasant view for taking photos, be sure to protect your camera gear from the unpredictable splashes and sprays. The chances of getting completely drenched are extremely high.

This southern peninsula offers leisure walks along the paths that line its circumference, and it serves as a favourite weekend spot for locals and guests staying at the nearby resorts, including the likes of Grand Hyatt Bali and Inaya Putri Bali, with its flowering gardens and green lawns. The Water Blow site serves as a great stopover to cool off or catch a breath in between walks or jogs.

The site allows free access for the public.

(IBP/net)

Need: Product Development Officer,Experienced Pharmacy Products,Capable English/ Mandarin,Apply to versaindustries4@gmail.com

B.BP.031.07.17.0001335

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Ripcurl School of Surf is Looking for an Experienced reservation and front office staff with the following qualification 1)Indonesian woman 2)Love Water Sport 3)English Skill is an Must Please Send your detail CV to:hrd@ripcurlschoolofsu rf.com or Call:0361-735858

B.BP.001.07.17.0001403

Thursday, July 20, 2017

International

BUDAPEST - Olympic champion Ferry Weertman added a world championship 10km gold to his Rio 2016 open-water title at Hungary’s Lake Balaton on Tuesday.

American Jordan Wilimovsky, world gold medallist in Kazan in 2015 but only fifth in Rio, took silver and France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier the bronze.

Olympic bronze medallist Olivier had won 5km gold on Saturday at the venue, some 130km south of Budapest.

Dutchman Weertman touched out after one hour 51 minutes and 58.5 seconds in the water, making the most of his longer reach to beat Wilimovsky by a mere tenth of a second in a three-man dash for the finish.

The gold was a first for the Netherlands in the event since it first featured at a world championships in 2001.

Britain’s Jack Burnell, disqualified in Rio, finished fourth and 1.5 seconds behind Olivier after being second at the halfway stage. The top six swimmers all finished within four seconds of each other.

The women’s 5km event is on Wednesday with the main swimming programme in the Budapest pool starting on Sunday. (rtr) Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the race.

Matthews back in the green jersey game as Kittel dropped

ROMANS-SUR-ISERE - Michael Matthews improved his chances of winning the points classification on the Tour de France, as the Australian claimed the 16th stage on Tuesday after his Sunweb team worked hard to keep green jersey holder Marcel Kittel out of contention.

Sunweb rode hard in the first climb of the day as German Kittel was dropped, making sure he would not come back, and they collected their third win in four stages after Matthews won stage 14 and Frenchman Warren Barguil prevailed on

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stage 13. Matthews collected points in the intermediate sprint and at the finish to narrow the gap with Kittel to 29, setting up a duel with the Quick-Step Floors rider in the final days of the race.

“It had been the same guy every year for five years (Peter Sagan), now this is going to be exciting,” said Matthews, who outsprinted Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen and German John Degenkolb.

Degenkolb complained that Matthews did not hold his line in the sprint, but the Australian was adamant he raced fairly.

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It is for Job Vacancy, Property, Selling or Buying Please contact Gugiek : 08123840500 / Eka : 081338519538 REUTERS/Christian Hartmann TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Team Sunweb rider Michael Matthews of Australia, BMC Racing rider Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium and Dimension Data rider Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway sprint towards the line.

“I saw the sprint on TV afterwards. I sprinted in the same direction, I did not change my line. I left a space between me and the barrier,” Matthews said, adding that Degenkolb had grabbed him by the neck after the finish.

“He grabbed me by the neck. The officials saw that, I don’t know what they’re going to do about it. I don’t think it’s very sportsmanlike.”

It was a bad day for Quick-Step Floors as Ireland’s Dan Martin, who started the day in fifth place overall, lost 51 seconds after a late peloton split as crosswinds swept the roads in the Rhone valley.

Martin slipped to seventh, 2:03 behind race leader Chris Froome, who retained the yellow jersey after his Team Sky’s brutal acceleration 14km from the line caused the decisive split in the peloton.

With several other top sprinters out of contention after being trapped behind, Matthews was the strongest of what was left of the bunch. Overall, Froome leads Italian Fabio Aru by 18 seconds.

“Everybody knew that the last 20 kilometres were in the wind and that’s where we decided to up the pace to make a selection,” said Froome.

Frenchman Romain Bardet, who was at the wrong end of the split, had his AG2RLa Mondiale team mate Oliver Naesen to thank as the Belgian champion produced a massive effort to bring him back into the front group. (rtr)

U.S. Open to top $50 million in prize money

NEW YORK - This year’s U.S. Open will become the first tennis tournament to top $50 million in prize money following a nine percent increase in the total purse, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said on Tuesday.

Winners of the men’s and women’s singles titles will each earn $3.7 million, while runners-up will pocket $1.825 million from the $50.4 million total pot.

The men’s and women’s doubles champion teams will each earn $675,000, also the highest in U.S. Open history.

The qualifying tournament for the season’s final grand slam will offer more than $2.9 million in prize money, a 49.2 percent increase from 2016.

“Five years ago, we committed to the players that total player compensation for players would reach $50 million at the U.S. Open, and we are honoring that commitment,” USTA President Katrina Adams said in a statement.

“In addition to unprecedented prize money increases, players also will see a host of new amenities at this year’s tournament including upgrades to player dining, a more generous meal allowance, upgrades to all player workout facilities, and additional quiet room space.

“Our goal is to make every experience at the U.S. Open, whether for the players, our fans, or our partners, the best, world-class experience possible.”

The U.S. Open runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York. (rtr)

6

Thursday, July 20, 2017

W

RLD

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) speaks with reporters about the apparent collapse of Republicans’ most recent effort to repeal and replace the Obamacare healthcare legislation at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. July 18, 2017.

Republican push to end Obamacare collapses in U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON - Republican efforts to overhaul or repeal Obamacare collapsed in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, dealing a sharp setback to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s seven-year quest to kill former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

The disarray in the Republican-controlled Senate rattled financial markets as it cast doubt on the chances of getting Trump’s other domestic policy priorities, such as tax reform, through a divided Congress.

Trump said he was disappointed by the failure and suggested he might let the insurance markets created under Obamacare go under and then, potentially, work with Democrats on a rescue.

“We’re probably in that position where we’ll just let Obamacare fail,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We will let Obamacare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us.”

U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced a vote on a straight repeal of Obamacare, which would take effect in two years, after it became clear on Monday night that he did not have enough support to pass an overhaul of the healthcare law. He said on Tuesday that the vote would take place “early next week.”

But prospects for the repeal vote appeared doomed with at least three Republican senators voicing opposition. Moderate Republican Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska quickly announced they would not back repeal. With Democrats united in opposition, Republicans can only afford to lose two votes to pass the measure in the Senate, where they have a slim 52-48 majority.

“I do not think that it’s going to be constructive to repeal a law that at this point is so interwoven within our healthcare system and then hope that over the next

two years we will come up with some kind of replacement,” Collins told reporters.

The failed effort to replace Obamacare raised new concerns for U.S. health insurers over whether the government would continue to fund billions of dollars in medical benefit subsidies.

Obamacare has boosted the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. About 20 million Americans gained insurance coverage through the law.

“This has been a very, very challenging experience for all of us,” McConnell said, adding that the chamber needed to move on to issues like tax reform and a spending package to bolster the country’s infrastructure.

Trump invited all Republican senators to discuss healthcare over lunch at the White House on Wednesday, a White House official said. “There is movement on healthcare,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity and without providing further details.

As the healthcare bill collapsed in the Senate, leaders in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives unveiled a budget plan putting a proposed tax code overhaul on the same partisan procedural path that led to the anti-Obamacare initiative’s chaotic downfall.

Republicans had hoped to finish with healthcare before an upcoming August recess so they could tackle a wide-ranging rewrite of the U.S. tax code in September. Separate talks on taxes appear unlikely to reach Trump’s pledge to reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent.

But their failure exposed the sharp divide within Republicans’ own ranks, with moderates concerned the healthcare bill’s Medicaid cuts would take insurance away from millions of low-income Americans while conservatives backed the cuts and wanted even more dramatic changes to Obamacare. (rtr)

International

Pro-Russian rebel leader in east Ukraine unveils plan for new state MOSCOW - The pro-Russian rebel leader of a breakaway region in eastern Ukraine proposed on Tuesday replacing Ukraine with a new federal state, in comments that could further undermine a 2015 peace deal that is already faltering.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko rejected the idea, describing Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), as part of “a puppet show”, with Russia pulling his strings in order to relay a message.

France and Germany, which are involved in diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine crisis, also condemned the proposal.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian agencies that Zakharchenko’s statement was Zakharchenko’s own initiative and that the Kremlin had learned about it from media reports.

Ukrainian officials contend that Russia wants to show the world, and the United States especially, that it can keep the crisis in a suspended state and deepen it if need be. A new U.S. envoy for the Ukraine crisis was appointed this month and Moscow and Washington are likely to start regularly

engaging on the issue.

Zakharchenko, who would scarcely have expected anything other than outright rejection from Kiev, said in a declaration that he and his allies were proposing a new state called Malorossiya (Little Russia) be set up with its capital in rebel-held Donetsk.

Malorossiya was the term used to describe swaths of modern-day Ukraine when they were part of the Russian Empire in tsarist times and is one many Ukrainians today regard as offensive.

Ukraine, a country of about 42.5 million people, declared independence from Moscow in 1991.

“We are proposing to residents of Ukraine a peaceful way out of a difficult situation without war. It’s our last proposal,” Zakharchenko said in a statement. The new state would be federal, with regions enjoying a large degree of autonomy.

He said the move was backed by delegates from various Ukrainian regions, but a statement from the neighbouring rebel territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic said it had been unaware of the initiative and did not support it. (rtr)

International

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Indonesia bans Hizbut group that seeks global caliphate

JAKARTA — The Indonesian government on Wednesday banned Hizbut Tahrir, an Islamic organization that wants to establish a global caliphate, under a new presidential decree criticized as draconian by rights groups. Hizbut’s legal status was revoked to protect national unity, said Freddy Haris, a director-general at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

The decree signed last week by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo gives the government almost unfet-

tered power to ban organizations deemed against the constitution and the official state ideology known as

Pancasila, which enshrines democracy and social justice. Rights groups say the decree undermines the right to freedom of association and governments could easily abuse its power.

But mainstream Muslim groups have supported it.

Haris said Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia listed Pancasila as an ideology of the organization in its articles of association “but in fact on the ground their activities were against Pancasila and the soul of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.” The measures follow months of sectarian tensions in the world’s most populous Muslim nation that shook the government and undermined Indonesia’s reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

Hizbut Tahrir, along with groups such as the violent Islamic Defenders Front, was behind a series of massive protests against the Jakarta governor, a minority Christian and Jokowi ally who was accused of blaspheming Islam. He subsequently lost a bid for re-election to a Muslim candidate and was imprisoned for two years for blasphemy despite prosecutors downgrading the charge to a lesser offense.

Hizbut, already banned or circumscribed in some countries, is estimated to have tens of thousands of members in Indonesia. Spokesman Ismail Yusanto said the group “will not remain silent” and plans to challenge the

decree in the Constitutional Court.

He criticized the ban as an arbitrary and tyrannical decision. About 2,000 people from Islamic groups protested against the decree in Jakarta on Tuesday, denouncing the government as repressive and tyrannical.

Police are signaling a hard-line against members of the disbanded group if they continue its activities.

National police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said all Hizbut activities including protests would be prohibited.

“Police will not allow them to hold protests since their organization is already illegal and unrecognized,”

Wasisto said. “They will definitely be dispersed.” Jokowi’s top security minister announced in May that the government planned to ban Hizbut but facing the prospect of a lengthy legal battle, Jokowi opted to sidestep courts with the controversial decree.

Separately, Rizieq Shihab, the leader of the Islamic Defenders Front, which gained a national platform for its hard-line views during the Jakarta protests, has fled Indonesia during a police investigation into alleged violations of Indonesia’s anti-pornography law, which his supporters say are trumped up charges. (ap)

AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2011 file photo, members of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia hold posters during a rally in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Indonesian government on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 banned Hizbut Tahrir, an organization that wants to establish a global caliphate, under a new presidential decree criticized as draconian by rights groups. Writings on the posters read “No to dictatorship or democracy, Yes to caliphate” and “Overthrow dictatorship, uphold the caliphate.”

Islamic figure discusses economic gaps with Jokowi

REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A local resident sits in his house, which was damaged by a recent shelling, in the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine July 18, 2017.

French...

From page 1 “I have always taken care ... to maintain a military model that guarantees the coherence between the threats that weigh on France and Europe, the missions of our armies that don’t stop growing, and the necessary budget means to fulfill them,” he said his resignation statement. “I no longer consider myself in a position to ensure the durability of the military model that I believe in, to guarantee the protection of France and the French,” he said. (ap)

11

JAKARTA - A revered Islamic figure has met President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to discuss economic gaps in the country. Buya Syafii Maarif from Muhammadiyah, one of the biggest Islamic organizations in Indonesia, said after the meeting that “economic gap is the primary issue which must be overcome as soon as possible. The government has already worked fast, but it still needs to be made faster. Unless it is done, a social tragedy like in May 1998 may recur, and if it happens, we will be destroyed.”

The former chief of Muhammadiyah admitted that the president has revoked a lot of land use permits held by conglomerates. “Many of their land permits have been revoked. Thank God,” he stated. Maarif noted that small and medium businesses must be empowered to reduce gaps to avoid social unrest, adding that he has already discussed the matter with three big businessmen.

He declined to disclose the names of the businessmen, but said that “nothing is done to overcome the gap, which may make people angry.” Maarif hoped that big businessmen would reach out to implement

his idea, which stated that each district and city must have a businessman who has populist commitment, so that a just growth may be the reference.

“The president shared my idea. It matched with what he said. It is the leftover of the Soehartos (former president) era. Hence, there are two challenges with one of them being the gap. It is like dry grass which is susceptible to fire and. It may also trigger any unrest like the one triggered using religious issue,” he explained. The second challenge discussed with Jokowi was radicalism, which was done using religion as its banner, such as ISIS. “Indonesian Muslims think that because they speak Arabic, they are considered representing religion. This is wrong. We cannot let it happen. They have destroyed the Philippines and other places,” he revealed.

Maarif remarked that Arab countries are now having difficulties dealing with them, adding that it is difficult to overcome them. Asked if he also discussed cabinet reshuffle, Maarif revealed that he had not. “I did not ask about it. In essence, it was about commitment to reduce the gap,” he concluded. (ant)

12

International

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Bali News

International

BUSINESS

Have you ever tasted rambutan salad? Having tried, you will definitely get addicted because this kind of salad is relatively new. However, it has been already familiar among young people. Other than tasting chewy and sweet, rambutan salad is also very easy to make. Youngsters that like to hang out are fond of making it. Moreover, on Hindu feast, young people must have tried this salad.

No one can make sure, when this rambutan salad first appeared and who made it. This rambutan salad became famous when it appears in social media. Youngsters take advantage of technology to tease their friends. They prepare very neatly and attractively, so that many people are tempted to taste it. Well, it is just like a magnet, people have vied to make it though never tasted it before.

Rambutan salad does have a different taste. Other than being chewy, the flesh also tastes sweet.

Moreover, the water of its salad

BOGOTA - Colombia, which narrowly avoided getting its credit rating cut last year, is again at risk of a downgrade as it struggles to meet fiscal targets and investors tire of overly optimistic forecasts by the government of President Juan Manuel Santos. Most economists have already concluded that lower economic growth and weak oil prices will make it nearly impossible to meet the deficit target set just last month. Higher debt issuance, costs associated with a peace deal with Marxist FARC rebels and next year’s presidential election may exacerbate the situation. plan based on a fiscal deficit of 3.6 percent of gross domestic product this year and 3.1 percent for 2018. He put the price of oil at $51 a barrel in 2017 and $60 in 2018. Brent crude was at $48.95 on Tuesday, up 1.1 percent. Cardenas targeted growth at 2.3 percent this year and 3.5 percent next, well above the market’s forecast of 1.8 percent this year and 2.5 percent for 2018.

Cardenas also called for a 7.8 percent increase in domestic public debt borrowing for 2017, implying a big uptick, deepening market discomfort. “People didn’t look favorably at the government numbers and some investors have given orders to take profits and go to other markets with better prospects like Mexico,” said a fixed income investment banker who declined to be identified.

Foreign investors reduced their Colombian bond holdings by 1.23 trillion pesos ($406 million) in June, the first decrease since October and the biggest ever monthly outflow by this type of investor, according the finance ministry. Foreign investors own $20.7 billion in Colombian domestic public debt, or one-quarter of the total.

The yield on benchmark Colombian Treasury bonds maturing in July 2024 rose to 6.27

REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/Illustration /File Photo

Bank notes of different currencies, including Euro, U.S. Dollar, Turkish Lira or Brazilian Reais, are photographed in Frankfurt, Germany, in this illustration picture taken May 7, 2017. percent on Tuesday from 5.87 percent the day also have implications for meeting mediumbefore the financing plan was made public term fiscal goals. The government’s fiscal on June 14. Fitch is worried about the bond wiggle room becomes even tighter, taking issuance, warning that Colombia’s gross debt into account additional costs generated by the burden is close to 50 percent of GDP, nearly implementation of a peace accord with the 10 percentage points higher than the average Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. for countries with a similar credit rating.

That will cost about $3 billion annually “If they don’t do the necessary adjustment, over the next 15 years, Cardenas estimated then the debt’s going to continue to rise and in a recent interview. Add the extra social that could risk the rating,” Richard Francis, spending that typically happens during elecdirector of sovereign ratings for Fitch, told tion years, and the outlook becomes less Reuters. Moody’s said weaker growth will rosy.(rtr)

House to vote on Trump’s $1.6B border wall request next week

AP Photo/Christian Torres, File

FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2017, file photo, an agent of the border patrol, observes near the Mexico-US border fence, on the Mexican side, separating the towns of Anapra, Mexico and Sunland Park, N.M.

5

Mouth-watering Rambutan Salad

Colombia’s fiscal outlook puts investment, credit rating at risk “We believe there is a clear disconnect between reality and the current debt path depicted by the government,” said Mario Castro, Latin America strategist for Nomura in New York. He suggested the government was using overly optimistic economic assumptions and aiming to slash public investment in an unrealistic way, given infrastructure needs.

In a bid to calm investor concerns, Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas will trim 5 trillion pesos ($1.65 billion) from next year’s budget.

He is due to meet bondholders in New York on Tuesday to discuss the nation’s finances. The government avoided a downgrade by credit rating agencies last year after struggling to fill a financing gap as income slumped along with the price of oil, a key industry. Tax reform helped ward off a cut from BBB investment grade by agencies, even though many investors thought it did not go far enough and that another may be needed.

“It’s very likely that before the end of this year we will get a ratings cut,” said Juan David Ballen, chief economist at brokerage Casa de Bolsa. “The big question is whether they will lower us to investment grade still, or to speculative grade.”

In June Cardenas instituted a financing

Thursday, July 20, 2017

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are moving next week to fund President Donald Trump’s $1.6 billion request to begin construction of his oft-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Aides said Tuesday evening that GOP leaders have decided to attach the money — to build 74 miles of fencing and levee wall in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and near San Diego — to a spending bill for the Defense Department and a handful of other agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The wall money is strongly opposed by Democrats and some Republicans. But Trump is insistent on it and the GOP plan would give

Trump a much-needed victory on Capitol Hill after the failure of the Trump-backed effort to repeal and replace the Obama health law.

Adding the wall money to the defense spending measure, which includes huge increases for the Pentagon, would appear to ensure its passage through the House, despite opposition among some border state Republicans, and could set up a clash with Senate Democrats.

Trump has promised that Mexico would pay for the wall but hasn’t come up with a plan to force it to actually do so. Taxpayers will instead foot the bill.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced

Tuesday that GOP leaders had abandoned a plan to bundle all 12 of the annual spending bills for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 into a single omnibus package. That appeared to be too much for rank-and-file Republicans to digest, so McCarthy instead announced that funding for the Pentagon, the VA and the Energy Department would be tied together in a smaller, national security-focused measure.

A McCarthy aide and a spokeswoman for Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., confirmed the plan to include the wall money in next week’s bill.

But there probably won’t be an up-ordown vote on the funding.(ap)

Tipat Bantal War

IBP/kmb

Symbol of Male and Female

Tradition of tipat and bantal war organized at Kapal customary village is a unique tradition because the participating people will perform activities of mutual throwing by using tipat and bantal posing one of the favorite foods for the community of Bali.

It is an expression of gratitude to God for the blessing extended in the form of abundance of fertility in the environment. However, since it is a tradition and ritual, of course, this kind of tipat-bantal war will begin with a procession of presenting oblations and so forth before implemented.

The temple priest Jero Nyoman Lidriani said that preparation ceremony will be preceded by banten pejati, byakaonan and pangulapan.

After being presented, it will be followed by Hindu people or Kapal. After completing the presentation of offerings, it is resumed with joint prayers and matimpugan. perang tipat bantal It is commenced with jejatonan for 3 times in front of the bale agung temple or middle courtyard of the temple. Executor of the jejatonan itself is not arbitrary namely temple priest and village officials. Sometimes, it is followed by government officials such as the regent usually presented every 2 years. After that, it is carried

out in outermost courtyard by many people in accordance with norms.

“Formerly, it was only carried out in front of the bale agung pavilion. Since the current pilgrims are consisting of more people the pavilion is worried to get damaged.

Thus, the activities are continued in the outermost temple courtyard and only the jejatonan is still held in the bale agung,” he said.

Furthermore, he said that before starting matimpugan, all the pilgrims put soda offerings pursuant to their affordability and must contain tipat sirikan (rice bag) and six pieces of bantal fresh cake. The rice bag is placed in the temple while the bantal can be brought back home.

Similar opinion was conveyed

by I Ketut Sudarsana where the rice bag is incised transverse in the middle as a symbol of female genital or Pradhana while the bantal snack itself is a symbol of male genital or Purusa.

Encounter of both elements will

produce or bring up the seeds of life. In this case, it symbolizes the emergence and fertility for the seeds of food sources of society.

Besides, both entities symbolize the sea and mountains.

In the procession held at the outermost courtyard of the local temple, all the pilgrims that will throw rice bag are positioned in the south because it is a symbol of male or sea while in the north is the area of ??the pitch throwing group as the symbol of Purusa or mountains believed to be in the north. Then, even though there is impression of throwing each other to each participant, it will be attempted that tipat and bantal will hit each other in the air because it is the most important point of the tradition.

“After finishes, it is ended with a joint prayer while for the remnants scattered will be collected and then distributed to residents and made into fertilizer for their respective paddy field. It is believed to increase fertility,” he added. (kmb)

tastes very sweet. Certainly, it is naturally sweet. Lime sliced into circular pieces makes this salad distinctive, apart from looking beautiful. If wishing to get spicy flavor, you just need to add chili to taste.

The ingredients are rambutan and lime, while the seasonings include (white) sugar, salt and chili.

Indeed it tastes delicious, but do not eat this salad too much, because it can result in fever and cough. In this case, people are encouraged to control themselves so that do not be complacent in the enjoyment.

How to prepare it? First of all, exfoliate the skin of rambutan and then put into the basin. After that, add some salt, chili and white sugar and stir until blended (can be finely grounded). Add a lemon having been squeezed, so that it will be watery. Flesh of the rambutan and spices are then mixed together and stir to get well blended. Furthermore, thinly slice the lime ??and put on the flesh of rambutan. Now, it is ready to be served! (kmb)

Geger Temple, Spring Emerges When Seawater Recedes Geger Temple belongs is one of the dang kahyangan temples and is located at Peminge village, South Kuta.

Jro Mangku Made Sania, 62, was seen waiting for the pickup service after presenting the offerings of pilgrims at Geger Temple on Saturday (Apr. 29). To reach this temple, visitors must pass through dry fields and will occasionally see monkeys on the side of the road that leads to the temple.

It is said that Geger Temple was one of the resting places of Dang Hyang Dwijendra, a great Hindu sage.

The temple was renovated in 1985 and again 1991. Now, Geger Temple stands firmly on the reef that juts out onto Geger Beach, so the beautiful beach can be seen from the top of the temple. “Before Danghyang Dwijendra (Danghyang Nirartha) went to Uluwatu, he had time to rest here”, said Mangku Sania.

Geger Temple consists of a beji (spring), a shrine for Ida Danghyang Dwijendra, Ida Dalem Pamutih and Ida Bathara Simpang Dalem Nusa,

who use a tiger and a white monkey (maruti) as their vehicles. A number of public figures and officials have been to the temple to perform purification rites (malukat) and to ask for be blessed with offspring.

Geger Temple is supported by two hamlets in Peminge village, South Kuta. However, many people from beyind these hamlets also come to pray a Geger Temple, including people from Java.

Not far from Geger Temple, down the stairs and over some rocks, visitors arrive at the temple spring or beji ,that is located on Geger Beach behind a huge rock. The temple has several shrines, including a phallus or lingam where pilgrims do their purification rites. “During the full moon, new moon or on Kajeng Kliwon, there are eopel doing purification rites 24 hours a day” explained said Nyoman Romi, a merchant who sells his wares near the temple. The spring around the beji is only accessible when the sea recedes in the afternoon. (kmb)

4

Thursday, July 20, 2017

HEAD Talk

Improve quality of world class hotel human resources

DENPASAR — Indonesian tourism now reaches a healthy growth point and the existence is recognized by the world. Aside from formation of new destinations and new tourism businesses, it also has something to do with the increased competitiveness of quality products and human resources. On the other hand, our neighboring countries also boost their tourism development in such a way that triggers a very tight competition.

This becomes a tickling challenge for the fighting power as a citizen. By promoting tourism, Indonesia will be able to become a great and respected nation in IBP/file the world. Tourism is a toll Nyoman Astama road in the efforts to alleviate socio-geographic isolation and poverty alleviation. At the same time, tourism can serve as an agent of change and boost economic movement with its extraordinary multiplier effect.

“Quality of human resources becomes a critical point in building a nation. That is why, as an industry player and tourism educator, we come to provide international quality education, training and certification, delivered by local citizen who master the world’s recognized academic as well as vocational skills and certifications. So, the development of Indonesian tourism can run on the right track to the right place as well,” said I Gede Wiwin Suyasa, the principal commissioner of the Global Hospitality Expert, on Monday (Jul. 17), when met at the HEAD Talk and the launch of the Hospitality Education And Development consisting of industry credentials, qualification certificate, academic plus and essential workshop at H Sovereign Hotel.

On the same occasion, it was also launched three tourism books compiled and written by native writers to Bali who are very concerned with hospitality industry. Nyoman Astama, Chairman of the IHGMA Bali launched a motivational book about success entitled ‘Success; YOU!”; Dede Ari Gunawan, President Director of Bali Citra International, also launched his motivational book about quality selfimprovement for a success entitled ‘The Courage of Living”; and the last book was launched by K. Swabawa, Director of Swaha Hospitality Management, entitled ‘Hotel General Manager Handbook’ carrying about knowledge and strategy of a GM in managing a hotel.

“Global Hospitality Expert (GHE), a division of Professional Hospitality Education and Development of the International Bali Institute of Tourism (STPBI), has been the Official Global Academic Partner of the American Hotel & Lodging Education Institute (AHLEI) since 2014. GHE holds license for professional education and professional certification,” he said.

President Director of GHE, Agus Yoga Iswara, said that the entire GHE programs are designed and intended as quality legitimacy of professionalism with international standard (industry credential), preparation for a career path from employee level up to general manager (qualification certificate), acceleration of academic and vocational learning of student level, instructor to educator (academic plus).

On the occasion, it was also signed a GHE cooperation draft with tourism schools such as the Nusa Dua Bali Tourism School (STPNB), Polytechnic International Bali (PIB), Elizabeth International and Mediterranean Bali.

The Global Hospitality Expert (GHE) was launched in warm atmosphere and the vivacity of industrial players and tourism education providers was clear to adopt the HEAD program. The event was also attended by invitees from the government agency and tourism association such as the IHRA, IHGMA, SKKBA, ICA, BVA, BHA, HFLA, IHKA, IFBEC, Bascomm, HFIA, HRA, BSWA, UHA, UHSA as well as hotel general managers and school leaders of tourism and hospitality. (kmb42)

Bali News

International

Thursday, July 20, 2017

International

Take advantage of natural dyes

Australian government demands answers on Minneapolis police shooting

Songket of Jembrana goes international

SONGKET weavers of Jembrana should be proud now. This handicraft work has gone international after the selection of this weaving cloth to represent Indonesia in an international craft exhibition entitled Hand Made Korea Summer 2017 in Seoul, South Korea. Putri Mas weaving group was chosen after going through the tight curation by national craft board and ministry of cooperatives and the MSME of Indonesia.

The songket of Jembrana obtaining the certificate of intellectual property right (HAKI) has distinctive characteristic putting forward the native style of Jembrana and genuinely handmade without mechanical intervention. In addition to Putri Mas weaving group, the exhibition will also be followed by 39 other craftsmen of Indonesia featuring metal, wood and knitted works.

Ketut Widiadnyana, 42, Leader of Putri Mas weaving group of Pendem, Jembrana, said that other than genuinely handmade, the Jembrana songket still retains the same motif since the kingdom era, showing off many natural elements such as flowers and animals with folklore base. It is different from songket from other regions in Bali. “The motif of Jembrana songket tends to be static and uncomplicated making it easier to be utilized in terms of fashion, unlike intricate motif

that often makes it difficult when cutting the fabric for pattern,” he explained.

Besides, in the coloring process, craftsmen will use more natural dyes from plants. For instance, they take advantage of turmeric, morina root, mango leaves and other plants remaining widely found in Jembrana.

Widiadnyana admitted to be proud as the woven cloth finally received recognition. He hoped from the exhibition in Korea he could know the direction of current handmade handicraft trend and various fashion innovations in accordance with the demand of overseas markets. In the exhibition, this group will bring three songket weaving clothes becoming the typical style of Jembrana including the lunar-stellar songket, nature songket and songket of Jembrana without a connection that he considers the only one in

Jembrana.

Head of the Jembrana Cooperative, Industry and Trade Agency, Made Gede Budhiarta, said the songket weaving cloth is one of the handicrafts having the characteristic pattern of Jembrana and has got certificate of intellectual property right.

This innovation is expected to be followed by other weaving craftsmen in appropriate with the market trend without leaving the pattern and legacy of Jembrana genuine motif.

Deputy Regent of Jembrana, Made Kembang Hartawan, also expected the craftsmen to be able to display the making process and materials used include telling the historical side of songket design on display. So, the exhibition will not just showcase the products, but also give information about the uniqueness of the native songket to Jembrana. (olo)

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)/Handout via REUTERS

An undated supplied image from Geoscience Australia shows a computer generated threedimensional view of the sea floor obtained from mapping data collected during the first phase of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

MH370 search data unveils fishing hotspots, ancient geological movements

SYDNEY - Detailed sea-floor maps made during the unsuccessful search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, released by Australia on Wednesday, could help increase the knowledge of rich fisheries and the prehistoric movement of the earth’s southern continents.

IBP/olo

The songket of Jembrana obtaining the certificate of intellectual property right (HAKI) has distinctive characteristic.

13

The Indian Ocean search ended in January after covering a lonely stretch of open water where undersea mountains larger than Mount Everest rise and a rift valley dotted with subsea volcanoes runs hundreds of kilometres long.

The whereabouts of the plane, which vanished in March 2014 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board, remains one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.

However, information gathered during painstaking surveys of some 120,000 sq km (46,000 sq miles) of the remote waters west of Australia should provide fishermen, oceanographers and geologists insight into the region in unprecedented detail, said Charitha Pattiaratchi, professor of coastal oceanography at the University of Western

Australia.

“There are the locations of seamounts which will attract a lot of international deep sea fishermen to the area,” Pattiaratchi told Reuters by phone.

High-priced fish such as tuna, toothfish, orange roughy, alfonsino and trevally are known to gather near the seamounts, where plankton swirl in the currents in the inhospitable waters.

Pattiaratchi said the location of seamounts would also help model the impact of tsunamis in the region, given undersea mountains help dissipate their destructive energy, and potentially change our understanding of the break-up of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana.

The data consists of threedimensional models of undersea

landforms as well as raw bathymetric survey information. It was published online by Geoscience Australia on Wednesday, with a further tranche due to be published next year.

“It is estimated that only 10 to 15 percent of the world’s oceans have been surveyed with the kind of technology used in the search for MH370, making this remote part of the Indian Ocean among the most thoroughly mapped regions of the deep ocean on the planet,” said Stuart Minchin, chief of Geoscience Australia’s environmental geoscience division.

Australia has not ruled out resuming the search for the Boeing 777 airliner but has said that would depend on finding “credible new evidence” about the plane’s whereabouts. (rtr)

SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the fatal shooting of an Australian woman by a Minneapolis police officer over the weekend “shocking” and “inexplicable” and said his diplomats were seeking answers from U.S. authorities.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Tuesday confirmed details of the shooting of Sydney native Justine Damond that have been reported in media accounts and also confirmed the identities of the two police officers involved in the incident.

Damond died of a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, fired through an open window of the patrol car, after two police officers responded to a call she made of a possible assault in her neighborhood, the agency said.

Turnbull said in a television interview on Wednesday morning in Australia (Tuesday evening in the United States) that he and the Australian consul-general in Chicago were seeking answers.

“How can a woman out in the street in her pajamas seeking assistance be shot like that?” the prime minister said in the interview with Nine Network. “It is a shocking killing, and yes, we are demanding answers on behalf of her family.”

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which reviews shootings involving Minneapolis police, was seeking civilian video of the incident.

The incident unfolded as Officers Mohamed Noor and Matthew Harrity were driving through an alley near where the shooting

occurred, searching for a suspect, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said.

At one point, Harrity told investigators, he was startled by a loud sound near the patrol car.

Immediately afterward, Damond approached the driver’s side of the squad car and Noor, who was in the passenger seat, fired his weapon through the open driver’s-side window, striking Noor, the agency said.

The agency said Noor, with the police department for 21 months, and Harrity, a one-year veteran, have been placed on administrative leave.

State investigators said agents interviewed Harrity on Tuesday.

They said Noor has declined to be interviewed, adding that Noor’s attorney did not provide information on when or if the officer would be available for questioning.

Noor’s lawyer, Tom Plunkett, did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement released earlier on Tuesday, Plunkett said that Noor extends his condolences to Damond’s family.

Damond’s family joined with friends and others in a silent dawn vigil on Sydney’s Freshwater Beach, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. A didgeridoo was played and a single rose thrown into the ocean.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota have questioned why the officers did not have their body cameras and vehicle dashboard camera turned on at the time of the incident. (rtr)

AAP/Mick Tsikas/via REUTERS

Australia’s Attorney-General George Brandis and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speak during a media conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, July 18, 2017.

14

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Health

International

Alabama finds atypical mad cow case, no human threat seen

IBP/net

Maintaining stability in glycemic (‘blood sugar’) control may be important for prevention of depressive symptoms in elderly diabetic patients.

Blood sugar swings tied to depression in elderly with type 2 diabetes

TEL AVIV - Greater ups and downs of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a marker of longterm blood sugar levels, are associated with a higher number of symptoms of depression in elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes, a recent Israeli study finds.

“The results suggest that maintaining stability in glycemic (‘blood sugar’) control may be important for prevention of depressive symptoms in elderly diabetic patients,” Dr. Ramit Ravona-Springer from Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, and Tel-Aviv University told Reuters Health.

People with type 2 diabetes are twice as likely as people without diabetes to develop depression, which affects as many as a third of individuals 65 years and older. Variability in HbA1c has been associated with complications of diabetes, but there is little information about its relationship with depression, the study team writes in Diabetes Care.

Ravona-Springer’s team analyzed about nine years’ worth of data on 837 people with type 2 diabetes whose average age was nearly 73 years. The information included around 18 HbA1c measurements over the years for each participant, and results from a depression assessment at the start of the study period.

Average HbA1c was not associated with depressive symptoms, but the variability of HbA1c measurements was, such that each 1 percent increase in variability was associated with a 29 percent increase in the number of depressive symptoms, researchers found.

The relationship between HbA1c variability was

true regardless of HbA1c level, but it was strongest among people whose HbA1c was above 7 percent, a common target for blood sugar control.

The researchers admit that the results just show an association and don’t necessarily mean that blood sugar variability causes symptoms of depression.

Nevertheless, they conclude that better long-term stability of HbA1c - in other words, more consistent blood sugar control - might help to prevent depression in elderly people with type 2 diabetes.

“This study is ongoing,” Ravona-Springer said. “We thus expect to have even better understanding of the directional relationships of glycemic control and other diabetes-related characteristics with depression as we start analyzing longitudinal data,” she said in an email.

“The study hints at the importance of achieving stable A1c values at a certain age/point in a patient‘s diabetes history in contrast to trying to reduce A1c,” said Dr. Dominic Ehrmann from the Research Institute of the Diabetes Academy Mergentheim (FIDAM) in Bad Mergentheim, Germany, who has also studied the link between depression and diabetes.

“But (and this is a big but) this must be weighed against other clinical and medical objectives (e.g., complications, comorbidities, cognitive functioning),” he said by email.

“Depression/depressive symptoms should be an important factor in clinical decision making in elderly patients,” concluded Ehrmann, who wasn’t involved in the current study. “That is, the impact of therapy adjustments or changing treatment goals on depressive symptoms should be considered in clinical practice.” (rtr)

ALABAMA - An 11-year-old cow in Alabama tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday.

The cow tested positive for the atypical L-type of BSE after exhibiting clinical signs at an Alabama livestock market, the USDA said in a press release. Atypical BSE can arise spontaneously in cattle herds, usually in animals 8 years old or older.

“This animal never entered slaughter channels and at no time presented a risk to the food supply, or to human health in the United States,” the USDA said.

“Following delivery to the livestock market the cow later died at that location.”

The Alabama cow is the fifth detection of BSE in the United

Bali News

International

States, four of which were atypical.

“This finding of an atypical case will not change the negligible risk status of the United States, and should not lead to any trade issues,” the USDA added.

The only classical BSE case was an animal found in 2003 at a Washington farm that was imported from Canada and born before a 1997 ban on the use of cattle feed containing brain or spinal tissue, which can result in transmission of the disease.

China last month resumed imports of U.S. beef for the first time since banning them following the 2003 scare.

First detected in Britain in the 1980s, classical mad cow ravaged herds in parts of Europe until the early 2000s and was linked to the brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. (rtr)

Thursday, July 20, 2017

3

Rejection of reclamation must be accompanied with real action DENPASAR — Rejection against the Benoa Bay reclamation is suddenly echoed by a number of figures who are ready to compete in the Bali gubernatorial election 2018.

There are a row of names such as the senator in the Bali Regional Representatives (DPD) Arya Wedakarna, Regent of Tabanan Ni Putu Eka Wiryastuti, and the last one the incumbent Deputy Governor of Bali Ketut Sudikerta as having been spreading in social media. Their discourse is expected to be accompanied with real action and not just lip service to gain votes in the next gubernatorial election.

Benoa Bay

“Firstly, as chief of customary village, I reject the reclamation.

Surely, in other words this rejection must be carried out by all levels of society, so whoever they are, either Sudikerta, Eka Wiryastuti or Arya Wedakarna in the capacity as Balinese society as I have said earlier should reject the Benoa Bay reclamation,” said this Chief of Buduk customary village who is

IBP/file

also a member of the Agreement of Bali Customary Village Rejecting Benoa Bay Reclamation, Ida Bagus Ketut Purbanegara, as confirmed on Monday (Jul. 17).

Even though they speak in their capacity as a leader, namely the deputy governor, regent and senator, continued Purbanegara, the agreement (pasubayan) remains to respect their opinion.

Actually, that is the attitude expected by the pasubayan from the beginning.

“In this case, I speak with a little smile, I appreciate to their attitude, that they just rejected the reclamation, with the assumption that they just understood about it.

Why they just rejected it today, we suppose they just understood. In other words, it is better late than never,” he added.

Purbanegara hoped the rejection having been echoed is not only in the media but is also manifested into real action in accordance with their respective position that is remaining active. So far, the pa-

subayan and ForBALI have been too frequent to see and hear such a discourse.

“What is the real measure that will be done in the context of this rejection? Do not just limited be in the discourse. This is what we are waiting for, what they dare to do.

We already dare to go down the street to voice the rejection. Even though at that time, let’s say ... they were still a little busy so that ‘may not hear or not see what we do,’” he explained.

Purbanegara considered that rejection against reclamation by the officials is indeed inseparable from political nuances. However, the pasubayan will definitely ignore when it is coupled with real action.

“When it is only limited a discourse in media or lip service like that, sweetener before gubernatorial election, as I said earlier I will speak with a little smile, well… maybe I will laugh loudly later on, not a little smile anymore,” he concluded. (kmb32)

Parliament asks to strengthen control against cafés

IBP/net

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it discovered an 11-year-old cow with atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Alabama.

DENPASAR — Indications of the distribution of drugs in entertainment spots should be anticipated earlier. The measures to be made by Denpasar municipality are doing more intensive supervision. Relevant agencies are also requested to make data collection and issue permit to the café businesses having not been licensed, so that coaching can be carried out periodically.

This was confirmed by a member of Commission IV of the Denpasar House of Representatives, A.A. Gede Widiada, at his office on Monday (Jul. 17). He considered there are quite a lot of cafés in Denpasar, so it is required a clear regulation to be able to monitor such a business. After all, the business also absorbs a lot of labor. “If violating, they should be imposed with sanction according to existing rules,” said this NasDem politician.

Widiada also asked the government to immediately make the criteria of this kind of business. So far, the provisions governing this business are not yet clear. As a result, monitoring will be difficult. “The government must make obvious criteria, so that existence of such a business can be arranged,” said Widiada.

In the meantime, Regional Secretary of the Denpasar Tourism Office, Nyoman Nada, admitted there are only a few café businesses having been licensed.

In addition, many of the businesses are run inappropriate with the name. “Actually the café business is not much different from restaurant. However, in reality its function has changed. Many cafés are selling liquor,” he said.

He admitted that his agency has also provided coaching for the existing licensed business. However, when there is a drug trafficking, the team having provided with coaching does not get that far. “If under supervision there are violations, surely we direct them

to keep on the existing rules. For example, if they do not have permit, we’ll direct to submit permission,” he said.

Associated with the existence of Café Bibir, the division handling this affair in tourism office has conducted monitoring on May 31, 2017. From the monitoring results, the team could not enter because the business was closed. The team then checked to local village authority where the business is located, namely the Pemecutan Kelod village. In the village office the team equally could not get the legality of the business. (kmb12)

IBP/file

The measures to be made by doing more intensive supervision and control against cafés.

2

Bali News

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Two victims can be evacuated

Car and bodies taken out to mainland traditionally

BANGLI - Hard work of the joint team consisting of the national SAR agency (Basarnas) Bali, regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD) Bangli, Bangli transportation agency, Bangli police, Indonesian military (TNI) and the surrounding community finally paid off.

Two casualties of the APV car plunged into the ravine in the waters of Lake Batur, precisely at Trunyan village, could be evacuated. It took hours for the officers and the surrounding community to evacuate the two bodies trapped in the car at the bottom of the lake. The cloudy lake water was very disturbing the evacuation process so the visibility at the bottom of the lake was very short.

As field monitoring conducted, the search for two tourists from Tangerang, Banten, began at 08:00. Prior to starting the evacuation process, the joint team initiated by presenting banten pejati at the crash site and in the local village shrine. The ritual made at the plunging site of the car is meant to request ease of search process for the two bodies. After that, the joint team continued to search for both victims remaining to get trapped in the car drowned in the waters of Lake Batur, precisely at Terunyan village.

To evacuate both bodies, the Basarnas Bali involved four divers namely I Gede Wahyu, I Wayan Merta, I Kadek Perdana Yasa and I Putu Agus Suparjaya, while the water police of Bali police and Bangli police deployed four divers. They dived in turn to search for the bodies of both victims and fasten rope onto the car. Several ways have been done to evacuate the victims. Ultimately, due to the hard work of all parties, the two victims could be evacuated.

It took hours for the officers assisted by the local community to evacuate the victims’ body. After two divers fought hard, at 10:10, diver team of Basarnas Bali successfully took out a female victim on behalf of Rita Ningsih, 50. After successfully taking out, then the victim was taken to Kedisan Pier to be further brought to Bangli Hospital by using ambulance considering that the divers’ condition was already overwhelmed, so the officers decided to take rest.

Approximately at 13:00 after having afternoon break,

the joint team conducted the second stage of the search for a male victim on behalf of Mukshin Mardona, 31.

The search found an obstacle because the lake water was in turbid and dark condition, so the divers were difficult to find out the victim. As the time went on, finally the officers followed the advice of the Terunyan community to use traditional way, namely by using two bamboos and four boats. However, in such a way the Terunyan society had also experienced obstacle as the rope fastened onto the car had several times broken. Thus, the divers should come down and re-fasten the rope onto the car at the bottom of the lake. After fighting hard, at 17:50, the victim Mukshin and APV car with license plate DK 712 YB could be taken out.

Chief of Bangli Police, I Gusti Agung Ngurah Ade Anom Panji, expressed his gratitude to the joint team and the Terunyan community for their participation in conducting the search for both victims. He admitted the team assisted by the community had indeed experienced a little obstacle in the process of taking out the victims as the lake water was cloudy. Thus, the divers could not see in the bottom of the lake due to such darkness. Additionally, several times the rope used to pull the car also broke up. So, the diver team should dive back to fasten the car into the bottom of the lake. “Indeed, there were many obstacles in the field. However, due to hard work of the team assisted by local community, finally the man’s body could be evacuated to mainland,” he said.

In the meantime, Operations Section Head of Basarnas Bali, I Gede Darmada, revealed that divers had experienced problems when diving into the bottom of the lake as the water was cloudy and dark. In addition, the rope fastened onto the car broke at a depth of 17 meters. This condition could make the joint team desperate. Moreover, at that time the condition at the bottom of the lake was aggravated by re-occurrence of sulfuric burst so it was very disturbing.

“Finally, the officers and local residents took out the car in traditional manner. The team was asked to help fasten the rope onto the car to be withdrawn. The victim Mukshin was found getting stuck in the back seat. In the meantime, the rear-glass broke, maybe it happened due to collision when it plunged,” said Darmada. (kmb41)

International

Proved to smuggle drugs, a Russian man sued 14 years

DENPASAR - Having been proved guilty of having smuggled 106.2 grams of drugs, the defendant Alexey Prusov, 28, from Russia, was sued with punishment for 14 years in prison on Tuesday (Jul. 18). Public Prosecutors, Ketut Sujaya and Eddy Arta Wijaya, before the judge Dr. Yanto, said the defendant was found guilty due to unlawfully or against the law to import first class drugs in the form of non-crops weighing more than 5 grams. On the verification, the defendant is ensnared with Article 113 paragraph 2 of the Law No.35/2009 on narcotics.

Prior to the conclusion, in the letter of his appeal, the prosecutor from the Bali Prosecutor’s Office considered a number of matters. As the incriminating reason, the defendant did not support the government’s program in combating narcotics, while the alleviating reason is the defendant has never been punished, and behaved politely in the trial.

In addition to the corporal punishment for 14 years, the defendant is also required to pay a fine worth IDR 2 billion.

“Unless paying the fine, he must replace with imprisonment for 6 months,” demanded the prosecutor.

Upon hearing the charges, the defendant accompanied by two lawyers, Pande Sugiantra and Valerian Libert Wange imme-

diately filed an oral defense. In their oral defense, the defendant essentially pleaded for leniency.

They reasoned that the defendant had admitted frankly, did not complicate the trial and regretted his actions.

Prosecutor Eddy Arta said that he remained on the stance, so the panel of judges adjourned the hearing with the agenda of the decision on next Wednesday (Jul. 26). To be known, the defendant having the address on Jalan Tegal Cupek, North Kuta, Badung, was arrested by police on January 6, 2016 at the Post Office on Jalan Sunset Road, Kuta, Badung.

The defendant was arrested after picking up the package addressed to the Post Office on Jalan Sunset Road, Box 80361.

The package known to contain narcotics alleged to be crystal meth was addressed to a person named Miche Kaiser. Prior to the arrest, initially on January 5, 2017, the Customs and Excise officer on duty in the Post Office noticed there was a suspicious item in the package sent to Miche Kaiser.

“On the suspicion, the officers then examined the package,” said prosecutor Eddy Arta. In fact, the suspicion of the officer was true, when opening the package, there was a clear plastic in it containing a brown crystal alleged to be crystal meth weighing 106.62 grams net. (kmb37)

Grabbing action occurs again in Kuta

MANGUPURA - Another grabbing action against foreign tourists occurred in the area of Kuta on Monday (Jul. 17). Such an action was recorded by CCTV of local resident and has been disseminated through social media. Responding to the incident, Chief of Kuta customary village, I Wayan Swarsa, who confirmed on Tuesday (Jul. 18) admitted that criminal action in the form of grabbing in Kuta is not a new problem.

Nevertheless, he was not surprised because such cases belong to classic problem.

“This incident is nothing new in Kuta, any criminal act can happen because there is a

chance,” he said.

According to him, the transmission of grabbing action video or other criminal actions occurred in Kuta has positive and negative values. Positively, the transmission is providing information for others, but on the other hand, it is badly affect the image of tourism in Kuta. “We affirm that Kuta is not as grotesque as chatted by social media users, Kuta remains our friendly home together,” he said.

Swarsa hoped the tourists will not be affected by massive information spread by social media community. Actually,

criminal incidents can happen everywhere.

Since Kuta becomes one of the tourism terminologies in Bali, then it seems to be a scary thing.

According to him, to create a safe condition amid the complexity of existing society is not an easy matter. So far, customary village as one of the institutions also contributes to help police and government pursuant to its capacity. “As an institution, we establish jagabaya (security guards) and Kuta Beach taskforce. To make everything run well, it requires process, space and time,” he added.

In the meantime, the Chief of LPM Kuta, Gusti Agung Made Agung, added that in the future it will coordinate with various parties such as customary villages, police and the government. His agency will conduct internal and external evaluations considering it is a dynamics as well as a challenge that must be faced together.

“We hope the coordination with police authority can be further improved. In addition, the government is expected to pay attention to the permit for night entertainment entrepreneurs that violate the established rules,” he said. (kmb23)

 Founder : K.Nadha,  General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra  Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Dewa Farendra. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto.  Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post

Activities

International

Thursday, July 20, 2017

15

Herb Library BBQ at Alaya Resort Jembawan Saturday, July 21 5PM Vernissage Art D Asia Taiwan-Singapore Indonesia Art exchange project Arma Museum

Jalan Raya Pengosekan, Ubud Sunday, July 22 Nu Moopn Celebration Sounds of Union Akasha:Restaurant &Juice Bar Jln. Sinta, Tegallalang

EVERY MONDAY Movie Monday19:00-21:00 Genius Cafe- Home to the entrepreneur Beach CLub Mertasari Beach (Next to Mercure), Sanur EVERY TUESDAY Ecstatic contact dance: Transformative journey Paradiso Ubud, Jalan Goutama Selatan, Ubud 100k includes dinner EVERY WEDNESDAY DEep Dive Dance Guided improvised movement 19:00-21:00 Paradiso Ubud Jalan Goutama Selatan, Ubud 100k EVERY THURSDAY African Drums with Catur SAng Klang Wijaya 16:00-18:00 Experience the healing power of drumming, all levels welcome

BY DONATION SUNDAY MARKETS 10AM 1PM Sunday Market at Batu Jimbar Jl. Danau Tablingan , Sanur 10AM-4PM The Sands Beach Club and Restaurant Sunday MArket Jl. Danau Tamblingan, No 27, Sanur 9:30AM-1PM Sunday Market @ Warung Sopa Jl. Sugriwas no36, Padang Tegal, Ubud 9AM-2PM Samadi Sunday Market Jalan. Padang Linjong 39, Canggu, 9AM-2PM Wednesday and Sunday Ubud Organik Market Jl. Raya Pengosekan across from Zens Hotel Tebesaya, Ubud 12PM-10PM Sunday Food Festival & Bazaar Byrdhouse Beach Club, Sanur 10AM-6PM, Mercure,last sunday of every month, jl. ,Mertasari, Sanur, fashion food and and kids activities The Coffee Spot, Jalan Peigenet 888X,Seminyak, last Sunday of every month, garage sale clothing, books, and hand-made jewellery

Love grilling out but don’t want to ruin your health goals? Then check out Herb Library BBQ special menu that offers plenty of plant-based grilling meals with Omnivore option on Saturday, 22 July 2017 from 6 PM onwards. Accompanied by a Balinese Dance Performance, enjoy your weekend retreat by the pool for IDR 250K++ at Herb Library, Alaya Resort Jembawan.Alaya Resort Jembawan is a boutique wellness retreat in the heart of Ubud that focuses on body, mind and spirit rejuvenation.

With its team of onsite experts, including an Ayurvedic doctor and yoga instructor, the resort offers lifestyle programs that are tailored to address any specific health concerns you may have.

This 37 room property is a healing sanctuary for personal renewal with affordable solutions to many of the issues caused by trying to exist in today’s fast paced world. It is a place where you are encouraged to slow down, eat nutritious food and return to the basics of simply living well. Advance bookings are essential through herblibrary@alayahotels. com or call to (+62 361) 908 3289.

Alaya Resort Jembawan | Jl. Jembawan, Ubud - Bali | Ph: +62 361 908 3289 | herblibrary@alayahotel. com | www.alayahotels.com

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

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

16 Pages Number 134 9th year

Price: Rp 3.000,-

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Madonna seeks to stop NY auction of Tupac Shakur break-up letter

LOS ANGELES - Madonna attempted on Tuesday to stop an upcoming auction of a prison break-up letter from rapper Tupac Shakur and a note in which she called singer Whitney Houston and actress Sharon Stone “horribly mediocre.”

The “Rebel Heart” singer filed a request in New York Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order against New York auction house Gotta Have It Collectibles to halt the sale, due to start on Wednesday.

Madonna said in court documents that she was not aware until reading press reports that many of the items listed for auction, including the letter from her former boyfriend Shakur, were no longer in her possession. The items were consigned to auction by Darlene Lutz, whom Madonna described in court documents as a former friend and art consultant and said she had “betrayed my trust in an outrageous effort to obtain my possessions without my knowledge or consent.”

A representative for the auction house and Lutz said in an emailed statement that Madonna’s effort to stop the sale was “a completely baseless and meritless action,” and they would challenge her claims in court.

“We believe that her intent is nothing more than to besmirch the good reputations of the auction house and Ms Lutz,” the statement said.

In a letter dated January 1995 and written to Madonna by Shakur while he was in prison for sexual assault, the rapper said he ended their romance because he felt that dating a white woman could jeopardize his career.

“I felt due to my ‘image’ I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was. I never meant to hurt you,” he said. Shakur was killed at age 25 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996.

Also among the 20 items Madonna is seeking to remove from sale are a pair of her panties, an old checkbook, a hairbrush and personal photos. (rtr)

Thursday, July 20, 2017

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Singer Ed Sheeran performs on NBC’s ‘Today’ show in New York City, U.S., July 6, 2017.

Ed Sheeran spring cleans Twitter after ‘Thrones’ cameo

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Ed Sheeran’s Twitter page reappeared on Tuesday with a spring clean of old tweets after a brief disappearance prompted speculation that the singer had quit the social media platform after mixed reaction to his cameo on TV show “Game of Thrones.”

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

Singer Madonna

Sheeran’s Twitter account, which boasts 14 million followers, appeared to have been deactivated on Monday. On Tuesday, it was live again, but many of Sheeran’s 30,000 tweets, including recent posts and comments from fans, had been deleted.

A representative for the British singer did not immediately respond

to requests for comment.

Sheeran was active on Instagram on Tuesday, posting a photo of a cat and a picture from the set of “Game of Thrones.” On Sunday he also posted photos and a video of his “Game of Thrones” cameo.

Sheeran’s scene on Sunday’s HBO medieval fantasy series, in which he plays a singing soldier

who encounters character Arya Stark, garnered mixed reception from avid “Game of Thrones” fans. Many criticized his cameo as distracting in a show that does not usually use celebrities.

The 26-year-old singer, whose latest album, “Divide,” topped charts in the United States and Britain earlier this year, has been vocal about his dislike of Twitter.

He told Britain’s Sun newspaper earlier this month that it was “nothing but people saying mean things” and that he had stopped using the platform regularly. (rtr)

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AP/Photo/Markus Schreiber, File

FILE - In this July 14, 2017 file photo, French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Pierre de Villiers, right, drive down the Champs Elysees avenue during Bastille Day parade in Paris. France’s military chief has quit over a dispute with President Emmanuel Macron over defense spending, in a new challenge to Macron’s administration and his economic reforms.

French military chief quits over budget dispute with Macron

PARIS — France’s military chief quit Wednesday in a dispute with President Emmanuel Macron over budget cuts, in a new challenge to Macron’s administration and his economic reforms. The office of Gen. Pierre de Villiers, chief of staff of the armed forces, said he submitted his resignation to Macron at a security council meeting Wednesday and the president accepted.

Macron’s office did not immediately comment.

De Villiers lashed out at new spending curbs during a closeddoor parliamentary commission meeting last week, according to leaked reports. Macron then publicly upbraided him, saying, “it is not dignified to air certain debates in the public sphere. I made commitments (to budget cuts). I am your boss.”

Macron’s own comments have elicited criticism, notably by those who accuse him of authoritarian tendencies after he overwhelmingly won election in May and saw his new centrist party dominate last month’s parliamentary elections.

The resignation foreshadows the battles Macron will likely face as he tries to reduce the deficit and government spending and boost the stagnant economy.

While Macron has promised to boost defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2025 as part of France’s commitments to NATO, his budget minister last week announced limits on this year’s military expenses as part of an overall spending squeeze.

De Villiers, head of the military since 2014, insisted that it was his “duty” to express his concerns about military resources amid the sustained threat of extremist attacks.

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