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Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Camila Morrone: From doubling up with dad to Hollywood’s next big thing CANNES - Unless you are a battle-hardened follower of Leonardo DiCaprio’s love life, or you spend your life on catwalk model feeds on Instagram, you will not have heard of Camila Morrone.

But not for long. The Argentinian model-turned-actress is one of the big discoveries of the Cannes film festival, lighting up a small US indie film about a 17-year-old girl looking after her traumatised, opioid-addicted Iraq veteran father.

“Mickey and the Bear” has already had the Hollywood Reporter comparing the triple talents that the film reveals -- Morrone, debut director Annabelle Attanasio and James Badge Dale, who plays the father -- to “Leave No Trace” and “Lean on Pete”, “the two finest films of 2018”.

Morrone, who is 21, regards Al Pacino -- who dated her actress mother Lucila Sola for years -- as her “stepfather”, and went to the most famous high school in the world, Beverly Hills 90210.

She might not seem the obvious candidate to play a slightly chubby girl living on the breadline in a

trailer in a beautiful but polluted former mining town in Montana.

Yet the actress -- whose warmth and smouldering catwalk self drew comparisons with Sophia Loren -pulled it off and then some, putting on weight and bringing an earthy groundedness and strength to the part of a teenager who also had to be mother, wife and nurse.

Their lives might be worlds apart, but Morrone said she could identify with Mickey.

“I could relate to being a 17year-old girl and taking on more than I could handle,” she told AFP in Cannes.

“I didn’t grow up overly privileged,” she insisted.

“My parents were struggling actors who had a hard time getting work. That’s why I hesitated about getting into acting, I had seen them going through that.”

She was the odd one out in a class of rich kids.

“I was able to tap into that” to play Mickey, scrabbling to make ends meet while dreaming of escaping her trailer for college in California. (afp)

LOIC VENANCE / AFP

US model and actress Camila Morrone

‘Now our watch is ended’: History-making ‘Game of Thrones’ wraps

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

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

LOS ANGELES - After eight epic years, 47 Emmys, two dead dragons and lots of sex, “Game of Thrones” has said an emotional goodbye to devotees worldwide of one of the most popular shows in television history.

The blood-spattered tale of noble families vying for the Iron Throne wrapped with the 73rd and final episode of a ratings juggernaut that has demolished audience records worldwide and redefined weekly “event TV” for the instant-gratification Netflix generation.

And while millions watched at home -- some nursing a bittersweet goblet of Dornish wine, one would hope -- thousands celebrated and mourned the show’s denouement in bars, banqueting halls and backyards from Alaska to Armenia.

“It was even more intense than a football finale,” said Ewald Klautky, 52, one of around 200 fans gathered in Brennan’s Irish bar in west Los Angeles, where guests were enjoying a blue whisky cocktail called “The Night King.” Cries of joy, sobs and applause followed the peaks and troughs of what many regarded as a poignant but so-so finale, with one couple even stealing a furtive kiss as the tension built.

“I’ll watch the episode again when I’m quiet at home,” said 28-year-old manufacturing engineer Shobhana Chetri, who found the episode a disappointment on first viewing.

In China, the show’s rights-holder triggered outrage among legions of die-hard fans -- some of whom took the morning off work to tune in -- by mysteriously delaying its broadcast just before it was due to air.

That did not stop fans flocking online, with one dramatic twist -in signature style, not every main character survived until the end credits -- provoking a discussion on Twitter-like Weibo that was viewed

Robyn Beck / AFP

A fan sits in a replica of The Iron Throne for a snapshot before watching HBO’s “Game of Thrones” series finale at Brennan’s bar in Marina del Rey, California, May 19, 2019. more than 230 million times.

- Hacked, burned, flayed One of the darkest and most controversial primetime series ever made, “GoT” has been the target of criticism over the years for senseless violence and its repeated use of rape as a dramatic device.

The scriptwriters have brutalized women, killed children, depicted graphic sex and had their characters hacked, stabbed, flayed, poisoned, decapitated, burned alive, eye-gouged and eviscerated -- all in glorious close-up.

The adult themes have not deterred fans, however, nor the industry awards circuit, which has seen fit to make the HBO show the most decorated fictional series in history.

Airing in 170 countries under

its portentous tagline, “Winter is Coming,” the show is also the most expensive ever, with a budget of $15 million per episode.

The season seven finale set an all-time US record for premium cable TV, with 16.5 million people watching live or streaming on the day of transmission and 15 million more tuning in later.

Season six was the first to move beyond the source material, George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels, and carve its own path.

Critics said it marked a return to form, but the shortened final two seasons have been more of a mixed bag, with many fans furious over what they consider poor writing and a rushed conclusion of the various plot strands. (afp)

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National police spokesman Brig. Gen. Muhammad Iqbal, center, speaks to media as ammunition, explosive-making materials and other evidence confiscated from suspected militants are displayed during a press conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, May 17, 2019.

Indonesian police beef up security ahead of election results

JAKARTA - Indonesia is deploying 32,000 security personnel in the capital, Jakarta, after warnings of a possible militant attack during the official announcement of presidential election results next week, police said Friday.

National Police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said police have apprehended 29 people this month who planned to set off bombs during expected street protests when the official vote count is announced

by May 22.

He told a news conference that the suspects were members of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, a local militant network affiliated with the Islamic State group, and have confessed that they planned attacks during the release of the election results.

The network of almost two

dozen extremist organizations has been implicated in numerous attacks in Indonesia in the past three years and was designated a terror organization by the U.S. in 2017.

Iqbal urged people not to hold street rallies and avoid mass gathering on the day of the announcement for their safety.

He said the police counterterrorism squad has arrested 60 suspected militants so far this year and seven others were killed when they resisted arrest.

In March, the wife of an Islamic

militant arrested for allegedly plotting attacks in Jakarta detonated a bomb during a siege of their home in North Sumatra, killing herself and her 2-year-old child.

Another police spokesman, Dedi Prasetyo, said police and military personnel will set up a security cordon around the headquarters of the Election Supervisory Agency and the Electoral Commission in downtown Jakarta.

At the news conference, police presented 10 handcuffed suspects wearing black ski masks and orange prisoner uniforms. A long table in front of them was filled with items confiscated by police, including explosive materials, knifes, ammunition and jihadist books.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, is an outpost of democracy in a Southeast Asian neighborhood of authoritarian governments. It held the biggest single-day election on April 17 to elect a president and national and regional parliaments.

Vote counts from five independent survey groups showed incumbent President Joko Widodo with a clear lead over Prabowo Subianto, a general during the era of the Suharto military dictatorship who warned Indonesia would fall apart without his strongman leadership.

Subianto’s insistence that he was on course for victory, and his allegations of fraud, have led to speculation in some quarters that he might

be trying to himself fix the results or would refuse to concede. That would put pressure on the country’s democratic institutions and could possibly lead to violence.

His supporters recently held street rallies to call for fairness and vigilance in the vote counting, as the government warned that efforts to cast doubt on the outcome could amount to treason. (ap) 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

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Bali News

International

Giri Prasta wants workers to be entrepreneurs

Mangupura - The number of entrepreneurs in Badung district is still relatively small compared to the total population.

At present, there are 16,000 entrepreneurs. Of this number, 30 percent are female entrepreneurs.

Seeing these conditions, the Regent of Badung, I Nyoman Giri Prasta, wished that the community will not only be satisfied to become workers but should be able to become entrepreneurs. The

government will even support this endeavor through a number of programs.

“Don’t just think of being a worker, we want the workers to be able to become entrepreneurs. For

example, the workers at hotels are able to facilitate hotel needs such as fruit and vegetables,” said Regent Giri Prasta, recently.

This official from Pelaga village, Petang, expected that beyond becoming a labor union, they can make communities / business groups that will be accommodated to be given capital assistance by the Badung district government

through the relevant agencies so that they can compete in the industrial era 4.0.

“We in the district government will provide training and capital strengthening for business groups to strengthen their economy. We believe that whoever holds the economy will be the leader,” he said.

Regent Giri Prasta also hoped

that even if the smallest problem occurred in the labor union, it should be resolved by deliberation, not through a demonstration.

“Please do not do a demonstration, you have to sit together to resolve it. We all cannot resolved the problems by ourselves, but I am sure all the problems have a solution,” he concluded. (kmb27)

In Bali, election claims 56 victims of organizing officer DENPASAR - The implementation of election in Bali claimed 56 victims comprising 48 people from Electoral Commission (KPU) and 8 others from Electoral Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) elements. Those becoming the victims, getting sick and having died were proposed by each institution to get compensation.

“We have written to the Governor of Bali and Central Electoral Commission in order that the victims can be given compensation,” said Commissioner of Bali Electoral Commission, Gede Jhon Darmawan, on Sunday (May 19).

Jhon Darmawan added the number of election organizers from Electoral Commission ele-

ment becoming the victims spread throughout the districts in Bali.

The highest number is in Buleleng district amounting to 15 people, then Karangasem district (10 people), Tabanan district (10 people), Denpasar City (4 people), Badung district (3 people), Bangli district (3 people), Gianyar district (2 people) and Jembrana (1 person).

Related to duties in the implementation of the elections, the highest number of victims is from Voting Committee Group (KPPS) officers (31 people). From that number, 4 of them even died namely I Nengah Sumerta, 46, from Pasedahan village, Manggis, Karangasem. While carrying out his duties as a KPPS officer,

the victim fell ill and then felt unwell, his family had taken him to the Karangasem Hospital with a diagnosis of high tension, shortness of breath and was then declared dead.

Meanwhile, I Ketut Putu Suwika, 38, from Pegadungan village, Sukasada, Buleleng, was exhausted during the voting and counting. He was diagnosed to have heart disease and died at home on May 10, 2019.

Trismawatin, 46, from Tegalbadeng Timur village, Jembrana, died on May 10, 2019. And, I Putu Rudi Artawan, 37, from Kuta village, Badung, died in an accident under conditions of exhaustion after the voting and counting.

Jhon Darmawan added that in

addition to KPPS, there are also victims from Subdistrict Electoral Committee (PPK) officers amounting to 4 people, PPS (7 people), people protection (3 people) and employees of the KPU secretariat (3 people). “We are appreciative and push for immediate compensation,” he said.

Meanwhile, there were 8 victims from Bali Electoral Supervisory Bard, where 4 people died, 2 people were sick and 2 others were injured.

Chairperson of Bali Electoral Supervisory Board, Ketut Ariyani, said that those who were sick and died due to exhaustion in carrying out their duties. Among them, there is I Nyoman Astawa, PTPS, from Jalan Singosari, Tagtag Tengah,

Gang Pelatuk No. 1 Denpasar Utara, died after overseeing the counting process until 03:00 on April 20, 2019.

Putu Sudiasa, PPKD, from Banjar Dangin Margi, Tampekan, Banjar, Buleleng, died on April 13, 2019. I Ketut Sucipta Astawa, PPKD from Banjar Pasekan Buduk, Badung, died on February 24, 2019, due to shortness of breath.

Finally, I Gede Artana, Chief of Subdistrict Supervisory Committee, Banjar Pempatan, Rendang, Karangasem, had kidney pain and was about to undergo dialysis treatment, but when undergoing treatment at the hospital the concerned died on Sunday (May 12) 13:30 Local Time. (kmb16)

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Activities

International

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

15

Painting While Drinking Wine This art activity is really interesting and relaxed. Tourists can paint while drinking wine or drinking wine while expressing the art on canvas. This activity is indeed in demand, so that domestic and foreign tourists want to linger at the restaurant. “I will definitely come here if I’m relaxed. While painting, we can enjoy wine and eat,” said the beautiful girl from Palu, Sulawesi.

It is one of the activities in Samanera Bowl Ubud. In order to increase the interest of both foreign and domestic tourists to stay in Bali and Ubud in particular, they are always creative in creating new tourist attractions. Painting and

wine activity is in an open space, cool atmosphere, and can witness the activities at tourism village.

This tourist activity is indeed packaged casually for tourists wishing to paint whatever they want.

“Painting and Wine Class is indeed presented to tourists to coincide with Kartini Day. We still give freedom to tourists taking part in these activities and wishing to paint anything,” said the Founder of Painting and Wine Activities, on Sunday (Apr. 28).

Indeed, painting while drinking wine is deliberately selected to give relaxing impression. This activity has existed since 3 weeks ago in an effort to reduce saturation of tour-

ists and workers carrying out daily routine activities. “We provide outdoor facilities while seeing other tourists passing by around Ubud.

You can also drink as much as you like,” explained Inneke.

The response of tourists to Painting and Wine is quite good. Within a day, there are about 10 people getting interested in buying the Painting and Wine package. Children, adolescents and adults can do this activity. Specifically for children, the drinks are replaced with juice and other soft drinks. Even though it is packaged for weekends, for many ordinary days there are also enthusiasts. (kmb)

14

Science

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

International

Key parts of a fruit fly’s genetic makeup have finally been decoded

SOME of the most important chapters in fruit flies’ genetic instruction book have finally been decoded. For the first time, researchers have deciphered, or sequenced, the genetic makeup of all of a multicellular organism’s centromeres — and discovered stretches of DNA that may be key in divvying up chromosomes. Errors in doing that job can lead to cancer, birth defects or death. The team reported the achievement May 14 in PLOS Biology.

Centromeres, which give most chromosomes their characteristic X shape, help move chromosomes in dividing cells. “The chromosome is a bus, and our DNA and genes are the passengers. The centromere is the bus driver,” says Beth Sullivan, a geneticist and centromere biologist at Duke University School of Medicine not involved in the study.

“It’s what moves the chromosome, after the DNA has been copied, into new daughter cells.”

Until now, scientists have known very little about these genetic bus drivers. Some centromeres from corn, horses, yeast and other fungi — and one human one that drives the Y chromosome — have been characterized. But mostly what scientists knew about centromeres is that they are incredibly long stretches of repetitive DNA. Although scientists reported in 2000 that they’d finished reading the entire Drosophila melanogaster instruction book, or genome, in truth, researchers had skipped over the flies’ centromeres and other repetitive DNA. (The human genome is also not really complete; human centromeres, except for that of the Y chromosome, are still mysteries.)

The reason for the oversight was technical: To sequence the genome — meaning determine the order of DNA’s chemical letters, known as bases — scientists first had to chop

the DNA into tiny pieces about 150 bases long. Computers can put the genome together by finding where two pieces match up. Centromeres tend to repeat the same letters over and over again and can stretch for millions of bases, so many of the small bits look alike. “It’s like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle of a blue sky when all the puzzle pieces look the same,” says Amanda Larracuente, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Rochester in New York.

Larracuente and colleagues used new technology to sequence stretches of DNA 10,000 to 100,000 bases long. “It’s like having much bigger puzzle pieces,” Larracuente says, “So now we might be able to catch a wisp of a cloud in our bluesky puzzle pieces, and that makes it a lot easier to figure out how these pieces of DNA fit together.”

The team also used several other techniques to fit their centromere puzzles together.

Those techniques should make it possible for other scientists to fill in gaps in other organisms’ genomes, says Gernot Presting, a centromere biologist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa not involved in the study.

When the team finally finished putting the centromere pieces together, it found stretches of repetitive DNA interspersed with

IBP/net

Researchers have decoded the genetic composition of important structures called centromeres (colored green in this illustration) in fruit flies’ chromosomes. Centromeres ensure that chromosomes are properly distributed to dividing cells. “islands” of jumping genes. These jumping genes, or retrotransposons, are ancient mobile pieces of DNA akin to viruses that can copy themselves and insert those copies in spots throughout the genome. Sometimes that jumping causes harm, such as when a retrotransposon lands in and breaks an important gene. But transposons also have shaped human evolution.

Each fruit fly chromosome’s centromere is unique, although all have the same basic structure of retrotransposon islands — particularly the retrotransposon G2/ Jockey-3 — surrounded by seas of repetitive DNA. Copies of G2/ Jockey-3 are scattered in other places in the fruit fly genome, but

about 63 percent of its copies are in centromeres, the researchers found.

Those results might mean that the transposon is a seed around which new centromeres can form, or the transposon may just hop into centromeres more often than into other parts of the genome.

The researchers uncovered one clue hinting that G2/Jockey-3 might seed centromeres: A key centromere protein called CENP-A clings to those transposon islands.

That protein helps secure the centromere to the cellular machinery the separates chromosomes into new daughter cells. Finding that CENP-A sticks to the transposon islands suggests the jumping genes might be in the centromere’s

Bali News

International

driver’s seat.

Centromeres in plants, fungi, bats, gibbons and humans also contain retrotransposons. But no one really knows whether those transposons are driving the bus or are just along for the ride, says coauthor Barbara Mellone, a geneticist at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Presting, for example, argues that there’s evidence that transposons are passengers: In corn, centromeres move first and retrotransposons hop aboard later.

Armed with centromeres’ structure, Mellone and colleagues hope to find out exactly how important the jumping genes are to keeping fruit fly centromeres and their chromosomes on the right track. (net)

IBP/net

Some Norwich terriers’ breathing troubles might rest on a mutated gene linked to swelling around airways, researchers suggest. The gene may also contribute to the labored breathing of dogs with flatter snouts, such as French and English bulldogs.

those same dogs scored worse on airway-function tests than dogs with just one copy or the normal versions of the gene, researchers report online May 16 in PLOS Genetics.

The gene variant, which does not hinder the gene’s main function in the development of lymphatic vessels, also turned up in the DNA of French and English bulldogs. That finding indicates that those pooches’ smooshed snouts might not be the only factor behind their labored breaths.

“This is the first evidence to show that it’s not just all about skull shape,” says study coauthor Jeffrey Schoenebeck, an animal geneticist at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute.

The research might someday help dog breeders build healthier pups. Schoenebeck suggests that a genetic test could be developed to identify Norwich terriers with the genetic variant. Breeders could then use the test to keep those dogs from reproducing and passing the mutation along. (net)

3

Train plan in Bali

Governor returns it to the community

DENPASAR - The discourse of the train construction in Bali has been rolling out for a long time and had been reaping the pros and cons. Having been fading for long enough, this discourse emerges again in the era of leadership under Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster. The infrastructure will later be built with a KPBU scheme (Government and Business Entity Cooperation), while the priority route is Mengwitani-Singaraja.

“It’s been a long time and the study has already existed. However, we return it to the people of Bali. If we need it, we will realize it, and if we don’t need it ... it does not matter,” said Governor Wayan Koster, when confirmed on Friday (May 17).

However, continued Koster, Bali in the future requires mass transportation modes. One of the alternatives is the train. Although there has been public transportation, the route is not right or does not connect between the regions in the context of real needs.

“If there is a lot of interest in the future, in my opinion, the current (public transportation) is no longer enough. It has to be equipped with other modes of transportation,” added this Chairman of the PDIP Bali.

When separately interviewed, Head of the Bali Transportation Agency, I Gde Wayan Samsi Gunarta, said the first feasibility study (FS) made by the ministry is under discussion. Detailed Engineering Design (DED) for the MengwitaniSingaraja train is being prepared.

However, the level of feasibility apparently remains inadequate technically. For example, if passing Bedugul to the north, the upgrade is too high, and if forced it requires a longer tunnel. His agency then looked for opportunities for other

traces. Even if there is a tunnel, it can be made not too long.

“There are several other studies, which actually do not refer to trains. There are studies related to highways and so on by using other traces,” he said.

According to Samsi, the trace is considered to be more moderate or better. This means that gradients have more prospects than before.

Then, for financing schemes it will use KPBU, but solicited where the government serves as the initiator, then it will be auctioned in the form of an investment auction.

He said that train plan in terms of socio-cultural aspect had good acceptability in accordance with the results of the study. Moreover, the existing public transportation, all of them use road infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the road conditions already had traffic congestion with the ratio of the number of vehicles and residents almost 1 to 1. In this case, Bali is saturated in terms of vehicle growth. Data from the Bali Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency show that in Bali there are 629.39 km of national roads, 743.34 km of provincial roads, and 5,391.43 km of district / city roads.

Actually, for motorized vehicles according to the data of the Bali Revenue Service in the past five years there were 3.2 million units.

Of that amount, around 2.7 million

Some dog breeds may have trouble breathing because of a mutated gene DOGS with flat faces aren’t alone in their struggle to breathe.

It turns out that Norwich terriers can develop the same wheezing — caused not by the shape of their snouts, but possibly by a wayward gene.

DNA from 401 Norwich terriers revealed that those suffering a respiratory tract disorder shared the same variant of gene ADAMTS3 that’s associated with swelling around airways. Nearly a third of the dogs had two copies of that mutated gene. And

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

IBP/kmb

The demand for PDDS (Regional Company of Dharma Santhika) red rice with the Bali Pertiwi brand continues to increase.

Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster

IBP/kmb

are motorbikes and only around 500,000 units are four-wheeled vehicles and above. “So the choice is actually to increase capacity,” he added.

To enlarge capacity, continued Samsi, it can indeed be added to the network. For example, it uses another road by repairing and enlarging its capacity or using highspeed toll roads. But we can also use mass transport such as trains.

Indeed, the transportation at the beginning will definitely take time for the community to make adjustments. He did not dismiss there is possibility if the train will be empty

of passengers at the beginning of its operation later.

“The service must be done optimally first because the demand is greatly influenced by the performance of existing services. If this happens, well ... we actually can’t automatically expect in the early stages to be full. Almost everything runs like that,” he explained.

Samsi added the train to be built in Bali is likely to be electrified. It can be in the form of LRT, electric trains, or other modes as developed in many countries such as autonomous rail rapid transit, and may also use metro type capsules that

have been developed domestically.

All technologies must be verified first to determine which are more likely to be applied. It takes around three years from the planning stage to realization.

“But now, we have other models or schemes that can be applied.

Depending on the speed, we can prepare, for example, whether our initial study can be prepared faster or not,” he explained.

When talking about the budget needed, Samsi has not been able to say the exact figure because it is very much determined by the tract that will be used later. (kmb32)

TABANAN - Since it was marketed in April 2019 in networked stores, the demand for PDDS (Regional Company of Dharma Santhika) red rice with the Bali Pertiwi brand continues to increase.

If originally ordered 173 boxes containing 1,038 pieces with the size of 1 kilogram, the networked stores have returned to re-order 60 boxes where one box contains 6 pieces of 1 kilogram size Director of PDDS, Gede Putu Sugi Darmawan, some time ago said the addition of this order along with the bagged certificate of Fresh Food Crop Origin (PSAT) from the Ministry of Agriculture for Bali Pertiwi brand rice marketed by PDDS for the red, black and fragrant and milky sprouting rice. The

PSAT certificate is a standard for agricultural products accepted in networked stores or modern stores.

Since the PSAT has been owned and offered at networked stores, the market has responded positively to the transaction for Tabanan red rice.

“Of the various variants of rice sold by PDDS under the brand of Pertiwi Bali, the sales absorbed by the networked stores are the types of red rice. Within less than a month, networked stores have made repeat orders or re-orders amounting to 60 boxes.

Meanwhile, for other variants, namely black rice and sprouting fragrant rice, the sales are also quite good, but currently there are no repeat orders. Previously, each variant of Bali Pertiwi rice was absorbed to reach 1 ton per order for

217 Alfamart stores in Bali.

Sugi added that to fulfill the stock of Pertiwi Bali rice variant, for milky sprouting fragrant rice is taken from Subak Timbul or BUMDes of Gadung Sari village, East Selemadeg. Sandalwood red rice is supplied by BUMDes Babahan and BUMDes Mengesta, Penebel, while black rice by BUMDes Tajen and Jatiluwih, Penebel.

With the addition of order for red rice by networked stores, there will certainly be an increase in demand for red rice at the level of BUMDes becoming the suppliers. Currently, the absorption of red rice at the BUMDes level by PDDS reaches 2-3 tons per month in bulk, from the previously one ton per month. (kmb24)

Demand for Pertiwi Bali red rice of Tabanan from networked retail stores increases

4

Bali News

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

International

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

International

Farmer at Pengotan cultivates orange of new variety

Sinking feeling: Philippine cities facing ‘slow-motion disaster’

BANGLI - New orange variety is now being developed by a farmer at Pengotan village, Bangli, I Wayan Nyarka. This new variety named Sweet Orange of Mr. Nyarka has a number of advantages over oranges in general having existed in Bangli.

In terms of size, the fruit is quite large and looks attractively yellow when it has been ripe. Besides, the orange has a taste that is much sweeter than imported oranges. How did the cultivation look like?

In the maiden harvest activities at his garden on Sunday (May 19), Nyarka said that at a glance the beginning of the development of his new orange started about 12 years ago.

One of his family members working in the city of Denpasar received souvenirs from his employer in the form of very beautiful oranges, having large size, attractive color and very sweet taste.

Since that time was the beginning of the entry of imported oranges from China to Indonesia, his family had an idea to try sowing the orange’s seeds. Unfortunately, of the many seeds sown, only one seed could grow. After that, the growing seed was then planted in the garden.

Nyarka admitted that he could only see the fruits after the orange were nine years old. He was surprised because the results of the seedlings turned out to be extraordinary. The fruits can be similar to the original fruit. “That’s where I started the initiative to try propagating through cuttings. The cuttings I have done at that time can now produce first fruits as we have learned today,” he said.

Furthermore, he said the superiority of the cuttings from orange fruits includes the possession of a large enough fruit size, good look of fruit as well as beautiful and attractive yellow color. In terms of taste, it is also sweet, sweeter than imported or-

Khalil MAZRAAWI / afp

A lion rests in an enclosure on April 10, 2019, at the sanctuary in Jerash, some 50 kilometres north of the Jordanian capital.

IBP/kmb

This new variety named Sweet Orange of Mr. Nyarka has a number of advantages over oranges in general having existed in Bangli. anges. Another advantage possessed when compared to Berastagi oranges sold in the market, this orange has no pulp so that it can be swallowed entirely. Besides, this orange has thicker skin than other varieties.

“This has been proven by an export company in Indonesia and has received an appreciation because the quality of oranges really meets the hotel quality standards as one of the suppliers of citrus fruits,” he added.

Nyarka claimed the name Sweet Orange of Mr. Nyarka is a temporary name given to the orange currently developed. He equally cannot predict the extent and strength of these citrus plants and fruit to pests. On that account, according to him, it still needs more in-depth testing and research.

Regent of Bangli, I Made Gianyar, who attended the maiden harvest last Sunday, expressed his appreciation to Wayan Nyarka.

The regent considered Nyarka as a pioneer of progress at Pengotan village. Thirty years ago, Pengotan was still inferior to Bunutin village which was the regent’s hometown.

“Thanks to the innovation from Mr. Nyarka, currently Bunutin has been overtaken by Pengotan village with its agriculture and of course the surrounding community if there are positive things, let’s imitate faster for our common welfare,” Gianyar said. (kmb40)

To build a tourism village, Sayan allocates fund of IDR 134 million

IBP/kmb35

Armed with geographic potential alongside the tourism village of Ubud, Sayan village is now seriously developing its tourism village.

GIANYAR - Armed with geographic potential alongside the tourism village of Ubud, Sayan village is now seriously developing its tourism village. One of the potentials to be developed is the Bija Nature Tourism Village. To optimize this development, the village has even prepared a budget of around IDR 134 million. This was revealed by the Headman of Sayan, I Made Andika, on Sunday (May 19).

Andika explained that hundreds of millions of funds were taken from the village income and expenditure budget (APBDes) 2019.

So, the Bija Nature Tourism Village of Sayan could be developed into a tubing aquatic recreation and Bija restaurant. The idea of developing the tourism village is said to originate from the tourism awareness group (Pokdarwis) and the villageowned enterprise (BUMDes) of Sayan.

“As a result of the village meeting, the development of Bija nature area located at Banjar Ambengan, Sayan had been agreed upon to be made into a tourism village destination,” he said.

The development of the Bija nature tourism village has actually

been worked on since a year ago.

This development is worked on by opening road access such as by installing paving block. “It is resumed this year for the construction of restaurants and water tubing.

Possibly, this will soon be launched on June 1, 2019,” he said.

Today, his party is fully monitoring the development of this Bija nature tourism village, especially in supervising the use of funds whose value reaches hundreds of millions of rupiahs. “Operator of the tourism village is clearly originating from the BUMDes, and are overseen by the village,” he said. (kmb35)

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Traumatised by conflict, animals find haven in Jordan

JERASH - For more than a year after being moved to a Jordanian wildlife reserve from war-hit Syria, two bears, Loz and Sukkar, would cower whenever planes flew by, traumatised by past bombardments.

They are among dozens of animals that have been rescued from regional war zones, including the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, and brought to Jordan’s Al Ma’wa For Nature and Wildlife.

The sanctuary located in Jerash province north of Amman was set up by the Princess Alia Foundation, named after the king’s sister, in cooperation with the international animal welfare organisation Four Paws.

Sukkar (sugar in Arabic) and Loz (almond) are Asian black bears, now aged nine, who were trapped by war in the Magic World Zoo outside Syria’s second city, Aleppo, before being rescued in the summer of 2017.

“When they were brought here they were terrified by the sounds of aircraft, especially helicopters and for more than a year they would hide in a room inside their pens each time they heard planes go by,” said caretaker Khaled Ayasra.

The black bears are among 26 animals -- eight lions, 12 lionesses, two Bengal tigers and four bears -who live in the sprawling 1.4-squarekilometre sanctuary in a wooded mountainous region.

Most were rescued from Syria, where the conflict has raged since

2011, as well as the conflict-riddled Gaza Strip where Israel has fought three wars since 2008 with the territory’s Islamist rulers, Hamas.

Only one animal -- a bear called Lula -- was evacuated from Iraq.

Martin Bauer, spokesman for the Vienna-based Four Paws, said most of the animals were in poor physical and psychological condition before being rescued and “often sensitive to loud noises”.

“They are usually emaciated, their teeth are in bad condition and... also suffer from psychological trauma,” he told AFP. - ‘Aromatherapy’ Before they reach the sanctuary, the animals are taken to the New Hope Centre, a veterinary clinic linked to the Jerash reserve, where they are provided with medical care and undergo rehabilitation.

Some are then sent back to their country of origin, while others are released into the wild or brought to the sanctuary to start a new life.

“In our sanctuaries the animals have the chance to recover from the hardships of their past and very often their natural instincts come back after a while,” said Bauer.

He said proper food and medical care is “extremely vital” for their well-being, but the animals must also be able to trust their carers and regain self-confidence.

Loz and Sukkar have made huge strides since coming to Jordan.

“They are happier and love to play and meet visitors,” said Ayasra.

Workers at the sanctuary use all sorts of means to help the animals recuperate after years of hardship.

They are given a balanced diet, toys such as balls to play with and even an aromatherapy type of treatment -- natural herbs and spices placed in pails inside their pens -- to help them relax. Bears eat 16 kilos (35 pounds) worth of fruit and vegetables daily, while the lions are given seven to 15 kilos of meat three times a week. Sultan, the lion, and Sabreen, a lioness, are among the animals who found a new lease on life at the Ma’wa, after their rescue by Four Paws in 2014 from a Gaza zoo following Israeli bombardment.

At first, “Sultan was very, very nervous and would destroy everything he found inside his enclosure,” said Ayasra. “But now he has calmed down and likes to greet visitors.” (afp)

MANILA - When Mary Ann San Jose moved to Sitio Pariahan more than two decades ago, she could walk to the local chapel. Today, reaching it requires a swim.

The main culprit is catastrophic subsidence caused by groundwater being pumped out from below, often via unregulated wells for homes, factories, and farms catering to a booming population and growing economy.

The steady sinking of coastal towns and islets like Pariahan in the northern Philippines has caused Manila Bay’s brackish water to pour inland and displace thousands, posing a greater threat than rising sea levels due to climate change.

“It was so beautiful here before...

Children were playing in the streets,” San Jose said, adding: “Now we always need to use a boat.”

Most of the former residents have scattered to other parts of the region.

Just a handful of families remain in Pariahan, which had its own elementary school, a basketball court and a chapel before the water flowed in.

These days just the flooded chapel, a cluster of shacks on bamboo stilts where San Jose lives with her family, and a few homes on a bump of land remain.

The children that live there commute 20 minutes by boat to a school inland and most of the residents eke out a living by fishing.

The provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan -- where Pariahan is located -- have sunk between four and six centimetres (1.5-2.4 inches) annually since 2003, according to satellite monitoring.

“It’s really a disaster that is already happening... It’s a slow-onset disaster,” explained Narod Eco, who is part of a group of scientists tracking the problem.

- Threat to lives By comparison, the UN estimates average sea level rise globally is about three millimetres per year.

The creeping bay waters put people and property at risk, while the threat is amplified by high-tides and flooding brought by the roughly 20 storms that pound the archipelago every year.

Some areas have raised roads in an effort to keep up with the sinking, creating odd scenes where the street surface is at the height of door knobs on roadside buildings.

At least 5,000 people have been forced out of the mostly rural coastal areas north of Manila in recent decades as the bay water has moved further inland, regional disaster officials told AFP. The sinking is very likely permanent because the ground in the hardest hit areas is mostly clay, which sticks together after the water is pulled out.

The fate of towns such as Pariahan provides a preview of the problems that may await some of the capital’s 13 million people.

Sections of Manila along the shore of the bay are sinking too, with excess groundwater pumping being the most likely cause, Eco, the researcher, told AFP. The subsidence there though is at a slower rate than the northern coastal communities, potentially due to less pumping or differences in the soil, he added. A moratorium on new wells in the greater Manila area has been in place since 2004. But enforcing that ban as well as shuttering existing illegal wells, falls to the National Water Resource Board and its roughly 100 staffers who are responsible for policing the whole country.

“We have insufficient manpower resources,” the board’s director Sevillo David told AFP. “It’s a very big challenge for us, but I think we are doing the best we can.” (afp)

Noel CELIS / AFP

This photo taken on January 11, 2019 shows a chapel amid encroaching bay waters in Sitio Pariahan, Bulacan. Areas north of Manila like the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan have sunk four-six centimetres (1.5-2.4 inches) a year since 2003, according to satellite monitoring.

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International

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Japan economy expands 2%, 2nd straight quarter of growth the January-March period from the previous quarter.

Healthy public investment and private residential investment helped boost growth during the quarter, according to the data, which is likely to be revised.

Japan’s economy has recorded moderate growth under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenom-

ics” anti-deflation programs but contracted in some recent periods because of natural disasters and other factors.

The impact from the deepening trade dispute between the U.S. and China also is crimping demand for export-reliant Japan.

Worries have been growing that the momentum for Japan’s

economic growth may be slowing.

Harumi Taguchi of IHS Markit in Tokyo said one factor behind the better-than-expected results was that imports slowed as well as exports, which signals slowing internal demand.

“Extra holidays related to the new emperor, the Rugby World

Cup and a lift in consumption ahead of an expected sales tax increase are expected to support consumption for some time,” he said.

But he noted that extra government measures may be needed to support spending after the tax takes effect. Japan is set to implement a sales tax increase from 8% to 10 % later this year. (ap)

In Iran, a plunging economy trumps fears of US confrontation

TEHRAN - Across Iran’s capital, the talk always seems to come back to how things may get worse. Battered by U.S. sanctions and its depreciating rial currency, Iran’s 80 million people struggle to buy meat, medicine and other staples of daily life. Now they wonder aloud about America’s intentions as it rushes an aircraft carrier and other forces to the region over a still-unexplained threat it perceives from Iran.

The Associated Press spoke to a variety of people on Tehran’s streets recently, ranging from young and old, women wearing the all-encompassing black chador to those loosely covering their hair.

Most say they believe a war will not come to the region, though they remain willing to defend their country. They think Iran should try to talk to the U.S. to help its anemic economy, even as they see President Donald Trump as an erratic and untrustworthy adversary.

“Trump is not predictable at all and one doesn’t know how to react to him and what is the right thing to do against him,” said Afra Hamedzadeh, a 20-year-old civil servant and university student. “Since he controls the global economy we are somehow left with few options.”

But opinions vary across Iran’s capital, Tehran, depending on whether you speak to someone coming out of Friday prayers, in the back of a shared taxi cab, or exiting the coffee shops popular with young people.

“If America could do anything, it would have done many things by now,” said the chador-wearing Zoherh Sadeghi, a 51-year-old housewife coming out of prayers.

“It can’t do anything. It can’t do a damn thing.”

That’s an opinion shared by 35year-old office worker Massumeh Izadpanah.

“When someone keeps trying to scare you it means that they

think they are not yet ready for war. When someone really wants war it starts the war right away.

Like when Iraq attacked us, all of a sudden bombs were dropped,” she said. “But right now America just says, ‘I’m coming,’ to scare Iran.”

A young nation, many across Iran were alive for its bloody 1980s war with Iraq, a conflict that began when dictator Saddam Hussein invaded and dragged on for eight years. That war, in which Saddam used chemical weapons and Iran launched human wave attacks, killed 1 million people.

Since Trump withdrew the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers last year, state television increasingly has focused attention on that war’s wounded.

In Tehran’s southern Javadieh neighborhood, veteran Mohammad Ali Moghaddam said he was ready to fight again.

“I would encourage my three sons and grandsons to go to defend Iran too,” said Moghaddam, a 58year-old welder.

Arezou Mirzaei, a 37-year-old mother of two in central Tehran, is more worried.

“I think the government should do something to avoid war,” Mirzaei said. “If war was good, then Afghanistan and Iraq would not be the mess that we see on TV.” Taxi driver Jafar Hadavand, 34, agrees.

“I think both sides will be losers if they fight each other,” Hadavand said. “I think there are wise people

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Ghana Waterfall Awaits You

BUSINESS TOKYO - Japan’s economy grew at an annual pace of 2.1% in the first quarter, marking the second straight quarter of expansion, according to government data released Monday.

The Cabinet Office said seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product, the total value of a nation’s goods and services, grew 0.5% in

Bali News

International

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Pejeng Kangin village, Tampaksiring, is now beginning to develop the potential of Gana Waterfall. This endeavor is carried out by arranging the road access heading for the object.

All this time, there is not indeed road access to the waterfall object having alluring panorama.

Headman of Pejeng Kangin, I Gede Purniadi, clarified that his village does have beautiful objects that are not inferior to waterfalls elsewhere. The pristine waterfall is located near the Gana Temple at local village. “Since the waterfall sits near Gana Temple, it is called the Gana Waterfall,” he said not long ago.

According to him, the water flow of the waterfall sources from the Bukit Empelan of Pejeng, a tributary of Tukad Pakerisan’s river flow. Although it is believed to be a good object to take selfie, so far there is no direct access to this location. “Unfortunately, there is no road access to the location yet,” he said.

Though having had no proper access, the headman and other residents are optimistic to develop the waterfall as a tourist attraction. “There is entry access along about 400 meters from the parking lot belonging to village temple’s property. But no access is available yet to get to the location of the waterfall,” he explained.

Local residents have started to clean up the location by walking along the existing paths and cliffs. He and the residents carried out cleanup in the area of ??the waterfall from drifted wooden twigs. Likewise, plastic waste under the waterfall is taken up.

“By and large, we do mutual assistance on Fridays, but we also do extra activities on Wednesdays. This is our step in making people aware of waste, and we are embarrassed later after getting the predicate as tourism village but plastic waste remains

scattered,” he said.

He also revealed the budget required to build the road access to the location of Gana Waterfall is estimated to reach approximately IDR 250 million, namely for the making of pathway of 1.5 meters wide and 400 meters long.

Other than having the waterfall tourism, the village also has other potential like the Kerobokan Cliff Temple, trekking and cycling paths in paddy fields with a track length of about 10 kilometers. “We already have the tourism potential. Now, we are necessary to develop human resource potential and the

budget,” he added.

Purniadi affirmed that his village government is seriously promoting the tourist objects at his village by establishing a tourism awareness group (Pokdarwis). “We have established the Pokdarwis,” he concluded. (kmb)

Uname Restaurant Serves Healthy Menus with Beautiful Ornaments

AP Photo/Vahid Salemi

In this Saturday, May 18, 2019 photo, a couple takes photos with bas reliefs of ancient Persian soldiers in an old neighborhood in downtown Tehran, Iran. The Associated Press spoke to a variety of people on Tehran s streets recently, ranging from young and old, women wearing the all-encompassing black chador to those merely loosely covering their hair. on both sides to advocate peace, not war.”

Still, many pointed to the economy, not the possible outbreak of war, as Iran’s major concern. Iran’s rial currency traded at 32,000 to $1 at the time of the 2015 nuclear deal. Now it is at 148,000, and many have seen their life’s savings wiped out.

Nationwide, the unemployment rate is 12 percent. For youth it’s even worse, with a quarter of all young people unemployed, according to Iran’s statistic center.

“The economic situation is very bad, very bad. Unemployment is very high, and those who had jobs have lost theirs,” said Sadeghi, the housewife. “Young people can’t find good jobs, or get married, or

become independent.”

Sores Maleki, a 62-year-old retired accountant, said talks with the U.S. to loosen sanctions would help jumpstart Iran’s economy.

“We should go and talk to America with courage and strength. We are able to do that, others have done it,” Maleki said. “We can make concessions and win concessions.

We have no other choice.”

But such negotiations will be difficult, said Reza Forghani, a 51-year-old civil servant. He said Iran needed to get the U.S. to “sign a very firm contract that they can’t escape and have to honor.” Otherwise, Iran should drop out of the nuclear deal.

“When someone refuses to keep promises and commitments, you

can tolerate it a couple of times, but then certainly you can’t remain committed forever. You will react,” Forghani said. “So I don’t think we should remain committed to the deal until the end.”

Yet for Iran’s youth, many of whom celebrated the signing of the 2015 nuclear deal in the streets, the situation now feels more akin to a funeral. Many openly discuss their options to obtain a visa — any visa — to get abroad.

“Young people have a lot of stress and the future is unknown,” said Hamedzadeh, the 20-yearold civil servant. “The future is so unknown that you can’t plan.

The only thing they can do is to somehow leave Iran and build a life abroad.” (ap)

Uname, a restaurant managed

by Pramana Experience, is quite unique. Guests cannot only enjoy delicious food, but the restaurant is also arranged with beautiful decorations. Guests can name themselves on the menu ordered.

The menus offered are healthy and quality food. Various menus are

available and not only providing quality taste, but also having a beautiful appearance.

If you stop by at a restaurant located on Jalan Padang Getas, Singakerta, Ubud, Gianyar, you will encounter different vibes. Beautiful nuance, rural nature and local plants, a row of Mount Batukaru

and the magnificent Mount Agung can provide positive vibration.

Moreover, the concept of Uname Resto gives a new nuance in the growing culinary business on the Island of the Gods. Not to mention the various menus that are served, there are Indonesia food and Western food. The cooking process is Western style but offering Indonesian taste.

Wayan Suarsa, familiarly addressed as Leon Sinatra, the Operation Director of Pramana Experience, said the pronunciation of ‘you name’ for this restaurant name ‘Uname’ presents something unique and interesting. It makes each customer a chef that gives a name to the food it enjoys. “In addition, ‘you name’ also invites the audience to live healthy with good food without having to become a vegetarian,” he explained.

The restaurant offering 28 seats is open every day from 08:00 until 22:00 and has indeed commitment to serving food with the concept

of healthy and tasty food without having to fear of cholesterol and other adverse effects on the health of visitors. For those who are still healthy, it’s also good to keep a healthy diet without worries. “We are very careful in choosing ingredients and seasonings, as well as in preparation with special cooking methods to make the food delicious and healthy,” he explained.

Uname Resto is dedicated to all culinary lovers especially young people looking for the latest culinary delights with high-speed internet access while enjoying the natural scenery in the open space.

For young executives wishing to discuss business matters at the café, they can choose Uname as a venue to meet while having lunch or just enjoying comfortable coffee in an air-conditioned room. Uname also has an outdoor area that can be used for casual hangout activities.

“We also have a wide location, suitable for various activities such as social gathering or to celebrating

birthdays,” he explained.

Chef of Uname Resto Ubud, Partana, added the menus served at Uname are quite unique, where one of which is Lagsana Tempeh.

This is a modified menu from Italian cuisine, namely lagsana. In the original recipe, the lagsana is made from flour dough, while in Lagsana Tempeh, it is replaced with a thinly cut sheet of tempeh. “Because of using tempeh, this menu becomes healthier and the Lagsana Tempe is really served without carbohydrates, making it suitable for customers implementing a diet,” he explained.

Pork Belly, for instance, though this menu is known to have bad cholesterol and high fat, at the Uname Resto it is served without high cholesterol. The process of cooking is good and using a variety of spices making this menu safe for customers wishing to eat without the risk of high cholesterol. “We use spices that function to neutralize the pork cholesterol,” he added. (kmb)

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Tuesday, May 21, 2019

W

International

RLD

Doctors start halting support for vegetative Frenchman

REIMS - French doctors Monday began switching off the life support of a quadriplegic man who has been in a vegetative state for the last decade, in a hugely controversial case that has divided France.

The dispute over the fate of Vincent Lambert, 42, who was left with severe brain damage after a traffic accident in 2008, has split his own family and even become a subject of political tension in France ahead of the weekend’s European elections.

His parents, devout Catholics, have repeatedly launched court action to keep him alive, putting them at odds with Lambert’s wife and five siblings who believe the most humane course is to let him die.

Following a final judicial ruling to end the nutrition and hydration Lambert receives, doctors Monday started halting his life support at the Sebastopol Hospital in the northern French city of Reims.

Medical sources told AFP that under these conditions it would mean that Lambert dies within days or a week.

Jean Paillot, the lawyer for Vincent Lambert’s parents, said they would launch multiple legal challenges in a last-ditch bid to prevent Lambert dying, including with the Paris court of appeal and the criminal court of Reims.

- ‘As peaceful as possible’ Vincent Sanchez, the doctor treating Lambert who has been the target of the parents’ anger, said in a message to the family that the “halting of treatments” and “profound and continued sedation” had been initiated.

In the message seen by AFP, he urged

everyone to “rally around him (Vincent Lambert) so these moments are as peaceful, intimate and personal and possible.”

The parents’ lawyers had at the weekend said they wanted Sanchez removed from the case and also struck off France’s medical register. In a statement, the lawyers accused Sanchez of “violating all his obligations” while adding that “there is still time to stop this madness”.

The family has been torn asunder by the case.

“They are monsters! Monsters!,” said his mother Viviane, 73, as she came to the hospital on Monday. The day earlier she had organised a demonstration outside with her husband Pierre, 90.

“I want to see my son before he goes to sleep.”

But Lambert’s wife Rachel, five of his siblings and his nephew Francois, have all backed the decision to begin switching off the systems, agreeing this is the humane path given his condition.

They have generally steered clear of commenting to the media in what has been a complex and wrenching legal saga lasting half a decade.

French law allows so-called “passive euthanasia” for seriously ill or injured patients with no chance of recovery, in which the means for keeping someone alive are cut off.

In 2014, Lambert’s doctors, backed by

rising by up to 50 percent both in China and on the Chicago futures exchange.

In Europe, the rise has been 18 percent since the beginning of March as Japan and South Korea, two major importing nations, have started to build up reserves in

VIVEK PRAKASH / AFP

Pig trotters hang from hooks as a butcher prepares pork meat at a market in Hong Kong on May 11, 2019.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

11

7 French fighter jets make emergency landing in Indonesia BANDA ACEH - Poor weather conditions have forced seven French navy fighter jets taking part in a training exercise to make emergency landings in northern Indonesia, an Indonesian air force official said Sunday.

FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI / AFP

A picture taken in Reims on May 20, 2019 shows a general view of Sebastopol hospital where doctors began switching off the life support of Vincent Lambert, a quadriplegic man who has been in a vegetative state for the last decade. his wife and siblings, decided to stop his nutrition and hydration in line with the law.

But the parents, and his half-brother and sister obtained a court order to block the move on grounds his condition might improve with better treatment.

But early this year, a French court sided with Sanchez’s decision to stop the care keeping Lambert alive.

The ruling was upheld last month by France’s State Council which decides on the validity of laws and legal decisions.

The UN committee on disabled rights earlier this month asked France to suspend the decision, while it conducts its own investigation, which could take years. The French government has made clear there is no legal obligation to abide by this. (afp)

Swine fever sending pork prices higher

PARIS - In a cruel irony in the Chinese Year of the Pig, outbreaks of African Swine Fever are forcing huge culls that could send pork prices to levels never seen before.

According to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization, pork prices “have begun to soar”,

International

cases of disruptions to supplies, according to commodities markets research firm Cyclope.

In France and Germany, pork prices have “risen by 30 percent since the start of year due to China,” said Jean-Paul Simier, an agricultural market analyst at French bank Credit Agricole who authored the meat section of the latest Cyclope annual report.

Home to nearly half of the world’s pigs, China is both the world’s largest consumer and producer of pork, which is a staple of its cuisine.

African Swine Fever, a virus that is not dangerous to humans but fatal to pigs and wild boar, began sweeping across China last year.

Chinese officials have said hundreds of thousands of pigs were culled in a bid to stop its spread -- an effort that has also seen restrictions placed on moving pigs from affected areas.

Despite the measures, African Swine Fever continued to spread, eventually hitting China’s major pig farming area in Sichuan province.

- Record prices? Cyclope said that since the start of the year 20 Chinese provinces have been hit, leading authorities to cull one million pigs, and removing them from the food chain.

It has continued to spread further, approaching the border with Laos in the south of the country and to the tropical island of Hainan, according to a map produced by the FAO. Cambodia, Mongolia and Vietnam have also been hit, with nearly 100,000 pigs culled in the three countries.

The culls mean that China must now begin importing pork massively to compensate for lost production, said Jean-Paul Simier.

“China is the decisive market for pork, you need to understand that 700 million pigs live in China, compared to 20 million in France for example,” he said.

“The outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in East Asia is likely to have a noticeable impact on meat and feed markets worldwide,” said the FAO in its latest semi-annual

report on food markets that came out earlier this month.

It warned of “challenges to maintaining adequate meat supplies in affected countries,” saying that based on reports by government officials, industry sources and news media that the extent of the cull may have reached 20 percent of China’s pig herd.

Simier has a more conservative forecast of a drop in Chinese pork production of 10 percent this year, or nearly 6 million tonnes.

“That is already enormous, because the international meat trade is only some 10 million tonnes per year,” he said.

“If the disease situation gets out of control, pork could hit prices never seen before,” he added.

While that is bad news for consumers, it means good business ahead for pig farmers in regions that haven’t been touched by African Swine Fever.

But farmers who raise feed grains for pigs, particularly soybeans, could be hurt by a drop in Chinese demand. (afp)

The crews of the seven Dassault Rafale combat planes landed safely at Sultan Iskandar Muda air force base in Aceh province on Saturday, 90 minutes after taking off from their aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Indian Ocean, said Aceh air force base commander Col. Hendro Arief.

“We had to open our base to them to land as they were in an emergency state due to bad weather,” Arief said.

He said air force radar confirmed that the planes were initially flying out of Indonesian territory when fog and bad weather forced them to land immediately as they were trying to return to their aircraft carrier, located 100 nautical miles west of Sumatra’s exclusive economic zone. Arief said Indonesian air force personnel had completed an inspection of the planes.

Five of the seven jets were returned to their carrier on Sunday, while the other two were still having technical problems, Arief said.

French diplomats in Indonesia were informed of the incident. (ap)

AP Photo/Khalis Surry

Indonesian military personnel walks past one of seven French Navy Rafale jet fighters parked on the tarmac at Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Base in Aceh Besar, Indonesia, Sunday, May 19, 2019.

Indonesia police arrest 9 suspects ahead of election results JAKARTA - Indonesian police arrested nine suspected militants following a tipoff about a possible attack during the announcement of presidential election results next week, police said Thursday.

The elite counterterrorism squad arrested suspected militant instructor Joko Supriono in the East Java town of Madiun on Tuesday, and eight others were apprehended separately in Central Java province, National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said.

He said seven of the suspects had allegedly joined an extremist group in Syria before returning this year, and Supriono was believed to be linked to Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, a local militant network affiliated with the Islamic State group.

The men were being transported to the capital, Jakarta, for further investigation, Prasetyo said.

Also known as JAD, the network of almost two dozen extremist organizations has been implicated in numerous attacks in Indonesia in the past two years and was designated a terror organization by the U.S. in 2017.

Last week, the counterterrorism squad foiled an alleged plot by members of JAD to set off bombs during expected street protests after the official vote count for the presidential election is announced by the electoral commission by May 22, police said.

They said they uncovered the plot after arresting a group member identified only as Rafli at a cellular

shop in Jakarta’s satellite city of Bekasi and finding two bombs and several detonators that could be set off using Wi-Fi signals from a cellphone or radio transmitter.

Prasetyo said police were tipped off about Rafli’s whereabouts while interrogating four suspected militants who were arrested in Bekasi during several police raids on JAD members. Another suspect was shot to death while trying to detonate a bomb during a raid.

Indonesian militants have been inspired by IS attacks abroad despite a sustained crackdown that obliterated an al-Qaida-affiliated network that was responsible for bombings in Bali in 2002 and other attacks.

In May last year, two families

carried out suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia’s secondlargest city, Surabaya, killing a dozen people and two young girls whose parents had involved them in one of the attacks. Police said the father was the head of a local Jemaah Anshorut Daulah cell.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, is an outpost of democracy in a Southeast Asian neighborhood of authoritarian governments and is forecast to be among the world’s biggest economies by 2030. The country held the biggest singleday election on April 17 to elect a president and national and regional parliaments.

Vote counts from five independent survey groups showed incum-

bent President Joko Widodo with a clear lead over Prabowo Subianto, a general during the era of the Suharto military dictatorship who warned Indonesia would fall apart without his strongman leadership.

Subianto’s insistence that he was on course for victory, and his allegations of fraud, have led to speculation in some quarters that he might be trying to himself fix the results or would refuse to concede.

That would put pressure on the country’s democratic institutions and could possibly lead to violence.

His supporters recently held street rallies to call for fairness and vigilance in the vote counting as the government warned that efforts to cast doubt on the outcome could amount to treason. (ap)

10

Destination

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

International

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

International

Nadal can’t wait to return to new-look Roland Garros

ROME - Defending French Open champion Rafael Nadal said Sunday he can’t wait to hit the clay courts of Roland Garros after claiming his first title this season and ninth Italian Open trophy.

Gili Biaha AMLAPURA - This island of rock, Gili Biaha with a rounded cap of grass and it is the most remote of the Amuk Bay sites, located about four kilometers northeast of Tepekong. It is a beautiful steep drop-off reef, nicely fissured and terraced in places, rings most of the island, going to a slope in the north.

The inside of the island’s curve is always protected from the current, but heavy swell can make things worse up near the reefs wall face, particularly for your boat captain

who picks the divers up. End of the rugged and terraced reef wall will lead into blowhole where a number of Reef Sharks can always be found under the overhang of the blowhole wall, inside also lives abundance of lobsters in between the cracked wall. To dive into blowhole should you carry a quality light, inside it is really dark. There are swarms of reef fishes at this site, the beautiful Mayer’s Butterflyfish are rare throughout of Bali reefs, is common in this site. It is the only possible

penetrating into blowhole when a small surge laps the reef wall and water is pounded out from the blowhole. The swirling current can occur at some places of the site, to be safe, is to stay close to the reef wall face and ascend a little distance from the reef wall face. The water temperature dips as below like 20 degrees C, so get ready with the proper wet suit to stay warm. This is an Advanced Dive Site and divers must have a minimum of 10 logged dives beyond Open Water or an

Advanced Diver Certification.

This rugged black wall, with the breaking waves above, is utterly beautiful in places and at times it is almost as if the fish are superfluous – but not quite! There are various entry points around the island, and your dive can cover almost the entire circumference of the island, or just a small part, dependent upon your interests and also, of course, the currents and conditions!

Ah yes, the conditions, the current here can be very strong, not only horizontally, but also downwards;

there is sometimes surge.

Most of the awkward currents are on the northern slope. The inside area of the crescent (the east side of Biaha) has a cave large enough for 6 divers, in which white tip reef shark often sleep.

The protected area outside the cave has interesting corals with many commensal shrimp and crab, and is home to anglerfish, leaf scorpionfish, octopus, cuttlefish, nudibranches, and could take up an entire dive. (IBP/net)

Nadal defeated world number one Novak Djokovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 for a record 34rd Masters, leaving his vanquished foe to label the Spaniard as “the number one favourite for Roland Garros”.

“I am going to be there with time enough, as always,” said 32-year-old Nadal, who wants to capture a 12th trophy in Paris.

“I’m going to repeat my normal routines.

For sure I can’t wait to be there and have the feeling, see the stadium, watch all the new great things that Roland Garros is doing,” the 17-time Grand Slam winner said of the rebuilt Philippe Chatrier Centre Court.

“I saw a picture. Looks great. Still open, still not closed. Is a different stadium, but the feeling probably will not be very different.

“This year, I don’t see a big difference.

The wind is going to be the same as always.

Court is still big.”

His first title this season, and particularly on his favourite clay surface, is a huge boost for the Spaniard.

“Happy to reach that level in the last tournament before a Grand Slam,” said Nadal.

“But, as I said, for me I don’t want to talk about Grand Slams now. I never did in the past. Important title, now’s the moment to keep going.” Djokovic -- winner at the Madrid Open last week -- gave an error-strewn display in his 54th meeting with secondranked Nadal, having spent six hours on court in his previous two matches.

“For me, the most important thing is to feel myself playing well and feel myself healthy, with the energy that I need,” said Nadal. “If that happens, experience is that I

Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

Rafael Nadal (R) of Spain poses with Novak Djokovic of Serbia after winning the ATP Masters tournament final tennis match at the Foro Italico in Rome on May 19, 2019. am going to fight for titles sooner or later.”

The 32-year-old had not dropped a set all week before the final taking a 6-0 set from four his five rivals.

“During the last couple of weeks, every day and every week have been better. And

here we are finally with this great trophy, an important victory.”

Nadal pulled out of Indian Wells with a knee injury, and had not gotten past the semifinals in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.

“After Indian Wells, there have been some

tough moments for me in terms of recovering again,” he said. “I didn’t arrive very well prepared to Monte-Carlo. There have been some low moments for me.

“The first round in Barcelona, that was a disaster.” (afp)

Jamie Chadwick moves step closer to F1 drive by joining Williams academy

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LONDON - Jamie Chadwick’s dream of breaking into Formula One is a step closer after Williams announced on Monday they had hired her as a development driver.

The 21-year-old has emerged as the most likely candidate to end what is now a 43-year wait for a female driver in F1 as she has followed up successes in Formula 3 by leading the inaugural all-female W Series championship this season.

The last woman to start an F1 grand prix was Lella Lombardi in 1976.

Fellow Italian Giovanna Amati drove for Brabham but she was replaced by future world champion Damon Hill in 1992.

“Being a part of the Driver Academy is an amazing platform and I’m excited to get started,” said Chadwick.

Williams deputy principal Claire Williams said she hoped having a female role model would inspire girls to take up racing.

“We hope to show that motorsport is inclusive and exciting, be that as a driver or on the engineering side,” she said. “Jamie is a great talent and I look forward to working with her.”

Williams, previously a dominant force in F1, previously signed Scottish woman driver Susie Wolff to a development contract in 2012 but she left three years later. (afp)

8

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Messi hits 50 goals for Barca, Madrid ends season to forget

BARCELONA - Lionel Messi scored twice to hit the 50-goal mark for the sixth time in his career on Sunday while Real Madrid put a fittingly poor ending to its worst season in recent memory after losing in the final round of the Spanish league.

Messi scored his 49th and 50th goals in all competitions this season to give Barcelona a 2-2 draw at Eibar and finished as the league’s top scorer with 36 goals for the Spanish champions.

This is the sixth season Messi has finished as the top La Liga scorer, equaling a record held by Athletic Bilbao striker Telmo Zarra from the 1950s.

Barcelona, which had clinched the league title with three rounds to play, will now look to also retain the Copa del Rey title next weekend when it faces Valencia. Its chance of a rare treble of major titles was ended by Liverpool in the Champions League semifinals.

Barcelona won the league with 11 points more than second-place Atletico Madrid. It also finished 19 points ahead of Madrid, the biggest-ever points advantage by Barcelona over its fiercest rival.

“We were very consistent all season long and that’s what allowed us to win the league by such a comfortable margin,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said.

JEERS FOR MADRID Madrid endured the jeers of its own frustrated fans after a 2-0 loss to Real Betis at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Most of Madrid’s supporters have long placed their hopes on what changes the club will make to an underperforming squad in the summer.

Not even coach Zinedine Zidane could find a saving grace to the campaign.

“It isn’t that we don’t want to (play better), we aren’t able to,” Zidane said. “The best thing is for this to be over. We are already thinking about the future and next season.”

Madrid entered the match with nothing to play for, locked into a third-place finish for the second consecutive season for the first time since 1974.

AP Photo/Ion Alcoba

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi shoots to score in front Eibar’s goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Ipurua stadium, in Eibar, northern Spain, Sunday, May 19, 2019.

Since the return of Zidane to take charge of the club after its shock loss to Ajax in the round of 16 in the Champions League, Madrid has finished the campaign with a record of five wins, two draws and four losses.

“The fault is ours,” Madrid defender Marcelo said. “We didn’t start well and we didn’t finish it well either. In no way was this the season we wanted to have.”

MESSI’S DOUBLE Messi moved four goals ahead of Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé — who has 32 in the French league with a round left — as the top scorer in Europe’s major domestic leagues.

Marc Cucurella, a Barcelona youth player on loan to Eibar,

opened the scoring before Messi got his first goal from a pass by Arturo Vidal in the 31st.

Messi added a second just a minute later when he broke behind Eibar’s high defensive line, received the ball from Ivan Rakitic and chipped it over goalkeeper Marco Dmitrovic.

Eibar defender Pablo de Blasis leveled just before halftime when he scored from distance into an open net after Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen made a poor clearance with his head outside the area.

Barcelona right back Nelson Semedo was taken to the hospital for tests after he received a knock on the head and had to be substituted.

Youth player Carles Pérez de-

buted for Barcelona in the second half.

TEAM WINS, SETIÉN LOSES The victory at Madrid didn’t save Quique Setién’s job.

Betis announced shortly after that Setién and the Seville-based club had agreed to part ways after two seasons together, confirming weeks of speculation that he was on his way out.

At least Setién’s last match in charge was one to remember for the coach.

Betis outplayed the hosts from the start and got second-half goals from Loren Morón and former Madrid forward Jesé Rodríguez.

A long ball by Giovani Lo Celso set Andrés Guardado free down the left as he sprinted clear of Raphael Varane before crossing for Morón

to score.

Lo Celso then slipped a ball through to Junior Firpo, who found Jesé unmarked at the edge of the six-yard box.

Betis, which beat both Madrid and Barcelona at their stadiums, ended the season in 10th place.

“This allows us to finish a season that has been a bit disappointing with a victory against a team and at a stadium that will always be a nice memory,” Setién said before the club announced his departure.

HOW IT ENDED Champion Barcelona, Atletico, Madrid and fourth-place Valencia qualify for the Champions League.

Getafe, Sevilla and Espanyol took the Europa League spots.

Girona, Huesca and Rayo Vallecano were relegated. (ap)

9

UEFA launch women’s soccer strategy plan ahead of World Cup BUDAPEST - With the World Cup looming and women’s soccer gaining ground around Europe, UEFA launched a new five-year plan for the sport on Friday. The strategy document, Time for Action , sets out how the European soccer body aims to double the number of women and girls playing the game, and to change perceptions.

“Every girl (should) feel like it’s the most normal thing in the world to play football,” UEFA’s head of women’s soccer, Nadine Kessler, told The Associated Press, “whether just for fun or because she wants to win the World Cup.” There is a strong base to build on, three weeks before the United States tries to defend its title at the World Cup in France.

Record attendances in Spain and Italy were set in March to watch women’s club games, and UEFA has signed its first sponsor dedicated to women’s soccer.

“It’s important for respect and long-term security,” said Kessler, describing Visa’s deal through 2025 as the kind of commercial partner “you would only wish for.”

Still, some respect has to be hard-earned — even in Paris.

The world’s best player, Norway forward Ada Hegerberg, was disrespected at the Ballon d’Or award ceremony in December by a French DJ who asked her to twerk on stage.

Hegerberg, who plays for Lyon, received worldwide praise for her dignified refusal while the DJ’s behavior was con-

demned .

“In the long-term perspective, it created attention for the women’s game and maybe sent a strong message across,” said Kessler, who was voted FIFA’s player of the year in 2014 while playing for Germany.

Additionally, Kessler’s former national team made an interesting social media video to promote its World Cup campaign, using humor, powerful images and a challenge to fans: “We play for a nation that doesn’t even know our names.”

Before the 2011 World Cup, five German players took part in an unofficial photo shoot for Playboy. UEFA is looking to permanently change perceptions of women’s soccer, believing it should be “strong, inclusive, fun and inspirational.”

The strategy, launched ahead of Saturday’s women’s Champions League final between Lyon and Barcelona, wants UEFA’s 55 member federations to have 2.5 million registered female players by 2024. “I am convinced we have many more girls (playing) than we believe,” said Kessler, who played in boys’ teams until she was 16, often as the only girl. “You have to find solutions and sometimes be more clever than them.”

Now, at 31, she is a senior UEFA executive with a master’s degree, having quit playing four years ago following multiple knee surgeries after playing “way too many games when I was young.”

There is more professional-

ism now, including a better structured calendar of international games and tournaments.

A key target in UEFA’s strategy is improving player standards and for national federations to propose standard agreements that national team players want to sign.

Hederberg will not be at the World Cup because she stopped playing for Norway’s 12thranked national team two years ago citing a lack of respect. She will be 27 when the 2023 World Cup kicks off, and her stance has drawn attention to the issue.

Another target is increasing the representation and influence of women in European soccer bodies. Only one woman, Florence Hardouin of France, is on the 20-member UEFA executive committee , and she got that seat as a protected quota place.

There are, however, female CEOs in European federations, including former Boston College player Laura Georges in France and Anne Rei in Estonia. They will oversee 50% increases in funding for women’s soccer through UEFA’s Hat-Trick development program.

Kessler sees targeted action mix with organic growth. UEFA says 28% of professional clubs now offer soccer to women and girls, and Juventus and Manchester United launched senior competitive teams in the past two years.

“Nobody should be forced to set up a women’s team,” Kessler said, but “it’s happening anyway, naturally.” (ap)

AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File

In this Sunday, April 21, 2019 file photo, Lyon’s Delphine Cascarino, center, celebrates with Ada Hegerberg, right, and Lucy Bronze after scoring against Chelsea during the Women’s Champions League semifinal soccer match in Decines, France.

Italian court convicts 4 for deadly Turin soccer stampede

Alessandro Di Marco/ANSA via AP

In this Saturday, June 3, 2017 file photo, Juventus fans leave San Carlo’s square at the end of the Champions League final soccer match between Juventus and Real Madrid, in Turin, Italy.

ROME - Four young men have been convicted of the deaths of two women in a soccer stampede in the northern Italian city of Turin and given prison sentences of just over 10 years.

The Italian news agency ANSA said the court on Friday ordered the sentences after convicting the men of involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors contended the defendants used an irritating spray to trigger panic so they could steal

wallets and phones from fans who had jammed a public square to watch the June 3, 2017, Champions League Juventus-Real Madrid final on a giant TV screen. Some 1,600 people were injured.

An Italian woman died of her injuries several days later, while another woman, left tetraplegic by her injuries, died from complications in January 2019.

ANSA quoted defense lawyers as saying they will appeal the convictions. (ap)

8

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Messi hits 50 goals for Barca, Madrid ends season to forget

BARCELONA - Lionel Messi scored twice to hit the 50-goal mark for the sixth time in his career on Sunday while Real Madrid put a fittingly poor ending to its worst season in recent memory after losing in the final round of the Spanish league.

Messi scored his 49th and 50th goals in all competitions this season to give Barcelona a 2-2 draw at Eibar and finished as the league’s top scorer with 36 goals for the Spanish champions.

This is the sixth season Messi has finished as the top La Liga scorer, equaling a record held by Athletic Bilbao striker Telmo Zarra from the 1950s.

Barcelona, which had clinched the league title with three rounds to play, will now look to also retain the Copa del Rey title next weekend when it faces Valencia. Its chance of a rare treble of major titles was ended by Liverpool in the Champions League semifinals.

Barcelona won the league with 11 points more than second-place Atletico Madrid. It also finished 19 points ahead of Madrid, the biggest-ever points advantage by Barcelona over its fiercest rival.

“We were very consistent all season long and that’s what allowed us to win the league by such a comfortable margin,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said.

JEERS FOR MADRID Madrid endured the jeers of its own frustrated fans after a 2-0 loss to Real Betis at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Most of Madrid’s supporters have long placed their hopes on what changes the club will make to an underperforming squad in the summer.

Not even coach Zinedine Zidane could find a saving grace to the campaign.

“It isn’t that we don’t want to (play better), we aren’t able to,” Zidane said. “The best thing is for this to be over. We are already thinking about the future and next season.”

Madrid entered the match with nothing to play for, locked into a third-place finish for the second consecutive season for the first time since 1974.

AP Photo/Ion Alcoba

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi shoots to score in front Eibar’s goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Ipurua stadium, in Eibar, northern Spain, Sunday, May 19, 2019.

Since the return of Zidane to take charge of the club after its shock loss to Ajax in the round of 16 in the Champions League, Madrid has finished the campaign with a record of five wins, two draws and four losses.

“The fault is ours,” Madrid defender Marcelo said. “We didn’t start well and we didn’t finish it well either. In no way was this the season we wanted to have.”

MESSI’S DOUBLE Messi moved four goals ahead of Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé — who has 32 in the French league with a round left — as the top scorer in Europe’s major domestic leagues.

Marc Cucurella, a Barcelona youth player on loan to Eibar,

opened the scoring before Messi got his first goal from a pass by Arturo Vidal in the 31st.

Messi added a second just a minute later when he broke behind Eibar’s high defensive line, received the ball from Ivan Rakitic and chipped it over goalkeeper Marco Dmitrovic.

Eibar defender Pablo de Blasis leveled just before halftime when he scored from distance into an open net after Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen made a poor clearance with his head outside the area.

Barcelona right back Nelson Semedo was taken to the hospital for tests after he received a knock on the head and had to be substituted.

Youth player Carles Pérez de-

buted for Barcelona in the second half.

TEAM WINS, SETIÉN LOSES The victory at Madrid didn’t save Quique Setién’s job.

Betis announced shortly after that Setién and the Seville-based club had agreed to part ways after two seasons together, confirming weeks of speculation that he was on his way out.

At least Setién’s last match in charge was one to remember for the coach.

Betis outplayed the hosts from the start and got second-half goals from Loren Morón and former Madrid forward Jesé Rodríguez.

A long ball by Giovani Lo Celso set Andrés Guardado free down the left as he sprinted clear of Raphael Varane before crossing for Morón

to score.

Lo Celso then slipped a ball through to Junior Firpo, who found Jesé unmarked at the edge of the six-yard box.

Betis, which beat both Madrid and Barcelona at their stadiums, ended the season in 10th place.

“This allows us to finish a season that has been a bit disappointing with a victory against a team and at a stadium that will always be a nice memory,” Setién said before the club announced his departure.

HOW IT ENDED Champion Barcelona, Atletico, Madrid and fourth-place Valencia qualify for the Champions League.

Getafe, Sevilla and Espanyol took the Europa League spots.

Girona, Huesca and Rayo Vallecano were relegated. (ap)

9

UEFA launch women’s soccer strategy plan ahead of World Cup BUDAPEST - With the World Cup looming and women’s soccer gaining ground around Europe, UEFA launched a new five-year plan for the sport on Friday. The strategy document, Time for Action , sets out how the European soccer body aims to double the number of women and girls playing the game, and to change perceptions.

“Every girl (should) feel like it’s the most normal thing in the world to play football,” UEFA’s head of women’s soccer, Nadine Kessler, told The Associated Press, “whether just for fun or because she wants to win the World Cup.” There is a strong base to build on, three weeks before the United States tries to defend its title at the World Cup in France.

Record attendances in Spain and Italy were set in March to watch women’s club games, and UEFA has signed its first sponsor dedicated to women’s soccer.

“It’s important for respect and long-term security,” said Kessler, describing Visa’s deal through 2025 as the kind of commercial partner “you would only wish for.”

Still, some respect has to be hard-earned — even in Paris.

The world’s best player, Norway forward Ada Hegerberg, was disrespected at the Ballon d’Or award ceremony in December by a French DJ who asked her to twerk on stage.

Hegerberg, who plays for Lyon, received worldwide praise for her dignified refusal while the DJ’s behavior was con-

demned .

“In the long-term perspective, it created attention for the women’s game and maybe sent a strong message across,” said Kessler, who was voted FIFA’s player of the year in 2014 while playing for Germany.

Additionally, Kessler’s former national team made an interesting social media video to promote its World Cup campaign, using humor, powerful images and a challenge to fans: “We play for a nation that doesn’t even know our names.”

Before the 2011 World Cup, five German players took part in an unofficial photo shoot for Playboy. UEFA is looking to permanently change perceptions of women’s soccer, believing it should be “strong, inclusive, fun and inspirational.”

The strategy, launched ahead of Saturday’s women’s Champions League final between Lyon and Barcelona, wants UEFA’s 55 member federations to have 2.5 million registered female players by 2024. “I am convinced we have many more girls (playing) than we believe,” said Kessler, who played in boys’ teams until she was 16, often as the only girl. “You have to find solutions and sometimes be more clever than them.”

Now, at 31, she is a senior UEFA executive with a master’s degree, having quit playing four years ago following multiple knee surgeries after playing “way too many games when I was young.”

There is more professional-

ism now, including a better structured calendar of international games and tournaments.

A key target in UEFA’s strategy is improving player standards and for national federations to propose standard agreements that national team players want to sign.

Hederberg will not be at the World Cup because she stopped playing for Norway’s 12thranked national team two years ago citing a lack of respect. She will be 27 when the 2023 World Cup kicks off, and her stance has drawn attention to the issue.

Another target is increasing the representation and influence of women in European soccer bodies. Only one woman, Florence Hardouin of France, is on the 20-member UEFA executive committee , and she got that seat as a protected quota place.

There are, however, female CEOs in European federations, including former Boston College player Laura Georges in France and Anne Rei in Estonia. They will oversee 50% increases in funding for women’s soccer through UEFA’s Hat-Trick development program.

Kessler sees targeted action mix with organic growth. UEFA says 28% of professional clubs now offer soccer to women and girls, and Juventus and Manchester United launched senior competitive teams in the past two years.

“Nobody should be forced to set up a women’s team,” Kessler said, but “it’s happening anyway, naturally.” (ap)

AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File

In this Sunday, April 21, 2019 file photo, Lyon’s Delphine Cascarino, center, celebrates with Ada Hegerberg, right, and Lucy Bronze after scoring against Chelsea during the Women’s Champions League semifinal soccer match in Decines, France.

Italian court convicts 4 for deadly Turin soccer stampede

Alessandro Di Marco/ANSA via AP

In this Saturday, June 3, 2017 file photo, Juventus fans leave San Carlo’s square at the end of the Champions League final soccer match between Juventus and Real Madrid, in Turin, Italy.

ROME - Four young men have been convicted of the deaths of two women in a soccer stampede in the northern Italian city of Turin and given prison sentences of just over 10 years.

The Italian news agency ANSA said the court on Friday ordered the sentences after convicting the men of involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors contended the defendants used an irritating spray to trigger panic so they could steal

wallets and phones from fans who had jammed a public square to watch the June 3, 2017, Champions League Juventus-Real Madrid final on a giant TV screen. Some 1,600 people were injured.

An Italian woman died of her injuries several days later, while another woman, left tetraplegic by her injuries, died from complications in January 2019.

ANSA quoted defense lawyers as saying they will appeal the convictions. (ap)

10

Destination

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

International

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

International

Nadal can’t wait to return to new-look Roland Garros

ROME - Defending French Open champion Rafael Nadal said Sunday he can’t wait to hit the clay courts of Roland Garros after claiming his first title this season and ninth Italian Open trophy.

Gili Biaha AMLAPURA - This island of rock, Gili Biaha with a rounded cap of grass and it is the most remote of the Amuk Bay sites, located about four kilometers northeast of Tepekong. It is a beautiful steep drop-off reef, nicely fissured and terraced in places, rings most of the island, going to a slope in the north.

The inside of the island’s curve is always protected from the current, but heavy swell can make things worse up near the reefs wall face, particularly for your boat captain

who picks the divers up. End of the rugged and terraced reef wall will lead into blowhole where a number of Reef Sharks can always be found under the overhang of the blowhole wall, inside also lives abundance of lobsters in between the cracked wall. To dive into blowhole should you carry a quality light, inside it is really dark. There are swarms of reef fishes at this site, the beautiful Mayer’s Butterflyfish are rare throughout of Bali reefs, is common in this site. It is the only possible

penetrating into blowhole when a small surge laps the reef wall and water is pounded out from the blowhole. The swirling current can occur at some places of the site, to be safe, is to stay close to the reef wall face and ascend a little distance from the reef wall face. The water temperature dips as below like 20 degrees C, so get ready with the proper wet suit to stay warm. This is an Advanced Dive Site and divers must have a minimum of 10 logged dives beyond Open Water or an

Advanced Diver Certification.

This rugged black wall, with the breaking waves above, is utterly beautiful in places and at times it is almost as if the fish are superfluous – but not quite! There are various entry points around the island, and your dive can cover almost the entire circumference of the island, or just a small part, dependent upon your interests and also, of course, the currents and conditions!

Ah yes, the conditions, the current here can be very strong, not only horizontally, but also downwards;

there is sometimes surge.

Most of the awkward currents are on the northern slope. The inside area of the crescent (the east side of Biaha) has a cave large enough for 6 divers, in which white tip reef shark often sleep.

The protected area outside the cave has interesting corals with many commensal shrimp and crab, and is home to anglerfish, leaf scorpionfish, octopus, cuttlefish, nudibranches, and could take up an entire dive. (IBP/net)

Nadal defeated world number one Novak Djokovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 for a record 34rd Masters, leaving his vanquished foe to label the Spaniard as “the number one favourite for Roland Garros”.

“I am going to be there with time enough, as always,” said 32-year-old Nadal, who wants to capture a 12th trophy in Paris.

“I’m going to repeat my normal routines.

For sure I can’t wait to be there and have the feeling, see the stadium, watch all the new great things that Roland Garros is doing,” the 17-time Grand Slam winner said of the rebuilt Philippe Chatrier Centre Court.

“I saw a picture. Looks great. Still open, still not closed. Is a different stadium, but the feeling probably will not be very different.

“This year, I don’t see a big difference.

The wind is going to be the same as always.

Court is still big.”

His first title this season, and particularly on his favourite clay surface, is a huge boost for the Spaniard.

“Happy to reach that level in the last tournament before a Grand Slam,” said Nadal.

“But, as I said, for me I don’t want to talk about Grand Slams now. I never did in the past. Important title, now’s the moment to keep going.” Djokovic -- winner at the Madrid Open last week -- gave an error-strewn display in his 54th meeting with secondranked Nadal, having spent six hours on court in his previous two matches.

“For me, the most important thing is to feel myself playing well and feel myself healthy, with the energy that I need,” said Nadal. “If that happens, experience is that I

Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

Rafael Nadal (R) of Spain poses with Novak Djokovic of Serbia after winning the ATP Masters tournament final tennis match at the Foro Italico in Rome on May 19, 2019. am going to fight for titles sooner or later.”

The 32-year-old had not dropped a set all week before the final taking a 6-0 set from four his five rivals.

“During the last couple of weeks, every day and every week have been better. And

here we are finally with this great trophy, an important victory.”

Nadal pulled out of Indian Wells with a knee injury, and had not gotten past the semifinals in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.

“After Indian Wells, there have been some

tough moments for me in terms of recovering again,” he said. “I didn’t arrive very well prepared to Monte-Carlo. There have been some low moments for me.

“The first round in Barcelona, that was a disaster.” (afp)

Jamie Chadwick moves step closer to F1 drive by joining Williams academy

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LONDON - Jamie Chadwick’s dream of breaking into Formula One is a step closer after Williams announced on Monday they had hired her as a development driver.

The 21-year-old has emerged as the most likely candidate to end what is now a 43-year wait for a female driver in F1 as she has followed up successes in Formula 3 by leading the inaugural all-female W Series championship this season.

The last woman to start an F1 grand prix was Lella Lombardi in 1976.

Fellow Italian Giovanna Amati drove for Brabham but she was replaced by future world champion Damon Hill in 1992.

“Being a part of the Driver Academy is an amazing platform and I’m excited to get started,” said Chadwick.

Williams deputy principal Claire Williams said she hoped having a female role model would inspire girls to take up racing.

“We hope to show that motorsport is inclusive and exciting, be that as a driver or on the engineering side,” she said. “Jamie is a great talent and I look forward to working with her.”

Williams, previously a dominant force in F1, previously signed Scottish woman driver Susie Wolff to a development contract in 2012 but she left three years later. (afp)

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Tuesday, May 21, 2019

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International

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Doctors start halting support for vegetative Frenchman

REIMS - French doctors Monday began switching off the life support of a quadriplegic man who has been in a vegetative state for the last decade, in a hugely controversial case that has divided France.

The dispute over the fate of Vincent Lambert, 42, who was left with severe brain damage after a traffic accident in 2008, has split his own family and even become a subject of political tension in France ahead of the weekend’s European elections.

His parents, devout Catholics, have repeatedly launched court action to keep him alive, putting them at odds with Lambert’s wife and five siblings who believe the most humane course is to let him die.

Following a final judicial ruling to end the nutrition and hydration Lambert receives, doctors Monday started halting his life support at the Sebastopol Hospital in the northern French city of Reims.

Medical sources told AFP that under these conditions it would mean that Lambert dies within days or a week.

Jean Paillot, the lawyer for Vincent Lambert’s parents, said they would launch multiple legal challenges in a last-ditch bid to prevent Lambert dying, including with the Paris court of appeal and the criminal court of Reims.

- ‘As peaceful as possible’ Vincent Sanchez, the doctor treating Lambert who has been the target of the parents’ anger, said in a message to the family that the “halting of treatments” and “profound and continued sedation” had been initiated.

In the message seen by AFP, he urged

everyone to “rally around him (Vincent Lambert) so these moments are as peaceful, intimate and personal and possible.”

The parents’ lawyers had at the weekend said they wanted Sanchez removed from the case and also struck off France’s medical register. In a statement, the lawyers accused Sanchez of “violating all his obligations” while adding that “there is still time to stop this madness”.

The family has been torn asunder by the case.

“They are monsters! Monsters!,” said his mother Viviane, 73, as she came to the hospital on Monday. The day earlier she had organised a demonstration outside with her husband Pierre, 90.

“I want to see my son before he goes to sleep.”

But Lambert’s wife Rachel, five of his siblings and his nephew Francois, have all backed the decision to begin switching off the systems, agreeing this is the humane path given his condition.

They have generally steered clear of commenting to the media in what has been a complex and wrenching legal saga lasting half a decade.

French law allows so-called “passive euthanasia” for seriously ill or injured patients with no chance of recovery, in which the means for keeping someone alive are cut off.

In 2014, Lambert’s doctors, backed by

rising by up to 50 percent both in China and on the Chicago futures exchange.

In Europe, the rise has been 18 percent since the beginning of March as Japan and South Korea, two major importing nations, have started to build up reserves in

VIVEK PRAKASH / AFP

Pig trotters hang from hooks as a butcher prepares pork meat at a market in Hong Kong on May 11, 2019.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

11

7 French fighter jets make emergency landing in Indonesia BANDA ACEH - Poor weather conditions have forced seven French navy fighter jets taking part in a training exercise to make emergency landings in northern Indonesia, an Indonesian air force official said Sunday.

FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI / AFP

A picture taken in Reims on May 20, 2019 shows a general view of Sebastopol hospital where doctors began switching off the life support of Vincent Lambert, a quadriplegic man who has been in a vegetative state for the last decade. his wife and siblings, decided to stop his nutrition and hydration in line with the law.

But the parents, and his half-brother and sister obtained a court order to block the move on grounds his condition might improve with better treatment.

But early this year, a French court sided with Sanchez’s decision to stop the care keeping Lambert alive.

The ruling was upheld last month by France’s State Council which decides on the validity of laws and legal decisions.

The UN committee on disabled rights earlier this month asked France to suspend the decision, while it conducts its own investigation, which could take years. The French government has made clear there is no legal obligation to abide by this. (afp)

Swine fever sending pork prices higher

PARIS - In a cruel irony in the Chinese Year of the Pig, outbreaks of African Swine Fever are forcing huge culls that could send pork prices to levels never seen before.

According to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization, pork prices “have begun to soar”,

International

cases of disruptions to supplies, according to commodities markets research firm Cyclope.

In France and Germany, pork prices have “risen by 30 percent since the start of year due to China,” said Jean-Paul Simier, an agricultural market analyst at French bank Credit Agricole who authored the meat section of the latest Cyclope annual report.

Home to nearly half of the world’s pigs, China is both the world’s largest consumer and producer of pork, which is a staple of its cuisine.

African Swine Fever, a virus that is not dangerous to humans but fatal to pigs and wild boar, began sweeping across China last year.

Chinese officials have said hundreds of thousands of pigs were culled in a bid to stop its spread -- an effort that has also seen restrictions placed on moving pigs from affected areas.

Despite the measures, African Swine Fever continued to spread, eventually hitting China’s major pig farming area in Sichuan province.

- Record prices? Cyclope said that since the start of the year 20 Chinese provinces have been hit, leading authorities to cull one million pigs, and removing them from the food chain.

It has continued to spread further, approaching the border with Laos in the south of the country and to the tropical island of Hainan, according to a map produced by the FAO. Cambodia, Mongolia and Vietnam have also been hit, with nearly 100,000 pigs culled in the three countries.

The culls mean that China must now begin importing pork massively to compensate for lost production, said Jean-Paul Simier.

“China is the decisive market for pork, you need to understand that 700 million pigs live in China, compared to 20 million in France for example,” he said.

“The outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in East Asia is likely to have a noticeable impact on meat and feed markets worldwide,” said the FAO in its latest semi-annual

report on food markets that came out earlier this month.

It warned of “challenges to maintaining adequate meat supplies in affected countries,” saying that based on reports by government officials, industry sources and news media that the extent of the cull may have reached 20 percent of China’s pig herd.

Simier has a more conservative forecast of a drop in Chinese pork production of 10 percent this year, or nearly 6 million tonnes.

“That is already enormous, because the international meat trade is only some 10 million tonnes per year,” he said.

“If the disease situation gets out of control, pork could hit prices never seen before,” he added.

While that is bad news for consumers, it means good business ahead for pig farmers in regions that haven’t been touched by African Swine Fever.

But farmers who raise feed grains for pigs, particularly soybeans, could be hurt by a drop in Chinese demand. (afp)

The crews of the seven Dassault Rafale combat planes landed safely at Sultan Iskandar Muda air force base in Aceh province on Saturday, 90 minutes after taking off from their aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Indian Ocean, said Aceh air force base commander Col. Hendro Arief.

“We had to open our base to them to land as they were in an emergency state due to bad weather,” Arief said.

He said air force radar confirmed that the planes were initially flying out of Indonesian territory when fog and bad weather forced them to land immediately as they were trying to return to their aircraft carrier, located 100 nautical miles west of Sumatra’s exclusive economic zone. Arief said Indonesian air force personnel had completed an inspection of the planes.

Five of the seven jets were returned to their carrier on Sunday, while the other two were still having technical problems, Arief said.

French diplomats in Indonesia were informed of the incident. (ap)

AP Photo/Khalis Surry

Indonesian military personnel walks past one of seven French Navy Rafale jet fighters parked on the tarmac at Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Base in Aceh Besar, Indonesia, Sunday, May 19, 2019.

Indonesia police arrest 9 suspects ahead of election results JAKARTA - Indonesian police arrested nine suspected militants following a tipoff about a possible attack during the announcement of presidential election results next week, police said Thursday.

The elite counterterrorism squad arrested suspected militant instructor Joko Supriono in the East Java town of Madiun on Tuesday, and eight others were apprehended separately in Central Java province, National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said.

He said seven of the suspects had allegedly joined an extremist group in Syria before returning this year, and Supriono was believed to be linked to Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, a local militant network affiliated with the Islamic State group.

The men were being transported to the capital, Jakarta, for further investigation, Prasetyo said.

Also known as JAD, the network of almost two dozen extremist organizations has been implicated in numerous attacks in Indonesia in the past two years and was designated a terror organization by the U.S. in 2017.

Last week, the counterterrorism squad foiled an alleged plot by members of JAD to set off bombs during expected street protests after the official vote count for the presidential election is announced by the electoral commission by May 22, police said.

They said they uncovered the plot after arresting a group member identified only as Rafli at a cellular

shop in Jakarta’s satellite city of Bekasi and finding two bombs and several detonators that could be set off using Wi-Fi signals from a cellphone or radio transmitter.

Prasetyo said police were tipped off about Rafli’s whereabouts while interrogating four suspected militants who were arrested in Bekasi during several police raids on JAD members. Another suspect was shot to death while trying to detonate a bomb during a raid.

Indonesian militants have been inspired by IS attacks abroad despite a sustained crackdown that obliterated an al-Qaida-affiliated network that was responsible for bombings in Bali in 2002 and other attacks.

In May last year, two families

carried out suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia’s secondlargest city, Surabaya, killing a dozen people and two young girls whose parents had involved them in one of the attacks. Police said the father was the head of a local Jemaah Anshorut Daulah cell.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, is an outpost of democracy in a Southeast Asian neighborhood of authoritarian governments and is forecast to be among the world’s biggest economies by 2030. The country held the biggest singleday election on April 17 to elect a president and national and regional parliaments.

Vote counts from five independent survey groups showed incum-

bent President Joko Widodo with a clear lead over Prabowo Subianto, a general during the era of the Suharto military dictatorship who warned Indonesia would fall apart without his strongman leadership.

Subianto’s insistence that he was on course for victory, and his allegations of fraud, have led to speculation in some quarters that he might be trying to himself fix the results or would refuse to concede.

That would put pressure on the country’s democratic institutions and could possibly lead to violence.

His supporters recently held street rallies to call for fairness and vigilance in the vote counting as the government warned that efforts to cast doubt on the outcome could amount to treason. (ap)

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International

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Japan economy expands 2%, 2nd straight quarter of growth the January-March period from the previous quarter.

Healthy public investment and private residential investment helped boost growth during the quarter, according to the data, which is likely to be revised.

Japan’s economy has recorded moderate growth under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenom-

ics” anti-deflation programs but contracted in some recent periods because of natural disasters and other factors.

The impact from the deepening trade dispute between the U.S. and China also is crimping demand for export-reliant Japan.

Worries have been growing that the momentum for Japan’s

economic growth may be slowing.

Harumi Taguchi of IHS Markit in Tokyo said one factor behind the better-than-expected results was that imports slowed as well as exports, which signals slowing internal demand.

“Extra holidays related to the new emperor, the Rugby World

Cup and a lift in consumption ahead of an expected sales tax increase are expected to support consumption for some time,” he said.

But he noted that extra government measures may be needed to support spending after the tax takes effect. Japan is set to implement a sales tax increase from 8% to 10 % later this year. (ap)

In Iran, a plunging economy trumps fears of US confrontation

TEHRAN - Across Iran’s capital, the talk always seems to come back to how things may get worse. Battered by U.S. sanctions and its depreciating rial currency, Iran’s 80 million people struggle to buy meat, medicine and other staples of daily life. Now they wonder aloud about America’s intentions as it rushes an aircraft carrier and other forces to the region over a still-unexplained threat it perceives from Iran.

The Associated Press spoke to a variety of people on Tehran’s streets recently, ranging from young and old, women wearing the all-encompassing black chador to those loosely covering their hair.

Most say they believe a war will not come to the region, though they remain willing to defend their country. They think Iran should try to talk to the U.S. to help its anemic economy, even as they see President Donald Trump as an erratic and untrustworthy adversary.

“Trump is not predictable at all and one doesn’t know how to react to him and what is the right thing to do against him,” said Afra Hamedzadeh, a 20-year-old civil servant and university student. “Since he controls the global economy we are somehow left with few options.”

But opinions vary across Iran’s capital, Tehran, depending on whether you speak to someone coming out of Friday prayers, in the back of a shared taxi cab, or exiting the coffee shops popular with young people.

“If America could do anything, it would have done many things by now,” said the chador-wearing Zoherh Sadeghi, a 51-year-old housewife coming out of prayers.

“It can’t do anything. It can’t do a damn thing.”

That’s an opinion shared by 35year-old office worker Massumeh Izadpanah.

“When someone keeps trying to scare you it means that they

think they are not yet ready for war. When someone really wants war it starts the war right away.

Like when Iraq attacked us, all of a sudden bombs were dropped,” she said. “But right now America just says, ‘I’m coming,’ to scare Iran.”

A young nation, many across Iran were alive for its bloody 1980s war with Iraq, a conflict that began when dictator Saddam Hussein invaded and dragged on for eight years. That war, in which Saddam used chemical weapons and Iran launched human wave attacks, killed 1 million people.

Since Trump withdrew the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers last year, state television increasingly has focused attention on that war’s wounded.

In Tehran’s southern Javadieh neighborhood, veteran Mohammad Ali Moghaddam said he was ready to fight again.

“I would encourage my three sons and grandsons to go to defend Iran too,” said Moghaddam, a 58year-old welder.

Arezou Mirzaei, a 37-year-old mother of two in central Tehran, is more worried.

“I think the government should do something to avoid war,” Mirzaei said. “If war was good, then Afghanistan and Iraq would not be the mess that we see on TV.” Taxi driver Jafar Hadavand, 34, agrees.

“I think both sides will be losers if they fight each other,” Hadavand said. “I think there are wise people

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Ghana Waterfall Awaits You

BUSINESS TOKYO - Japan’s economy grew at an annual pace of 2.1% in the first quarter, marking the second straight quarter of expansion, according to government data released Monday.

The Cabinet Office said seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product, the total value of a nation’s goods and services, grew 0.5% in

Bali News

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Pejeng Kangin village, Tampaksiring, is now beginning to develop the potential of Gana Waterfall. This endeavor is carried out by arranging the road access heading for the object.

All this time, there is not indeed road access to the waterfall object having alluring panorama.

Headman of Pejeng Kangin, I Gede Purniadi, clarified that his village does have beautiful objects that are not inferior to waterfalls elsewhere. The pristine waterfall is located near the Gana Temple at local village. “Since the waterfall sits near Gana Temple, it is called the Gana Waterfall,” he said not long ago.

According to him, the water flow of the waterfall sources from the Bukit Empelan of Pejeng, a tributary of Tukad Pakerisan’s river flow. Although it is believed to be a good object to take selfie, so far there is no direct access to this location. “Unfortunately, there is no road access to the location yet,” he said.

Though having had no proper access, the headman and other residents are optimistic to develop the waterfall as a tourist attraction. “There is entry access along about 400 meters from the parking lot belonging to village temple’s property. But no access is available yet to get to the location of the waterfall,” he explained.

Local residents have started to clean up the location by walking along the existing paths and cliffs. He and the residents carried out cleanup in the area of ??the waterfall from drifted wooden twigs. Likewise, plastic waste under the waterfall is taken up.

“By and large, we do mutual assistance on Fridays, but we also do extra activities on Wednesdays. This is our step in making people aware of waste, and we are embarrassed later after getting the predicate as tourism village but plastic waste remains

scattered,” he said.

He also revealed the budget required to build the road access to the location of Gana Waterfall is estimated to reach approximately IDR 250 million, namely for the making of pathway of 1.5 meters wide and 400 meters long.

Other than having the waterfall tourism, the village also has other potential like the Kerobokan Cliff Temple, trekking and cycling paths in paddy fields with a track length of about 10 kilometers. “We already have the tourism potential. Now, we are necessary to develop human resource potential and the

budget,” he added.

Purniadi affirmed that his village government is seriously promoting the tourist objects at his village by establishing a tourism awareness group (Pokdarwis). “We have established the Pokdarwis,” he concluded. (kmb)

Uname Restaurant Serves Healthy Menus with Beautiful Ornaments

AP Photo/Vahid Salemi

In this Saturday, May 18, 2019 photo, a couple takes photos with bas reliefs of ancient Persian soldiers in an old neighborhood in downtown Tehran, Iran. The Associated Press spoke to a variety of people on Tehran s streets recently, ranging from young and old, women wearing the all-encompassing black chador to those merely loosely covering their hair. on both sides to advocate peace, not war.”

Still, many pointed to the economy, not the possible outbreak of war, as Iran’s major concern. Iran’s rial currency traded at 32,000 to $1 at the time of the 2015 nuclear deal. Now it is at 148,000, and many have seen their life’s savings wiped out.

Nationwide, the unemployment rate is 12 percent. For youth it’s even worse, with a quarter of all young people unemployed, according to Iran’s statistic center.

“The economic situation is very bad, very bad. Unemployment is very high, and those who had jobs have lost theirs,” said Sadeghi, the housewife. “Young people can’t find good jobs, or get married, or

become independent.”

Sores Maleki, a 62-year-old retired accountant, said talks with the U.S. to loosen sanctions would help jumpstart Iran’s economy.

“We should go and talk to America with courage and strength. We are able to do that, others have done it,” Maleki said. “We can make concessions and win concessions.

We have no other choice.”

But such negotiations will be difficult, said Reza Forghani, a 51-year-old civil servant. He said Iran needed to get the U.S. to “sign a very firm contract that they can’t escape and have to honor.” Otherwise, Iran should drop out of the nuclear deal.

“When someone refuses to keep promises and commitments, you

can tolerate it a couple of times, but then certainly you can’t remain committed forever. You will react,” Forghani said. “So I don’t think we should remain committed to the deal until the end.”

Yet for Iran’s youth, many of whom celebrated the signing of the 2015 nuclear deal in the streets, the situation now feels more akin to a funeral. Many openly discuss their options to obtain a visa — any visa — to get abroad.

“Young people have a lot of stress and the future is unknown,” said Hamedzadeh, the 20-yearold civil servant. “The future is so unknown that you can’t plan.

The only thing they can do is to somehow leave Iran and build a life abroad.” (ap)

Uname, a restaurant managed

by Pramana Experience, is quite unique. Guests cannot only enjoy delicious food, but the restaurant is also arranged with beautiful decorations. Guests can name themselves on the menu ordered.

The menus offered are healthy and quality food. Various menus are

available and not only providing quality taste, but also having a beautiful appearance.

If you stop by at a restaurant located on Jalan Padang Getas, Singakerta, Ubud, Gianyar, you will encounter different vibes. Beautiful nuance, rural nature and local plants, a row of Mount Batukaru

and the magnificent Mount Agung can provide positive vibration.

Moreover, the concept of Uname Resto gives a new nuance in the growing culinary business on the Island of the Gods. Not to mention the various menus that are served, there are Indonesia food and Western food. The cooking process is Western style but offering Indonesian taste.

Wayan Suarsa, familiarly addressed as Leon Sinatra, the Operation Director of Pramana Experience, said the pronunciation of ‘you name’ for this restaurant name ‘Uname’ presents something unique and interesting. It makes each customer a chef that gives a name to the food it enjoys. “In addition, ‘you name’ also invites the audience to live healthy with good food without having to become a vegetarian,” he explained.

The restaurant offering 28 seats is open every day from 08:00 until 22:00 and has indeed commitment to serving food with the concept

of healthy and tasty food without having to fear of cholesterol and other adverse effects on the health of visitors. For those who are still healthy, it’s also good to keep a healthy diet without worries. “We are very careful in choosing ingredients and seasonings, as well as in preparation with special cooking methods to make the food delicious and healthy,” he explained.

Uname Resto is dedicated to all culinary lovers especially young people looking for the latest culinary delights with high-speed internet access while enjoying the natural scenery in the open space.

For young executives wishing to discuss business matters at the café, they can choose Uname as a venue to meet while having lunch or just enjoying comfortable coffee in an air-conditioned room. Uname also has an outdoor area that can be used for casual hangout activities.

“We also have a wide location, suitable for various activities such as social gathering or to celebrating

birthdays,” he explained.

Chef of Uname Resto Ubud, Partana, added the menus served at Uname are quite unique, where one of which is Lagsana Tempeh.

This is a modified menu from Italian cuisine, namely lagsana. In the original recipe, the lagsana is made from flour dough, while in Lagsana Tempeh, it is replaced with a thinly cut sheet of tempeh. “Because of using tempeh, this menu becomes healthier and the Lagsana Tempe is really served without carbohydrates, making it suitable for customers implementing a diet,” he explained.

Pork Belly, for instance, though this menu is known to have bad cholesterol and high fat, at the Uname Resto it is served without high cholesterol. The process of cooking is good and using a variety of spices making this menu safe for customers wishing to eat without the risk of high cholesterol. “We use spices that function to neutralize the pork cholesterol,” he added. (kmb)

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Bali News

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

International

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

International

Farmer at Pengotan cultivates orange of new variety

Sinking feeling: Philippine cities facing ‘slow-motion disaster’

BANGLI - New orange variety is now being developed by a farmer at Pengotan village, Bangli, I Wayan Nyarka. This new variety named Sweet Orange of Mr. Nyarka has a number of advantages over oranges in general having existed in Bangli.

In terms of size, the fruit is quite large and looks attractively yellow when it has been ripe. Besides, the orange has a taste that is much sweeter than imported oranges. How did the cultivation look like?

In the maiden harvest activities at his garden on Sunday (May 19), Nyarka said that at a glance the beginning of the development of his new orange started about 12 years ago.

One of his family members working in the city of Denpasar received souvenirs from his employer in the form of very beautiful oranges, having large size, attractive color and very sweet taste.

Since that time was the beginning of the entry of imported oranges from China to Indonesia, his family had an idea to try sowing the orange’s seeds. Unfortunately, of the many seeds sown, only one seed could grow. After that, the growing seed was then planted in the garden.

Nyarka admitted that he could only see the fruits after the orange were nine years old. He was surprised because the results of the seedlings turned out to be extraordinary. The fruits can be similar to the original fruit. “That’s where I started the initiative to try propagating through cuttings. The cuttings I have done at that time can now produce first fruits as we have learned today,” he said.

Furthermore, he said the superiority of the cuttings from orange fruits includes the possession of a large enough fruit size, good look of fruit as well as beautiful and attractive yellow color. In terms of taste, it is also sweet, sweeter than imported or-

Khalil MAZRAAWI / afp

A lion rests in an enclosure on April 10, 2019, at the sanctuary in Jerash, some 50 kilometres north of the Jordanian capital.

IBP/kmb

This new variety named Sweet Orange of Mr. Nyarka has a number of advantages over oranges in general having existed in Bangli. anges. Another advantage possessed when compared to Berastagi oranges sold in the market, this orange has no pulp so that it can be swallowed entirely. Besides, this orange has thicker skin than other varieties.

“This has been proven by an export company in Indonesia and has received an appreciation because the quality of oranges really meets the hotel quality standards as one of the suppliers of citrus fruits,” he added.

Nyarka claimed the name Sweet Orange of Mr. Nyarka is a temporary name given to the orange currently developed. He equally cannot predict the extent and strength of these citrus plants and fruit to pests. On that account, according to him, it still needs more in-depth testing and research.

Regent of Bangli, I Made Gianyar, who attended the maiden harvest last Sunday, expressed his appreciation to Wayan Nyarka.

The regent considered Nyarka as a pioneer of progress at Pengotan village. Thirty years ago, Pengotan was still inferior to Bunutin village which was the regent’s hometown.

“Thanks to the innovation from Mr. Nyarka, currently Bunutin has been overtaken by Pengotan village with its agriculture and of course the surrounding community if there are positive things, let’s imitate faster for our common welfare,” Gianyar said. (kmb40)

To build a tourism village, Sayan allocates fund of IDR 134 million

IBP/kmb35

Armed with geographic potential alongside the tourism village of Ubud, Sayan village is now seriously developing its tourism village.

GIANYAR - Armed with geographic potential alongside the tourism village of Ubud, Sayan village is now seriously developing its tourism village. One of the potentials to be developed is the Bija Nature Tourism Village. To optimize this development, the village has even prepared a budget of around IDR 134 million. This was revealed by the Headman of Sayan, I Made Andika, on Sunday (May 19).

Andika explained that hundreds of millions of funds were taken from the village income and expenditure budget (APBDes) 2019.

So, the Bija Nature Tourism Village of Sayan could be developed into a tubing aquatic recreation and Bija restaurant. The idea of developing the tourism village is said to originate from the tourism awareness group (Pokdarwis) and the villageowned enterprise (BUMDes) of Sayan.

“As a result of the village meeting, the development of Bija nature area located at Banjar Ambengan, Sayan had been agreed upon to be made into a tourism village destination,” he said.

The development of the Bija nature tourism village has actually

been worked on since a year ago.

This development is worked on by opening road access such as by installing paving block. “It is resumed this year for the construction of restaurants and water tubing.

Possibly, this will soon be launched on June 1, 2019,” he said.

Today, his party is fully monitoring the development of this Bija nature tourism village, especially in supervising the use of funds whose value reaches hundreds of millions of rupiahs. “Operator of the tourism village is clearly originating from the BUMDes, and are overseen by the village,” he said. (kmb35)

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Traumatised by conflict, animals find haven in Jordan

JERASH - For more than a year after being moved to a Jordanian wildlife reserve from war-hit Syria, two bears, Loz and Sukkar, would cower whenever planes flew by, traumatised by past bombardments.

They are among dozens of animals that have been rescued from regional war zones, including the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, and brought to Jordan’s Al Ma’wa For Nature and Wildlife.

The sanctuary located in Jerash province north of Amman was set up by the Princess Alia Foundation, named after the king’s sister, in cooperation with the international animal welfare organisation Four Paws.

Sukkar (sugar in Arabic) and Loz (almond) are Asian black bears, now aged nine, who were trapped by war in the Magic World Zoo outside Syria’s second city, Aleppo, before being rescued in the summer of 2017.

“When they were brought here they were terrified by the sounds of aircraft, especially helicopters and for more than a year they would hide in a room inside their pens each time they heard planes go by,” said caretaker Khaled Ayasra.

The black bears are among 26 animals -- eight lions, 12 lionesses, two Bengal tigers and four bears -who live in the sprawling 1.4-squarekilometre sanctuary in a wooded mountainous region.

Most were rescued from Syria, where the conflict has raged since

2011, as well as the conflict-riddled Gaza Strip where Israel has fought three wars since 2008 with the territory’s Islamist rulers, Hamas.

Only one animal -- a bear called Lula -- was evacuated from Iraq.

Martin Bauer, spokesman for the Vienna-based Four Paws, said most of the animals were in poor physical and psychological condition before being rescued and “often sensitive to loud noises”.

“They are usually emaciated, their teeth are in bad condition and... also suffer from psychological trauma,” he told AFP. - ‘Aromatherapy’ Before they reach the sanctuary, the animals are taken to the New Hope Centre, a veterinary clinic linked to the Jerash reserve, where they are provided with medical care and undergo rehabilitation.

Some are then sent back to their country of origin, while others are released into the wild or brought to the sanctuary to start a new life.

“In our sanctuaries the animals have the chance to recover from the hardships of their past and very often their natural instincts come back after a while,” said Bauer.

He said proper food and medical care is “extremely vital” for their well-being, but the animals must also be able to trust their carers and regain self-confidence.

Loz and Sukkar have made huge strides since coming to Jordan.

“They are happier and love to play and meet visitors,” said Ayasra.

Workers at the sanctuary use all sorts of means to help the animals recuperate after years of hardship.

They are given a balanced diet, toys such as balls to play with and even an aromatherapy type of treatment -- natural herbs and spices placed in pails inside their pens -- to help them relax. Bears eat 16 kilos (35 pounds) worth of fruit and vegetables daily, while the lions are given seven to 15 kilos of meat three times a week. Sultan, the lion, and Sabreen, a lioness, are among the animals who found a new lease on life at the Ma’wa, after their rescue by Four Paws in 2014 from a Gaza zoo following Israeli bombardment.

At first, “Sultan was very, very nervous and would destroy everything he found inside his enclosure,” said Ayasra. “But now he has calmed down and likes to greet visitors.” (afp)

MANILA - When Mary Ann San Jose moved to Sitio Pariahan more than two decades ago, she could walk to the local chapel. Today, reaching it requires a swim.

The main culprit is catastrophic subsidence caused by groundwater being pumped out from below, often via unregulated wells for homes, factories, and farms catering to a booming population and growing economy.

The steady sinking of coastal towns and islets like Pariahan in the northern Philippines has caused Manila Bay’s brackish water to pour inland and displace thousands, posing a greater threat than rising sea levels due to climate change.

“It was so beautiful here before...

Children were playing in the streets,” San Jose said, adding: “Now we always need to use a boat.”

Most of the former residents have scattered to other parts of the region.

Just a handful of families remain in Pariahan, which had its own elementary school, a basketball court and a chapel before the water flowed in.

These days just the flooded chapel, a cluster of shacks on bamboo stilts where San Jose lives with her family, and a few homes on a bump of land remain.

The children that live there commute 20 minutes by boat to a school inland and most of the residents eke out a living by fishing.

The provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan -- where Pariahan is located -- have sunk between four and six centimetres (1.5-2.4 inches) annually since 2003, according to satellite monitoring.

“It’s really a disaster that is already happening... It’s a slow-onset disaster,” explained Narod Eco, who is part of a group of scientists tracking the problem.

- Threat to lives By comparison, the UN estimates average sea level rise globally is about three millimetres per year.

The creeping bay waters put people and property at risk, while the threat is amplified by high-tides and flooding brought by the roughly 20 storms that pound the archipelago every year.

Some areas have raised roads in an effort to keep up with the sinking, creating odd scenes where the street surface is at the height of door knobs on roadside buildings.

At least 5,000 people have been forced out of the mostly rural coastal areas north of Manila in recent decades as the bay water has moved further inland, regional disaster officials told AFP. The sinking is very likely permanent because the ground in the hardest hit areas is mostly clay, which sticks together after the water is pulled out.

The fate of towns such as Pariahan provides a preview of the problems that may await some of the capital’s 13 million people.

Sections of Manila along the shore of the bay are sinking too, with excess groundwater pumping being the most likely cause, Eco, the researcher, told AFP. The subsidence there though is at a slower rate than the northern coastal communities, potentially due to less pumping or differences in the soil, he added. A moratorium on new wells in the greater Manila area has been in place since 2004. But enforcing that ban as well as shuttering existing illegal wells, falls to the National Water Resource Board and its roughly 100 staffers who are responsible for policing the whole country.

“We have insufficient manpower resources,” the board’s director Sevillo David told AFP. “It’s a very big challenge for us, but I think we are doing the best we can.” (afp)

Noel CELIS / AFP

This photo taken on January 11, 2019 shows a chapel amid encroaching bay waters in Sitio Pariahan, Bulacan. Areas north of Manila like the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan have sunk four-six centimetres (1.5-2.4 inches) a year since 2003, according to satellite monitoring.

14

Science

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

International

Key parts of a fruit fly’s genetic makeup have finally been decoded

SOME of the most important chapters in fruit flies’ genetic instruction book have finally been decoded. For the first time, researchers have deciphered, or sequenced, the genetic makeup of all of a multicellular organism’s centromeres — and discovered stretches of DNA that may be key in divvying up chromosomes. Errors in doing that job can lead to cancer, birth defects or death. The team reported the achievement May 14 in PLOS Biology.

Centromeres, which give most chromosomes their characteristic X shape, help move chromosomes in dividing cells. “The chromosome is a bus, and our DNA and genes are the passengers. The centromere is the bus driver,” says Beth Sullivan, a geneticist and centromere biologist at Duke University School of Medicine not involved in the study.

“It’s what moves the chromosome, after the DNA has been copied, into new daughter cells.”

Until now, scientists have known very little about these genetic bus drivers. Some centromeres from corn, horses, yeast and other fungi — and one human one that drives the Y chromosome — have been characterized. But mostly what scientists knew about centromeres is that they are incredibly long stretches of repetitive DNA. Although scientists reported in 2000 that they’d finished reading the entire Drosophila melanogaster instruction book, or genome, in truth, researchers had skipped over the flies’ centromeres and other repetitive DNA. (The human genome is also not really complete; human centromeres, except for that of the Y chromosome, are still mysteries.)

The reason for the oversight was technical: To sequence the genome — meaning determine the order of DNA’s chemical letters, known as bases — scientists first had to chop

the DNA into tiny pieces about 150 bases long. Computers can put the genome together by finding where two pieces match up. Centromeres tend to repeat the same letters over and over again and can stretch for millions of bases, so many of the small bits look alike. “It’s like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle of a blue sky when all the puzzle pieces look the same,” says Amanda Larracuente, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Rochester in New York.

Larracuente and colleagues used new technology to sequence stretches of DNA 10,000 to 100,000 bases long. “It’s like having much bigger puzzle pieces,” Larracuente says, “So now we might be able to catch a wisp of a cloud in our bluesky puzzle pieces, and that makes it a lot easier to figure out how these pieces of DNA fit together.”

The team also used several other techniques to fit their centromere puzzles together.

Those techniques should make it possible for other scientists to fill in gaps in other organisms’ genomes, says Gernot Presting, a centromere biologist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa not involved in the study.

When the team finally finished putting the centromere pieces together, it found stretches of repetitive DNA interspersed with

IBP/net

Researchers have decoded the genetic composition of important structures called centromeres (colored green in this illustration) in fruit flies’ chromosomes. Centromeres ensure that chromosomes are properly distributed to dividing cells. “islands” of jumping genes. These jumping genes, or retrotransposons, are ancient mobile pieces of DNA akin to viruses that can copy themselves and insert those copies in spots throughout the genome. Sometimes that jumping causes harm, such as when a retrotransposon lands in and breaks an important gene. But transposons also have shaped human evolution.

Each fruit fly chromosome’s centromere is unique, although all have the same basic structure of retrotransposon islands — particularly the retrotransposon G2/ Jockey-3 — surrounded by seas of repetitive DNA. Copies of G2/ Jockey-3 are scattered in other places in the fruit fly genome, but

about 63 percent of its copies are in centromeres, the researchers found.

Those results might mean that the transposon is a seed around which new centromeres can form, or the transposon may just hop into centromeres more often than into other parts of the genome.

The researchers uncovered one clue hinting that G2/Jockey-3 might seed centromeres: A key centromere protein called CENP-A clings to those transposon islands.

That protein helps secure the centromere to the cellular machinery the separates chromosomes into new daughter cells. Finding that CENP-A sticks to the transposon islands suggests the jumping genes might be in the centromere’s

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driver’s seat.

Centromeres in plants, fungi, bats, gibbons and humans also contain retrotransposons. But no one really knows whether those transposons are driving the bus or are just along for the ride, says coauthor Barbara Mellone, a geneticist at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Presting, for example, argues that there’s evidence that transposons are passengers: In corn, centromeres move first and retrotransposons hop aboard later.

Armed with centromeres’ structure, Mellone and colleagues hope to find out exactly how important the jumping genes are to keeping fruit fly centromeres and their chromosomes on the right track. (net)

IBP/net

Some Norwich terriers’ breathing troubles might rest on a mutated gene linked to swelling around airways, researchers suggest. The gene may also contribute to the labored breathing of dogs with flatter snouts, such as French and English bulldogs.

those same dogs scored worse on airway-function tests than dogs with just one copy or the normal versions of the gene, researchers report online May 16 in PLOS Genetics.

The gene variant, which does not hinder the gene’s main function in the development of lymphatic vessels, also turned up in the DNA of French and English bulldogs. That finding indicates that those pooches’ smooshed snouts might not be the only factor behind their labored breaths.

“This is the first evidence to show that it’s not just all about skull shape,” says study coauthor Jeffrey Schoenebeck, an animal geneticist at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute.

The research might someday help dog breeders build healthier pups. Schoenebeck suggests that a genetic test could be developed to identify Norwich terriers with the genetic variant. Breeders could then use the test to keep those dogs from reproducing and passing the mutation along. (net)

3

Train plan in Bali

Governor returns it to the community

DENPASAR - The discourse of the train construction in Bali has been rolling out for a long time and had been reaping the pros and cons. Having been fading for long enough, this discourse emerges again in the era of leadership under Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster. The infrastructure will later be built with a KPBU scheme (Government and Business Entity Cooperation), while the priority route is Mengwitani-Singaraja.

“It’s been a long time and the study has already existed. However, we return it to the people of Bali. If we need it, we will realize it, and if we don’t need it ... it does not matter,” said Governor Wayan Koster, when confirmed on Friday (May 17).

However, continued Koster, Bali in the future requires mass transportation modes. One of the alternatives is the train. Although there has been public transportation, the route is not right or does not connect between the regions in the context of real needs.

“If there is a lot of interest in the future, in my opinion, the current (public transportation) is no longer enough. It has to be equipped with other modes of transportation,” added this Chairman of the PDIP Bali.

When separately interviewed, Head of the Bali Transportation Agency, I Gde Wayan Samsi Gunarta, said the first feasibility study (FS) made by the ministry is under discussion. Detailed Engineering Design (DED) for the MengwitaniSingaraja train is being prepared.

However, the level of feasibility apparently remains inadequate technically. For example, if passing Bedugul to the north, the upgrade is too high, and if forced it requires a longer tunnel. His agency then looked for opportunities for other

traces. Even if there is a tunnel, it can be made not too long.

“There are several other studies, which actually do not refer to trains. There are studies related to highways and so on by using other traces,” he said.

According to Samsi, the trace is considered to be more moderate or better. This means that gradients have more prospects than before.

Then, for financing schemes it will use KPBU, but solicited where the government serves as the initiator, then it will be auctioned in the form of an investment auction.

He said that train plan in terms of socio-cultural aspect had good acceptability in accordance with the results of the study. Moreover, the existing public transportation, all of them use road infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the road conditions already had traffic congestion with the ratio of the number of vehicles and residents almost 1 to 1. In this case, Bali is saturated in terms of vehicle growth. Data from the Bali Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency show that in Bali there are 629.39 km of national roads, 743.34 km of provincial roads, and 5,391.43 km of district / city roads.

Actually, for motorized vehicles according to the data of the Bali Revenue Service in the past five years there were 3.2 million units.

Of that amount, around 2.7 million

Some dog breeds may have trouble breathing because of a mutated gene DOGS with flat faces aren’t alone in their struggle to breathe.

It turns out that Norwich terriers can develop the same wheezing — caused not by the shape of their snouts, but possibly by a wayward gene.

DNA from 401 Norwich terriers revealed that those suffering a respiratory tract disorder shared the same variant of gene ADAMTS3 that’s associated with swelling around airways. Nearly a third of the dogs had two copies of that mutated gene. And

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

IBP/kmb

The demand for PDDS (Regional Company of Dharma Santhika) red rice with the Bali Pertiwi brand continues to increase.

Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster

IBP/kmb

are motorbikes and only around 500,000 units are four-wheeled vehicles and above. “So the choice is actually to increase capacity,” he added.

To enlarge capacity, continued Samsi, it can indeed be added to the network. For example, it uses another road by repairing and enlarging its capacity or using highspeed toll roads. But we can also use mass transport such as trains.

Indeed, the transportation at the beginning will definitely take time for the community to make adjustments. He did not dismiss there is possibility if the train will be empty

of passengers at the beginning of its operation later.

“The service must be done optimally first because the demand is greatly influenced by the performance of existing services. If this happens, well ... we actually can’t automatically expect in the early stages to be full. Almost everything runs like that,” he explained.

Samsi added the train to be built in Bali is likely to be electrified. It can be in the form of LRT, electric trains, or other modes as developed in many countries such as autonomous rail rapid transit, and may also use metro type capsules that

have been developed domestically.

All technologies must be verified first to determine which are more likely to be applied. It takes around three years from the planning stage to realization.

“But now, we have other models or schemes that can be applied.

Depending on the speed, we can prepare, for example, whether our initial study can be prepared faster or not,” he explained.

When talking about the budget needed, Samsi has not been able to say the exact figure because it is very much determined by the tract that will be used later. (kmb32)

TABANAN - Since it was marketed in April 2019 in networked stores, the demand for PDDS (Regional Company of Dharma Santhika) red rice with the Bali Pertiwi brand continues to increase.

If originally ordered 173 boxes containing 1,038 pieces with the size of 1 kilogram, the networked stores have returned to re-order 60 boxes where one box contains 6 pieces of 1 kilogram size Director of PDDS, Gede Putu Sugi Darmawan, some time ago said the addition of this order along with the bagged certificate of Fresh Food Crop Origin (PSAT) from the Ministry of Agriculture for Bali Pertiwi brand rice marketed by PDDS for the red, black and fragrant and milky sprouting rice. The

PSAT certificate is a standard for agricultural products accepted in networked stores or modern stores.

Since the PSAT has been owned and offered at networked stores, the market has responded positively to the transaction for Tabanan red rice.

“Of the various variants of rice sold by PDDS under the brand of Pertiwi Bali, the sales absorbed by the networked stores are the types of red rice. Within less than a month, networked stores have made repeat orders or re-orders amounting to 60 boxes.

Meanwhile, for other variants, namely black rice and sprouting fragrant rice, the sales are also quite good, but currently there are no repeat orders. Previously, each variant of Bali Pertiwi rice was absorbed to reach 1 ton per order for

217 Alfamart stores in Bali.

Sugi added that to fulfill the stock of Pertiwi Bali rice variant, for milky sprouting fragrant rice is taken from Subak Timbul or BUMDes of Gadung Sari village, East Selemadeg. Sandalwood red rice is supplied by BUMDes Babahan and BUMDes Mengesta, Penebel, while black rice by BUMDes Tajen and Jatiluwih, Penebel.

With the addition of order for red rice by networked stores, there will certainly be an increase in demand for red rice at the level of BUMDes becoming the suppliers. Currently, the absorption of red rice at the BUMDes level by PDDS reaches 2-3 tons per month in bulk, from the previously one ton per month. (kmb24)

Demand for Pertiwi Bali red rice of Tabanan from networked retail stores increases

2

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Bali News

International

Giri Prasta wants workers to be entrepreneurs

Mangupura - The number of entrepreneurs in Badung district is still relatively small compared to the total population.

At present, there are 16,000 entrepreneurs. Of this number, 30 percent are female entrepreneurs.

Seeing these conditions, the Regent of Badung, I Nyoman Giri Prasta, wished that the community will not only be satisfied to become workers but should be able to become entrepreneurs. The

government will even support this endeavor through a number of programs.

“Don’t just think of being a worker, we want the workers to be able to become entrepreneurs. For

example, the workers at hotels are able to facilitate hotel needs such as fruit and vegetables,” said Regent Giri Prasta, recently.

This official from Pelaga village, Petang, expected that beyond becoming a labor union, they can make communities / business groups that will be accommodated to be given capital assistance by the Badung district government

through the relevant agencies so that they can compete in the industrial era 4.0.

“We in the district government will provide training and capital strengthening for business groups to strengthen their economy. We believe that whoever holds the economy will be the leader,” he said.

Regent Giri Prasta also hoped

that even if the smallest problem occurred in the labor union, it should be resolved by deliberation, not through a demonstration.

“Please do not do a demonstration, you have to sit together to resolve it. We all cannot resolved the problems by ourselves, but I am sure all the problems have a solution,” he concluded. (kmb27)

In Bali, election claims 56 victims of organizing officer DENPASAR - The implementation of election in Bali claimed 56 victims comprising 48 people from Electoral Commission (KPU) and 8 others from Electoral Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) elements. Those becoming the victims, getting sick and having died were proposed by each institution to get compensation.

“We have written to the Governor of Bali and Central Electoral Commission in order that the victims can be given compensation,” said Commissioner of Bali Electoral Commission, Gede Jhon Darmawan, on Sunday (May 19).

Jhon Darmawan added the number of election organizers from Electoral Commission ele-

ment becoming the victims spread throughout the districts in Bali.

The highest number is in Buleleng district amounting to 15 people, then Karangasem district (10 people), Tabanan district (10 people), Denpasar City (4 people), Badung district (3 people), Bangli district (3 people), Gianyar district (2 people) and Jembrana (1 person).

Related to duties in the implementation of the elections, the highest number of victims is from Voting Committee Group (KPPS) officers (31 people). From that number, 4 of them even died namely I Nengah Sumerta, 46, from Pasedahan village, Manggis, Karangasem. While carrying out his duties as a KPPS officer,

the victim fell ill and then felt unwell, his family had taken him to the Karangasem Hospital with a diagnosis of high tension, shortness of breath and was then declared dead.

Meanwhile, I Ketut Putu Suwika, 38, from Pegadungan village, Sukasada, Buleleng, was exhausted during the voting and counting. He was diagnosed to have heart disease and died at home on May 10, 2019.

Trismawatin, 46, from Tegalbadeng Timur village, Jembrana, died on May 10, 2019. And, I Putu Rudi Artawan, 37, from Kuta village, Badung, died in an accident under conditions of exhaustion after the voting and counting.

Jhon Darmawan added that in

addition to KPPS, there are also victims from Subdistrict Electoral Committee (PPK) officers amounting to 4 people, PPS (7 people), people protection (3 people) and employees of the KPU secretariat (3 people). “We are appreciative and push for immediate compensation,” he said.

Meanwhile, there were 8 victims from Bali Electoral Supervisory Bard, where 4 people died, 2 people were sick and 2 others were injured.

Chairperson of Bali Electoral Supervisory Board, Ketut Ariyani, said that those who were sick and died due to exhaustion in carrying out their duties. Among them, there is I Nyoman Astawa, PTPS, from Jalan Singosari, Tagtag Tengah,

Gang Pelatuk No. 1 Denpasar Utara, died after overseeing the counting process until 03:00 on April 20, 2019.

Putu Sudiasa, PPKD, from Banjar Dangin Margi, Tampekan, Banjar, Buleleng, died on April 13, 2019. I Ketut Sucipta Astawa, PPKD from Banjar Pasekan Buduk, Badung, died on February 24, 2019, due to shortness of breath.

Finally, I Gede Artana, Chief of Subdistrict Supervisory Committee, Banjar Pempatan, Rendang, Karangasem, had kidney pain and was about to undergo dialysis treatment, but when undergoing treatment at the hospital the concerned died on Sunday (May 12) 13:30 Local Time. (kmb16)

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Activities

International

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

15

Painting While Drinking Wine This art activity is really interesting and relaxed. Tourists can paint while drinking wine or drinking wine while expressing the art on canvas. This activity is indeed in demand, so that domestic and foreign tourists want to linger at the restaurant. “I will definitely come here if I’m relaxed. While painting, we can enjoy wine and eat,” said the beautiful girl from Palu, Sulawesi.

It is one of the activities in Samanera Bowl Ubud. In order to increase the interest of both foreign and domestic tourists to stay in Bali and Ubud in particular, they are always creative in creating new tourist attractions. Painting and

wine activity is in an open space, cool atmosphere, and can witness the activities at tourism village.

This tourist activity is indeed packaged casually for tourists wishing to paint whatever they want.

“Painting and Wine Class is indeed presented to tourists to coincide with Kartini Day. We still give freedom to tourists taking part in these activities and wishing to paint anything,” said the Founder of Painting and Wine Activities, on Sunday (Apr. 28).

Indeed, painting while drinking wine is deliberately selected to give relaxing impression. This activity has existed since 3 weeks ago in an effort to reduce saturation of tour-

ists and workers carrying out daily routine activities. “We provide outdoor facilities while seeing other tourists passing by around Ubud.

You can also drink as much as you like,” explained Inneke.

The response of tourists to Painting and Wine is quite good. Within a day, there are about 10 people getting interested in buying the Painting and Wine package. Children, adolescents and adults can do this activity. Specifically for children, the drinks are replaced with juice and other soft drinks. Even though it is packaged for weekends, for many ordinary days there are also enthusiasts. (kmb)

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

16 Pages Number 100 11th year

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Price: Rp 3.000,-

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Camila Morrone: From doubling up with dad to Hollywood’s next big thing CANNES - Unless you are a battle-hardened follower of Leonardo DiCaprio’s love life, or you spend your life on catwalk model feeds on Instagram, you will not have heard of Camila Morrone.

But not for long. The Argentinian model-turned-actress is one of the big discoveries of the Cannes film festival, lighting up a small US indie film about a 17-year-old girl looking after her traumatised, opioid-addicted Iraq veteran father.

“Mickey and the Bear” has already had the Hollywood Reporter comparing the triple talents that the film reveals -- Morrone, debut director Annabelle Attanasio and James Badge Dale, who plays the father -- to “Leave No Trace” and “Lean on Pete”, “the two finest films of 2018”.

Morrone, who is 21, regards Al Pacino -- who dated her actress mother Lucila Sola for years -- as her “stepfather”, and went to the most famous high school in the world, Beverly Hills 90210.

She might not seem the obvious candidate to play a slightly chubby girl living on the breadline in a

trailer in a beautiful but polluted former mining town in Montana.

Yet the actress -- whose warmth and smouldering catwalk self drew comparisons with Sophia Loren -pulled it off and then some, putting on weight and bringing an earthy groundedness and strength to the part of a teenager who also had to be mother, wife and nurse.

Their lives might be worlds apart, but Morrone said she could identify with Mickey.

“I could relate to being a 17year-old girl and taking on more than I could handle,” she told AFP in Cannes.

“I didn’t grow up overly privileged,” she insisted.

“My parents were struggling actors who had a hard time getting work. That’s why I hesitated about getting into acting, I had seen them going through that.”

She was the odd one out in a class of rich kids.

“I was able to tap into that” to play Mickey, scrabbling to make ends meet while dreaming of escaping her trailer for college in California. (afp)

LOIC VENANCE / AFP

US model and actress Camila Morrone

‘Now our watch is ended’: History-making ‘Game of Thrones’ wraps

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

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

LOS ANGELES - After eight epic years, 47 Emmys, two dead dragons and lots of sex, “Game of Thrones” has said an emotional goodbye to devotees worldwide of one of the most popular shows in television history.

The blood-spattered tale of noble families vying for the Iron Throne wrapped with the 73rd and final episode of a ratings juggernaut that has demolished audience records worldwide and redefined weekly “event TV” for the instant-gratification Netflix generation.

And while millions watched at home -- some nursing a bittersweet goblet of Dornish wine, one would hope -- thousands celebrated and mourned the show’s denouement in bars, banqueting halls and backyards from Alaska to Armenia.

“It was even more intense than a football finale,” said Ewald Klautky, 52, one of around 200 fans gathered in Brennan’s Irish bar in west Los Angeles, where guests were enjoying a blue whisky cocktail called “The Night King.” Cries of joy, sobs and applause followed the peaks and troughs of what many regarded as a poignant but so-so finale, with one couple even stealing a furtive kiss as the tension built.

“I’ll watch the episode again when I’m quiet at home,” said 28-year-old manufacturing engineer Shobhana Chetri, who found the episode a disappointment on first viewing.

In China, the show’s rights-holder triggered outrage among legions of die-hard fans -- some of whom took the morning off work to tune in -- by mysteriously delaying its broadcast just before it was due to air.

That did not stop fans flocking online, with one dramatic twist -in signature style, not every main character survived until the end credits -- provoking a discussion on Twitter-like Weibo that was viewed

Robyn Beck / AFP

A fan sits in a replica of The Iron Throne for a snapshot before watching HBO’s “Game of Thrones” series finale at Brennan’s bar in Marina del Rey, California, May 19, 2019. more than 230 million times.

- Hacked, burned, flayed One of the darkest and most controversial primetime series ever made, “GoT” has been the target of criticism over the years for senseless violence and its repeated use of rape as a dramatic device.

The scriptwriters have brutalized women, killed children, depicted graphic sex and had their characters hacked, stabbed, flayed, poisoned, decapitated, burned alive, eye-gouged and eviscerated -- all in glorious close-up.

The adult themes have not deterred fans, however, nor the industry awards circuit, which has seen fit to make the HBO show the most decorated fictional series in history.

Airing in 170 countries under

its portentous tagline, “Winter is Coming,” the show is also the most expensive ever, with a budget of $15 million per episode.

The season seven finale set an all-time US record for premium cable TV, with 16.5 million people watching live or streaming on the day of transmission and 15 million more tuning in later.

Season six was the first to move beyond the source material, George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels, and carve its own path.

Critics said it marked a return to form, but the shortened final two seasons have been more of a mixed bag, with many fans furious over what they consider poor writing and a rushed conclusion of the various plot strands. (afp)

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National police spokesman Brig. Gen. Muhammad Iqbal, center, speaks to media as ammunition, explosive-making materials and other evidence confiscated from suspected militants are displayed during a press conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, May 17, 2019.

Indonesian police beef up security ahead of election results

JAKARTA - Indonesia is deploying 32,000 security personnel in the capital, Jakarta, after warnings of a possible militant attack during the official announcement of presidential election results next week, police said Friday.

National Police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said police have apprehended 29 people this month who planned to set off bombs during expected street protests when the official vote count is announced

by May 22.

He told a news conference that the suspects were members of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, a local militant network affiliated with the Islamic State group, and have confessed that they planned attacks during the release of the election results.

The network of almost two

dozen extremist organizations has been implicated in numerous attacks in Indonesia in the past three years and was designated a terror organization by the U.S. in 2017.

Iqbal urged people not to hold street rallies and avoid mass gathering on the day of the announcement for their safety.

He said the police counterterrorism squad has arrested 60 suspected militants so far this year and seven others were killed when they resisted arrest.

In March, the wife of an Islamic

militant arrested for allegedly plotting attacks in Jakarta detonated a bomb during a siege of their home in North Sumatra, killing herself and her 2-year-old child.

Another police spokesman, Dedi Prasetyo, said police and military personnel will set up a security cordon around the headquarters of the Election Supervisory Agency and the Electoral Commission in downtown Jakarta.

At the news conference, police presented 10 handcuffed suspects wearing black ski masks and orange prisoner uniforms. A long table in front of them was filled with items confiscated by police, including explosive materials, knifes, ammunition and jihadist books.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, is an outpost of democracy in a Southeast Asian neighborhood of authoritarian governments. It held the biggest single-day election on April 17 to elect a president and national and regional parliaments.

Vote counts from five independent survey groups showed incumbent President Joko Widodo with a clear lead over Prabowo Subianto, a general during the era of the Suharto military dictatorship who warned Indonesia would fall apart without his strongman leadership.

Subianto’s insistence that he was on course for victory, and his allegations of fraud, have led to speculation in some quarters that he might

be trying to himself fix the results or would refuse to concede. That would put pressure on the country’s democratic institutions and could possibly lead to violence.

His supporters recently held street rallies to call for fairness and vigilance in the vote counting, as the government warned that efforts to cast doubt on the outcome could amount to treason. (ap) 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.