Edisi 21 Desember 2015 | International Bali Post

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Monday, December 21, 2015

Spielberg to return to Universal Pictures

Film Frame/Lucasfilm via AP

This photo provided by Lucasfilm shows Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca and Harrison Ford as Han Solo in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” directed by J.J. Abrams. Lawrence Kasdan co-wrote the screenplay with Abrams. The movie opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, Dec. 18, 2015.

LOS ANGELES - Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who began his career as an intern and then director at Universal Pictures, is returning to the studio under a series of partnerships announced on Wednesday. Spielberg and his DreamWorks Studios will join Participant Media, Reliance Group and Entertainment One to create Amblin Partners production house. Universal Pictures for its part will market and distribute the new company’s films. “We couldn’t be more pleased to be back in business with Steven,” said a joint statement by Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, and Donna Langley, chair of Universal Pictures. “His iconic films have stood the test of time and are embraced by audiences

around the world.” Universal said it would market four to seven Amblin Partners films each year, beginning with “The Girl on the Train”, starring Emily Blunt, in October 2016. “The same magnet that pulled me to Universal when I first wanted to make movies is bringing me home again to this new exciting relationship,” Spielberg said. “It is my hope that we can make some more beautiful music together.” While at Universal during the 1970s, Spielberg helmed such blockbusters as “Jaws,” and “E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial,” which helped establish him as one of Hollywood’s top names. Spielberg’s films for the past six years have been distributed by Walt Disney Co. but that agreement was due to expire next August. (afp)

‘Force Awakens’ on track for Nicki Minaj performs at Angola record $215M-plus weekend concert despite criticism

NEW YORK — “Star Wars” fever has spread through movie theaters around the globe, even reaching the White House, as the franchise yet again began toppling box-office records with waves of lightsaber-wielding fans. Following a record $57 million from Thursday night showings in North America, and packed matinees on Friday, the Walt Disney Co. projected that “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will surpass $215 million on the weekend, besting the record domestic opening of “Jurassic World,” which debuted with $208.8 million in June. Such an outcome would surprise few analysts, but the numbers were nevertheless eye-popping. “The Force Awakens” was heading toward a Thursday night-Friday total of more than $120 million domestically, said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney. The previous one-day high was $91.1 million set by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” in 2011. In such rarified territory, Disney has been cautious about overestimating the

box-office force of J.J. Abrams’ seventh chapter in George Lucas’ space saga. Based on the early response, many analysts have the film pegged for a weekend total closer to $250 million — far above “Jurassic World.” Disney’s biggest worry has been that moviegoers will be too daunted by sold-out shows and long lines. More than $100 million advance tickets (also a record) were sold ahead of the opening of “The Force Awakens,” much of those going toward Thursday and Friday shows. Saturday and Sunday will depend more on traditional walk-up business. Hollis said exhibitors are continually adding more screenings to satisfy demand. The international rollout for the film, made for about $200 million, has already brought in an estimated total of $72.7 million since opening

in a handful of countries Wednesday. “The Force Awakens” is simultaneously opening around the world just about everywhere but China, where it debuts in January. It’s setting records overseas, too, including the biggest single day ever in the United Kingdom with an estimated $14.4 million on Thursday. While “Star Wars” helped create the summer blockbuster, “The Force Awakens” is debuting in the holiday season of December, where the previous top opening was the $84.6 million debut of 2012’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” By Disney’s estimates, “The Force Awakens” — the widest December opening ever with 4,134 theaters — blew past that number by Friday afternoon. Imax and 3-D screenings are helping to propel the record gross. Disney said that 47 percent of the Thursday box office came from 3-D showings and $5.7 million from Imax screens. (ap)

LUANDA - US rapper and songwriter Nicki Minaj ignored international critics Saturday and performed at a concert linked to the family of Angola’s long-ruling President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. The 33-year-old hip-hop star entertained several thousand of people at a Christmas concert in the Angolan capital Luanda despite calls from rights groups to cancel the tour, which they saw as an endorsement of the authoritarian rule of dos Santos. The concert was hosted by the Angola’s largest mobile phone company, which is part owned by the dos Santos family. Before going on stage, Minaj posted a photo of herself in a jumpsuit and draped in the black-and-red flag of Angola on photo-sharing service Instagram. Concert organisers said they had sold 6,000 tickets for the concert, which was held in the 12,000-seat Coqueiros Stadium where she shared the stage with several local acts. Minaj had come in for criticism

for agreeing to perform, with Human Rights Foundation president Thor Halvorssen saying this week that she had “no good reason... to do business with the corrupt Angolan dictatorship and endorse the ruler’s family company”. Jeffery Smith of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights centre also accused Minaj of “following in the footsteps of Mariah Carey, callously taking money from a dictator”. Fellow US singer Carey was criticised in 2013 for performing in front of dos Santos, who has governed the southern African nation for 36 years. Smith said dos Santos had mounted a “sustained crackdown on basic human rights” arresting activists, opposition members, journalists, as well as musicians. Minaj performed a day after a judge ordered the release of 15 Angolan activists, including prominent rapper Luaty Beirao, who were arrested six months ago during a book reading where one of the books on the agenda was about non-violent resistance to repressive regimes. (afp)

WEATHER FORECAST 23 - 32 Dps

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Monday, December 21, 2015 Air France flight forced to land in Kenya over bomb scare Page 6

Pep Guardiola to leave Bayern Munich at end of the season Page 8

US campaign: Sanders, Clinton move past rancor over breach Page 13

Police say New Year terror plot foiled, five held

JAKARTA - Indonesian police have foiled a major terror plot with the arrest of several men allegedly linked to a planned suicide bombing in Jakarta during New Year celebrations, according to documents seen Sunday.

ANTARA FOTO/Syaiful Arif

Children passed a house in Trowulan, Mojokerto, East Java, that being raided by police over a major terror plot with the arrest of several men allegedly linked to a planned suicide bombing in Jakarta during New Year celebrations.

During raids in several cities across Java island on Friday and Saturday, police arrested five members of an alleged extremist network and seized chemicals, laboratory equipment and a flag inspired by the Islamic State group. Among those arrested was Asep Urip, a 31-year-old teacher at an Islamic boarding school in Central Java, and his 35-year-old pupil Zaenal, whom police allege was being “groomed” to carry out an imminent attack. “From early information, it’s known that Zaenal was a candidate for a suicide bombing in Jakarta to be conducted on New Year’s 2016,” stated police documents into the arrests seen by AFP. A subsequent raid on the teacher’s house uncovered a black flag inscribed with text “similar to an ISIS flag”, police said, referring to an acronym often used for the jihadist group controlling large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria. Elite anti-terror police detained the teacher and the student after swooping on two other men with connections both to the religious school and to expert bombmakers and radicals in other parts of Java.

One of those men, Iwan, had travelled to West Java this month with the intention of building a bomb, police allege. A fifth man was arrested near the city of Semarang on Saturday, leading to a raid on his home where a wide array of suspect materials was seized including laboratory equipment, chemical textbooks, fertiliser, buckshot and spikes. Police said the nationwide operation -- the largest of its kind in Indonesia for some time -- was targeting an organised terror cell. “These arrests were carried out because of indications these men were involved in a terrorist network,” police documents state. The raids came just a month after Indonesia increased security at its airports after a threat was directed at one serving the capital Jakarta. 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.

Military steps in to help tourist destination maintain agriculture BEFORE becoming a tourist destination, Bali was almost entirely driven by agriculture. During a large scale rice planting program that took place in Penatih village East Denpasar recently, Commander of the 163/ Wira Satya Military Resort, I Nyoman Cantiasa said that today, despite being an international tourist destination,

Bali must nonetheless maintain its agricultural sector in order to ensure food security. The conversion of farmlands into buildings must be slowed down to allow agriculture to provide for basic needs. “Current agricultural condition must be maintained. Because Bali is a popular tourist destination, there is a large demand for land which poses a challenge to this endeavour,” said the Commander Cantiasa. In response to this challenge, the military has been

coordinating with the local government to find a way to prevent farmlands from being converted. If conversion cannot be avoided, the commander hopes that it can be done selectively, in harmony with the development of Bali, with enough farmlands left so that food-sovereignty can still be maintained.

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