I N T E R N A T I O N A L
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
16 Pages Number 56 10th year
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Thurday, February 22, 2018
Disabled by alchohol - Van Sant brings cartoonist biopic to Berlin
e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.
Thurday, February 22, 2018
BERLIN - It was a role Robin Williams wanted to play in honour of his friend “Superman” actor Christopher Reeve - the true story of a quadriplegic who despite his disability makes his name as a talented cartoonist. But while Williams, who committed suicide in 2014, never got the chance to play the part, his interest in cartoonist John Callahan helped bring the story to the screen, in a biopic competing for the top prize at the Berlin festival. “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,” based on Callahan’s 1989 memoir, shows the young man partying while in thrall to alcoholism before a car accident on a drunken night out leaves him quadriplegic at age 21. It follows his career as the creator of biting cartoons that often addressed the darker side of human nature, while battling alcoholism. Director Gus Van Sant said Williams had asked him to work on adapting the memoir into a screenplay. “He liked John Callahan’s work
- he saw it in his local newspaper in San Francisco - and Christopher Reeve was a friend of his who had had an accident and he very much wanted to play a quadriplegic, partly in honour of his friend, who was a quadriplegic,” Van Sant said. The film shows Callahan at Alcoholics Anonymous, revealing how being abandoned by his mother as a child drove him to drink. Joaquin Phoenix, who plays Callahan - who died in 2010 - said the biggest challenge of the cartoonist’s life was not his paralysis. “I think drinking was his disability really,” he told reporters in Berlin. “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” is one of 19 films competing for the Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear, to be awarded on Feb. 24. (rtr)
REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Director, screenwriter and editor Gus Van Sant with actors Joaquin Phoenix and Udo Kier arrive for the screening of the movie Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot at the 68th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 20, 2018.
Brazil’s ‘What a shot’ music video stirs debate amid violent crime wave
JoJo Todynho
IBP/net
RIO DE JANEIRO - A viral music video called “What a shot” is stirring debate in Brazil about the glamorization of crime and freedom of expression, as surging crime in Rio de Janeiro has led the government to put troops in charge of security in the tourist city. The hit by Jordana Gleise de Jesus Menezes - known as JoJo Todynho has spawned myriad parody videos on YouTube since it was released in December. The clips often show children and adults collapsing to the ground as a shot rings out following the lyrics “What a shot”, before the person stands up and begins to dance as the music picks up. The spoofs have revived debate
about whether the popular dance music genre from Rio de Janeiro, known as funk, glamorizes violence. On Friday, Brazil’s government ordered the army to take over command of police forces in Rio de Janeiro state to curb violence after killings increased by nearly 8 percent last year to 6,731. A petition to outlaw funk music because of its explicit treatment of violence, sex and drugs gained more than 20,000 signatures last year but has failed to gain traction in Congress. In a population of around 210 million people, the government recorded 59,080 gun deaths in 2015, putting it in the top 10 World Bank list of the most murderous countries. In a music video featuring images of coffins and the faces of young
children killed by stray bullets in Rio, rapper Gabriel O Pensador, also from Rio, Brazil’s second largest city, objected to the parodies. “What a shot? No, I’m not going to fall to the floor ... I’m a joker too, but joking has a time and a place,” he raps. “The Rio that we love celebrates carnival and this violence is terrifying.” A city in the northeastern state of Alagoas tried to ban the song being played during Carnival this month, arguing it incited violence. Authorities sought to impose a fine of 2,000 reais ($616) for each violation, but a court stopped the city from punishing musicians before a final ruling is reached, media reports said. Todynho, 21, whose artistic name
refers to a popular brand of chocolate milk, is from Rio’s tough western neighborhood of Bangu. She said the phrase is used to mean “how cool,” in a song mostly about sambaing with your girlfriends. The official music video, with over 136 million views, made the rounds as national attention was focused on violence during the Carnival festivities in Rio, with images of gangs robbing tourists en masse repeatedly broadcast on national TV. Performers of funk music often say they are only reflecting the harsh reality of Rio de Janeiro and the country at large. The music has also been toned down as it has moved from the favelas to the mainstream. (rtr)
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A child walks near damaged buildings in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, Syria February 20, 2018.
Syria’s Ghouta residents ”wait to die” as bombs fall
BEIRUT - Residents of Syria’s eastern Ghouta district said they were waiting their “turn to die” on Wednesday, amid one of the most intense bombardments of the war by pro-government forces on the besieged, rebel-held enclave near Damascus.
bombs dropped from helicopters whose use has been condemned by the United Nations.
At least 10 people died in one village and more than 200 were injured early on Wednesday. At least 296 people have been killed in the district in the last three days, the Britishbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said. Another 13 bodies, including five children, were recovered from the rubble of houses destroyed on Tuesday in the villages of Arbin and Saqba, the Observatory reported. The eastern Ghouta, a densely populated agricultural district on the Damascus outskirts, is the last major area near the capital still under rebel control. Home to 400,000 people, it has been besieged by government forces for years. A massive escalation in bombardment, including rocket fire, shelling, air strikes and helicopter-dropped barrel bombs, since Sunday has
WARNINGS A commander in the coalition fighting on behalf of Assad’s government told Reuters overnight the bombing aims to prevent the rebels from targeting the eastern neighbourhoods of Damascus with mortars. It may be followed by a ground campaign. “The offensive has not started yet. This is preliminary bombing,” the commander said. Rebels have also been firing mortars on the districts of Damascus near eastern Ghouta, wounding two people on Wednesday, state media reported. Rebel mortars killed at least six people on Tuesday. “Today, residential areas, Damascus hotels, as well as Russia’s Centre for Syrian Reconciliation, received massive bombardment by illegal armed groups from eastern Ghouta,”
become one of the deadliest of the Syrian civil war, now entering its eighth year. Reuters photographs taken in eastern Ghouta on Wednesday showed men searching through the rubble of smashed buildings, carrying bloodsmeared people to hospital and cowering in debris-strewn streets. The United Nations has denounced the bombardment, which has struck hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, saying such attacks could be war crimes. The pace of the strikes appeared to slacken overnight, but its intensity resumed later on Wednesday morning, the Observatory said. Progovernment forces fired hundreds of rockets and dropped barrel bombs from helicopters on the district’s towns and villages. “We are waiting our turn to die.
This is the only thing I can say,” said Bilal Abu Salah, 22, whose wife is five months pregnant with their first child in the biggest eastern Ghouta town Douma. They fear the terror of the bombardment will bring her into labour early, he said. “Nearly all people living here live in shelters now. There are five or six families in one home. There is no food, no markets,” he said. The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations, a group of foreign agencies that fund hospitals in opposition-held parts of Syria, said eight medical facilities in eastern Ghouta had been attacked on Tuesday. The Syrian government and its ally Russia, which has backed Assad with air power since 2015, say they do not target civilians. They also deny using the inaccurate explosive barrel
Russia’s Defence Ministry said late on Tuesday. Eastern Ghouta is one of a group of “de-escalation zones” under a diplomatic ceasefire initiative agreed by Assad’s allies Russia and Iran with Turkey which has backed the rebels. But a rebel group formerly affiliated with al Qaeda is not included in the truces and it has a small presence there. Conditions in eastern Ghouta, besieged since 2013, had increasingly alarmed aid agencies even before the latest assault, as shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities caused suffering and illness. (rtr) News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.
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Bali News
Thursday, February 22, 2018
International
Balinese woman allegedly murdered own three young children
GIANYAR - A Balinese woman allegedly killed her own three young children on Wednesday in Sukawati, Gianyar by feeding them insect poison, before a failed attempt to take her own life. The 33-year-old woman, who works as a teacher, is currently in critical condition at a hospital in Gianyar, reportedly with self-inflicted wounds on her wrist and neck. The children were aged six, four, and two, Bali Express is reporting. Allegedly because of marital problems, the woman,
initials PSP, took her kids to stay at her younger brother’s house, without her husband, on Tuesday night. “While the perpetrator was breastfeeding her child, the witness was sleeping,” an unidentified source as saying. Then on Wednesday, around 6:40am, the brother wanted to take something from the room where his sister was staying. He knocked on the door, but no answer. “Then the witness tried to force open the window of the room and then saw the perpetrator and the victims in a state of rigidity,” the source said.
“The three victims were already dead while the perpetrator was still critical with cuts on her left wrist and the right side of her neck.” At the scene, Baygon, an insect poison, was found in liquid form in plastic containers. Sukawati Police Chief Pande Sugiharta confirmed the incident and said detectives are investigating the woman’s motives. “We are waiting for the mother to come to, to examine her motive,” Sugiharta said. (kmb)
Water of Lake Batur overflows
Kedisan jetty flooded, passenger boats moved eastwards BANGLI - Rising water of Lake Batur due to high rainfall happened recently does not only submerge the residents’ houses at Terunyan village and their farmland, but also the ferry pier at Kedisan. On this condition, the ferry operator is forced to move the passenger crossing pier to Terunyan to the east of the existing pier. Head of the Batur Lake Crossing Unit, I Ketut Nasta, said on Tuesday (Feb. 20) that the water of Lake Batur has returned to rise since
heavy rain continuously flushing Bangli from early January. Nasta added the lake water will indeed rise every rainy season, but for now the rise is higher than ever before. “From my first assignment here around 1995, this is the highest rise of the lake water. The rising has already exceeded the height of last year,” he said. According to Nasta, the reoverflowing water of the lake to submerge the crossing pier does not interfere with the crossing services
for tourists wishing to travel to Terunyan through Kedisan. However, the location to raise and drop of passengers is moved to the east of the pier. “We open the crossing point beside the submerged pier as the boat is able to anchor directly on the border of the pier,” he said. He added that his unit cannot make sure when the lake water will recede. Moreover, until this February the rainfall is predicted to continuously occur. Thus, the volume of water is ascertained to
continuously increase. Based on previous condition, it takes for months for the water to recede. “Possibly, the water will just recede in August or September because these months have entered the dry season. Water will recede longer due to absorption beneath is not good. Unlike in the sea, the low and high tide runs faster,” said Nasta. Nasta also added that a boat owned by the Transportation Agency was damaged due to the
aftermath of the fallen banyan tree some time ago. However, currently the boat has been repaired by the officers. “Indeed, all this time the boat is not operated for crossing transportation of tourists because the fuel of the boat uses kerosene. Meanwhile, today it is difficult to get kerosene and costs expensive. So, we just put the boat in a safe place,” he explained. (kmb41)
Bali’s first custom-designed riverside cooking school that converts into an intimate dinner venue has opened on the banks of the Ayung at Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan. Sokasi, named after a woven bamboo box used to keep steamed rice, features a stunning bamboo design by Elora Hardy on the edge of Bali’s longest river – part of its UNESCO Heritage-listed subak
OJK assesses banking in Bali remains strong the banks and even no banks are included in intensive supervision. With such parameter, according to him, in 2018 there is no 10-year cycle. “Compared to 2008 and 1998, banking performance and financial condition this year is much better,” he said. However, when viewed from economic indicators, he recognized the economy slowed down within the past 3-4 years. Meanwhile, in terms of banking performance there is no problem. “We (OJK) only keep the financial industry so as to be strong, stable and growing,” he added. On average, the OJK targets a 10-percent growth in banking DPK and 10-percent credit because it is only credit that can drive the economy. The credit is channeled into the real sector. However, if the real sector does not move, it cannot absorb the credits disbursed
by banks. So, the bank will not run. “So, it depends on the real sector. However, it is the realm of Bank Indonesia (BI), industry and trade,” he said. In order to strengthen the banking in Bali, the OJK for BaliNusra Region has made various efforts. One of them is by issuing policies such by requiring commercial banks and people’s credit banks (BPRs) in Bali to apply risk management and Good Corporate Governance (GCG). Commercial banks have imposed risk management since 2002. Meanwhile, the policy of risk management and GCG for BPRs was issued in 2016 and came into effect in 2018. During that period, BPRs have time to fix the structure of the organization and human resources. “So, they will be ready when it is enacted,” he said. The OJK also requires BPRs
to increase core capital up to IDR 6 billion but the fulfillment can be made gradually starting from IDR 3 billion. By the end of 2019, the fulfillment of this core capital must be completed. Until now, the BPRs having not met the minimal core capital reach less than 10. The BPRs are said to have agreed to increase their core capital to IDR 6 billion. The OJK asked them to make an action plan related to the way of core capital fulfillment until maturity in 2019. If until 2019 they have not been fulfilled, the BPRs can look for other investors or merger with other banks. The OJK also required a compliance director for banks with Business Activities (KU) III and its core capital is more than IDR 50 billion. Meanwhile, the banks with KU I and KU II are enough to have compliance function. All these
efforts are done so that the financial industry can withstand the crisis. This year, the banks are expected to expand their credit because the bank’s income is obtained from interest on credit. Although the target of bank every year is the same, in 2018 is expected to grow larger. The OJK encouraged banks to further increase their growth, especially credit as the credit growth will spur the economic growth. However, for the expansion they will face many challenges. “The growth has the rules, so as not to do it aggressively or blindly. Keep applying the principle of prudence,” he concluded. Previously, Chief of Bali Representative Office of Bank Indonesia, Causa Iman Karana, said there is indeed a business cycle. However, the time cannot be specified. (kmb42)
Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Dewa Farendra. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post
Thursday, February 22, 2018
15
BALI’S FIRST CUSTOMDESIGNED RIVERSIDE COOKING SCHOOL OPENS AT FOUR SEASONS SAYAN
Ten-year cycle will not happen in 2018
DENPASAR - The 10-year cycle predicted by the economists to occur in 2018 does not cause concern among regulators, especially the Financial Services Authority (OJK). The OJK assessed this year will be even better than last year. Head of the OJK for Bali-Nusra Region, Hizbullah, argued that if viewed from the performance of Financial Services Institution (LJK) this year is different from 1998 and 2008. “Now, it is much better,” he said on Monday (Feb. 19). It happens because the parameters of bank capital adequacy ratio (CAR) reaches 22 percent nationally and the liquidity remains strong. “Moreover, banks have difficulty in distributing their credit,” he concluded. In addition, almost all banks in Bali are not subject to special surveillance. In other words, there is no serious problem faced by
Activities
International
Thursday February 22 20:00-23:30 The Heart Overfloweth Open Mic with Om Ben Bali Bohemia Jl. Night Bojog, Nyuh Kuning Ubud 7:00-22:00 Beware Beach Arts Festival Finns Bali Jl. Pantai Berawa no 32 Badung 8:00-13:00 Thursday Cooking Class Menu Cana Luna Cooking School with Janet DeNeef Jalan Bisma Ubud 15:00-22:00 Gnomon’s Open Mic 9 Angels Jalan Suweta 32 Ubud
irrigation network. Offering daily workshops and exclusive Chef’s Table dinners, it is the latest enhancement of the resort’s immersive experiences, connecting guests with Bali’s cultural and spiritual heart through the local cuisine. “In Balinese food, the magic is the spice paste,” said the resort’s senior sous chef, Wayan Sutariawan, who shares family recipes and
insights about local herbs, spices and aromatics during the half-day classes. Students join a chef-guided tour of nearby Ubud markets, returning to forage in Sokasi’s own vegetable and herb gardens before a hands-on lesson in the state-ofthe-art kitchen. Classes are intimate and personalised for a maximum of eight students, who can opt for traditional Balinese cuisine based
on old family recipes or a plantbased menu inspired by Ubud’s more recent evolution as a wellness mecca for yoga and spa retreats. Workshops culminate in lunch just steps from the flowing river, under a towering banyan tree surrounded by two acres of ricefields within the resort’s lush gardens. Three evenings a week, the Chef’s Table experience offers a family-style dinner featuring Ubud’s famous babi guling suckling pig marinated with base genep thousand spice paste and spitroasted for four hours, and bebek betutu whole duck slow-roasted for 12 hours in a traditional underground clay pot oven. Sokasi also offers complimentary classes daily for children as part of the resort’s Kids Club program. “You could easily spend all day in Sokasi and some guests do, starting with a cooking class and continuing into the evening with a Chef’s Table dinner of slow-cooked dishes normally reserved for cer-
emonies. It’s the kind of place that’s hard to leave,” said Sean Mosher, Resort Manager of Four Seasons Sayan. “The location, architecture and natural forest symphony create a brand new destination in Bali where students not only learn new kitchen skills and recipes, but also gain deep insights into the culture, daily rituals and traditional health remedies.” Classes are open to the public, while students can stay on-site to further soak up the tranquility and ethereal energy of the valley’s serene environment. The awardwinning resort’s 42 pool villas and 18 suites feature locally-sourced materials such as jati wood, coconut shell, river stones and traditional textiles, in a secluded setting just 10 minutes from Ubud. Sokasi is the second professional-standard cooking school launched by Four Seasons in Bali, following the success of Jimbaran Bay Cooking Academy at the allvilla beach retreat of Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay.
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Thursday, February 22, 2018
Health
International
With medicine running out, Venezuelans with transplants live in fear
CARACAS - Yasmira Castano felt she had a fresh chance at life when she received a kidney transplant almost two decades ago. The young Venezuelan was able to finish high school and went on to work as a manicurist. But late last year, Castano, now 40, was unable to find the drugs needed to keep her body from rejecting the organ, as Venezuela’s healthcare system slid deeper into crisis following years of economic turmoil. On Christmas Eve, weak and frail, Castano was rushed to a crumbling state hospital in Venezuela’s teeming capital, Caracas. Her immune system had attacked the foreign organ and she lost her kidney shortly afterwards. Now, Castano needs dialysis three times a week to filter her blood. But the hospital attached to Venezuela’s Central University, once one of South America’s top institutions, frequently suffers water outages and lacks materials for dialysis. “I spend nights not sleeping, just worrying,” said Castano, who weighs around 77 pounds (35 kg), as she lay on an old bed in a bleak hospital room, its bare walls unadorned by a television or pictures. Her roommate Lismar Castellanos, who just turned 21, put it more bluntly. “Unfortunately, I could die,” said Castellanos, who lost her transplanted kidney last year and is struggling to get the dialysis she needs to keep her body functioning. The women are among Venezuela’s roughly 3,500 transplant recipients. After years leading normal lives, they now live in fear as Venezuela’s economic collapse under President Nicolas Maduro has left the once-prosperous OPEC nation unable to purchase sufficient foreign medicine or produce enough of its own. Some 31 Venezuelans have seen their bodies start to reject their transplanted organs in the last month due to lack of medicine, according to umbrella health group Codevida, a non-governmental organization. At least seven have died due to complications stemming from organ failure in the last three months. A further 16,000 Venezuelans, many hoping for an elusive transplant, are dependent on dialysis to clean their blood - but here too, resources and materials are sorely lacking. Nearly half of the country’s dialysis units are out of service, according to opposition lawmaker and oncologist Jose Manuel Olivares, a leading voice on the health crisis who has toured dialysis centers to assess the scale of the problem. In the last three weeks alone, seven people have died due to lack of dialysis, according to Codevida, which staged a protest to decry the critical drug shortages. (rtr)
IBP/net
Terrified transplant patients are indebting themselves to buy pricey medicine on the black market.
Genes might not predict success of low-fat or low-carb diet
IBP/net
People who try to avoid junk food may lose similar amounts of weight on a low-carb or low-fat diet even when their genetics suggest that one of these options should be better for them, a U.S. study found.
CALIFORNIA - People who try to avoid junk food may lose similar amounts of weight on a lowcarb or low-fat diet even when their genetics suggest that one of these options should be better for them, a U.S. study found. Researchers randomly assigned 609 obese middle-aged adults to reduce carbohydrates or fats in their diets for one year. Participants received 22 educational sessions focused on mindful eating and avoiding processed and sugary foods. Researchers also looked to see whether participants had a particular genotype – a certain combination of the PPARG, ADRB2 and FABP2 genes – that some previous studies have linked to better results on either a low-fat or low-carb diet. At the end of the year, people on the low-fat diet lost an average of almost 12 pounds, compared with about 13 pounds for the low-carb diet. This difference was too small to rule out the possibility that it was due to chance, and participants typically remained obese.
Bali News
International
Weight loss also didn’t appear to be influenced by genotype, researchers report in JAMA. “This closes the door on the possibility that the . . . genotype pattern we tested would be useful,” said lead study author Christopher Gardner of Stanford University in California. “That does not close the door on the possibility that there are other genotype `signatures’ or patterns that could be useful,” Gardner said by email. None of the study participants were told to cut calories. Instead of restricting carbs or fats by a prescribed amount, people were told to cut back by an amount that felt sustainable. People were also encouraged to increase their intake of whole foods and vegetables and minimize added sugars and refined grains. To help curb mindless snacking, educators also told people to stop eating in their car or in front of their television and to make an effort to routinely dine with friends and family, shop at farmers’ markets and cook at home. (rtr)
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Thursday, February 22, 2018
Storytelling by Library Office vivaciously welcomed by kindergarten students
AMLAPURA - A total of 200 students of kindergarten from ten Kindergarten and pre-school educations in Karangasem participated in the storytelling service contest held by the Karangasem Library and Archive Office on Monday (Feb.19). The contest was commenced by the appearance of TK Tunas Harapan Amlapura. After that, it will be resumed with the appearance of other kindergarten and pre-school on the following days until March 5. Techniques of this service contest are that children must listen to the stories presented by the resource person. Afterward, the resource person assesses the participating children in terms of their diligence to listen to the stories, ability to answer the questions of the resource person, neatness of sitting and presentation of yells. The committee will select three winners. The contest presented resource person from the circle of educators of kindergarten, namely Ni Ketut Sukanganti and I Made Suarta. Content of the stories is related to benefits of apple to human health. According to storyteller, Ni Ketut Sukanganti, her story contains philosophy that we can live through dependency on nature. After listening to the story, children are expected to preserve their nature. According to Principal of TK Tunas Harapan Amlapura, Ni Ketut Suriani, she welcomed the
storytelling service. Children are expected to learn from the content of stories and implement it in their daily life. The contest committee, I Komang Pasek Antara, explained the story telling service has been held regularly every year. From the story service, students are expected to understand the contents of the story and practice it in their everyday life because the stories contain virtues and character. Furthermore, Pasek Antara added that teachers of kindergarten and pre-school can carry out storytelling at their school and then implement it. The storytelling service was opened by the Head of Library Office, I Komang Daging. Currently, library is no longer just impressed with lending and reading books, but also other educational and social activities. He hoped the community and educators at various levels of school could introduce children since early on to take advantage of the library to educate the nation. Ten kindergartens and preschools participating in the contest are the TK Tunas Harapan Amlapura, TK Nurul Huda Subagan, TK Bina Purwaka Jasri, TK Widya Kumara Padangkerta, TK Santi Kumara Bugbug, TK Ganeswara SKB Jasri, TK Santi Kumara Amlapura, TK Kumara Langu Timbrah, TK Kuncup Mekar Subagan and TK Aisyiyah Bustanul Athfal Amlapura. (kmb31)
IBP/kmb40
The damage to the pipeline has caused disruption of water supply to several customers in the Bangli urban areas since the past few days.
PDAM pipeline in Kayubihi harmed by landslide
Water supply in Bangli disrupted
BANGLI — Pipeline of the Municipality Waterworks (PDAM) Bangli returned to experience damages due to landslide. This time the damaged pipelines are located at Kayubihi village, Bangli. The damage to the pipeline has caused disruption of water supply to several customers in the Bangli urban areas since the past few days.
IBP/kmb31
Techniques of this service contest are that children must listen to the stories presented by the resource person.
Director of PDAM Bangli, Wayan Gede Yuliawan Askara, said on Monday (Feb. 19) the damage to pipelines happened to six pieces sizing 6 inches. The pipelines were damaged by a landslide on Friday. He disclosed that destruction of the pipeline caused disruption to clean water service to customers in the area of Bangli town. However, he did not mention clearly the location and total customers experiencing the service disruption. Yuliawan admitted that his company has addressed to the damage since last Friday. However, he admitted
the repair process cannot run quickly due to weather constraints. If there are no obstacles, probably it can be completed on Tuesday. Related to many damaged pipelines of PDAM all this time, Yuliawan admitted his management must bear quite large losses. However, he did not mention clearly the total losses experienced due to landslides since last January. “Obviously, we suffer losses of material, income and services,” he explained. Previously, at the end of January, PDAM pipelines were damaged at some points due to landslide. One of them is at Selat village, Susut. At the village, the pipelines buried by landslides reached along 10 meters. As a result, clean water service to 400 customers became disturbed. Similar damage to the network due to landslides also occurred at Tirta Barong spring. The damage to the network at the location caused disruption to clean water services to the Kawan hamlet and Bangli Hospital. To deal with such damage, the PDAM has made repair. However, due to be constrained by rain, the improvement efforts cannot be done quickly. (kmb40)
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Thurday, February 22, 2018
Bali News
International
Thurday, February 22, 2018
International
13
Japan to buy at least 20 more F-35A stealth fighters TOKYO - Japan plans to buy at least 20 additional F-35A stealth fighters over the next six years, some or all of which it may purchase directly from Lockheed Martin Corp in the United States rather than assemble locally, three sources said.
IBP/kmb
Although the water quality of Lake Batur has been declared unfit for consumption due to pollution, local residents still use it for daily consumption needs.
Water of Lake Batur sucked up to resolve water crisis at Madya hamlet
BANGLI — Difficulties of clean water faced by hundreds of residents at Madia hamlet, Terunyan, Kintamani, has now begun to be resolved. It is made possible by the installation of the pumping machine aid to suck the water of Lake Batur at the local village by the government. Although the water quality of Lake Batur has been declared unfit for consumption due to pollution, local residents still use it for daily consumption needs. Hamlet chief of Madia, Wayan Besar, said on Tuesday (Feb. 20) the aid of machine to take up the lake water consists of two pumping machines and hundreds of meters of pipes. The water pump has been installed by the Public Works Agency since the end of last year. “The water pumping applies relay
system. Two machines are installed to take up water from the lake. The sucked water is accommodated in a reservoir,” he explained. He admitted the taking of water from Lake Batur by machine is able to meet the needs of clean water for 200 families at Madia hamlet. Since it cannot be drained
to people’s homes, they must take the water to the reservoir by using a bucket. Residents take advantage of the lake water for daily needs such as cooking and the needs of livestock, while for the needs of agriculture is not sufficient. “According to the calculations of the Public Works Agency, the water
discharge reaches1 liter per second. It is not enough for agricultural use, but only enough for 5-10 farmers,” he explained. Though remaining limited to meet farming needs, residents of Madia hamlet, said Besar, are now quite facilitated by the sucking of water. By that way, residents no longer have to go far to take water from the lake by walking through the hill for hours. “Previously, during dry season residents must walk down to take water in the lake. Now, they are more facilitated,” he said.
Meanwhile, the water sucked up by machine from the lake, added Besar, is managed independently by residents of Madya hamlet. To pay for the electricity needed in the operation of the water pump, they must pay donation through seven subak (irrigation cooperative) groups. In the future, to ease the burden of local community, village authority will allocate a budget for the electricity bill. “However, we are still coordinating this matter to district government,” he added. (kmb40)
“In view of budgets and production schedules a new acquisition of around 25 planes is appropriate,” said one of the sources with knowledge of the plan. The sources asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media. The sources said buying complete aircraft from the United States, at about $100 million each, will save Japan about $30 million per airframe. The purchase will add to an earlier order for 42 of the fighters, most of which are being constructed at a “final assembly and check out” plant in Japan operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the country’s leading defence contractor. That plant is one of only two such factories outside the United States. The other, in Italy, is operated by Leonardo Spa. As China fields ever more advanced aircraft, including stealth planes, and as North Korea pushes ahead with its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes,
adding F-35s will further increase Japan’s reliance on U.S. military technology to give it an edge over potential foes in East Asia. Japanese military planners are also considering buying F-35Bs, the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) version of the aircraft. Those models can operate from small islands skirting the East China Sea or from ships such as the Izumo-class helicopter carriers. “We have not yet made any plan and we are evaluating what fighter aircraft we need,” Itsunori Onodera said at a news briefing on Tuesday when asked whether Japan planned to buy more F-35s. Onodera’s ministry will release two defence reviews by the end of the year that will outline Japan’s security goals and military procurement plans for the five years beginning in April 2019. The first of the 42 F-35As ordered by Japan’s Air Self Defence Force (ASDF) are being deployed to Misawa Air Base in northern Japan. Japanese government officials and Lockheed Martin executives
ing owned a famous branding like Warung Made is quite strong. So, it is continuously crowded by guests or customers. In addition, Candra Roasted Suckling Pig in Denpasar also has a well-known brand. Foreign brands also do, so they are very strongly favored by people outside their country. However, building a branding is not easy because the brand must be maintained and promoted continuously. To that end, it is required costs of promotion and imaging. In the digital era, branding is more difficult because sales have to master e-commerce and good English language skills. Chairman of TDA Bali Community, Hendra W Saputro, said that branding is the final tool for people to know a product. “Branding is not a logo, branding is a benefit, awareness of a product business
to the community,” he said. With a good product branding, the public will recognize the product, so the potential becomes a turnover for entrepreneurs. A newly-born company, without any effort to make branding, will grow very slowly. That is why the entrepreneurial education syllabus of TDA Bali also provides knowledge about branding. Branding is important because of the effects of the digital world. The digital world greatly facilitates people to make a branding. In the conventional times, the product of a business can only be spread and sold to the people around the producer. However, with the digital world, the brand of a product is not only known to people around it, but also to the people throughout Indonesia and even around the world. (kmb42)
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Panudiana Kuhn
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are set to attend a ceremony there on Saturday to mark the entry of the first Japanese F-35 into service. The F-35 accounts for about a quarter of Lockheed Martin’s total revenue. The company is hiring 1,800 workers for its Fort Worth,
Texas, factory to build a fleet that is expected to grow to more than 3,000 jets worldwide. Lockheed Martin is scheduled to nearly triple annual production to more than 160 jets by 2023. The first Japanese F-35s will
replace aging F-4 Phantom fighters that date back to 1960s. The next batch will allow Japan to retire some of the aging 200 F-15s flown by the ASDF that are the main interceptor workhorse of the nation’s air defences. (rtr)
MALE - Parliament in the Maldives on Tuesday approved a 30-day extension of a state of emergency sought by President Abdulla Yameen who cited an ongoing national security threat and constitutional crisis. Countries including the United States, India and Canada along with the United Nations have urged Yameen to lift the emergency and restore normalcy. Tour operators say hundreds of hotel bookings have been cancelled daily since the 15-day emergency was imposed on Feb. 5 despite government assurances that all is normal in the resort islands, which are far from the capital. Yameen imposed the emergency to annul a Supreme Court ruling that quashed the convictions of nine opposition leaders and ordered his government to free those held in prison. The emergency “shall only apply to those alleged to have carried out illegal activities – it shall not
apply to otherwise law abiding residents of, or visitors to, the Maldives,” a statement from Yameen’s office said on Tuesday. The U.S. State Department issued a statement on Tuesday saying Washington was disappointed by the extension of the state of emergency. Since Feb. 5, the government has arrested the chief justice, another Supreme Court judge and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on charges of attempting to usurp power. Yameen has ignored the court rulings but stopped short of saying he would not obey them. He has jailed opposition members and fired two police chiefs who said they would uphold the court rulings. Yameen took power in 2013 and his recent moves aim to consolidate power ahead of an election this year. The country’s neighbour India urged the government to release the
nine opposition leaders as required by the Supreme Court. All 38 ruling party lawmakers approved the vote at an extraordinary session of parliament boycotted by the opposition who cited the constitution to say it required 43 MPs. Former president Mohamed Nasheed, who is in exile, said the government could not extend the emergency without 43 votes. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, leader of the opposition coalition’s parliamentary group, said: “This state of emergency is illegal .... Yameen has, in effect, hijacked the entire state and is ruling the Maldives like a military dictator.” Parliament says it passed the extension to the emergency under a procedure that does not require a quorum and it sought an opinion on the matter from the Supreme Court. Former attorney general Ahmed Ali Sawad said more than half of MPs should be present for a vote on the emergency decree. (rtr)
Maldives parliament approves extension of state of emergency by 30 days
Branding increases selling value and ease of selling DENPASAR — The power of branding is incredible. Moreover, President Jokowi had previously told if the brand value of his furniture product is defeated by the brand value of stuffed pancake products and fried banana of his sons. With branding, the selling value of product becomes higher and easier to sell. Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Apindo Bali, Panudiana Kuhn, said that branding is important. A brand is an identity created by marketing people to make it easier for consumers to choose a product. Especially in the digital era, branding will become a determinant consideration for people to buy a product. Goods with a familiar brand make it easy to sell. “Goods having not owned a brand is hard to sell,” he said on Tuesday (Feb. 20). Similarly, the name of a restaurant hav-
IBP/net
Japan plans to buy at least 20 additional F-35A stealth fighters over the next six years.
Maldivian opposition supporters argue with a police officer near the main opposition Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) headquarters during a protest demanding the government to release jailed opposition leaders, including former Presidents Mohamed Nasheed and Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in line with a last week Supreme Court order, in Male, Maldives February 9, 2018.
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Thurday, February 22, 2018
Distinctive Star Fruit Leaf Vegetable
Tunisia sees record tourist numbers in 2018 as attack effect fades
TUNISIA - Tourist numbers to Tunisia will hit a record high this year, fully reversing the damage inflicted on the sector by attacks on holidaymakers in 2015, the tourism minister said on Wednesday. After three years of shunning Tunisia in the wake of a gun attack on a beach in Sousse that killed 39 tourists and one at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis that killed 21, major European tour operators have started to return. “We aim to receive 8 million tourists this year with strong booking rates from European customers and other new customers,” Tourism Minister Salma Loumi said. “The return of British tourists is a very good signal for us.” Last week, Thomas Cook flew British tourists to Tunisia for the first time since an Islamist militant killed 30 Britons in Sousse. TUI , said last month it too planned to offer holidays in Tunisia again, starting in May.
The 8 million forecast brings tourist numbers above the preattack level of 7.1 million in 2014. Arrivals fell to 5.3 million in 2015. Loumi said tourism revenues would be up 25 percent on last year when they reached 2.8 billion dinar ($1.2 billion). Tourist numbers in 2017 were already up 23 percent on the previous year to 7 million, as hotels filled beds with Russian and Algerian visitors, but operators say they spend less than European holidaymakers. Tourism accounts for 8 percent of Tunisia’s gross domestic product. A return of European visitors would give a strong boost to the struggling economy and raise the country’s weak foreign currency reserves. (rtr)
More Japanese tourists visits Bali REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo
Tourists relax on a beach on the island of Djerba, Tunisia, September 7, 2016.
South African business counts on Ramaphosa to plot path to growth SOWETO - Ndumiso Madlala, head of the Soweto Gold Brewery, says he is banking on new South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to kick-start the economy and help his business grow. The micro brewery was founded five years ago in the Johannesburg township but has struggled to grow in a fiercely competitive market for beer as high unemployment and a weak economy strangled consumer spending. Madlala places much of the blame on the administration of Jacob Zuma, who reluctantly resigned as president last week after a nineyear tenure plagued by corruption allegations and economic stagnation. “We started at the time when the economy was not doing so well,” Madlala, a chemical engineer who previously worked at Heineken, told Reuters at his brewery where the walls are adorned with photographs of anti-apartheid heroes. “Now with Ramaphosa coming in, we really hope the economy is going to grow fast and with the economy growing fast, small businesses like ourselves can also grow
at a much faster rate.” He did not give more specific details of his expectations for the new government, but said his goal of selling 1 million hectolitres of beer by 2020, from 50,000 hectolitres now, could be achieved sooner if Ramaphosa boosted consumer confidence. Soweto Gold currently only distributes its products to South Africa’s wealthiest province Gauteng, but plans to extend to five more provinces by the end of March before launching nationwide in August. Madlala is one of many business leaders in South Africa, as well as investors at home and abroad, who are pinning hopes on Ramaphosa, a former businessman who held stakes in mining company Lonmin, mobile operator MTN Group and McDonald’s South African franchise. Yet despite the early optimism of Madlala and others, some economists and analysts caution there may be no quick fix for an economy that is forecast to grow just 1.4 percent this year and 1.7 percent in 2019. Africa’s most developed econo-
my needs faster economic growth to reduce the high joblessness rate - currently at 27 percent - and alleviate the widespread poverty that has persisted since the end of white-minority rule in 1994. ’NEW COURSE’ Financial markets roared their approval when Ramaphosa of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) was sworn in last week. South Africa’s main stock index surged as much as 5 percent, the rand hit its strongest levels in three years while bond investors pushed the yields on the benchmark 2026 note sharply lower. Banks, considered the barometer of South African political and economic sentiment, are among the best performing stocks on the bourse, up nearly 8 percent - far outpacing a largely flat blue-chip JSE Top-40 index as of Monday. “President Ramaphosa has an opportunity to set out a new course and chart a clear vision for South Africa,” said Mike Brown, chief executive of No.4 lender Nedbank.
“We urge him to set out clear policy ambitions that will help unlock investor confidence and pent up economic activity long stymied by policy uncertainty.” Apart from the revitalising the economy, business executives would like see more policy certainty - particularly in the mining industry, an important economic engine which has been fighting in court with Zuma’s mines minister over an increase in black ownership targets. Mining industry lobby group, the Chamber of Mines, agreed at the weekend to delay a court challenge, which was set to resume on Monday, against the regulations following an intervention by Ramaphosa. Mining companies have said the new rules, which also stipulate they must pay 1 percent of their turnover to local communities, were deterring investment in a sector grappling with unpredictable commodity prices. “I’m very optimistic about the future of South African mining,” said Peter Steenkamp, chief executive of Randfontein-based gold miner
Harmony Gold. “It’s early days but we know the leadership of the new elected ANC leadership is very familiar with mining, we’ve got both (ANC chairman) Gwede Mantashe and Cyril Ramaphosa, ex-mining people there.” Investors, business leaders and rating agencies are watching closely for how Ramaphosa is going to deal with corruption and clean up cashstrapped state-owned enterprises. “There is no time to celebrate,” said Bonang Mohale, chief executive of business lobby group Business Leadership South Africa. “Our state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are bankrupt. We need to address the leadership, capital structure and governance issues gripping these SOEs.” But for Madlala, the real test awaiting Ramaphosa is to raise the disposable income of consumers. “We’ve had doom and gloom for the past few years under the Zuma leadership and now with Ramaphosa coming in there’s new energy and we certainly hope it will translate into people visiting restaurants and trying out our brand,” he said. (rtr)
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DENPASAR - The number of Japanese tourists visiting Bali in 2017 rose 7.65 percent to 253,000? from around 235,000 in the previous year. “Most of them flew in here directly from Japan? with only 651 by tourist boats,” head of the Bali branch of th Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Adi Nugroho said here on Sunday. Japanese were the fourth largest foreign tourists in number after Chinese, Australians? and Indians. Japanese tourists made up 4.44 percent of the total number of 5.69 million foreign tourists visiting Bali in 2017. Earlier head of the Bali Tourism Office AA Yuniarta Putra? said he hoped Japan Airlines (JAL) would serve regular flights between Bali and Japan. Yuniarta said Garuda Indonesia? and Japan-based airline ANA (All
Nippon Airlines)? and Air Asia already served regular flight between Bali and Tokyo and Osaka. Meanwhile, the number of Indians tourists visiting Bali grew 45.59 percent to 272,761 in 2017? from 187,350 in 2016. Indians accounted for 4.79 percent of the total number of foreign tourists visiting Bali in 2017. Among ten largest countries of origin of the foreign tourists eight countries recorded a significant increase in the number of tourists with two -- Australians down 4.21 percent and Malaysians 5.15 percent lower in 2017 compared with in 2016.
The eight countries of origin included China, India, Japan up 7.69 percent, Britain up 10.07 percent, The United States 12.11 percent, France 7.61 percent, Germany 15.11 percent and South Korea 15.45 percent. Adi attributed the increase in the number of visitors from India to Bali to similarity of culture? and religion. The vast majority of people in India? and Bali are Hindus. The opening new route between Bali and Mumbai of India by the nation’s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia in January 2018 is expected to increase the number of visitors from India to the tourist island. (ant)
At glance, the vegetable of star fruit leaf (jukut don belimbing) or often called as lawar of star fruit leaf is usually presented in ceremonial events in Bali. By and large, the presentation is divided into two, namely for the offerings to God through oblations as well as presented through buffet invitation. The jukut don belimbing is commonly served with other menus processed by local society. Invitees can pick out and choose their preferred menus. Unfortunately, this star fruit leaf is only liked by certain people. Children are less interested because it’s slightly bitter. However, for adults this menu is very tasty. For people on the Island of the Gods, the star fruit leaf is taken advantage as a vegetable ingredient as it is quite tasty. Other than being easy to get, this leaf is also good for digestion. However, the star fruit leaf used is not arbitrary, but the young one (not too old and not too young). Besides, it does not belong to the type of star fruit having sweet fruit, but the fruit is sour and whitish. Lately, the star fruit leaf vegetable is also served at hotel, but has not something to do with ceremonial activities. In a chef competition, the star fruit leaf vegetable also becomes one of the contested menus. Of course, this vegetable has been processed in a modern way, so that it can be enjoyed by the tongue from various regions and even countries. The ingredients used to make this vegetable are star fruit leaf, coconut milk and boiled pork or chicken blood. Meanwhile, the spices in use include onion, garlic, shrimp, coriander, chili, ginger, pepper, aromatic ginger, candlenut, palm sugar, salt and a few pieces of lime leaves. How to prepare it? At first, finely wash the star fruit leaf whose number is tailored to the needs. After that, boil until cooked and then squeeze the leaf to reduce its water. It is also meant to eliminate its bitterness as well as make the leaf tenderer. The spices are divided into two. A portion is used to make fine base genep (complete spice) and another portion to make raw spice. All the ingredients to make base genep are cut and then grounded or pureed by blender, so it becomes smooth. Then, fry it until cooked. The other spices namely onion and chili are sliced ??thin without frying. Next, prepare a basin and put the base genep into it along with coconut milk and boiled blood. After that, mix them well. Put sliced red onion and chili and add the thinly sliced ??brown sugar. Put the boiled star fruit leaf and then mix together well. Add lime leaves having been sliced ??thinly and salt (to taste). Stir again evenly and now it is ready to serve. (kmb)
IMF-WB annual meetings in Bali to trigger money in circulation worth Rp4 trillion YOGYAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI), the country`s central bank, has estimated that the 2018 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings to be held next October in Bali, to trigger money in circulation amounting up to Rp4 trillion. “This will boost the economy of Bali strongly,” Causa Iman Karana, head of the BI representative office in Bali, said here, Sunday.
The large amount of money will be spent on paying accommodation, transportation, telecommunication charges, and buying food as well as beverages, among others things. Between 15 thousand and 20 thousand people from 189 countries are expected to participate in the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. The participants will include central bank leaders from various
countries, financial practitioners, economists, economic policy makers, and country delegates. The Indonesian Government has built several infrastructure projects, including an underpass in the intersection near I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, to support the implementation of the large gathering. An apron at the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport has been expanded to enable the
apron to provide larger parking area for airplanes. During the meetings, activity at Ngurah Rai Airport is estimated to increase to 35 takeoffs or landings per hour from the current 28, with a daily capacity of up to 300 movements. A tourism port is also being built in Benoa harbor in Denpasar. The central bank has also predicted the economic growth in Bali to reach 6 to 6.4 percent,
exceeding 5.59 percent of the growth in 2017. The Indonesian Government has allocated funds worth around Rp868 billion particularly for the infrastructure projects to support the implementation of the IMFWorld Bank Annual Meetings. The IMF and the World Bank hold annual meetings once every three years outside the IMF and World Bank`s headquarters in Washington D.C. (ant)
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Artificial intelligence poses risks of misuse by hackers, researchers say
FRANKFURT - Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are raising risks that malicious users will soon exploit the technology to mount automated hacking attacks, cause driverless car crashes or turn commercial drones into targeted weapons, a new report warns. The study, published on Wednesday by 25 technical and public policy researchers from Cambridge, Oxford and Yale universities along with privacy and military experts, sounded the alarm for the potential misuse of AI by rogue states, criminals and lone-wolf attackers. The researchers said the malicious use of AI poses imminent threats to digital, physical and political security by allowing for large-scale, finely targeted, highly efficient attacks. The study focuses on plausible developments within five years. “We all agree there are a lot of positive applications of AI,” Miles Brundage, a research fellow at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute. “There was a gap in the literature around the issue of malicious use.” Artificial intelligence, or AI, involves using computers to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as taking decisions or recognising text, speech or visual images. It is considered a powerful force for unlocking all manner of technical possibilities but has become a focus of strident debate over whether the massive automation it enables could result in widespread unemployment and other social dislocations. The 98-page paper cautions that the cost of attacks may be lowered by the use of AI to complete tasks that
would otherwise require human labour and expertise. New attacks may arise that would be impractical for humans alone to develop or which exploit the vulnerabilities of AI systems themselves. It reviews a growing body of academic research about the security risks posed by AI and calls on governments and policy and technical experts to collaborate and defuse these dangers. The researchers detail the power of AI to generate synthetic images, text and audio to impersonate others online, in order to sway public opinion, noting the threat that authoritarian regimes could deploy such technology. The report makes a series of recommendations including regulating AI as a dual-use military/commercial technology. It also asks questions about whether academics and others should rein in what they publish or disclose about new developments in AI until other experts in the field have a chance to study and react to potential dangers they might pose. “We ultimately ended up with a lot more questions than answers,” Brundage said. The paper was born of a workshop in early 2017, and some of its predictions essentially came true while it was being written. The authors speculated AI could be used to create highly realistic fake audio and video of public officials for propaganda purposes. Late last year, so-called “deepfake” pornographic videos began to surface online, with celebrity faces realistically melded to different bodies. (rtr)
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Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are raising risks that malicious users will soon exploit the technology to mount automated hacking attacks.
International
Thursday, February 22, 2018
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Malaysian woman charged with murder of Indonesian helper in latest case of abuse
REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh
A person inspects damaged building in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, Syria February 20, 2018.
More bombs hit Syria’s Ghouta, death toll highest since 2013
BEIRUT - Pro-government forces pounded the rebel-held district of eastern Ghouta outside the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday, in a surge of violence that a war monitor said had killed at least 250 people since Sunday night. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was the highest 48-hour death toll in the Syria conflict since a 2013 chemical attack on eastern Ghouta, the last major rebel bastion located near the capital. The wave of air strikes, rocket fire and shelling has sparked international condemnation. France, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, described the bombardment as a serious violation of international humanitarian law. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military. Damascus says it only targets militants. Recent violence in the besieged suburb is part of a wider surge in fighting on several fronts as President Bashar al-Assad’s military pushes to end the seven-year rebellion against him. The Observatory said the bombardment had killed more than 106 adults and children in eastern Ghouta on Tuesday alone.
Panos Moumtzis, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Syria, on Tuesday condemned the bombing of five hospitals in eastern Ghouta and said intentional attacks on medical facilities “may amount to war crimes”. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington was “deeply concerned” by the rising violence in Ghouta. “The Assad regime’s siege and starve tactics are ... adding to the humanitarian disaster there,” she said. Nauert said the United States supported a U.N. call for a monthlong cessation of hostilities to allow for the delivery of aid and an emergency medical evacuation of civilians. She urged Russia to stop supporting the Assad government. In Brussels, Syrian opposition leader Nasr al-Hariri - a delegation head at stalled U.N. peace talks - pleaded for more international pressure on Assad to stop. In Geneva, the U.N. children’s agency expressed outrage at the casualties among the enclave’s children, saying it had run out of words. Those killed since the escalation began on Sunday include 58 children. Another 1,200 people have been injured in the bombardment, the Observatory said. (rtr)
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian prosecutors on Wednesday charged a 60-year-old woman with murdering an Indonesian domestic helper who was found with bruises on her face and died from her injuries, state news agency Bernama said. It is the latest such case in a series. In 2008, a Malaysian was sentenced to jail for scalding her Indonesian domestic helper with a hot iron. Years later, a Malaysian couple were convicted of starving an Indonesian domestic helper to death. Adelina Lisao, 28, was rescued on Feb. 10 from her employer’s home in Penang after neighbours reported she had been forced to sleep next to a dog in a covered car parking area attached to the house. She died the next day in hospital. M.A. Ambika was charged with murder, while her daughter was
charged with hiring a foreigner without valid documents, Bernama reported. Malaysia is officially host to nearly two million migrant workers, though some estimates say millions more work in the country illegally, many the victims of trafficking. Indonesians are the biggest pool of foreign workers in Malaysia. Indonesia banned its citizens from taking up jobs as domestic helpers in Malaysia between 2009 and 2011. In 2011, Cambodia banned its citizens from going to work in Malaysia as maids following a series of reports of beatings and rapes. Last month, the Philippines suspended sending workers to Kuwait after President Rodrigo Duterte said abuse by employers there had driven several domestic helpers to suicide. (rtr)
Jokowi: Political campaigns should not be degraded into slanging match JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has told the people in a number of regions and districts, which will hold regional elections to maintain unity despite difference in their favorites for their regional leaders. Political campaigns ahead of the regional elections should not be degraded into a slanging match, insulting each other, spreading hoaxes, false information, etc. especially in social media, Jokowi said when addressing National Dzikir (chanting in praise of God) and the opening of National Working Meeting of the Hubbul Wathon Dzikir Council here on Wednesday. The president called for maintaining social harmony saying the people especially women and children would be the one to suffer the hardest as a result of internal conflicts. Peace and harmony would
allow the government to develop and improve the economic condition and welfare of the people, he added.”This is the duty of all of us including ulemas to maintain a peaceful condition and to avoid conflicts even minor conflicts?” the president said Present at the ceremony included a number of Islamic leaders, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifudin, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, Military Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko and Speaker of the Regional Representative Council Oesman Sapta Odang. The National Working Meeting to last from Feb. 21 to 23 uses a theme of “Strengthening Islamic Commitment to Nationality Toward National Order?” After the ceremony, the president flew to Bandung, West Java, for a working visit. (rtr)
Antara Foto/M N Kanwa/via REUTERS
An Indonesian naval officer arranges bags of confiscated crystal meth, part of a 1 tonne seizure, on a dock in Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia February 10, 2018 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Picture taken February 10, 2018.
Indonesia seizes record 1.6 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine
JAKARTA - Indonesia seized a record 1.6 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine from a ship off the northern island of Batam on Tuesday, a narcotics official said, the second major drug bust this month. President Joko Widodo’s government has cracked down on trafficking in an effort to contain soaring consumption of crystal meth and other narcotics. But there has been no bloody war on drugs as in the neighbouring Philippines, where thousands of people have been killed in anti-drugs operations. Indonesia has among the world’s strictest anti-narcotics laws and drug trafficking is punishable by death. “It’s an estimated 1.6 tonnes and yes, this is a record seizure for us,” said Sulistiandriatmoko, adding that details of its origin and destination were still under investigation.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that Southeast Asia’s trade in methamphetamines and heroin was worth $31 billion in 2013. Earlier this month, Indonesian authorities confiscated just over 1 tonne of crystal meth, known locally as ‘shabu-shabu’, also in Batam, a small industrial hub a short ferry ride from Singapore. Budi Waseso, head of the anti-narcotics agency, said authorities had acted on a tip from Chinese and Thai authorities and that the shipment had come from Myanmar in a vessel disguised as a fishing boat. “It had been to Australia...and in and out of Indonesian waters several times. This means this ship had repeatedly entered Indonesia carrying large quantities of narcotics,” Waseso said. Myanmar is part of the so-called Golden Triangle where it meets Thailand and Laos and where drug production and trafficking is booming. (rtr)
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International
Thurday, February 22, 2018
International
Golden, garrulous Goggia wins Italian hearts
PYEONGCHANG - Italian hearts embraced Sofia Goggia on Wednesday after a golden run down a slice of South Korean mountainside won her nation its first women’s downhill Olympic title.
That feat alone should be sufficient to confer on her superstar status at home, but the thrilling manner of her victory and her joyously garrulous celebrations suggest Goggia will be an enduring heroine for some time to come in her homeland. “Mythical Sofia,” the front page headline of Corriere della Sera online blared, while Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni tweeted: “The great Sofia Goggia, our first gold in the history of women’s downhill.” Goggia’s Pyeongchang gold eclipsed Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel and Lindsey Vonn’s silver and bronze finishes respectively, and saw her match Zeno Colo’s feat in winning the men’s downhill in Oslo in 1952. As the 25-year-old was left to describe her race in poetic terms, and share quirky anecdotes with enraptured reporters, the beaming head of Italy’s National Olympic Committee (CONI) Giovanni Malago eulogised his compatriot. “For us it is a very special day, because we won other medals but this is symbolic for us... history... “Our country has a strong tradition in Alpine, we won men’s and female... many categories... but we never won in downhill with a female. So it is the first time and so we are really happy,” he enthused. “After the super-G (in which Goggia finished 11th) we knew that a lot of things could happen,” he told reporters at the foot of the mountain. “And we were afraid the same things might happen here in the downhill... but she was very strong and we are very happy.” As the garrulous Goggia talked through her triumph, Malago smiled. “She’s unbelievable,” he said. “How strong is her enthusiasm? REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger “You have seen... she is contagious.” (rtr) Gold medallist Sofia Goggia of Italy celebrates with the Italian flag during the flower ceremony.
Pucak Tedung Temple MANGUPURA - This beautiful temple is located on a plateau of Kerta village, Petang, Badung. It is approximately 30 km north of Denpasar. Amazing natural scenery can be seen from the temple courtyard. It will be clearly seen the view of the eastern, southern and western part of Bali Island. Vehicles passing in Baturiti heading for Singaraja from Denpasar and vice versa are also visible from here. Pucak Tedung has three courtyards. The first is the highest one or the innermost courtyard (jeroan). This area hosts the main buildings. The second one is middle courtyard (jaba tengah) consisting of bale kulkul (wooden split drum tower) and Panggungan pavilion and the lowest is outermost courtyard (jaba sisi). In the meantime, in the northwest of the Pucak Tedung Temple, there is a small temple called Sekartaji Temple with only two buildings, namely the shrine of Batur Sari and Paruman Pancaresi. Existence of this temple is closely associated with Pucak Tedung. Literally, the Pucak Tedung is derived from two words. In Balinese, pucak means the highest point of plateau, while tedung is a kind of sacred umbrella. So far, the etymology on the name of Pucak Tedung has not been
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found in any palm-leaf manuscripts or chronicles. Mythologically, it is said that in the past there was a leader of Hinduism named Danghyang Nirartha or Bhatara Sakti Wawu Rawuh made a pilgrimage from Pulaki to eastern part of the Island of Bali. Among his journey, he took a rest on the highest point of a plateau (Balinese people usually call it pucak). When he resumed the journey, his umbrella was left behind on the peak. Hence, the plain is called Pucak Tedung and the temple established is called Pucak Tedung. During the glory of Mengwi kingdom around the seventeenth century whose territory got to the region of North Badung, the supervision or maintenance of Pucak Tedung was submitted to Carangsari Palace. Then, Carangsari Palace handed over the supervision and maintenance to Kerta Palace. In the seventeenth century, Carangsari Palace developed its territory where an offspring named I Gusti Ngurah Rai moved to Petang village and settled there. Since Kerta Palace had no descendant, the supervision and maintenance of Pucak Tedung was then submitted to Petang Palace, denoting a fraction of Carangsari Palace. In the meantime, paraphernalia such as holy bell was still kept in Kerta Palace.
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In the administration of I Gusti Ngurah Rai at Petang village, there was division of the territory of customary village and supporting devotees (pangemong) of the Pucak Tedung Temple. They are the Sulangai village, Munduk Damping customary village, Lipah customary village, Sandakan customary village, Angantiga customary village, Batulantang customary village, Kerta customary village and Petang customary village. Aside from the customary village communities mentioned above, during the temple festival or piodalan at Pucak Tedung many pilgrims from outside Petang subdistrict also come to say prayers to the temple. Every temple in Bali has piodalan or temple festival organized differently. There are temples whose festival fall once a year (based on Balinese lunar year) or every six months or 210 days (pawukon year). Piodalan at Pucak Tedung is conducted every six months, falling on Saturday Kliwon Krulut or Tumpek Krulut. On the piodalan, sanctified effigy of the deity is carried in melasti (purificatory rite) procession to Beji Temple. After returning from the Beji Temple, it takes a rest at Sekartaji Temple. Literally, this sojourn or short break is just like tidying up clothes before entering a house. (kmb)
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The Renault team made an online presentation of its new RS18 car. LONDON - British-Korean youngster Jack Aitken will be the Renault Formula One team’s official reserve driver this season, replacing Russian Sergey Sirotkin, who has switched to a race seat
with Williams. The Renault team made the announcement on Tuesday after an online presentation of its new RS18 car. Aitken, 22, will also race in the
IBP/net
Formula Two feeder series this season. Renault will continue the Russian connection with Artem Markelov, who is also competing in F2 and has been appointed as a
test and development driver with an emphasis on simulator duties at the team’s Enstone factory in England. The French manufacturer finished sixth overall in last year’s championship, up from ninth the previous season, and are aiming to close the gap further after significant investment in staff and facilities. Renault, who have Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg and Spaniard Carlos Sainz as their driver line-up, last won the championship with Spaniard Fernando Alonso in 2006. “We are a team on the rise,” Renault Sport Racing president Jerome Stoll said in a statement. “Enstone is regenerated and the workforce has already increased by more than 35 percent. “I am convinced year three will take us one step closer to the long-term aim: winning races and challenging for championships.” Renault sold their team to Genii Capital in 2010 but bought it back at the end of 2015 when the outfit, renamed Lotus, was close to failure. Cyril Abiteboul, the Renault Sport Racing managing director,
said the first year was all about building up the team and brand and securing new sponsors, with last year bringing on-track progress. “We have everything to be positive about this year,” the Frenchman said. “Our headline target is to show continued progression through results. We want to be able to showcase our progression in every regard; power unit, chassis, operations, drivers. Everything must improve and we must continue to grow.” Neither of the Renault drivers have stood on the podium in their careers and Hulkenberg now holds the Formula One record for most career starts (135) without a topthree finish. “We’re in a good position,” said the German, who joined the team last year from Force India. “For this year we want to build on the good platform of last season. 2017 was about bedding in, now I want to get ready to go.” Testing begins at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya on Monday, with the opening race in Australia on March 25. (rtr)
8
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Sp rt
Ungainly but hugely effective Mueller back to his best
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their first goal
Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
Messi breaks Chelsea duck to earn Barca 1-1 draw
LONDON - If at first you don’t succeed the saying goes and it proved fitting for Willian and Lionel Messi as both scored in an absorbing 1-1 draw between Chelsea and Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Tuesday. Chelsea’s outstanding performer Willian could hardly believe his bad luck as twice before halftime he rattled the woodwork.
force an error and get the draw.” A rivalry that had been dormant for six years resumed with a gripping game of cat and mouse. Barcelona zipped the ball around in eye-pleasing style but apart from Paulinho’s wasteful header they struggled to lure Chelsea into mistakes. Despite spending long periods diligently shutting doors, the hosts were the more clinical in possession, with Eden Hazard and Willian both menacing outlets.
But the Brazilian was finally rewarded for his persistence in the 62nd minute when he fired Chelsea into the lead on an electrifying night at Stamford Bridge. Barcelona’s talisman Messi had fired blanks on eight previous occasions against Chelsea, most notably in a shock semi-final defeat six years ago, and he rarely had a glimpse of goal on his ninth meeting with the Londoners. When home defender Andreas Christensen suffered a rush of blood in the 75th minute, however, Messi pounced. It edged the tie towards Barcelona, although they could count themselves fortunate after being out-manouvered against a Chelsea side who, apart from one lapse, played a ‘perfect’ game according to manager Antonio Conte. “It is a pity. I am very proud for my players. They followed what we prepared,” Conte said. “Tonight we were a bit unlucky. “I think when you play this game you must have a plan and respect the characteristics of the opponent. Our plan was really good. We are talking about 1-1 and maybe we deserved more.” Unbeaten La Liga leaders Barcelona enjoyed suffocating possession, especially in the first half, but despite the probings of Messi and Andres Iniesta, they could provide precious little ammunition for striker Luis Suarez. “It was a clash of styles, two different teams,” Barca coach Ernesto Valverde said. “We had the game under control when they scored their goal. Perhaps we didn’t create many clear-cut chances, but we managed to
BAD LUCK
Willian fully justified his starting berth after being used chiefly as a substitute this season and could have been celebrating a stunning hat-trick. In the 34th minute Paulinho lost the ball and as Chelsea worked it to Willian, he shuffled to his right and sent a curling right-footer thudding against the post. Shortly before halftime Willian again proved elusive but this time the opposite post rescued Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who was a mere spectator for both attempts. Conte resembled a manic orchestra conductor throughout the match, going through his full repertoire of gesticulations. He was pumping his fists with joy midway through the second half as Hazard teased the Barca defence and fed Willian who engineered a yard of space before firing a low right-foot shot inside the left-hand post. Chelsea deserved their lead and even threatened a second goal before young defender Andreas Christensen betrayed his relative inexperience with a moment of madness. The 21-year-old’s aimless ball across his own area was seized upon by Iniesta and when he cut it back to Messi the Argentine duly delivered to send Barca’s travelling fans wild. The goal knocked the stuffing out of the hosts and, although they avoided any more damage, they will need a repeat of their 2012 exploits to keep alive their European hopes. (rtr)
BERLIN - After flirting with the substitutes’ bench under Carlo Ancelotti, Bayern Munich forward Thomas Mueller is back to his ungainly and hugely effective best as Besiktas discovered on Tuesday. There was nothing spectacular about either of Mueller’s two goals in Bayern’s 5-0 Champions League win over the Turkish champions, and the first was downright scrappy, but the 28-year-old has never been noted for his elegance. “The first goal was typical Mueller,” said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, who has been credited with Mueller’s revival since returning for a fourth stint at the club in October. “It’s interesting how players prepare for these sort of games. Thomas takes it to another level, he knows that a special performance is needed in the Champions League. “Had he not got injured, he would have a lot more goals. He is performing well and he motivates the others. He’s important for our system and not just because of the goals. He’s also important for the vertical game.” Mueller, joint top-scorer at the 2010 World Cup, does not conform to the footballer’s stereotype. He stumbles rather than glides past opponents, his ungroomed floppy hair has not changed in years, he has unusually skinny legs and he eschews tattoos. His wife is an amateur dressage rider rather than a model or actress. A one-club player, Mueller’s
name rarely pops up for any of the plethora of awards on the football calendar, but he has an uncanny notion of space and is always in the right place. In terms of titles, Mueller is one of the sport’s most successful players with one World Cup, one Champions League, one Club World Cup, six Bundesliga and four German Cup titles to his name. The last two seasons, however, have not been his best. He failed to get on the scoresheet during Euro 2016 and scored a modest nine goals in all competitions last season - the first time in his career he has failed to reach double figures in a full campaign. Then, in August, Ancelotti did the unthinkable and dropped him for a match at Werder Bremen. Predictably, that sparked a huge debate and Mueller himself had a dig. “I don’t know exactly which qualities the coach wants to see,” he said. “But mine seem not to be 100 percent in demand.” There was even talk of a transfer. Ancelotti was fired in September, however, and replaced by Heynckes who has once again brought out the best in the enigmatic forward, as he did back in Bayern’s treble winning season in 2012-13. “He can score goals out of nothing - like the 1-0,” said Heynckes. “With his speed and reactions, he’s often in the right place and that makes him unique. That’s the real Mueller.” (rtr)
REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller celebrates with Arturo Vidal after scoring their third goal
Ospina likely to start for Arsenal in League Cup final, says Cech
Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra
Ostersunds FK’s Tom Pettersson has his penalty saved by Arsenal’s David Ospina
Ronaldo rested for Leganes game, Modric and Marcelo injured MADRID - Cristiano Ronaldo will be absent from Real Madrid’s La Liga game at Leganes on Wednesday after being rested by coach Zinedine Zidane for the first time in the league this season. The Portugal forward missed Real’s first four games of the campaign due to suspension for pushing a referee but has started every league match since, scoring 11 goals in 19 appearances. Ronaldo joins a high profile list of players who will miss the short trip to Madrid neighbours Leganes which also includes Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Marcelo, who are all injured. The game was originally scheduled for December but had to be postponed due to Real’s participation in the Club World Cup. Real’s Croatia midfielder Modric and Brazil left back Marcelo could still be missing for the Champions League last-16 second leg at Paris St Germain in two weeks’
time after the pair were diagnosed with hamstring injuries on Tuesday. Marcelo was one of Real’s best performers in the 3-1 win over PSG at the Santiago Bernabeu last week and scored the final goal of the game to give them a two-goal cushion in the tie. He was forced off, however, during the 5-3 win at Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday with the hamstring problem. HAMSTRING PROBLEMS
Real released a statement on Tuesday confirming he had injured his right hamstring and said Modric, who played against PSG but was left on the bench versus Betis, had the same injury. As is customary at Real, the club did not reveal how long either player would be out of action although Spanish newspaper Marca said there was a possibility both players could return in time for the second leg at the Parc des Princes on March 6. Real coach Zidane told a news
conference ahead of the Leganes game that he was optimistic about Modric. “He has sustained a hamstring problem which is why he didn’t train and he is focusing on recovering as quickly as possible,” he said. “I think it’s a small problem and as always I have every faith in everyone that works here, the doctors and physios, that they will ensure he returns quickly.” Kroos is nursing a knee injury sustained after the first leg against PSG but is expected to return in time for the return. Real are fourth in the Liga standings on 45 points, 17 behind leaders Barcelona, but victory over Leganes would lift them above Valencia into third place. Leganes, who are 13th, are in their second season in the top flight and knocked Real out of the King’s Cup quarter-finals last month, before eventually losing to Sevilla in the semis. (rtr)
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech is expecting to be benched for the League Cup final against Manchester City on Sunday with David Ospina being favoured to start. Ospina, 29, has played in all but one of Arsenal’s League Cup matches this campaign and Cech, who has featured in all 27 of the club’s Premier League games, expects his Colombian counterpart will continue in goal against City. “At the start it was clear that it was going to be like that,” Cech told British media when asked if Ospina would play in the final. “I will be there with the team supporting but I don’t expect to play. It is always hard to watch any game from the bench or even from the stand if you are not selected. “As a player, you always want to be involved. “But obviously you are
9
in a professional club where there are 25 top players and the manager always makes his choices for the game and you need to accept that.” Ospina has also been Arsenal’s first-choice keeper in the Europa League and is likely to start in Thursday’s second-leg of their last32 tie against Ostersunds. “Going to Wembley is special, the atmosphere and the occasion is special,” Ospina told Arsenal’s matchday programme. “I’d like to play every week but I respect the manager’s decision. “You have to prepare as though you’re going to play every game. It can be tough to play maybe a couple of games a month, especially when they are as big as this one. “You just need to focus and be ready. I have a very good relationship with Petr, and that helps.” (rtr)
8
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Sp rt
Ungainly but hugely effective Mueller back to his best
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their first goal
Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
Messi breaks Chelsea duck to earn Barca 1-1 draw
LONDON - If at first you don’t succeed the saying goes and it proved fitting for Willian and Lionel Messi as both scored in an absorbing 1-1 draw between Chelsea and Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Tuesday. Chelsea’s outstanding performer Willian could hardly believe his bad luck as twice before halftime he rattled the woodwork.
force an error and get the draw.” A rivalry that had been dormant for six years resumed with a gripping game of cat and mouse. Barcelona zipped the ball around in eye-pleasing style but apart from Paulinho’s wasteful header they struggled to lure Chelsea into mistakes. Despite spending long periods diligently shutting doors, the hosts were the more clinical in possession, with Eden Hazard and Willian both menacing outlets.
But the Brazilian was finally rewarded for his persistence in the 62nd minute when he fired Chelsea into the lead on an electrifying night at Stamford Bridge. Barcelona’s talisman Messi had fired blanks on eight previous occasions against Chelsea, most notably in a shock semi-final defeat six years ago, and he rarely had a glimpse of goal on his ninth meeting with the Londoners. When home defender Andreas Christensen suffered a rush of blood in the 75th minute, however, Messi pounced. It edged the tie towards Barcelona, although they could count themselves fortunate after being out-manouvered against a Chelsea side who, apart from one lapse, played a ‘perfect’ game according to manager Antonio Conte. “It is a pity. I am very proud for my players. They followed what we prepared,” Conte said. “Tonight we were a bit unlucky. “I think when you play this game you must have a plan and respect the characteristics of the opponent. Our plan was really good. We are talking about 1-1 and maybe we deserved more.” Unbeaten La Liga leaders Barcelona enjoyed suffocating possession, especially in the first half, but despite the probings of Messi and Andres Iniesta, they could provide precious little ammunition for striker Luis Suarez. “It was a clash of styles, two different teams,” Barca coach Ernesto Valverde said. “We had the game under control when they scored their goal. Perhaps we didn’t create many clear-cut chances, but we managed to
BAD LUCK
Willian fully justified his starting berth after being used chiefly as a substitute this season and could have been celebrating a stunning hat-trick. In the 34th minute Paulinho lost the ball and as Chelsea worked it to Willian, he shuffled to his right and sent a curling right-footer thudding against the post. Shortly before halftime Willian again proved elusive but this time the opposite post rescued Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who was a mere spectator for both attempts. Conte resembled a manic orchestra conductor throughout the match, going through his full repertoire of gesticulations. He was pumping his fists with joy midway through the second half as Hazard teased the Barca defence and fed Willian who engineered a yard of space before firing a low right-foot shot inside the left-hand post. Chelsea deserved their lead and even threatened a second goal before young defender Andreas Christensen betrayed his relative inexperience with a moment of madness. The 21-year-old’s aimless ball across his own area was seized upon by Iniesta and when he cut it back to Messi the Argentine duly delivered to send Barca’s travelling fans wild. The goal knocked the stuffing out of the hosts and, although they avoided any more damage, they will need a repeat of their 2012 exploits to keep alive their European hopes. (rtr)
BERLIN - After flirting with the substitutes’ bench under Carlo Ancelotti, Bayern Munich forward Thomas Mueller is back to his ungainly and hugely effective best as Besiktas discovered on Tuesday. There was nothing spectacular about either of Mueller’s two goals in Bayern’s 5-0 Champions League win over the Turkish champions, and the first was downright scrappy, but the 28-year-old has never been noted for his elegance. “The first goal was typical Mueller,” said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, who has been credited with Mueller’s revival since returning for a fourth stint at the club in October. “It’s interesting how players prepare for these sort of games. Thomas takes it to another level, he knows that a special performance is needed in the Champions League. “Had he not got injured, he would have a lot more goals. He is performing well and he motivates the others. He’s important for our system and not just because of the goals. He’s also important for the vertical game.” Mueller, joint top-scorer at the 2010 World Cup, does not conform to the footballer’s stereotype. He stumbles rather than glides past opponents, his ungroomed floppy hair has not changed in years, he has unusually skinny legs and he eschews tattoos. His wife is an amateur dressage rider rather than a model or actress. A one-club player, Mueller’s
name rarely pops up for any of the plethora of awards on the football calendar, but he has an uncanny notion of space and is always in the right place. In terms of titles, Mueller is one of the sport’s most successful players with one World Cup, one Champions League, one Club World Cup, six Bundesliga and four German Cup titles to his name. The last two seasons, however, have not been his best. He failed to get on the scoresheet during Euro 2016 and scored a modest nine goals in all competitions last season - the first time in his career he has failed to reach double figures in a full campaign. Then, in August, Ancelotti did the unthinkable and dropped him for a match at Werder Bremen. Predictably, that sparked a huge debate and Mueller himself had a dig. “I don’t know exactly which qualities the coach wants to see,” he said. “But mine seem not to be 100 percent in demand.” There was even talk of a transfer. Ancelotti was fired in September, however, and replaced by Heynckes who has once again brought out the best in the enigmatic forward, as he did back in Bayern’s treble winning season in 2012-13. “He can score goals out of nothing - like the 1-0,” said Heynckes. “With his speed and reactions, he’s often in the right place and that makes him unique. That’s the real Mueller.” (rtr)
REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller celebrates with Arturo Vidal after scoring their third goal
Ospina likely to start for Arsenal in League Cup final, says Cech
Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra
Ostersunds FK’s Tom Pettersson has his penalty saved by Arsenal’s David Ospina
Ronaldo rested for Leganes game, Modric and Marcelo injured MADRID - Cristiano Ronaldo will be absent from Real Madrid’s La Liga game at Leganes on Wednesday after being rested by coach Zinedine Zidane for the first time in the league this season. The Portugal forward missed Real’s first four games of the campaign due to suspension for pushing a referee but has started every league match since, scoring 11 goals in 19 appearances. Ronaldo joins a high profile list of players who will miss the short trip to Madrid neighbours Leganes which also includes Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Marcelo, who are all injured. The game was originally scheduled for December but had to be postponed due to Real’s participation in the Club World Cup. Real’s Croatia midfielder Modric and Brazil left back Marcelo could still be missing for the Champions League last-16 second leg at Paris St Germain in two weeks’
time after the pair were diagnosed with hamstring injuries on Tuesday. Marcelo was one of Real’s best performers in the 3-1 win over PSG at the Santiago Bernabeu last week and scored the final goal of the game to give them a two-goal cushion in the tie. He was forced off, however, during the 5-3 win at Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday with the hamstring problem. HAMSTRING PROBLEMS
Real released a statement on Tuesday confirming he had injured his right hamstring and said Modric, who played against PSG but was left on the bench versus Betis, had the same injury. As is customary at Real, the club did not reveal how long either player would be out of action although Spanish newspaper Marca said there was a possibility both players could return in time for the second leg at the Parc des Princes on March 6. Real coach Zidane told a news
conference ahead of the Leganes game that he was optimistic about Modric. “He has sustained a hamstring problem which is why he didn’t train and he is focusing on recovering as quickly as possible,” he said. “I think it’s a small problem and as always I have every faith in everyone that works here, the doctors and physios, that they will ensure he returns quickly.” Kroos is nursing a knee injury sustained after the first leg against PSG but is expected to return in time for the return. Real are fourth in the Liga standings on 45 points, 17 behind leaders Barcelona, but victory over Leganes would lift them above Valencia into third place. Leganes, who are 13th, are in their second season in the top flight and knocked Real out of the King’s Cup quarter-finals last month, before eventually losing to Sevilla in the semis. (rtr)
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech is expecting to be benched for the League Cup final against Manchester City on Sunday with David Ospina being favoured to start. Ospina, 29, has played in all but one of Arsenal’s League Cup matches this campaign and Cech, who has featured in all 27 of the club’s Premier League games, expects his Colombian counterpart will continue in goal against City. “At the start it was clear that it was going to be like that,” Cech told British media when asked if Ospina would play in the final. “I will be there with the team supporting but I don’t expect to play. It is always hard to watch any game from the bench or even from the stand if you are not selected. “As a player, you always want to be involved. “But obviously you are
9
in a professional club where there are 25 top players and the manager always makes his choices for the game and you need to accept that.” Ospina has also been Arsenal’s first-choice keeper in the Europa League and is likely to start in Thursday’s second-leg of their last32 tie against Ostersunds. “Going to Wembley is special, the atmosphere and the occasion is special,” Ospina told Arsenal’s matchday programme. “I’d like to play every week but I respect the manager’s decision. “You have to prepare as though you’re going to play every game. It can be tough to play maybe a couple of games a month, especially when they are as big as this one. “You just need to focus and be ready. I have a very good relationship with Petr, and that helps.” (rtr)
10
Destination
Thurday, February 22, 2018
International
Thurday, February 22, 2018
International
Golden, garrulous Goggia wins Italian hearts
PYEONGCHANG - Italian hearts embraced Sofia Goggia on Wednesday after a golden run down a slice of South Korean mountainside won her nation its first women’s downhill Olympic title.
That feat alone should be sufficient to confer on her superstar status at home, but the thrilling manner of her victory and her joyously garrulous celebrations suggest Goggia will be an enduring heroine for some time to come in her homeland. “Mythical Sofia,” the front page headline of Corriere della Sera online blared, while Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni tweeted: “The great Sofia Goggia, our first gold in the history of women’s downhill.” Goggia’s Pyeongchang gold eclipsed Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel and Lindsey Vonn’s silver and bronze finishes respectively, and saw her match Zeno Colo’s feat in winning the men’s downhill in Oslo in 1952. As the 25-year-old was left to describe her race in poetic terms, and share quirky anecdotes with enraptured reporters, the beaming head of Italy’s National Olympic Committee (CONI) Giovanni Malago eulogised his compatriot. “For us it is a very special day, because we won other medals but this is symbolic for us... history... “Our country has a strong tradition in Alpine, we won men’s and female... many categories... but we never won in downhill with a female. So it is the first time and so we are really happy,” he enthused. “After the super-G (in which Goggia finished 11th) we knew that a lot of things could happen,” he told reporters at the foot of the mountain. “And we were afraid the same things might happen here in the downhill... but she was very strong and we are very happy.” As the garrulous Goggia talked through her triumph, Malago smiled. “She’s unbelievable,” he said. “How strong is her enthusiasm? REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger “You have seen... she is contagious.” (rtr) Gold medallist Sofia Goggia of Italy celebrates with the Italian flag during the flower ceremony.
Pucak Tedung Temple MANGUPURA - This beautiful temple is located on a plateau of Kerta village, Petang, Badung. It is approximately 30 km north of Denpasar. Amazing natural scenery can be seen from the temple courtyard. It will be clearly seen the view of the eastern, southern and western part of Bali Island. Vehicles passing in Baturiti heading for Singaraja from Denpasar and vice versa are also visible from here. Pucak Tedung has three courtyards. The first is the highest one or the innermost courtyard (jeroan). This area hosts the main buildings. The second one is middle courtyard (jaba tengah) consisting of bale kulkul (wooden split drum tower) and Panggungan pavilion and the lowest is outermost courtyard (jaba sisi). In the meantime, in the northwest of the Pucak Tedung Temple, there is a small temple called Sekartaji Temple with only two buildings, namely the shrine of Batur Sari and Paruman Pancaresi. Existence of this temple is closely associated with Pucak Tedung. Literally, the Pucak Tedung is derived from two words. In Balinese, pucak means the highest point of plateau, while tedung is a kind of sacred umbrella. So far, the etymology on the name of Pucak Tedung has not been
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found in any palm-leaf manuscripts or chronicles. Mythologically, it is said that in the past there was a leader of Hinduism named Danghyang Nirartha or Bhatara Sakti Wawu Rawuh made a pilgrimage from Pulaki to eastern part of the Island of Bali. Among his journey, he took a rest on the highest point of a plateau (Balinese people usually call it pucak). When he resumed the journey, his umbrella was left behind on the peak. Hence, the plain is called Pucak Tedung and the temple established is called Pucak Tedung. During the glory of Mengwi kingdom around the seventeenth century whose territory got to the region of North Badung, the supervision or maintenance of Pucak Tedung was submitted to Carangsari Palace. Then, Carangsari Palace handed over the supervision and maintenance to Kerta Palace. In the seventeenth century, Carangsari Palace developed its territory where an offspring named I Gusti Ngurah Rai moved to Petang village and settled there. Since Kerta Palace had no descendant, the supervision and maintenance of Pucak Tedung was then submitted to Petang Palace, denoting a fraction of Carangsari Palace. In the meantime, paraphernalia such as holy bell was still kept in Kerta Palace.
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In the administration of I Gusti Ngurah Rai at Petang village, there was division of the territory of customary village and supporting devotees (pangemong) of the Pucak Tedung Temple. They are the Sulangai village, Munduk Damping customary village, Lipah customary village, Sandakan customary village, Angantiga customary village, Batulantang customary village, Kerta customary village and Petang customary village. Aside from the customary village communities mentioned above, during the temple festival or piodalan at Pucak Tedung many pilgrims from outside Petang subdistrict also come to say prayers to the temple. Every temple in Bali has piodalan or temple festival organized differently. There are temples whose festival fall once a year (based on Balinese lunar year) or every six months or 210 days (pawukon year). Piodalan at Pucak Tedung is conducted every six months, falling on Saturday Kliwon Krulut or Tumpek Krulut. On the piodalan, sanctified effigy of the deity is carried in melasti (purificatory rite) procession to Beji Temple. After returning from the Beji Temple, it takes a rest at Sekartaji Temple. Literally, this sojourn or short break is just like tidying up clothes before entering a house. (kmb)
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The Renault team made an online presentation of its new RS18 car. LONDON - British-Korean youngster Jack Aitken will be the Renault Formula One team’s official reserve driver this season, replacing Russian Sergey Sirotkin, who has switched to a race seat
with Williams. The Renault team made the announcement on Tuesday after an online presentation of its new RS18 car. Aitken, 22, will also race in the
IBP/net
Formula Two feeder series this season. Renault will continue the Russian connection with Artem Markelov, who is also competing in F2 and has been appointed as a
test and development driver with an emphasis on simulator duties at the team’s Enstone factory in England. The French manufacturer finished sixth overall in last year’s championship, up from ninth the previous season, and are aiming to close the gap further after significant investment in staff and facilities. Renault, who have Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg and Spaniard Carlos Sainz as their driver line-up, last won the championship with Spaniard Fernando Alonso in 2006. “We are a team on the rise,” Renault Sport Racing president Jerome Stoll said in a statement. “Enstone is regenerated and the workforce has already increased by more than 35 percent. “I am convinced year three will take us one step closer to the long-term aim: winning races and challenging for championships.” Renault sold their team to Genii Capital in 2010 but bought it back at the end of 2015 when the outfit, renamed Lotus, was close to failure. Cyril Abiteboul, the Renault Sport Racing managing director,
said the first year was all about building up the team and brand and securing new sponsors, with last year bringing on-track progress. “We have everything to be positive about this year,” the Frenchman said. “Our headline target is to show continued progression through results. We want to be able to showcase our progression in every regard; power unit, chassis, operations, drivers. Everything must improve and we must continue to grow.” Neither of the Renault drivers have stood on the podium in their careers and Hulkenberg now holds the Formula One record for most career starts (135) without a topthree finish. “We’re in a good position,” said the German, who joined the team last year from Force India. “For this year we want to build on the good platform of last season. 2017 was about bedding in, now I want to get ready to go.” Testing begins at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya on Monday, with the opening race in Australia on March 25. (rtr)
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Thursday, February 22, 2018
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International
RLD
Artificial intelligence poses risks of misuse by hackers, researchers say
FRANKFURT - Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are raising risks that malicious users will soon exploit the technology to mount automated hacking attacks, cause driverless car crashes or turn commercial drones into targeted weapons, a new report warns. The study, published on Wednesday by 25 technical and public policy researchers from Cambridge, Oxford and Yale universities along with privacy and military experts, sounded the alarm for the potential misuse of AI by rogue states, criminals and lone-wolf attackers. The researchers said the malicious use of AI poses imminent threats to digital, physical and political security by allowing for large-scale, finely targeted, highly efficient attacks. The study focuses on plausible developments within five years. “We all agree there are a lot of positive applications of AI,” Miles Brundage, a research fellow at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute. “There was a gap in the literature around the issue of malicious use.” Artificial intelligence, or AI, involves using computers to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as taking decisions or recognising text, speech or visual images. It is considered a powerful force for unlocking all manner of technical possibilities but has become a focus of strident debate over whether the massive automation it enables could result in widespread unemployment and other social dislocations. The 98-page paper cautions that the cost of attacks may be lowered by the use of AI to complete tasks that
would otherwise require human labour and expertise. New attacks may arise that would be impractical for humans alone to develop or which exploit the vulnerabilities of AI systems themselves. It reviews a growing body of academic research about the security risks posed by AI and calls on governments and policy and technical experts to collaborate and defuse these dangers. The researchers detail the power of AI to generate synthetic images, text and audio to impersonate others online, in order to sway public opinion, noting the threat that authoritarian regimes could deploy such technology. The report makes a series of recommendations including regulating AI as a dual-use military/commercial technology. It also asks questions about whether academics and others should rein in what they publish or disclose about new developments in AI until other experts in the field have a chance to study and react to potential dangers they might pose. “We ultimately ended up with a lot more questions than answers,” Brundage said. The paper was born of a workshop in early 2017, and some of its predictions essentially came true while it was being written. The authors speculated AI could be used to create highly realistic fake audio and video of public officials for propaganda purposes. Late last year, so-called “deepfake” pornographic videos began to surface online, with celebrity faces realistically melded to different bodies. (rtr)
IBP/net
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are raising risks that malicious users will soon exploit the technology to mount automated hacking attacks.
International
Thursday, February 22, 2018
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Malaysian woman charged with murder of Indonesian helper in latest case of abuse
REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh
A person inspects damaged building in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, Syria February 20, 2018.
More bombs hit Syria’s Ghouta, death toll highest since 2013
BEIRUT - Pro-government forces pounded the rebel-held district of eastern Ghouta outside the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday, in a surge of violence that a war monitor said had killed at least 250 people since Sunday night. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was the highest 48-hour death toll in the Syria conflict since a 2013 chemical attack on eastern Ghouta, the last major rebel bastion located near the capital. The wave of air strikes, rocket fire and shelling has sparked international condemnation. France, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, described the bombardment as a serious violation of international humanitarian law. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military. Damascus says it only targets militants. Recent violence in the besieged suburb is part of a wider surge in fighting on several fronts as President Bashar al-Assad’s military pushes to end the seven-year rebellion against him. The Observatory said the bombardment had killed more than 106 adults and children in eastern Ghouta on Tuesday alone.
Panos Moumtzis, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Syria, on Tuesday condemned the bombing of five hospitals in eastern Ghouta and said intentional attacks on medical facilities “may amount to war crimes”. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington was “deeply concerned” by the rising violence in Ghouta. “The Assad regime’s siege and starve tactics are ... adding to the humanitarian disaster there,” she said. Nauert said the United States supported a U.N. call for a monthlong cessation of hostilities to allow for the delivery of aid and an emergency medical evacuation of civilians. She urged Russia to stop supporting the Assad government. In Brussels, Syrian opposition leader Nasr al-Hariri - a delegation head at stalled U.N. peace talks - pleaded for more international pressure on Assad to stop. In Geneva, the U.N. children’s agency expressed outrage at the casualties among the enclave’s children, saying it had run out of words. Those killed since the escalation began on Sunday include 58 children. Another 1,200 people have been injured in the bombardment, the Observatory said. (rtr)
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian prosecutors on Wednesday charged a 60-year-old woman with murdering an Indonesian domestic helper who was found with bruises on her face and died from her injuries, state news agency Bernama said. It is the latest such case in a series. In 2008, a Malaysian was sentenced to jail for scalding her Indonesian domestic helper with a hot iron. Years later, a Malaysian couple were convicted of starving an Indonesian domestic helper to death. Adelina Lisao, 28, was rescued on Feb. 10 from her employer’s home in Penang after neighbours reported she had been forced to sleep next to a dog in a covered car parking area attached to the house. She died the next day in hospital. M.A. Ambika was charged with murder, while her daughter was
charged with hiring a foreigner without valid documents, Bernama reported. Malaysia is officially host to nearly two million migrant workers, though some estimates say millions more work in the country illegally, many the victims of trafficking. Indonesians are the biggest pool of foreign workers in Malaysia. Indonesia banned its citizens from taking up jobs as domestic helpers in Malaysia between 2009 and 2011. In 2011, Cambodia banned its citizens from going to work in Malaysia as maids following a series of reports of beatings and rapes. Last month, the Philippines suspended sending workers to Kuwait after President Rodrigo Duterte said abuse by employers there had driven several domestic helpers to suicide. (rtr)
Jokowi: Political campaigns should not be degraded into slanging match JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has told the people in a number of regions and districts, which will hold regional elections to maintain unity despite difference in their favorites for their regional leaders. Political campaigns ahead of the regional elections should not be degraded into a slanging match, insulting each other, spreading hoaxes, false information, etc. especially in social media, Jokowi said when addressing National Dzikir (chanting in praise of God) and the opening of National Working Meeting of the Hubbul Wathon Dzikir Council here on Wednesday. The president called for maintaining social harmony saying the people especially women and children would be the one to suffer the hardest as a result of internal conflicts. Peace and harmony would
allow the government to develop and improve the economic condition and welfare of the people, he added.”This is the duty of all of us including ulemas to maintain a peaceful condition and to avoid conflicts even minor conflicts?” the president said Present at the ceremony included a number of Islamic leaders, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifudin, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, Military Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko and Speaker of the Regional Representative Council Oesman Sapta Odang. The National Working Meeting to last from Feb. 21 to 23 uses a theme of “Strengthening Islamic Commitment to Nationality Toward National Order?” After the ceremony, the president flew to Bandung, West Java, for a working visit. (rtr)
Antara Foto/M N Kanwa/via REUTERS
An Indonesian naval officer arranges bags of confiscated crystal meth, part of a 1 tonne seizure, on a dock in Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia February 10, 2018 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Picture taken February 10, 2018.
Indonesia seizes record 1.6 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine
JAKARTA - Indonesia seized a record 1.6 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine from a ship off the northern island of Batam on Tuesday, a narcotics official said, the second major drug bust this month. President Joko Widodo’s government has cracked down on trafficking in an effort to contain soaring consumption of crystal meth and other narcotics. But there has been no bloody war on drugs as in the neighbouring Philippines, where thousands of people have been killed in anti-drugs operations. Indonesia has among the world’s strictest anti-narcotics laws and drug trafficking is punishable by death. “It’s an estimated 1.6 tonnes and yes, this is a record seizure for us,” said Sulistiandriatmoko, adding that details of its origin and destination were still under investigation.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that Southeast Asia’s trade in methamphetamines and heroin was worth $31 billion in 2013. Earlier this month, Indonesian authorities confiscated just over 1 tonne of crystal meth, known locally as ‘shabu-shabu’, also in Batam, a small industrial hub a short ferry ride from Singapore. Budi Waseso, head of the anti-narcotics agency, said authorities had acted on a tip from Chinese and Thai authorities and that the shipment had come from Myanmar in a vessel disguised as a fishing boat. “It had been to Australia...and in and out of Indonesian waters several times. This means this ship had repeatedly entered Indonesia carrying large quantities of narcotics,” Waseso said. Myanmar is part of the so-called Golden Triangle where it meets Thailand and Laos and where drug production and trafficking is booming. (rtr)
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International
Thurday, February 22, 2018
Bali News
International
BUSINESS
Thurday, February 22, 2018
Distinctive Star Fruit Leaf Vegetable
Tunisia sees record tourist numbers in 2018 as attack effect fades
TUNISIA - Tourist numbers to Tunisia will hit a record high this year, fully reversing the damage inflicted on the sector by attacks on holidaymakers in 2015, the tourism minister said on Wednesday. After three years of shunning Tunisia in the wake of a gun attack on a beach in Sousse that killed 39 tourists and one at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis that killed 21, major European tour operators have started to return. “We aim to receive 8 million tourists this year with strong booking rates from European customers and other new customers,” Tourism Minister Salma Loumi said. “The return of British tourists is a very good signal for us.” Last week, Thomas Cook flew British tourists to Tunisia for the first time since an Islamist militant killed 30 Britons in Sousse. TUI , said last month it too planned to offer holidays in Tunisia again, starting in May.
The 8 million forecast brings tourist numbers above the preattack level of 7.1 million in 2014. Arrivals fell to 5.3 million in 2015. Loumi said tourism revenues would be up 25 percent on last year when they reached 2.8 billion dinar ($1.2 billion). Tourist numbers in 2017 were already up 23 percent on the previous year to 7 million, as hotels filled beds with Russian and Algerian visitors, but operators say they spend less than European holidaymakers. Tourism accounts for 8 percent of Tunisia’s gross domestic product. A return of European visitors would give a strong boost to the struggling economy and raise the country’s weak foreign currency reserves. (rtr)
More Japanese tourists visits Bali REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo
Tourists relax on a beach on the island of Djerba, Tunisia, September 7, 2016.
South African business counts on Ramaphosa to plot path to growth SOWETO - Ndumiso Madlala, head of the Soweto Gold Brewery, says he is banking on new South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to kick-start the economy and help his business grow. The micro brewery was founded five years ago in the Johannesburg township but has struggled to grow in a fiercely competitive market for beer as high unemployment and a weak economy strangled consumer spending. Madlala places much of the blame on the administration of Jacob Zuma, who reluctantly resigned as president last week after a nineyear tenure plagued by corruption allegations and economic stagnation. “We started at the time when the economy was not doing so well,” Madlala, a chemical engineer who previously worked at Heineken, told Reuters at his brewery where the walls are adorned with photographs of anti-apartheid heroes. “Now with Ramaphosa coming in, we really hope the economy is going to grow fast and with the economy growing fast, small businesses like ourselves can also grow
at a much faster rate.” He did not give more specific details of his expectations for the new government, but said his goal of selling 1 million hectolitres of beer by 2020, from 50,000 hectolitres now, could be achieved sooner if Ramaphosa boosted consumer confidence. Soweto Gold currently only distributes its products to South Africa’s wealthiest province Gauteng, but plans to extend to five more provinces by the end of March before launching nationwide in August. Madlala is one of many business leaders in South Africa, as well as investors at home and abroad, who are pinning hopes on Ramaphosa, a former businessman who held stakes in mining company Lonmin, mobile operator MTN Group and McDonald’s South African franchise. Yet despite the early optimism of Madlala and others, some economists and analysts caution there may be no quick fix for an economy that is forecast to grow just 1.4 percent this year and 1.7 percent in 2019. Africa’s most developed econo-
my needs faster economic growth to reduce the high joblessness rate - currently at 27 percent - and alleviate the widespread poverty that has persisted since the end of white-minority rule in 1994. ’NEW COURSE’ Financial markets roared their approval when Ramaphosa of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) was sworn in last week. South Africa’s main stock index surged as much as 5 percent, the rand hit its strongest levels in three years while bond investors pushed the yields on the benchmark 2026 note sharply lower. Banks, considered the barometer of South African political and economic sentiment, are among the best performing stocks on the bourse, up nearly 8 percent - far outpacing a largely flat blue-chip JSE Top-40 index as of Monday. “President Ramaphosa has an opportunity to set out a new course and chart a clear vision for South Africa,” said Mike Brown, chief executive of No.4 lender Nedbank.
“We urge him to set out clear policy ambitions that will help unlock investor confidence and pent up economic activity long stymied by policy uncertainty.” Apart from the revitalising the economy, business executives would like see more policy certainty - particularly in the mining industry, an important economic engine which has been fighting in court with Zuma’s mines minister over an increase in black ownership targets. Mining industry lobby group, the Chamber of Mines, agreed at the weekend to delay a court challenge, which was set to resume on Monday, against the regulations following an intervention by Ramaphosa. Mining companies have said the new rules, which also stipulate they must pay 1 percent of their turnover to local communities, were deterring investment in a sector grappling with unpredictable commodity prices. “I’m very optimistic about the future of South African mining,” said Peter Steenkamp, chief executive of Randfontein-based gold miner
Harmony Gold. “It’s early days but we know the leadership of the new elected ANC leadership is very familiar with mining, we’ve got both (ANC chairman) Gwede Mantashe and Cyril Ramaphosa, ex-mining people there.” Investors, business leaders and rating agencies are watching closely for how Ramaphosa is going to deal with corruption and clean up cashstrapped state-owned enterprises. “There is no time to celebrate,” said Bonang Mohale, chief executive of business lobby group Business Leadership South Africa. “Our state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are bankrupt. We need to address the leadership, capital structure and governance issues gripping these SOEs.” But for Madlala, the real test awaiting Ramaphosa is to raise the disposable income of consumers. “We’ve had doom and gloom for the past few years under the Zuma leadership and now with Ramaphosa coming in there’s new energy and we certainly hope it will translate into people visiting restaurants and trying out our brand,” he said. (rtr)
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DENPASAR - The number of Japanese tourists visiting Bali in 2017 rose 7.65 percent to 253,000? from around 235,000 in the previous year. “Most of them flew in here directly from Japan? with only 651 by tourist boats,” head of the Bali branch of th Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Adi Nugroho said here on Sunday. Japanese were the fourth largest foreign tourists in number after Chinese, Australians? and Indians. Japanese tourists made up 4.44 percent of the total number of 5.69 million foreign tourists visiting Bali in 2017. Earlier head of the Bali Tourism Office AA Yuniarta Putra? said he hoped Japan Airlines (JAL) would serve regular flights between Bali and Japan. Yuniarta said Garuda Indonesia? and Japan-based airline ANA (All
Nippon Airlines)? and Air Asia already served regular flight between Bali and Tokyo and Osaka. Meanwhile, the number of Indians tourists visiting Bali grew 45.59 percent to 272,761 in 2017? from 187,350 in 2016. Indians accounted for 4.79 percent of the total number of foreign tourists visiting Bali in 2017. Among ten largest countries of origin of the foreign tourists eight countries recorded a significant increase in the number of tourists with two -- Australians down 4.21 percent and Malaysians 5.15 percent lower in 2017 compared with in 2016.
The eight countries of origin included China, India, Japan up 7.69 percent, Britain up 10.07 percent, The United States 12.11 percent, France 7.61 percent, Germany 15.11 percent and South Korea 15.45 percent. Adi attributed the increase in the number of visitors from India to Bali to similarity of culture? and religion. The vast majority of people in India? and Bali are Hindus. The opening new route between Bali and Mumbai of India by the nation’s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia in January 2018 is expected to increase the number of visitors from India to the tourist island. (ant)
At glance, the vegetable of star fruit leaf (jukut don belimbing) or often called as lawar of star fruit leaf is usually presented in ceremonial events in Bali. By and large, the presentation is divided into two, namely for the offerings to God through oblations as well as presented through buffet invitation. The jukut don belimbing is commonly served with other menus processed by local society. Invitees can pick out and choose their preferred menus. Unfortunately, this star fruit leaf is only liked by certain people. Children are less interested because it’s slightly bitter. However, for adults this menu is very tasty. For people on the Island of the Gods, the star fruit leaf is taken advantage as a vegetable ingredient as it is quite tasty. Other than being easy to get, this leaf is also good for digestion. However, the star fruit leaf used is not arbitrary, but the young one (not too old and not too young). Besides, it does not belong to the type of star fruit having sweet fruit, but the fruit is sour and whitish. Lately, the star fruit leaf vegetable is also served at hotel, but has not something to do with ceremonial activities. In a chef competition, the star fruit leaf vegetable also becomes one of the contested menus. Of course, this vegetable has been processed in a modern way, so that it can be enjoyed by the tongue from various regions and even countries. The ingredients used to make this vegetable are star fruit leaf, coconut milk and boiled pork or chicken blood. Meanwhile, the spices in use include onion, garlic, shrimp, coriander, chili, ginger, pepper, aromatic ginger, candlenut, palm sugar, salt and a few pieces of lime leaves. How to prepare it? At first, finely wash the star fruit leaf whose number is tailored to the needs. After that, boil until cooked and then squeeze the leaf to reduce its water. It is also meant to eliminate its bitterness as well as make the leaf tenderer. The spices are divided into two. A portion is used to make fine base genep (complete spice) and another portion to make raw spice. All the ingredients to make base genep are cut and then grounded or pureed by blender, so it becomes smooth. Then, fry it until cooked. The other spices namely onion and chili are sliced ??thin without frying. Next, prepare a basin and put the base genep into it along with coconut milk and boiled blood. After that, mix them well. Put sliced red onion and chili and add the thinly sliced ??brown sugar. Put the boiled star fruit leaf and then mix together well. Add lime leaves having been sliced ??thinly and salt (to taste). Stir again evenly and now it is ready to serve. (kmb)
IMF-WB annual meetings in Bali to trigger money in circulation worth Rp4 trillion YOGYAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI), the country`s central bank, has estimated that the 2018 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings to be held next October in Bali, to trigger money in circulation amounting up to Rp4 trillion. “This will boost the economy of Bali strongly,” Causa Iman Karana, head of the BI representative office in Bali, said here, Sunday.
The large amount of money will be spent on paying accommodation, transportation, telecommunication charges, and buying food as well as beverages, among others things. Between 15 thousand and 20 thousand people from 189 countries are expected to participate in the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. The participants will include central bank leaders from various
countries, financial practitioners, economists, economic policy makers, and country delegates. The Indonesian Government has built several infrastructure projects, including an underpass in the intersection near I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, to support the implementation of the large gathering. An apron at the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport has been expanded to enable the
apron to provide larger parking area for airplanes. During the meetings, activity at Ngurah Rai Airport is estimated to increase to 35 takeoffs or landings per hour from the current 28, with a daily capacity of up to 300 movements. A tourism port is also being built in Benoa harbor in Denpasar. The central bank has also predicted the economic growth in Bali to reach 6 to 6.4 percent,
exceeding 5.59 percent of the growth in 2017. The Indonesian Government has allocated funds worth around Rp868 billion particularly for the infrastructure projects to support the implementation of the IMFWorld Bank Annual Meetings. The IMF and the World Bank hold annual meetings once every three years outside the IMF and World Bank`s headquarters in Washington D.C. (ant)
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Thurday, February 22, 2018
Bali News
International
Thurday, February 22, 2018
International
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Japan to buy at least 20 more F-35A stealth fighters TOKYO - Japan plans to buy at least 20 additional F-35A stealth fighters over the next six years, some or all of which it may purchase directly from Lockheed Martin Corp in the United States rather than assemble locally, three sources said.
IBP/kmb
Although the water quality of Lake Batur has been declared unfit for consumption due to pollution, local residents still use it for daily consumption needs.
Water of Lake Batur sucked up to resolve water crisis at Madya hamlet
BANGLI — Difficulties of clean water faced by hundreds of residents at Madia hamlet, Terunyan, Kintamani, has now begun to be resolved. It is made possible by the installation of the pumping machine aid to suck the water of Lake Batur at the local village by the government. Although the water quality of Lake Batur has been declared unfit for consumption due to pollution, local residents still use it for daily consumption needs. Hamlet chief of Madia, Wayan Besar, said on Tuesday (Feb. 20) the aid of machine to take up the lake water consists of two pumping machines and hundreds of meters of pipes. The water pump has been installed by the Public Works Agency since the end of last year. “The water pumping applies relay
system. Two machines are installed to take up water from the lake. The sucked water is accommodated in a reservoir,” he explained. He admitted the taking of water from Lake Batur by machine is able to meet the needs of clean water for 200 families at Madia hamlet. Since it cannot be drained
to people’s homes, they must take the water to the reservoir by using a bucket. Residents take advantage of the lake water for daily needs such as cooking and the needs of livestock, while for the needs of agriculture is not sufficient. “According to the calculations of the Public Works Agency, the water
discharge reaches1 liter per second. It is not enough for agricultural use, but only enough for 5-10 farmers,” he explained. Though remaining limited to meet farming needs, residents of Madia hamlet, said Besar, are now quite facilitated by the sucking of water. By that way, residents no longer have to go far to take water from the lake by walking through the hill for hours. “Previously, during dry season residents must walk down to take water in the lake. Now, they are more facilitated,” he said.
Meanwhile, the water sucked up by machine from the lake, added Besar, is managed independently by residents of Madya hamlet. To pay for the electricity needed in the operation of the water pump, they must pay donation through seven subak (irrigation cooperative) groups. In the future, to ease the burden of local community, village authority will allocate a budget for the electricity bill. “However, we are still coordinating this matter to district government,” he added. (kmb40)
“In view of budgets and production schedules a new acquisition of around 25 planes is appropriate,” said one of the sources with knowledge of the plan. The sources asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media. The sources said buying complete aircraft from the United States, at about $100 million each, will save Japan about $30 million per airframe. The purchase will add to an earlier order for 42 of the fighters, most of which are being constructed at a “final assembly and check out” plant in Japan operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the country’s leading defence contractor. That plant is one of only two such factories outside the United States. The other, in Italy, is operated by Leonardo Spa. As China fields ever more advanced aircraft, including stealth planes, and as North Korea pushes ahead with its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes,
adding F-35s will further increase Japan’s reliance on U.S. military technology to give it an edge over potential foes in East Asia. Japanese military planners are also considering buying F-35Bs, the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) version of the aircraft. Those models can operate from small islands skirting the East China Sea or from ships such as the Izumo-class helicopter carriers. “We have not yet made any plan and we are evaluating what fighter aircraft we need,” Itsunori Onodera said at a news briefing on Tuesday when asked whether Japan planned to buy more F-35s. Onodera’s ministry will release two defence reviews by the end of the year that will outline Japan’s security goals and military procurement plans for the five years beginning in April 2019. The first of the 42 F-35As ordered by Japan’s Air Self Defence Force (ASDF) are being deployed to Misawa Air Base in northern Japan. Japanese government officials and Lockheed Martin executives
ing owned a famous branding like Warung Made is quite strong. So, it is continuously crowded by guests or customers. In addition, Candra Roasted Suckling Pig in Denpasar also has a well-known brand. Foreign brands also do, so they are very strongly favored by people outside their country. However, building a branding is not easy because the brand must be maintained and promoted continuously. To that end, it is required costs of promotion and imaging. In the digital era, branding is more difficult because sales have to master e-commerce and good English language skills. Chairman of TDA Bali Community, Hendra W Saputro, said that branding is the final tool for people to know a product. “Branding is not a logo, branding is a benefit, awareness of a product business
to the community,” he said. With a good product branding, the public will recognize the product, so the potential becomes a turnover for entrepreneurs. A newly-born company, without any effort to make branding, will grow very slowly. That is why the entrepreneurial education syllabus of TDA Bali also provides knowledge about branding. Branding is important because of the effects of the digital world. The digital world greatly facilitates people to make a branding. In the conventional times, the product of a business can only be spread and sold to the people around the producer. However, with the digital world, the brand of a product is not only known to people around it, but also to the people throughout Indonesia and even around the world. (kmb42)
REUTERS/Stringer
Panudiana Kuhn
IBP/kmb
are set to attend a ceremony there on Saturday to mark the entry of the first Japanese F-35 into service. The F-35 accounts for about a quarter of Lockheed Martin’s total revenue. The company is hiring 1,800 workers for its Fort Worth,
Texas, factory to build a fleet that is expected to grow to more than 3,000 jets worldwide. Lockheed Martin is scheduled to nearly triple annual production to more than 160 jets by 2023. The first Japanese F-35s will
replace aging F-4 Phantom fighters that date back to 1960s. The next batch will allow Japan to retire some of the aging 200 F-15s flown by the ASDF that are the main interceptor workhorse of the nation’s air defences. (rtr)
MALE - Parliament in the Maldives on Tuesday approved a 30-day extension of a state of emergency sought by President Abdulla Yameen who cited an ongoing national security threat and constitutional crisis. Countries including the United States, India and Canada along with the United Nations have urged Yameen to lift the emergency and restore normalcy. Tour operators say hundreds of hotel bookings have been cancelled daily since the 15-day emergency was imposed on Feb. 5 despite government assurances that all is normal in the resort islands, which are far from the capital. Yameen imposed the emergency to annul a Supreme Court ruling that quashed the convictions of nine opposition leaders and ordered his government to free those held in prison. The emergency “shall only apply to those alleged to have carried out illegal activities – it shall not
apply to otherwise law abiding residents of, or visitors to, the Maldives,” a statement from Yameen’s office said on Tuesday. The U.S. State Department issued a statement on Tuesday saying Washington was disappointed by the extension of the state of emergency. Since Feb. 5, the government has arrested the chief justice, another Supreme Court judge and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on charges of attempting to usurp power. Yameen has ignored the court rulings but stopped short of saying he would not obey them. He has jailed opposition members and fired two police chiefs who said they would uphold the court rulings. Yameen took power in 2013 and his recent moves aim to consolidate power ahead of an election this year. The country’s neighbour India urged the government to release the
nine opposition leaders as required by the Supreme Court. All 38 ruling party lawmakers approved the vote at an extraordinary session of parliament boycotted by the opposition who cited the constitution to say it required 43 MPs. Former president Mohamed Nasheed, who is in exile, said the government could not extend the emergency without 43 votes. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, leader of the opposition coalition’s parliamentary group, said: “This state of emergency is illegal .... Yameen has, in effect, hijacked the entire state and is ruling the Maldives like a military dictator.” Parliament says it passed the extension to the emergency under a procedure that does not require a quorum and it sought an opinion on the matter from the Supreme Court. Former attorney general Ahmed Ali Sawad said more than half of MPs should be present for a vote on the emergency decree. (rtr)
Maldives parliament approves extension of state of emergency by 30 days
Branding increases selling value and ease of selling DENPASAR — The power of branding is incredible. Moreover, President Jokowi had previously told if the brand value of his furniture product is defeated by the brand value of stuffed pancake products and fried banana of his sons. With branding, the selling value of product becomes higher and easier to sell. Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Apindo Bali, Panudiana Kuhn, said that branding is important. A brand is an identity created by marketing people to make it easier for consumers to choose a product. Especially in the digital era, branding will become a determinant consideration for people to buy a product. Goods with a familiar brand make it easy to sell. “Goods having not owned a brand is hard to sell,” he said on Tuesday (Feb. 20). Similarly, the name of a restaurant hav-
IBP/net
Japan plans to buy at least 20 additional F-35A stealth fighters over the next six years.
Maldivian opposition supporters argue with a police officer near the main opposition Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) headquarters during a protest demanding the government to release jailed opposition leaders, including former Presidents Mohamed Nasheed and Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in line with a last week Supreme Court order, in Male, Maldives February 9, 2018.
14
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Health
International
With medicine running out, Venezuelans with transplants live in fear
CARACAS - Yasmira Castano felt she had a fresh chance at life when she received a kidney transplant almost two decades ago. The young Venezuelan was able to finish high school and went on to work as a manicurist. But late last year, Castano, now 40, was unable to find the drugs needed to keep her body from rejecting the organ, as Venezuela’s healthcare system slid deeper into crisis following years of economic turmoil. On Christmas Eve, weak and frail, Castano was rushed to a crumbling state hospital in Venezuela’s teeming capital, Caracas. Her immune system had attacked the foreign organ and she lost her kidney shortly afterwards. Now, Castano needs dialysis three times a week to filter her blood. But the hospital attached to Venezuela’s Central University, once one of South America’s top institutions, frequently suffers water outages and lacks materials for dialysis. “I spend nights not sleeping, just worrying,” said Castano, who weighs around 77 pounds (35 kg), as she lay on an old bed in a bleak hospital room, its bare walls unadorned by a television or pictures. Her roommate Lismar Castellanos, who just turned 21, put it more bluntly. “Unfortunately, I could die,” said Castellanos, who lost her transplanted kidney last year and is struggling to get the dialysis she needs to keep her body functioning. The women are among Venezuela’s roughly 3,500 transplant recipients. After years leading normal lives, they now live in fear as Venezuela’s economic collapse under President Nicolas Maduro has left the once-prosperous OPEC nation unable to purchase sufficient foreign medicine or produce enough of its own. Some 31 Venezuelans have seen their bodies start to reject their transplanted organs in the last month due to lack of medicine, according to umbrella health group Codevida, a non-governmental organization. At least seven have died due to complications stemming from organ failure in the last three months. A further 16,000 Venezuelans, many hoping for an elusive transplant, are dependent on dialysis to clean their blood - but here too, resources and materials are sorely lacking. Nearly half of the country’s dialysis units are out of service, according to opposition lawmaker and oncologist Jose Manuel Olivares, a leading voice on the health crisis who has toured dialysis centers to assess the scale of the problem. In the last three weeks alone, seven people have died due to lack of dialysis, according to Codevida, which staged a protest to decry the critical drug shortages. (rtr)
IBP/net
Terrified transplant patients are indebting themselves to buy pricey medicine on the black market.
Genes might not predict success of low-fat or low-carb diet
IBP/net
People who try to avoid junk food may lose similar amounts of weight on a low-carb or low-fat diet even when their genetics suggest that one of these options should be better for them, a U.S. study found.
CALIFORNIA - People who try to avoid junk food may lose similar amounts of weight on a lowcarb or low-fat diet even when their genetics suggest that one of these options should be better for them, a U.S. study found. Researchers randomly assigned 609 obese middle-aged adults to reduce carbohydrates or fats in their diets for one year. Participants received 22 educational sessions focused on mindful eating and avoiding processed and sugary foods. Researchers also looked to see whether participants had a particular genotype – a certain combination of the PPARG, ADRB2 and FABP2 genes – that some previous studies have linked to better results on either a low-fat or low-carb diet. At the end of the year, people on the low-fat diet lost an average of almost 12 pounds, compared with about 13 pounds for the low-carb diet. This difference was too small to rule out the possibility that it was due to chance, and participants typically remained obese.
Bali News
International
Weight loss also didn’t appear to be influenced by genotype, researchers report in JAMA. “This closes the door on the possibility that the . . . genotype pattern we tested would be useful,” said lead study author Christopher Gardner of Stanford University in California. “That does not close the door on the possibility that there are other genotype `signatures’ or patterns that could be useful,” Gardner said by email. None of the study participants were told to cut calories. Instead of restricting carbs or fats by a prescribed amount, people were told to cut back by an amount that felt sustainable. People were also encouraged to increase their intake of whole foods and vegetables and minimize added sugars and refined grains. To help curb mindless snacking, educators also told people to stop eating in their car or in front of their television and to make an effort to routinely dine with friends and family, shop at farmers’ markets and cook at home. (rtr)
3
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Storytelling by Library Office vivaciously welcomed by kindergarten students
AMLAPURA - A total of 200 students of kindergarten from ten Kindergarten and pre-school educations in Karangasem participated in the storytelling service contest held by the Karangasem Library and Archive Office on Monday (Feb.19). The contest was commenced by the appearance of TK Tunas Harapan Amlapura. After that, it will be resumed with the appearance of other kindergarten and pre-school on the following days until March 5. Techniques of this service contest are that children must listen to the stories presented by the resource person. Afterward, the resource person assesses the participating children in terms of their diligence to listen to the stories, ability to answer the questions of the resource person, neatness of sitting and presentation of yells. The committee will select three winners. The contest presented resource person from the circle of educators of kindergarten, namely Ni Ketut Sukanganti and I Made Suarta. Content of the stories is related to benefits of apple to human health. According to storyteller, Ni Ketut Sukanganti, her story contains philosophy that we can live through dependency on nature. After listening to the story, children are expected to preserve their nature. According to Principal of TK Tunas Harapan Amlapura, Ni Ketut Suriani, she welcomed the
storytelling service. Children are expected to learn from the content of stories and implement it in their daily life. The contest committee, I Komang Pasek Antara, explained the story telling service has been held regularly every year. From the story service, students are expected to understand the contents of the story and practice it in their everyday life because the stories contain virtues and character. Furthermore, Pasek Antara added that teachers of kindergarten and pre-school can carry out storytelling at their school and then implement it. The storytelling service was opened by the Head of Library Office, I Komang Daging. Currently, library is no longer just impressed with lending and reading books, but also other educational and social activities. He hoped the community and educators at various levels of school could introduce children since early on to take advantage of the library to educate the nation. Ten kindergartens and preschools participating in the contest are the TK Tunas Harapan Amlapura, TK Nurul Huda Subagan, TK Bina Purwaka Jasri, TK Widya Kumara Padangkerta, TK Santi Kumara Bugbug, TK Ganeswara SKB Jasri, TK Santi Kumara Amlapura, TK Kumara Langu Timbrah, TK Kuncup Mekar Subagan and TK Aisyiyah Bustanul Athfal Amlapura. (kmb31)
IBP/kmb40
The damage to the pipeline has caused disruption of water supply to several customers in the Bangli urban areas since the past few days.
PDAM pipeline in Kayubihi harmed by landslide
Water supply in Bangli disrupted
BANGLI — Pipeline of the Municipality Waterworks (PDAM) Bangli returned to experience damages due to landslide. This time the damaged pipelines are located at Kayubihi village, Bangli. The damage to the pipeline has caused disruption of water supply to several customers in the Bangli urban areas since the past few days.
IBP/kmb31
Techniques of this service contest are that children must listen to the stories presented by the resource person.
Director of PDAM Bangli, Wayan Gede Yuliawan Askara, said on Monday (Feb. 19) the damage to pipelines happened to six pieces sizing 6 inches. The pipelines were damaged by a landslide on Friday. He disclosed that destruction of the pipeline caused disruption to clean water service to customers in the area of Bangli town. However, he did not mention clearly the location and total customers experiencing the service disruption. Yuliawan admitted that his company has addressed to the damage since last Friday. However, he admitted
the repair process cannot run quickly due to weather constraints. If there are no obstacles, probably it can be completed on Tuesday. Related to many damaged pipelines of PDAM all this time, Yuliawan admitted his management must bear quite large losses. However, he did not mention clearly the total losses experienced due to landslides since last January. “Obviously, we suffer losses of material, income and services,” he explained. Previously, at the end of January, PDAM pipelines were damaged at some points due to landslide. One of them is at Selat village, Susut. At the village, the pipelines buried by landslides reached along 10 meters. As a result, clean water service to 400 customers became disturbed. Similar damage to the network due to landslides also occurred at Tirta Barong spring. The damage to the network at the location caused disruption to clean water services to the Kawan hamlet and Bangli Hospital. To deal with such damage, the PDAM has made repair. However, due to be constrained by rain, the improvement efforts cannot be done quickly. (kmb40)
2
Bali News
Thursday, February 22, 2018
International
Balinese woman allegedly murdered own three young children
GIANYAR - A Balinese woman allegedly killed her own three young children on Wednesday in Sukawati, Gianyar by feeding them insect poison, before a failed attempt to take her own life. The 33-year-old woman, who works as a teacher, is currently in critical condition at a hospital in Gianyar, reportedly with self-inflicted wounds on her wrist and neck. The children were aged six, four, and two, Bali Express is reporting. Allegedly because of marital problems, the woman,
initials PSP, took her kids to stay at her younger brother’s house, without her husband, on Tuesday night. “While the perpetrator was breastfeeding her child, the witness was sleeping,” an unidentified source as saying. Then on Wednesday, around 6:40am, the brother wanted to take something from the room where his sister was staying. He knocked on the door, but no answer. “Then the witness tried to force open the window of the room and then saw the perpetrator and the victims in a state of rigidity,” the source said.
“The three victims were already dead while the perpetrator was still critical with cuts on her left wrist and the right side of her neck.” At the scene, Baygon, an insect poison, was found in liquid form in plastic containers. Sukawati Police Chief Pande Sugiharta confirmed the incident and said detectives are investigating the woman’s motives. “We are waiting for the mother to come to, to examine her motive,” Sugiharta said. (kmb)
Water of Lake Batur overflows
Kedisan jetty flooded, passenger boats moved eastwards BANGLI - Rising water of Lake Batur due to high rainfall happened recently does not only submerge the residents’ houses at Terunyan village and their farmland, but also the ferry pier at Kedisan. On this condition, the ferry operator is forced to move the passenger crossing pier to Terunyan to the east of the existing pier. Head of the Batur Lake Crossing Unit, I Ketut Nasta, said on Tuesday (Feb. 20) that the water of Lake Batur has returned to rise since
heavy rain continuously flushing Bangli from early January. Nasta added the lake water will indeed rise every rainy season, but for now the rise is higher than ever before. “From my first assignment here around 1995, this is the highest rise of the lake water. The rising has already exceeded the height of last year,” he said. According to Nasta, the reoverflowing water of the lake to submerge the crossing pier does not interfere with the crossing services
for tourists wishing to travel to Terunyan through Kedisan. However, the location to raise and drop of passengers is moved to the east of the pier. “We open the crossing point beside the submerged pier as the boat is able to anchor directly on the border of the pier,” he said. He added that his unit cannot make sure when the lake water will recede. Moreover, until this February the rainfall is predicted to continuously occur. Thus, the volume of water is ascertained to
continuously increase. Based on previous condition, it takes for months for the water to recede. “Possibly, the water will just recede in August or September because these months have entered the dry season. Water will recede longer due to absorption beneath is not good. Unlike in the sea, the low and high tide runs faster,” said Nasta. Nasta also added that a boat owned by the Transportation Agency was damaged due to the
aftermath of the fallen banyan tree some time ago. However, currently the boat has been repaired by the officers. “Indeed, all this time the boat is not operated for crossing transportation of tourists because the fuel of the boat uses kerosene. Meanwhile, today it is difficult to get kerosene and costs expensive. So, we just put the boat in a safe place,” he explained. (kmb41)
Bali’s first custom-designed riverside cooking school that converts into an intimate dinner venue has opened on the banks of the Ayung at Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan. Sokasi, named after a woven bamboo box used to keep steamed rice, features a stunning bamboo design by Elora Hardy on the edge of Bali’s longest river – part of its UNESCO Heritage-listed subak
OJK assesses banking in Bali remains strong the banks and even no banks are included in intensive supervision. With such parameter, according to him, in 2018 there is no 10-year cycle. “Compared to 2008 and 1998, banking performance and financial condition this year is much better,” he said. However, when viewed from economic indicators, he recognized the economy slowed down within the past 3-4 years. Meanwhile, in terms of banking performance there is no problem. “We (OJK) only keep the financial industry so as to be strong, stable and growing,” he added. On average, the OJK targets a 10-percent growth in banking DPK and 10-percent credit because it is only credit that can drive the economy. The credit is channeled into the real sector. However, if the real sector does not move, it cannot absorb the credits disbursed
by banks. So, the bank will not run. “So, it depends on the real sector. However, it is the realm of Bank Indonesia (BI), industry and trade,” he said. In order to strengthen the banking in Bali, the OJK for BaliNusra Region has made various efforts. One of them is by issuing policies such by requiring commercial banks and people’s credit banks (BPRs) in Bali to apply risk management and Good Corporate Governance (GCG). Commercial banks have imposed risk management since 2002. Meanwhile, the policy of risk management and GCG for BPRs was issued in 2016 and came into effect in 2018. During that period, BPRs have time to fix the structure of the organization and human resources. “So, they will be ready when it is enacted,” he said. The OJK also requires BPRs
to increase core capital up to IDR 6 billion but the fulfillment can be made gradually starting from IDR 3 billion. By the end of 2019, the fulfillment of this core capital must be completed. Until now, the BPRs having not met the minimal core capital reach less than 10. The BPRs are said to have agreed to increase their core capital to IDR 6 billion. The OJK asked them to make an action plan related to the way of core capital fulfillment until maturity in 2019. If until 2019 they have not been fulfilled, the BPRs can look for other investors or merger with other banks. The OJK also required a compliance director for banks with Business Activities (KU) III and its core capital is more than IDR 50 billion. Meanwhile, the banks with KU I and KU II are enough to have compliance function. All these
efforts are done so that the financial industry can withstand the crisis. This year, the banks are expected to expand their credit because the bank’s income is obtained from interest on credit. Although the target of bank every year is the same, in 2018 is expected to grow larger. The OJK encouraged banks to further increase their growth, especially credit as the credit growth will spur the economic growth. However, for the expansion they will face many challenges. “The growth has the rules, so as not to do it aggressively or blindly. Keep applying the principle of prudence,” he concluded. Previously, Chief of Bali Representative Office of Bank Indonesia, Causa Iman Karana, said there is indeed a business cycle. However, the time cannot be specified. (kmb42)
Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Dewa Farendra. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post
Thursday, February 22, 2018
15
BALI’S FIRST CUSTOMDESIGNED RIVERSIDE COOKING SCHOOL OPENS AT FOUR SEASONS SAYAN
Ten-year cycle will not happen in 2018
DENPASAR - The 10-year cycle predicted by the economists to occur in 2018 does not cause concern among regulators, especially the Financial Services Authority (OJK). The OJK assessed this year will be even better than last year. Head of the OJK for Bali-Nusra Region, Hizbullah, argued that if viewed from the performance of Financial Services Institution (LJK) this year is different from 1998 and 2008. “Now, it is much better,” he said on Monday (Feb. 19). It happens because the parameters of bank capital adequacy ratio (CAR) reaches 22 percent nationally and the liquidity remains strong. “Moreover, banks have difficulty in distributing their credit,” he concluded. In addition, almost all banks in Bali are not subject to special surveillance. In other words, there is no serious problem faced by
Activities
International
Thursday February 22 20:00-23:30 The Heart Overfloweth Open Mic with Om Ben Bali Bohemia Jl. Night Bojog, Nyuh Kuning Ubud 7:00-22:00 Beware Beach Arts Festival Finns Bali Jl. Pantai Berawa no 32 Badung 8:00-13:00 Thursday Cooking Class Menu Cana Luna Cooking School with Janet DeNeef Jalan Bisma Ubud 15:00-22:00 Gnomon’s Open Mic 9 Angels Jalan Suweta 32 Ubud
irrigation network. Offering daily workshops and exclusive Chef’s Table dinners, it is the latest enhancement of the resort’s immersive experiences, connecting guests with Bali’s cultural and spiritual heart through the local cuisine. “In Balinese food, the magic is the spice paste,” said the resort’s senior sous chef, Wayan Sutariawan, who shares family recipes and
insights about local herbs, spices and aromatics during the half-day classes. Students join a chef-guided tour of nearby Ubud markets, returning to forage in Sokasi’s own vegetable and herb gardens before a hands-on lesson in the state-ofthe-art kitchen. Classes are intimate and personalised for a maximum of eight students, who can opt for traditional Balinese cuisine based
on old family recipes or a plantbased menu inspired by Ubud’s more recent evolution as a wellness mecca for yoga and spa retreats. Workshops culminate in lunch just steps from the flowing river, under a towering banyan tree surrounded by two acres of ricefields within the resort’s lush gardens. Three evenings a week, the Chef’s Table experience offers a family-style dinner featuring Ubud’s famous babi guling suckling pig marinated with base genep thousand spice paste and spitroasted for four hours, and bebek betutu whole duck slow-roasted for 12 hours in a traditional underground clay pot oven. Sokasi also offers complimentary classes daily for children as part of the resort’s Kids Club program. “You could easily spend all day in Sokasi and some guests do, starting with a cooking class and continuing into the evening with a Chef’s Table dinner of slow-cooked dishes normally reserved for cer-
emonies. It’s the kind of place that’s hard to leave,” said Sean Mosher, Resort Manager of Four Seasons Sayan. “The location, architecture and natural forest symphony create a brand new destination in Bali where students not only learn new kitchen skills and recipes, but also gain deep insights into the culture, daily rituals and traditional health remedies.” Classes are open to the public, while students can stay on-site to further soak up the tranquility and ethereal energy of the valley’s serene environment. The awardwinning resort’s 42 pool villas and 18 suites feature locally-sourced materials such as jati wood, coconut shell, river stones and traditional textiles, in a secluded setting just 10 minutes from Ubud. Sokasi is the second professional-standard cooking school launched by Four Seasons in Bali, following the success of Jimbaran Bay Cooking Academy at the allvilla beach retreat of Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
16 Pages Number 56 10th year
Price: Rp 3.000,-
Thurday, February 22, 2018
Disabled by alchohol - Van Sant brings cartoonist biopic to Berlin
e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.
Thurday, February 22, 2018
BERLIN - It was a role Robin Williams wanted to play in honour of his friend “Superman” actor Christopher Reeve - the true story of a quadriplegic who despite his disability makes his name as a talented cartoonist. But while Williams, who committed suicide in 2014, never got the chance to play the part, his interest in cartoonist John Callahan helped bring the story to the screen, in a biopic competing for the top prize at the Berlin festival. “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,” based on Callahan’s 1989 memoir, shows the young man partying while in thrall to alcoholism before a car accident on a drunken night out leaves him quadriplegic at age 21. It follows his career as the creator of biting cartoons that often addressed the darker side of human nature, while battling alcoholism. Director Gus Van Sant said Williams had asked him to work on adapting the memoir into a screenplay. “He liked John Callahan’s work
- he saw it in his local newspaper in San Francisco - and Christopher Reeve was a friend of his who had had an accident and he very much wanted to play a quadriplegic, partly in honour of his friend, who was a quadriplegic,” Van Sant said. The film shows Callahan at Alcoholics Anonymous, revealing how being abandoned by his mother as a child drove him to drink. Joaquin Phoenix, who plays Callahan - who died in 2010 - said the biggest challenge of the cartoonist’s life was not his paralysis. “I think drinking was his disability really,” he told reporters in Berlin. “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” is one of 19 films competing for the Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear, to be awarded on Feb. 24. (rtr)
REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Director, screenwriter and editor Gus Van Sant with actors Joaquin Phoenix and Udo Kier arrive for the screening of the movie Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot at the 68th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 20, 2018.
Brazil’s ‘What a shot’ music video stirs debate amid violent crime wave
JoJo Todynho
IBP/net
RIO DE JANEIRO - A viral music video called “What a shot” is stirring debate in Brazil about the glamorization of crime and freedom of expression, as surging crime in Rio de Janeiro has led the government to put troops in charge of security in the tourist city. The hit by Jordana Gleise de Jesus Menezes - known as JoJo Todynho has spawned myriad parody videos on YouTube since it was released in December. The clips often show children and adults collapsing to the ground as a shot rings out following the lyrics “What a shot”, before the person stands up and begins to dance as the music picks up. The spoofs have revived debate
about whether the popular dance music genre from Rio de Janeiro, known as funk, glamorizes violence. On Friday, Brazil’s government ordered the army to take over command of police forces in Rio de Janeiro state to curb violence after killings increased by nearly 8 percent last year to 6,731. A petition to outlaw funk music because of its explicit treatment of violence, sex and drugs gained more than 20,000 signatures last year but has failed to gain traction in Congress. In a population of around 210 million people, the government recorded 59,080 gun deaths in 2015, putting it in the top 10 World Bank list of the most murderous countries. In a music video featuring images of coffins and the faces of young
children killed by stray bullets in Rio, rapper Gabriel O Pensador, also from Rio, Brazil’s second largest city, objected to the parodies. “What a shot? No, I’m not going to fall to the floor ... I’m a joker too, but joking has a time and a place,” he raps. “The Rio that we love celebrates carnival and this violence is terrifying.” A city in the northeastern state of Alagoas tried to ban the song being played during Carnival this month, arguing it incited violence. Authorities sought to impose a fine of 2,000 reais ($616) for each violation, but a court stopped the city from punishing musicians before a final ruling is reached, media reports said. Todynho, 21, whose artistic name
refers to a popular brand of chocolate milk, is from Rio’s tough western neighborhood of Bangu. She said the phrase is used to mean “how cool,” in a song mostly about sambaing with your girlfriends. The official music video, with over 136 million views, made the rounds as national attention was focused on violence during the Carnival festivities in Rio, with images of gangs robbing tourists en masse repeatedly broadcast on national TV. Performers of funk music often say they are only reflecting the harsh reality of Rio de Janeiro and the country at large. The music has also been toned down as it has moved from the favelas to the mainstream. (rtr)
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REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh
A child walks near damaged buildings in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, Syria February 20, 2018.
Syria’s Ghouta residents ”wait to die” as bombs fall
BEIRUT - Residents of Syria’s eastern Ghouta district said they were waiting their “turn to die” on Wednesday, amid one of the most intense bombardments of the war by pro-government forces on the besieged, rebel-held enclave near Damascus.
bombs dropped from helicopters whose use has been condemned by the United Nations.
At least 10 people died in one village and more than 200 were injured early on Wednesday. At least 296 people have been killed in the district in the last three days, the Britishbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said. Another 13 bodies, including five children, were recovered from the rubble of houses destroyed on Tuesday in the villages of Arbin and Saqba, the Observatory reported. The eastern Ghouta, a densely populated agricultural district on the Damascus outskirts, is the last major area near the capital still under rebel control. Home to 400,000 people, it has been besieged by government forces for years. A massive escalation in bombardment, including rocket fire, shelling, air strikes and helicopter-dropped barrel bombs, since Sunday has
WARNINGS A commander in the coalition fighting on behalf of Assad’s government told Reuters overnight the bombing aims to prevent the rebels from targeting the eastern neighbourhoods of Damascus with mortars. It may be followed by a ground campaign. “The offensive has not started yet. This is preliminary bombing,” the commander said. Rebels have also been firing mortars on the districts of Damascus near eastern Ghouta, wounding two people on Wednesday, state media reported. Rebel mortars killed at least six people on Tuesday. “Today, residential areas, Damascus hotels, as well as Russia’s Centre for Syrian Reconciliation, received massive bombardment by illegal armed groups from eastern Ghouta,”
become one of the deadliest of the Syrian civil war, now entering its eighth year. Reuters photographs taken in eastern Ghouta on Wednesday showed men searching through the rubble of smashed buildings, carrying bloodsmeared people to hospital and cowering in debris-strewn streets. The United Nations has denounced the bombardment, which has struck hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, saying such attacks could be war crimes. The pace of the strikes appeared to slacken overnight, but its intensity resumed later on Wednesday morning, the Observatory said. Progovernment forces fired hundreds of rockets and dropped barrel bombs from helicopters on the district’s towns and villages. “We are waiting our turn to die.
This is the only thing I can say,” said Bilal Abu Salah, 22, whose wife is five months pregnant with their first child in the biggest eastern Ghouta town Douma. They fear the terror of the bombardment will bring her into labour early, he said. “Nearly all people living here live in shelters now. There are five or six families in one home. There is no food, no markets,” he said. The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations, a group of foreign agencies that fund hospitals in opposition-held parts of Syria, said eight medical facilities in eastern Ghouta had been attacked on Tuesday. The Syrian government and its ally Russia, which has backed Assad with air power since 2015, say they do not target civilians. They also deny using the inaccurate explosive barrel
Russia’s Defence Ministry said late on Tuesday. Eastern Ghouta is one of a group of “de-escalation zones” under a diplomatic ceasefire initiative agreed by Assad’s allies Russia and Iran with Turkey which has backed the rebels. But a rebel group formerly affiliated with al Qaeda is not included in the truces and it has a small presence there. Conditions in eastern Ghouta, besieged since 2013, had increasingly alarmed aid agencies even before the latest assault, as shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities caused suffering and illness. (rtr) News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.