Edition Friday, December 22, 2017 | Internasional Bali Post

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

16 Pages Number 15 10th year

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

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Friday, December 22, 2017

Feminism and press freedom come together in ‘The Post’ LOS ANGELES - Steven Spielberg’s movie “The Post” is being hailed as a timely reminder about press freedom, democracy, whistle-blowing and government lies.

But its makers says it is also intended as an ode to feminism that resonates as powerfully today as the 1970s era in which it is set.

The movie, which begins its movie theater rollout on Friday, dramatizes the 1971 battle by U.S. newspapers, led by The New York Times, to publish the leaked Pentagon Papers. The documents showed that successive administrations had secretly enlarged the scope of American military action in Vietnam even as U.S. leaders became convinced the war was unwinnable.

Among those in the forefront of that battle was Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, played by Meryl Streep, who despite being in her mid-5Os at the time, was struggling to establish herself in a man’s world. She had taken over the publisher’s job following the death of her husband, Phil Graham.

“There is something very relatable to a woman finding her voice, to a woman standing in a room with men and being out-talked and overlooked,” said Liz Hannah, who wrote the screenplay with Josh Singer.

It was Graham who had to give the go-ahead to editor Ben Bradlee (played by Tom Hanks) to defy an injunction by the Nixon White House and risk imprisonment by publishing the Pentagon Papers.

The decision affected not only Graham’s family but the future of her company and the way she thought of herself.

Streep, 68, who is expected to be Oscar-nominated for a record 21st time next month, had no doubt about the film’s relevance for women who are still fighting for equality in corporate boardrooms and in Hollywood itself.

“I try to tell young women who weren’t alive then how different it was very recently, and it still is in those leadership circles. We have filled up the bottom of the pyramid but ... where it all gets decided, we don’t have parity. We’re not even close,” Streep said. (rtr)

TT News Agency/Fredrik Sandberg via REUTERS/File Photo

Terje Isungset preforms with ice instruments during the Nobel Banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm, Sweden December 10, 2017.

Chilled music: performer makes instruments out of ice

LONDON - While most musicians seek to avoid a frosty reception at concerts, for Norwegian composer and performer Terje Isungset a chilly feeling is nothing to fear: he performs with instruments he makes himself out of ice.

Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox/Niko Tavernise

A scene from “The Post”

A recent performance at London’s Royal Festival Hall featured a set including ice horns, ice drums and an ‘iceofone’ - an ice xylophone - accompanied by the vocal stylings of singer Maria Skranes.

He sees his work as being about more than making music, since he also aims to display the beauty and fragility of ice.

“I see it as a part of something bigger. It’s not me and my project and my ego - it’s the elements,” he told Reuters.

The Norwegian, equipped with

a background in traditional Scandinavian music and jazz, makes his instruments using chainsaws and pick axes.

Founder of an ice music festival in Norway, Isungset plays at about 50 festivals and concerts a year, many in the cold conditions of Norway, Canada or Russia.

At concerts in warmer climes, however, hotter temperatures can pose difficulties, as spending any more than 50 minutes at room temperature could damage the instruments.

All of the instruments for the London show were made in Norway and shipped over in special containers, highlighting the fact that, when it comes to making ice instruments, not any old water will do.

“If ice is from polluted water it doesn’t sound that good. If it’s from tap water it doesn’t work because there’s some chemicals in it,” he said. The best ice, he said, was from 2003 in the north of Sweden, adding “I’m very interested in that ice.” (rtr)

You can find International Bali Post at: 1 Kuta Beach Club Jl. Bakung Sari Kuta 2 Wen Dys Kuta the Coffe Bear Jl. Pantai Kuta 3 Seminyak Paradiso Bali Hotel Jl. Camplung Tanduk 4 Ramayana Resort&Spa Jl. Bakung Sari Kuta 5 The Lokha Legian Resort&Spa Jl. Padma Legian Kuta 6 66 Corner Live Sport Emtertaiment Jl. Doble Six/Werkudara 23 7 Leghawa Grill Jl. D.Tamblingan No. 51 8 Retno Barr dan Restoran Jl. D.Tamblingan No.126 A Sanur 9 Elkomedor Jl. D.Tamblingan 140

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

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

Friday, December 22, 2017

Jl. D.Poso No 68 Jl. D.Poso No. 50D Jl. D.Poso No. 39 Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur Jl. D.Tamblingan

19 Smirnof Cafee Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 20 Legwa Hotel Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 21 Nu Laser Cafee Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 22 Ganesa Book Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 23 All For Daiving Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur 24 Barocca Jl.Petitenget 17 DKerobokan 25 Lantern Jl.Petitenget 17E Kerobokan 26 Shearlock Jl.Petitenget 17C Kerobokan Klod 27 Cafe Degan Jl.Petitenget 9 Kerobokan Klod

28 Kopi Made Jl. Raya Puputan No. 106 Dps 29 Dimsum Manan Jl. Raya Niti Mandala Renon No 148 30 Furama Jl. Raya Niti Mandala No. 148 Renon 31 Warung Subah Renon Jl. Mohamad Yamin No.18 32 Ayam Betutu khas Gilimanuk Jl. Merdeka No.88 Renon 33 Bali Bakery Jl. Hayam Wuruk 184 Denpasar

People wait to vote in Catalonia’s regional elections at a polling station in Barcelona, Spain December 21, 2017.

REUTERS/Albert Gea

Catalonia votes in election pivotal for independence campaign

BARCELONA - Catalans flocked to the polls on Thursday for an election that could strip pro-independence parties of absolute control of the region’s parliament, though prospects of it ending the country’s worst political crisis in decades appear slim. Final surveys published last Friday showed separatists and unionists running neck-and-neck, though the same data suggests the pro-independence camp may still be able to form a minority government.

That would keep national politics mired in turmoil and raise concerns in European capitals and financial markets. However, the secessionist campaign has lost some momentum since it unilaterally declared independence in October to trigger Thursday’s vote, and one of its leaders took a conciliatory tone towards Madrid in comments published this week.

Long queues formed outside voting stations in the affluent region of northeastern Spain shortly after they opened at 0800 GMT. They will stay open until 1900 GMT in an election expected to draw a record turnout. Among those queuing in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, a working class suburb south of Barcelona, was Miguel

Rodriguez, a 53 year old doctor, who in October voted for independence in a referendum that Madrid declared unconstitutional.

“I’m not very optimistic that these elections will return a stable government,” he said, upset that the Spanish government had fired the previous regional government. “We’ve had all our rights taken away.”

International bond investors showed few signs of nerves on Thursday, with the premium demanded for holding Spanish debt over its top-rated German equivalent holding close to its narrowest levels in three months. “(The election) cannot be ignored going into year-end,” said Orlando Green, European fixed income strategist at Credit Agricole

in London. “But the secession movement has been significantly diminished and would need a decisive move to revive it.”

‘NORMALITY’ Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked Catalonia’s previous government for holding the referendum and declaring independence.

He called then Thursday’s vote in the hopes of returning Catalonia to “normality” under a unionist government, or failing that a separatist government acting within the Spanish and regional laws and not seeking a unilateral split.

A new separatist majority might further dampen investors’ confidence in Catalonia, which by itself

has an economy larger than that of Portugal and is a key driver of Spain’s economic growth.

However, separatist leaders -- who have campaigned while Spanish courts investigate them on allegations of rebellion for their roles in the Oct. 1 referendum -have recently backed away from demands for unilateral secession.

Deposed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has campaigned from self-imposed exile in Brussels and his former deputy and now rival candidate, Oriol Junqueras, has done so from behind bars at a prison outside Madrid. In a written interview with Reuters published on Monday, Junqueras struck a conciliatory tone and opened the door to building bridges with the Spanish state.

POLITICAL TURMOIL The independence campaign pitched Spain into its worst political turmoil since the collapse of fascist

rule and return of democracy in the 1970s. It has polarised public opinion, dented Spain’s economic rebound and prompted a business exodus from Catalonia to other parts of the country. Thursday’s vote has become a de facto referendum on how support for the independence movement has fared in recent months.

None of the six parties in the Catalan parliament - ranging across the ideological spectrum from separatist Marxists to the Catalan wing of Rajoy’s conservative People’s Party (PP) - are expected on their own to come close to the 68-seat majority.

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

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Friday, December 22, 2017

Bali News

International

International

Drug detective unit of Karangasem raids passengers in Padangbai Harbor

AMLAPURA —Ahead of Christmas and New Year, Padangbai Harbor becomes the focus of police security. In order to suppress drug smuggling through Padangbai Harbor, Narcotic Detective Unit of Karangasem Police conducted a raid against passengers newly dropping off at Padangbai Harbor on Wednesday (Dec. 20). This was done to prevent the harbor as the gateway of East Bali from being used as the entrance of drug smuggling.

After going down from ferry, a number of vehicles were immediately ransacked by the officers. Meanwhile, the drivers and ship passengers indicating suspicious behavior were immediately led by the officers for further taking urine test. As soon as a ship docked to drop off freight, the officer immediately moved and stopped them. At that time, the drivers of vehicle were asked to come down, and their body and luggage were searched. Likewise, it was resumed with the implementation of urine tests. Urine testing is not only done by inter-provincial passengers, bus crews, truck drivers and private vehicles, but also the officers and employees of PT ASDP. The ASDP employees were asked to take their urine and then put it into a tube having been provided by the officers for further inspection using a test pack. “We do not want to get rid of it,” said Chief of Drug Detective Unit, Agus Trisnadi.

Indeed, the raid of this time was only focused on the crews of interprovincial passenger bus, truckers and private vehicles. However, so far the results of examination are negative. This means that no one is found positive to have consumed drug. Nevertheless, these efforts will continuously maximize in a joint effort to secure Bali, especially Karangasem, ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Security of Christmas and New Year is implemented through Grand Candle Operation 2017. Chief of Karangasem Police, I Wayan Gede Ardana, emphasized that police’s focus point is on Padangbai Harbor as the entrance to East Bali. A total of 142 personnel are deployed to secure the harbor. In addition, it also focuses on other safeguards, such as places of worship and traditional routes or small ports along the coastline of Karangasem.(kmb31)

Seized goods worth IDR 3.6 billion eliminated

DENPASAR —The Supervisory and Service Office of Denpasar Customs and Excise eliminated confiscated goods worth IDR 3.6 billion on Wednesday (Dec. 20). The confiscated items consist of cigarettes, liquor, cosmetics, sex toys, samurai, airsoft gun, bows, arrows and drug supplements.

Head of the Denpasar Customs and Excise Office, Abdul Kharis, said the elimination of illegal items was symbolically carried out at the Denpasar Customs and Excise Office. After that, it was resumed to landfill at Serangan, South Denpasar.

“The elimination is carried out by burning, breaking, cutting and dumped,” he said.

According to him, the elimination was first done at the Denpasar Customs and Excise Office. He asserted by doing the elimination it means his office has been functioning as a community protector that protects people of Indonesia, especially in Bali, from negative impact of goods that are not worth entering the Indonesian customs area. In addition, it also performs the function as a revenue collector that secures state revenue. Abdul Kharis added the illegal goods are confiscated from 2016 until 2017.

“In 2016, there were three cases and have been resolved or decided in court, while in 2017 there were four suspects. The illegal goods are mostly from East Java and we are taking action from several locations, such as in Singaraja and Negara,” he said accompanied by Division Head of Action and Investigation of Customs & Excise Office for Bali, NTB and NTT Region, Husni Syaiful.

In addition, his office is still investigating whether Bali is made into the last destination or transit by the perpetrators. Confiscated goods in the form of sex toys and cosmetics are the results of prevention at the Renon Post Office since 2015. Meanwhile, the liquor is the result of market operations and finding of false taxes. (kmb36)

Activities

Friday, December 22, 2017

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Christmas Feast at Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence

The prostitution homestead on Jalan Teges Nunggal, Bypass Ngurah Rai, South Kuta.

IBP/kmb

After sealing of prostitution homestead, activities at location always monitored

MANGUPURA —After the sealing of prostitution homestead on Jalan Teges Nunggal, Bypass Ngurah Rai, South Kuta, last Tuesday, by Regent of Badung, Nyoman Giri Prasta, on Wednesday (Dec. 20), the location looks quiet. The road usually crowded then looks deserted. Moreover, to ensure if there is no longer activity at the location, every day the municipal police officers continue to patrol.

Chief of Badung Municipal Police, IGAK Surya Negara, when contacted on Wednesday (Dec. 20) said that if there are any activities found taking place let alone pull out the seal, surely it has entered into criminal. Against this matter, his party will propose to the prosecutor office and the court to process. “Our officers continuously patrol at the location. If finding any activities or removal of the hotel seal, it has been categorized into criminal,” he concluded.

Regarding the existence of the residents or commercial sex workers (PSK) who probably still live there, until last Wednesday they were not seen. Surya Negara said when doing dissemination before the sealing, many of them already went home. Moreover, at that time there have been some owners that have dismantled their homestead.

“Until a week before the sealing, we have no longer found any occupants and activities there,” he said.

He said that before dissemi-

nating the closure plan, each homestead was occupied by eight people and 14 people. When averaged, every homestead is occupied by ten people. He asserted if the former occupants of the homestead will move to another location, they will be persistently pursued and disciplined. His agency has even been ready for the next program in 2018 and will aggressively conduct the discipline. “Before closing, the 52 homesteads were occupied by totally 520 people,” he said.

Head of the Badung Social Agency, I Ketut Sudarsana, said that before the closing process, he has made coordination and meeting with municipal police.

In this case, his agency is ready to accommodate and repatriate all the prostitutes that may be there during the closing process. However, when the closure was done, they were not found there at all.

He estimated that many of them have gone home. “We are ready to

coordinate with municipal police to take them to their area of origin, but until now they are not at the location. Municipal police do not receive any report related to their existence,” he said.

When contacted separately, Subdistrict Head of South Kuta, Made Widiana, conveyed that together with municipal police, peace and order officer as well as the local community will monitor the progress in the field.

This is done in response to the affirmation of Regent Giri Prasta, related to post sealing. Any persistent activities will deal with the law. “Below, we would like to uphold it and as the extension of the judiciary institution, we will uphold it,” he explained.

Widiana added that in the future, his authority together with health center officers will also monitor the presence of residents or the prostitutes. Since having something to do with the presence of HIV/AIDS, it should continue to be monitored.

So, the problem will not become the scourge in the community. “After the homestead is closed, their spread will be always monitored.

Persuasively, we will continuously check together with health workers.

This will become the main program,” he added. (kmb23)

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

This unspoiled island filled with natural beauty and cultures.

While enjoying Bali’s beaches and magical island of Gods, we will be invited into the festive spirit in Christmas Eve Dinner & Christmas Brunch at Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence.

The dinner feast on Christmas Eve offers a mouthwatering Roast Turkey with variant sauces, sweet stations, hot canapé stations, salads, bread station, live cooking pastas and special Christmas desserts that will tantalize for IDR 250,000 net per person. And take the family along on the Christmas Day to the Christmas Brunch,

offers various patisseries, salads, chicken cordon bleu, baked beef lasagna, and many more for IDR 125,000 net per person. Special visit of Santa Claus will be the perfect way to kick off the Christmas Festive.

“Christmas is a chance for us to spend some quality time with our loved ones. We hope both this event could give the memorable time of the festivities”, said Dewi Andriani,

General Manager of Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence.

Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence is a 4 star International hotel in Kuta area established from 2009.

In addition to being located in one of the most popular spots in Bali, Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence also boast complete resort facilities such as meeting rooms, rooftop bar, kids club and gymnasium. With its eight meeting rooms, AKHR is a perfect place for your business and leisure. for further information you can contact Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence Jl. Wana Segara, Kuta or www.

AstonKuta.com.

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Fashion

Friday, December 22, 2017

Nina Dobrev knows how to style jeggings for last-minute shopping NINA Dobrev was seen out and about in Beverly Hills yesterday doing some last-minute holiday shopping—something we’ve all been guilty of. For the outing, Dobrev opted for a casual look, consisting of a sleek pair of black jeggings, a simple tee underneath

a denim shirt, her always-cool star-embroidered Tommy Hilfiger boots, and a classic Burberry scarf.

Her entire look is as stylish as it is comfortable—so you might want to take note if you have some busy shopping days ahead of you.

We also couldn’t help but notice

her cute, heart-embroidered shirt, which hails from Los Angelesbased brand Lauren Moshi. The front of the denim button-up features a lightening heart patch, while the back is emblazoned with the message: “Make Love Not War.” (IBP/net)

4 Words: Pretty Italian Vacation Clothes

REMEMBER the cool-girl Italian brand that launched earlier this year, Ciao Lucia?

After gaining extreme popularity among the chicest bloggers and celebrities alike, the brand just launched its 2017 holiday collection, and it is next-level. To paint a clearer picture for you, all you have to do is think about is the exact definition of “pretty Italian vacation clothes.” Whatever just came to mind will almost certainly resemble the collection ahead.

Built off an ethos that is, according to the brand, “a year-long resort collection—a line dedicated to those who believe in la dolce vita,” the holiday campaign will inevitably sway you with its breezy fabrics, laid-back silhouettes, and idyllic landscapes.

If you haven’t already booked some time to get away this holiday season, Ciao Lucia’s latest drop will definitely convince you to do so while also clothing you with the chicest Italian vacation wear ever. (IBP/net)

International

Bali News

International

Friday, December 22, 2017

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Ahead of Christmas and New Year

Tourist visit to Gianyar does not increase significantly GIANYAR — Commission II of Bali House of Representatives came to Gianyar Tourism Office on Wednesday (Dec. 20). The visit aimed to know the current condition of tourism in Gianyar after the eruption of Mount Agung.

According to the exposure of the Head of the Gianyar Tourism Office, A.A. Bagus Ari Brahmanta, there has been no significant increase in tourist visit to Gianyar both at tourist attractions and accommodation even though ahead of Christmas and New Year.

He continued that Gianyar has accommodation ranging from five-star to home stay category. Currently, the occupancy rate is below 10 percent. Though the occupancy rate usually reaching 60 percent drops dramatically, so far there is no layoff to employees due to the current condition. “What happens today is re-scheduling, but there is no layoff,” he said.

Although the current tourist visit is not as deserted as at beginning of Mount Agung eruption, he recognized there is no significant increase before Christmas and New Year. To overcome the sluggish tourism conditions, the Gianyar Tourism Office wanted to draw domestic tourists as currently they are more than foreign tourists, especially those wishing to enjoy accommodation facilities in Gianyar.

“Quite a lot of domestic tourists visit Gianyar currently.

However, they prefer to find accommodation in the Badung area like Kuta,” he said. One of the recommended accommodations for domestic tourists is home stay at tourism villages in Gianyar.

Secretary of Commission II of the Bali House of Representatives, Gede Kusuma Putra, after listening to the exposure said that Gianyar experiences the same tourism problems as other districts. The decline in foreign tourist arrivals happens due to the flight becoming the main entrance is affected by the eruption of Mount Agung.

“One of the conclusions, in my opinion, is to overcome this problem immediately by realizing the airport construction in the northern part of Bali. So, the flight is not dependent on the Southern Bali. If the eruption of Mount Agung affects the flight in Southern Bali, it can be diverted to Northern Bali and vice versa,” he explained.

These problems will be compiled and presented in order to get a solution at the meeting planned to be organized by inviting the Bali Tourism Office as well as the district/municipal tourism office. (kmb40)

IBP/kmb

The decline in foreign tourist arrivals happens due to the flight becoming the main entrance is affected by the eruption of Mount Agung.

IBP/gik

The village market project built since the beginning of this year has now been completed.

Bugbug builds people’s economy

Village market rehabilitated without govt assistance

SOMETHING different can be found at Bugbug village later this year. One of them is the condition of its village market.

The village market project built since the beginning of this year has now been completed. No more chaotic impression can be seen because the building is quite modern. The process of village market rehabilitation is also quite fast, even without government assistance.

This village market is built on the same land. The old building was leveled first and then built from the beginning with a new design. This market consists of 38 kiosks and 186 stalls of small, medium and large size. “All the components of the building are almost finished. We have agreed to name this market Sri Sedana Market 1,” said Chief of Village Market Development Committee, I Wayan Merta, on Tuesday (Dec. 19).

This market will be managed by a management board. It will not only be in charge of managing the Sri Sedana Market 1, but also other village markets, such as the Pasar Tirta Arum. “Next, we will also rehabilitate the Tirta Arum Market and renamed it into Sri Sedana Market 2 because when using the name of Tirta Arum the market was often hit by flood,” said Merta, while adding that establishment of the management body is based on the rules of awig-awig (customary village law) and perarem (appendix to customary village law) to Bug-

bug customary village.

With the capacity of such number of kiosks, Merta ensured that it can accommodate almost all the merchants. So far, only four merchants still cannot be accommodated yet. However, the development committee has ensured that all merchants will be accommodated.

Even if they cannot be accommodated, there remains Tirta Arum Market that can still accommodate many merchants.

Meanwhile, to maintain the security of merchants’ goods, Sri Sedana Market 1 has also been equipped with CCTV. Six units of CCTV are installed around the market, four of which are installed inside the market area. The remaining units are installed outside or parking lot. As planned, the village market spending IDR 2.2 billion will be ritually inaugurated on December 24. After that, it will be resumed to draw the kiosks and stalls until the end of 2017. Thus, in early January merchants can have occupied their kiosks and stalls to

sell as usual.

In terms of percentage, it has been set that 70 percent is allocated for Bugbug residents and 30 percent for non-Bugbug residents. Contract value of each kiosk has been agreed at IDR 5.4 million per year. Meanwhile, the contract value of stall is being finalized because there is a change of contract for larger-sized stalls. The change occurred as the market development is targeted to spend as much as IDR 1.8 billion to IDR 2.2 billion by empowering local LPD. This happens because the size of stall is longer than the original plan. “Every decision of the customary village remains to consider humanistic value, according to the aspirations of the merchants, especially in determining the contract value,” he said.

What about parking? Merta admitted the existing parking lot is not adequate. Therefore, his management is going to take advantage of a garden near the market to expand the parking space. Meanwhile, regarding the traffic management, he has sent a letter to the Karangasem Transportation Agency to install traffic signs. The traffic control and parking service will be handled by attendant from the management body and police personnel. (gik)

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Friday, December 22, 2017

Bali News

International

Friday, December 22, 2017

International

13

Myanmar bars U.N. rights investigator before visit

REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

The South Korean army’s K-55 self-propelled artillery vehicles take part in a military exercise near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, November 29, 2017.

With nano bubble generator, the contaminated water in Lake Batur can be made clear and worth drinking.

IBP/kmb

To overcome pollution of Lake Batur

District govt proposes procurement of nano bubble

BANGLI — Water condition of Lake Batur in Kintamani has been contaminated. To overcome this, Bangli district government has proposed the procurement of five units of nano bubble generator to the Ministry of Environment. With these tools, the contaminated water in Lake Batur can be made clear and worth drinking.

Head of the Bangli Environment Agency, Ida Ayu Yudi Sutha, said on Wednesday (Dec. 20) that to overcome the pollution of Lake Batur, recently the Regent of Bangli, I Made Gianyar, has proposed the procurement of five units of nano bubble generator to the Ministry of Environment. This proposal, she said, becomes one of the priorities in 2018 for the rescue of Lake Batur.

She explained the nano bubble generator resembling to refrigerator is planned to be installed at some

points in the area of Lake Batur with high pollution levels. They serve to process water and filter impurities. The generator has the ability to filter at nano level. So, it is believed to be able to filter out bacteria and other contaminants.

With the five units of generator, it is predicted to be able to clean the total area of Lake Batur.

The nano bubble generator, she said, has so far been installed at the office of the Ministry of Environment. It is proved to have purified

the water near her office. Meanwhile, the price of the generator is IDR 1.5 billion each unit. If the proposal is approved by the Ministry of Environment, then the total value of the aid to be received by Bangli will be IDR 7.5 billion.

Last November, the Regent of Bangli, I Made Gianyar, already mentioned that his party and staff already conducted an audience with the Minister of Environment in Jakarta. In the audience, Gianyar conveyed the real condition of Lake

Batur that has experienced pollution and siltation. Besides, he also conveyed the condition of Lake Batur whose border all this time is not clear. According to the proposal submitted to central government, he requested the handling of pollution problems and sedimentation in Lake Batur can be assisted holistically from the upstream to downstream.

For the handling in downstream, he asked for help to central government in the form of lake water treatment machines, while for the upstream, he proposed to the Minister of Public Works and Housing to be made a dam in every rain-fed river / creek to accommodate water, mud,

garbage, sand and other objects that result in pollution and siltation in the lake. So, before reaching the lake, the mud, garbage, sand and others taken by water have been filtered in every dam. His government also proposed an organic farming system to the Ministry of Agriculture as well as the making of borders on the edge of the lake.

“We will also register the lake to National Land Agency (BPN) so that its boundaries are clear.

Another thing proposed is the making of communal water treatment plant at every village on the edge of the lake, so that household waste can be processed and cleaned,” he explained recently. (kmb40)

Promotion in 2018 only allocated at IDR 30 million

Tourism Office to maximize social media only

BANGLI — The Bangli Tourism and Culture Agency will be only able to maximize social media as media to promote tourist objects of the region in 2018. It happens because the campaign budget managed is very limited.

In 2018, the agency only gets a budget for tourism promotion as much as IDR 30 million. Division Head of Promotion at the Bangli Tourism and Culture Agency,

Wayan Merta, said on Wednesday (Dec. 19) that this year’s tourism promotion budget only gets IDR 80 million. This number has decreased for 2018. “In 2018, the budget set is only IDR 30 million. It is just to rent an exhibition stand,” he said.

Merta did not explain why the budget of tourism promotion decreases in 2018. He just said that direct promotional activities are actually very effective because it can pro-

vide information directly and clearly for foreign and domestic tourists.

According to him, the assumption that direct promotion is only wasting budget is not true. “Direct promotions can better convince tourists to come to Bangli,” he explained.

Since promotional budget rationed for 2018 is very minimal, his agency can only do more promotion through social media. Besides, the agency is also forced to join the promotional

activities of the Bali provincial government and the central government by commending booklet and CD. “We do that so that promotion can still be carried out,” he said.

Merta explained that to attract tourists to visit Bangli, promotional efforts cannot be done only by the government. All stakeholders should also help. He recognized that all this time tourism promotion has been done by tourism businesspeople.

For instance, one of the hotels in Kintamani has been aggressively doing independent promotion.

When asked about the low tourist visits due to eruption of Mount Agung, Merta said that what to do now is to convince tourists by providing information that Bangli is safe to be visited. This campaign should be performed more intensely by all parties including the media. (kmb40)

Shots fired along demilitarised zone as N.Korean soldier defects

SEOUL - South Korean guards fired warning shots across the heavily militarised border with North Korea on Thursday as a soldier from the North defected, officials said, complicating efforts to ease tensions over the Pyongyang’s weapons programmes.

A South Korean defence ministry official said up to 20 warning shots were fired at North Korean troops who approached too closely to the “military demarcation line”, apparently in search of the missing soldier. Thursday’s defection came about five weeks after another North Korean soldier suffered critical gunshot wounds during a defection dash across the border on Nov. 13.

Two North Korean civilians who were found in a fishing boat on Wednesday had also sought to defect, officials in the South said.

That brings the total number of North Koreans who have defected by taking dangerous routes either directly across the border or by sea to 15 so far this year, including two other soldiers. That is three times the number last year, according to South Korean officials.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula were already high after North Korea accelerated testing of its missile and nuclear programmes this year in defiance of international pressure.

The rash of defections also threatens to complicate South Korea’s efforts to ensure the smooth running of the 2018 Winter Olympics, which begin in Pyeongchang in February.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday he had proposed postponing major military

drills with the United States until after the games in an attempt to soothe relations, although officials in Seoul later said any proposed delay would depend on the North not engaging in any “provocations”.

LANDMINES, BARBED WIRE Seoul says more than 880 North Koreans have defected to the South so far in 2017, but the vast majority have taken a less dangerous route through China.

Going through China, North Korea’s neighbour and sole major ally, means they avoid the heavily fortified demilitarised zone, which features landmines, barbed wire, surveillance cameras, electric fencing, and thousands of armed troops on both sides.

The number of defectors arriving successfully in the South has dropped since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011, a trend defectors and experts say may be linked to a crackdown

by Pyongyang.

There was no immediate comment from the secretive North about the latest incidents.

However, the North’s state media released a statement sharply denying U.S. allegations this week that Pyongyang was behind a number of recent cyber attacks.

Washington has publicly blamed North Korean hackers for a cyber attack in May that crippled hospitals, banks and other companies.

Researchers also say the North was likely behind attacks on virtual currency exchanges.

The military drills with the United States have also complicated relations with China. South Korea says it needs the drills to guard against the North’s missile and nuclear ambitions but Pyongyang describes them as preparation for war. The proposed delay in drills was discussed during a summit between Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week after the proposal was submitted to Washington, an official at the presidential Blue House said this week.

China and Russia have proposed a “freeze for freeze” arrangement under which North Korea would stop its nuclear and missile tests in exchange for a halt to the exercises, but there has been little interest from Washington or Pyongyang.

Beijing was angered when the South deployed a controversial U.S. anti-missile system this year. China fears the system’s powerful radar can see far into its territory and the row led to China taking economic measures that included blocking tour groups from visiting South Korea. (rtr)

GENEVA - The U.N. independent investigator into human rights in Myanmar called on Wednesday for stronger international pressure to be exerted on Myanmar’s military commanders after being barred from visiting the country for the rest of her tenure.

Yanghee Lee, U.N. special rapporteur, had been due to visit in January to assess human rights across Myanmar, including alleged abuses against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.

But Myanmar had told her she was no longer welcome, she said, adding in a statement that this suggested something “terribly awful” was happening in the country.

“From what I see right now I’m not sure if they are feeling pressured. I’m not sure if there is the right kind of pressure placed on the military commanders and the generals,” she later told Reuters by telephone from Seoul.

She said it was alarming that Myanmar was strongly supported

by China, which has a veto at the U.N.’s top table in New York. Other countries including the United States and human groups were advocating targeted sanctions on the military, she said.

“It has to work. And I’m sure the world has to find a way to make it work. And I think the United Nations and its member states should really try to persuade China to really act towards the protection of human rights,” she said.

Surveys of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh by aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres have shown at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine state in the month after violence flared up on Aug 25, the aid group said last week.

More than 650,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when attacks by Muslim insurgents on the Myanmar security forces triggered a sweeping response by the army and Buddhist

vigilantes.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the situation in Rakhine State was an internal affair for Myanmar with its own complex history.

Myanmar and Bangladesh resolving this issue was the only way to go, she told reporters.

The international community should provide constructive help for Myanmar and Bangladesh to resolve the issue rather than complicating it, Hua added.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad alHussein has called the violence “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” and said he would not be surprised if a court eventually ruled that genocide had taken place.

Lee had planned to use her visit to find out procedures for the return of Rohingya refugees, and to investigate increased fighting in Kachin State and Shan Sate in northern Myanmar, where the military is battling autonomy-seeking ethic minority guerrillas.

Lee, in an earlier statement, said Myanmar’s refusal to cooperate with her was a strong indication that there must be “something terribly awful happening” throughout the country, although the government had repeatedly denied any violations of human rights.

“They have said that they have nothing to hide, but their lack of cooperation with my mandate and the fact-finding mission suggests otherwise,” she said.

She was “puzzled and disappointed”, since Myanmar’s ambassador in Geneva, Htin Lynn, had told the U.N. Human Rights Council only two weeks ago that it would cooperate.

“Now I am being told that this decision to no longer cooperate with me is based on the statement I made after I visited the country in July,” she said. (rtr)

REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A Rohingya refugee woman holds her baby as she stands outside her temporary shelter at the Balukhali refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh December 20, 2017.

12

International

Friday, December 22, 2017

Bali News

International

BUSINESS

But for some EU nationals - who have endured uncertainty over their rights since the Brexit vote in June 2016, not to mention an unpleasant feeling that many Britons do not want them around - May’s Dec. 8 deal is too little, too late.

It’s too late to keep German nurse Daniela Jones in the chronically short-staffed National Health Service (NHS), where she worked for 35 years.

It’s too late for French psychotherapist Baya Salmon-Hawk, who after 40 years in Britain has moved to Ireland to remain in the EU. It’s too late for French accountant Nathalie Duran, who is planning early retirement in France because after 31 years as a taxpayer in Britain she objects to being told she has to pay a fee and fill in forms to be granted a new “settled status”.

“I will have to regretfully decline your generous offer for settled status and oblige your lovely countrymen’s wishes and go home,” she wrote on Facebook in a response to May laden with irony. Duran told Reuters that the prime minister’s “late outpouring of love” for EU citizens, after years of tough talk on the need to cut immigration, could not mask negative attitudes towards immigrants unleashed by the Brexit vote.

“I think it’s turning ugly,” said 56-year-old Duran. “It’s now OK to say ‘go home foreigners’.” EU citizens, particularly those from the poorer eastern member states such as Poland and Romania, have complained of increasing hostility from some Britons.

They find themselves accused of stealing jobs from Britons and driving down wages, even though unemployment is at a four-decade low, or of overburdening health services as patients, even though many help to provide them by working for the NHS. Official figures show hate crimes in Britain surged by the highest amount on record last year, with the Brexit vote a significant factor.

Denpasar City Tour

The impact of Brexit on EU citizens in Britain is a serious concern for sectors of the economy that rely heavily on European workers, such as hospitality, construction, agriculture, care for the elderly and the cherished NHS. Britain won’t leave the bloc until March 2019, but many EU nationals are already voting with their feet. In the 12 months following the referendum, 123,000 of them left Britain, a 29 percent year-on-year increase.

They were still outnumbered by the 230,000 EU citizens who arrived to live in Britain in the same period, although that figure was down 19 percent on the previous year.

“A BRITISH JOB FOR A BRITISH WORKER” Not everyone is making plans to go: 28,500 EU citizens applied for British citizenship in the 12 months after the referendum, an 80 percent year-on-year jump. With personal and professional roots often running deep, many more have applied for permanent residence documents. UK citizenship would be an option for nurse Jones, 61, who moved to England from Munich just before her 18th birthday. That was in 1974, the year after Britain joined what is now the EU. Today she has a grown-up British son and a British husband.

But as a point of principle she cannot see why she should apply for something she never needed in the past.

“Despite my enormous love for Britain, I do not feel that I am British,” was how she put it in a letter to Ruth Deech, a pro-Brexit member of parliament’s House of Lords, sent in February to lobby her on the EU citizens’ rights issue. In a one-line response to the long, impassioned letter, which made clear Jones had worked for 35 years in the state NHS, Deech said she should have applied for UK citizenship.

IBP/kmb

Travelers Learn to Paint, Dance, Play Gamelan and Play Kites

REUTERS/Darren Staples/File Photo

A man works on the production line at the Toyota factory in Derby, central England, March 7, 2011.

Jones replied it had never been necessary and explained that she was already a dual German and U.S. national through her German mother and her American father, a serviceman in the U.S. army who was posted to Germany in the 1950s. Deech sent another oneliner: “You sought U.S. citizenship - presumably you could have shown the same commitment to this country.”

Jones was dismayed by that response, which in her eyes lacked understanding and respect. She began to think she needed to look after her own interests better.

A few months later, she quit her NHS job at a doctors’ office in Yateley, a small town southwest of London. She is now re-training as a foot and ear care specialist and plans to work privately. “I still like looking after people but I want to do it on my own terms,” she told Reuters. “It’s time to get out. Work for myself, start a little business.”

Jones wrote to Deech again, saying: “I have now freed up a British

job for a British worker.” This time she got no response. Deech declined an interview request from Reuters, but said in an emailed response to questions that obtaining a British passport “might be a good idea for any EU citizen who is (probably needlessly) concerned”.

“A NEW ADVENTURE” French national Baya SalmonHawk, 61, initially reacted to the Brexit vote by trying to make sure her residency rights were not under threat. Having lived in England for 40 years, had her son there, owned a home, worked in a variety of jobs and paid taxes, she thought that should be straightforward. But when she made inquiries about a permanent residence permit she had obtained in 1977, she was told this was no longer valid and she would have to re-apply by filling an 85-page form and providing lots of documents, including details of every time she had left the country and returned, stretching back years.

Besides, Salmon-Hawk was

struggling to adjust to the new reality. Having believed previously that she was integrated into British society, she felt unwelcome for the first time. “I just don’t understand what’s happened to the UK,” she said. “I became quite easily upset by all this and I didn’t want to live like that anymore.”

She and her 74-year-old wife Audrey Evelyn, who is British, decided to leave. They sold their house in a village north of London, and in July this year they moved to County Kilkenny in Ireland, where Evelyn has family ties.

At times, Salmon-Hawk has wondered if they made the right decision. “I may have made a foolish mistake. I have woken up in the middle of the night in a state of panic,” she said. But she is starting a new venture as a professional story-teller at Hook Lighthouse on the southeast coast of Ireland, telling visitors tales from Irish history. “I thought I was done, I was settled, and I’m not. I’m having a new adventure.” (rtr)

5

Come and Visit Nusa Dua Light Festival until January 2018

Too late, Theresa - Brexit offer to EU citizens leaves many cold

LONDON - Back from Brussels with a hard-fought Brexit deal, Prime Minister Theresa May wrote an open letter to the three million citizens of other European Union states living in Britain. “I know our country would be poorer if you left and I want you to stay,” she wrote after striking the initial agreement, which promises to secure their British residency rights after Brexit and allows the negotiations to move onto trade relations.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Denpasar Heritage City Tour has its own characteristics that cannot be separated from the history of the capital of Bali Province consisting of the temple, palace and market element.

The objects of Denpasar city tour specified by the Mayor of Denpasar, I.B. Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra, consist of the area of Jagatnatha Temple, Denpasar Art Space, Bali Museum, Pemecutan Palace, Jero Kuta Palace, Maospahit Temple, Jalan Gajah Mada, Badung Market, Catur Muka Area, Inna Bali Hotel and Satria Palace. Through this visit, foreign travelers can see and learn about the architecture of the region and their community activities.

Besides, travelers can also see various activities done by community of Belaluan Sadmerta hamlet included in the track of city tour. Foreign travelers have the opportunity to attend the training program and the introduction of activities at Sadmerta hamlet ranging from painting, dancing, playing gamelan to flying kite activities involving customary youth club of local hamlet.

Kadek Jango Pramartha, a cartoonist of Denpasar who is also from Belaluan Sadmertha hamlet as well as coordinator of the activities for foreign tourist visits, when met on Thursday (Jan. 12) said that the program has been running continuously in the Denpasar city tour program with the involvement of dozens of travelers from Australia who want to have a closer look at the objects of Denpasar city tour and activities in several regions.

Denpasar city tour has certainly been known to consist of three sections namely temple, palace and markets. Besides, it is also given an introduction to the hamlet activities

such as dancing, playing gamelan and flying kite. Of course, it is highly supported by the community of local hamlet. Hamlet chief of Belaluan Sadmerta, Prof. Ketut Ardana, and local community figure Aridus participated in the introduction of local hamlet to travelers.

“When staying at Inna Bali Hotel Denpasar, travelers have the opportunity to attend training of cartoon drawing at my home and get the introduction about Balinese building architecture at my home. At night, it is resumed with training activities of dancing, playing gamelan and playing kites with customary youth club,” said Kadek Jango.

As is known, the neighborhood of the Denpasar city tour is continuously developed by Mayor Rai Mantra. One of them is the establishment of Denpasar Art Space used as exhibition space for the artists of Denpasar that can be enjoyed by foreign travelers.

Denpasar Art Space is located on the north of Jagatnatha Temple of

Denpasar. Other than exploring the area of the city tour, they can also see the richness of architectures of temples, palaces and markets.

Due to this program, Denpasar has been able to achieve the highest award in terms of Indonesia Tourism Index (IPI) which refers to the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index. This success cannot be separated from the support of the entire community in the development and the expansion of tourism.

Implementation of tourism programs in Denpasar is inseparable from the participation of the entire community both from conservation activities and strengthening the culture, infrastructure, sanitation, social, security and order to education. Denpasar Heritage City Tour is also a reference in developing the tourism areas, so that they can be widely introduced. In addition, the program also invites the entire hotel management to realize a green city through green hotel that cannot be separated from the implementation of Tri Hita Karana. (kmb)

To ensure and campaign for Bali, especially Nusa Dua area remains safe to be visited, the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) held Nusa Dua Light Festival (NDLF). The festival, which began on December 8, will run until January 14, 2018, centered on Peninsula Island.

According to ITDC Director of Corporate Strategy and Finance, Jatmiko K. Santosa, the organization of NDLF aims to show off to the world that Bali remains safe to be visited. In addition, this event is also meant to welcome Christmas and New Year holidays.

“This festival is a form and effort to bring in tourists to the Island of the Gods in the middle of Mount Agung eruption disaster. We want to convey that all destinations in Bali beyond the red (dangerous) zone are still safe and operated as usual,” he said.

Jatmiko insisted that Bali is always ready to receive tourist arrivals at the end of the year. In the case of Mount Agung eruption impacting on tourists staying at The Nusa Dua, his management is also ready to implement the government policies related to mitigation standards so that security and comfort of tourists can still be maintained.

Previously, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has released an estimated radius of Mount Agung eruption dangers of 8 kilometers, plus sectoral expansion to the north-northeast and southeast-south-southwest as far as 10 km from Mount Agung. To that end, there are two tourist areas that should be avoided namely Besakih Temple and the area near Mount Agung.

Distance of The Nusa Dua from Mount Agung is very far reaching 40 kilometers. Thus, it remains in safe radius. “Tourists do not have to worry about attending the Nusa Dua Light Festival and enjoying their holiday in Bali while they are in the safe zone. We are optimistic that our target audience can be achieved,” added Jatmiko.

The NDLF held at the turn of the year is the second time after a similar event held in June-July 2017. In this year’s event, the ITDC cooperated with PT Cikal Bintang Bangsa with the theme of “The Jungle.” Visitors can enjoy the beauty of lanterns made to resemble forests and various types of animals, such as dragons, dinosaurs and other forest animals.

In addition, tourists will also be entertained with a variety of entertainments, such as traditional performances, music and culinary delights. For visitors wishing a challenge, there is hot air balloon with the capacity of six passengers that can be flown reaches a height of 25 meters. Other rides include trampolines, balloon houses, mini trains, and mini helicopters that can be enjoyed by children.

“With a variety of attractions and rides, the Nusa Dua Light Festival featuring the theme of “The Jungle” will become a perfect entertainment destination for families in late 2017 and early New Year 2018,” said Jatmiko. (kmb)

6

Friday, December 22, 2017

British PM May forces her deputy to resign over pornography scandal

LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May forced her most senior minister, Damian Green, to resign after an internal investigation found he had made misleading comments about pornography on computers in his parliamentary office.

The resignation of one of May’s most trusted allies, who had helped pacify her deeply divided party, is a blow as she navigates the final year of tortuous negotiations towards Britain’s exit from the European Union in March 2019. Green, who voted to stay in the EU, was appointed as first secretary of state just six months ago in a bid to shore up May’s premiership following her disastrous bet on a June snap election that lost her party its majority in parliament.

But Green’s future was thrust into doubt when the Sunday Times newspaper reported last month that police in 2008 had found pornography on his office computers in the Houses of Parliament. In response, Green said the story was untrue. A review, requested by May and conducted by a senior government official, concluded that Green’s statements which suggested he was not aware that indecent material had been found on the computers, were “inaccurate and misleading.”

The inquiry, a summary of which was distributed by May’s Downing Street office, found he had breached rules governing the behaviour of ministers. “I regret that I’ve been asked to resign from the government following breaches of the Ministerial Code, for which I apologise,” Green said in a letter to May, who said she had accepted his resignation with deep regret.

Green, 61, said he did not download or view pornography on his parliamentary computers. He added that he should have been clearer about his statements after the story broke.

He is the most senior British politician to fall since a debate about a culture of abuse by some powerful men at the heart of Westminster was triggered by the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal.

May’s defence minister, Michael Fallon, quit last month for unspecified conduct which he said had fallen below required standards. Her aid minister resigned a week later after holding undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials.

CONDUIT FOR COMPLAINTS During the turmoil that followed the botched election, May turned to Green - a friend and ally from their days at Oxford University - to stabilise her premiership and appease those within the Conservative Party who wanted her to quit. One of his key roles was to act as a conduit for disgruntled party members who felt they had been ignored in May’s election campaign. He sought to help her to shed the image of a distant leader who only listens to those in her inner circle. “It’s another blow for May but it is not deadly in any way at all,” said Anand Menon, professor of European politics at King’s College London. “She has lost her soulmate in cabinet but this is not the end of Prime Minister May.” “May is surviving not because of Damian Green but because there are sufficient MPs in her party who don’t want to have a leadership election while Brexit is going on and that fundamental calculation has not changed,” he said. The internal investigation found that Green’s conduct as a minister was generally “professional and proper” but found two statements he made on Nov. 4 and 11 to be inaccurate and misleading.

In the statements he had suggested he was not aware that indecent material was found on parliamentary computers in his office. (rtr)

Catalonia...

From page 1

“I want a change, because things are going from bad to worse here and it’s the young people that carry the brunt of it,” said Manuela Gomez, 71, who voted for unionist favourites Ciudadanos, which could emerge as the most voted party in the election but would find it almost impossible to form a governing coalition. Analysts expect the next Catalan government to result from weeks of haggling between parties over viable coalitions.

An analysis of polling data by the Madrid daily El Pais pub-

lished on Tuesday found that the most likely scenario was separatists securing a majority with the backing or abstention of the Catalan offshoot of anti-austerity party Podemos.

Podemos backs the unity of Spain but says Catalans should be able to have a referendum authorised by Madrid to decide their future. At the same time, Podemos favours a left-wing alliance of Catalan parties that both back and reject independence.

In this, analysts say, Podemos is caught between two options it does not particularly like, but would prefer to back the separatists rather than a coalition involving Rajoy’s PP.(rtr)

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International

RLD

International

Friday, December 22, 2017

11

Indonesia to allow tarrif-free import of some Palestinian goods

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Tim Scott (R) as he celebrates with Congressional Republicans after the U.S. Congress passed sweeping tax overhaul legislation, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., December 20, 2017.

Trump threatens to cut aid to U.N. members over Jerusalem vote

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that vote in favor of a draft United Nations resolution calling for the United States to withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us.

We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The 193-member U.N. General Assembly will hold a rare emergency special session on Thursday - at the request of Arab and Muslim countries - to vote on a draft resolution, which the United States vetoed on Monday in the 15-member U.N. Security Council.

The remaining 14 Security Council members voted in favor of the Egyptian-drafted resolution, which did not specifically mention the United States or Trump but which expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.”

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, in a letter to dozens of U.N. states on Tuesday seen by Reuters, warned that Trump had asked her to “report back on those countries who voted against us.”

She bluntly echoed that call in a Twitter post: “The U.S. will be taking names.”

Several senior diplomats said Haley’s warning was unlikely to change many votes in the General Assembly, where such direct, public threats are rare. Some diplomats brushed off the warning as more likely aimed at impressing U.S. voters.

According to figures from the U.S. government’s aid agency USAID, in 2016 the United States provided some $13 billion in economic and military assistance to countries in sub-Saharan Africa and $1.6 billion to states in East Asia and Oceania.

It provided some $13 billion to countries in the Middle East and North Africa, $6.7 billion to countries in South and Central Asia, $1.5 billion to states in Europe and Eurasia and $2.2 billion to Western Hemisphere countries, according to USAID. Miroslav Lajcak, president of the General Assembly, declined to comment on Trump’s remarks, but added: “It’s the right and responsibility of member states to express their views.”

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also declined to comment on Trump’s remarks on Wednesday.

“I like the message that Nikki sent yesterday at the United Nations, for all those nations that take our money and then they vote against us at the Security Council, or they vote against us potentially at the assembly,” Trump said. (rtr)

JAKARTA - Indonesia will allow tariff-free imports and give direct market access to some Palestinian goods beginning in the new year, the Indonesian trade minister said on Wednesday.

Palestinian goods now come to Indonesia through Jordan. Starting on Jan. 1, some Palestinian goods will be shipped directly to Indonesia, said Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita.

“We’re opening market access for dates and olive oil. This is as requested by Palestine,” the minister told reporters in Jakarta, after meeting his Palestinian counterpart at a World Trade Organisation meeting in Buenos Aires. “We’re also asking them for a list of products they want to export and they need to import.”

Lukita also said that Indonesia, which has the world’s biggest Muslim population, had stated its support for the Palestinians to become a member of the World Trade Organization. Indonesia has long been a supporter of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Thousands of Indonesians have rallied in recent days to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s official recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be in the city’s eastern sector, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move never recognised internationally.(rtr)

REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

Demonstrators hold an “Interfaith Prayer Vigil for Immigrant Justice” outside the federal building, where ethnic Chinese Christians who fled Indonesia after wide scale rioting decades ago and overstayed their visas in the U.S. must check-in with ICE, in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S. on October 13, 2017.

U.S. responds in court fight over illegal Indonesian immigrants

BOSTON - U.S. immigration officials sought to block a federal judge’s order delaying efforts to deport 51 Indonesians living illegally in New Hampshire, saying they have not shown they would face harm if repatriated, court documents on Wednesday showed.

The U.S. government’s motion in federal court in Boston was in response to a judge’s order last month that found members of the group should be given time to make a case that changed conditions in the southeast Asian nation would make it dangerous for them to return.

“Even if they are removed, petitioners’ generalized evidence of Indonesia’s conditions do not prove that persecution or torture is immediate or likely for each petitioner,” the motion said.

It said the court lacked jurisdiction over their claims, and the immigrants did not state any plausible claims.

The group of ethnic Chinese Christians fled the world’s largest Muslim-majority country following violence that erupted 20 years ago and have been living openly

for years in New England under an informal deal reached with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Beginning in August, members of the group who showed up for ICE check-ins were told to prepare to leave the country, in keeping with U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.

Members of the group have said in interviews with Reuters that they entered the country on tourist visas but overstayed them and failed to seek asylum on time.

Several said they fear they would face persecution or violence for their Christian faith and Chinese ethnicity if they were returned to Indonesia.

Federal law gives authority

over immigration matters to the executive branch, not the courts, and ICE contends that it has always had authority to deport members of the group.

Chief U.S. District Judge Patti Saris in Boston last month found she had authority to ensure the Indonesians have a chance to argue that conditions in their home country had deteriorated significantly enough to reopen their cases for trying to stay in the United States.

The Indonesians are part of an ethnic community of about 2,000 people clustered around the city of Dover, New Hampshire. Their cause has drawn the support of the state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation, including U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, and Republican Governor Chris Sununu.(rtr)

10

Destination

Friday, December 22, 2017

International

Friday, December 22, 2017

International

Gambuh, rare art supporting Kedisan as tourism village

BANGLI - The Gambuh art classified into classic and rare art becomes one of the supporters of Kedisan into a tourism village. The art with a unique range of movement is still preserved and can even be presented to foreign travelers usually having dinner at Kedisan Palace. While enjoying a unique cuisine of Kedisan Palace, travelers can also get to know the drama heritage of Kedisan community.

Most importantly, this gambuh dance-drama is always staged every piodalan or temple anniversary at temples at the village.

It happens because the art is quite sacred, where the headdresses are venerated at temple. It is supported by 30 dancers having daily profession as farmers. This gambuh art has indeed different style and has ever been staged in Switzerland and France.

Although there are no written data specifically in inscriptions as historical evidence of this art, people believe this art has existed from time immemorial. Moreover, it was long before the arrival of Aan residents to Kedisan, Gambuh

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already existed. Residents of Aan even joined the gambuh art and settled at Kedisan.

In the palm-leaf manuscript of Arya Wang Bang Sidemen is stated that Ki Pasek Katrangan and other companions left Aan in Caka year 1450 or 1528 AD to accompany the departure of I Gusti Kacang Dawa.

At that time the Aan residents were carrying the headdress of Panji which is a magic sign of Ki Pasek Katrangan. Until now the headdress remains to be stored at Kedisan.

It is made sacred and placed at clan temple of Aan residents. This inscription states if the Gambuh art at Kedisan has existed since the days of empire whose written evidence can be found in the chronogram telling about the formation of Kedisan village.

Local villagers believe that historically gambuh of Kedisan has nothing to do with and palaces in other areas, except for Kedisan Palace. Kedisan palace is the home to senior figures (royal figures) coming to Kedisan while carrying the Panji art headdress with Ki Pasek Katrangan.

REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

Gambuh of Kedisan was not established in the royal territory, but was autodidactically grew and developed by the people who did like the gambuh art of Kedisan. This gambuh always paid devotional

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Gymnast Maroney says in court filing she was forced to sign agreement

performance at Gianyar Palace, Ubud Palace, and other community activities when there is a religious ceremony. Therefore, the gambuh of Kedisan becomes famous and known as the gambuh Kedisan.

Gambuh Kedisan has its own characteristics. One of the most prominent characteristics is in terms of the dancer, in which all the dancers are men, so that the gambuh Kedisan is also referred to as gambuh lanang or male gambuh. So, it gives a slightly rigid impression as danced by men. But it makes a distinctive feature.

It is said, gambuh Kedisan had experienced dormancy due to small number of dancer generations. To raise it up, there was an initiative to bring in a gambuh instructor from Batuan village. But due strong style owned by gambuh of Kedisan and has been applied from ancient times, it is difficult to receive the dance style of Batuan. Ultimately it returns to the use of Kedisan style having been practiced from ancient times. (kmb)

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USA’s Venus Williams celebrates winning her semi final match against France’s Caroline Garcia during WTA Tour Finals in Singapore on October 28, 2017.

Venus Williams will not be charged in Florida fatal accident -report

LOS ANGELES - Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney sued USA Gymnastics (USAG) on Wednesday alleging that the organization forced her to sign a non-disclosure agreement about sexual abuse she endured from former national team doctor Larry Nassar.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney John Manly in the Los Angeles Superior Court, a copy of which has been seen by Reuters, states that Maroney was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement in December 2016, because she needed money to pay for psychological treatment.

The suit alleges Maroney was sexually abused by Nassar from about 2009 to 2013 while she was a teenager. It seeks to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement and seeks unspecified damages. USAG responded in a statement emailed to Reuters that the “concept of confidentiality was initiated by McKayla’s attorney, not USA Gymnastics.”

Maroney’s court filing states she was forced into the confidentiality agreement “after suffering for years from psychological trauma of her sexual abuse at the hands of Nassar, and in need of funds to pay for psychological treatment...”

This month, Nassar was sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge in Michigan to 60 years in prison on federal child pornography charges that grew out of a sex abuse investigation. Nassar was the team physician for the Michigan State University gymnastics and women’s crew teams. He served as the USA Gymnastics physician through four Olympic Games. Just months after Maroney signed the confidentiality statement, the lawsuit says, USAG “publicly discussed the exact same subject matter it sought to conceal...”

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that USAG paid Maroney a $1.25 million settlement. As well as USAG and Nassar, the lawsuit also names the U.S. Olympic Committee and Michigan State University. A lawyer representing Nassar did not immediately respond to a request for comment. USGA responded with a statement which says, in part: “In 2016, McKayla’s attorney at the time, Gloria Allred, approached USA Gymnastics, requesting that the organization participate in a confidential mediation process.”

“USA Gymnastics cannot speak to the mediation process, which is confidential and privileged under California law. The process culminated in a settlement agreement that included a mutual non-disclosure clause and a mutual non-disparagement clause.

“The settlement in 2016 was in accordance with state law, despite what has been alleged. At all times, McKayla was represented by Allred, a California-based attorney, who actively negotiated and approved the settlement agreement signed by McKayla.” (rtr)

FORT LAUDERDALE - Tennis star Venus Williams will not face any criminal charges in relation to a June fatal traffic accident she was involved in near her Florida residence, the SunSentinel newspaper reported on Wednesday, quoting police.

The driver of a car that struck Williams’ SUV in an intersection was also not charged, after Palm Beach Gardens police determined that neither violated the right-ofway, the newspaper reported. Palm Beach Gardens police and city clerk did not immediately respond to inquiries.

Police had initially said Williams was to blame for failing to

yield the right-of-way.

But by July, Palm Beach Gardens police said video evidence had surfaced that showed that Williams entered the intersection lawfully, and that a car not involved in the collision forced Williams to stop in the intersection. The traffic light changed, and a sedan that struck Williams’ SUV had a green light.

Jerome Barson, 78, who was a

passenger in a sedan that collided with the SUV Williams was driving, died 13 days after the June 9 accident. His wife, Linda Barson, 68, was driving the sedan.

The Barson family has filed a wrongful death suit against Williams. Calls to attorneys for both parties were not immediately returned on Wednesday evening. (rtr)

REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

McKayla Maroney of the U.S. celebrates with her silver medal in the women’s vault victory ceremony in the North Greenwich Arena during the London 2012 Olympic Games August 5, 2012.

Turkey wants NBA star jailed for insulting President Erdogan

ANKARA - A Turkish prosecutor asked for NBA’s New York Knicks star Enes Kanter to be jailed for up to four years for insulting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Wednesday.

Kanter’s passport was revoked

by Turkish authorities earlier this

year, and an arrest warrant was issued after he was named a “fugitive” by a Turkish court over his support for U.S-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating an attempted coup in July 2016.

Kanter is a long-time supporter of Gulen, who has lived in self-

imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999 and whose extradition Erdogan is seeking. Gulen denies involvement in the failed putsch.

The indictment on Wednesday said Kanter used Twitter to “defame and deride” Erdogan, Anadolu said.

The 6-foot-11-inch center tweeted on Wednesday in response to the

indictment, adding screenshots of the media reports.

“I have said less than that honourless (man) deserves. Add another 4 years for me, master,” he told his 526,000 Twitter followers.

Kanter was detained in Romania in May when authorities learned his Turkish passport had been

revoked. He later returned to the United States. Kanter lashed out at Erdogan at a news conference following his detention, calling him the “Hitler of our century.”

He holds a U.S. green card that allows him to live and work in the country on a permanent basis. (rtr)

8

Friday, December 22, 2017

Friday, December 22, 2017

Sp rt After Mourinho, rocking Robins now target unbeaten Pep

LONDON - After fashioning the sensation of the English football season with a League Cup triumph over Manchester United, Bristol City manager Lee Johnson knows there could only be one way to top a win over Jose Mourinho -- and that is by beating Pep Guardiola. The cheering was still reverberating at the Ashton Gate home of the second tier Championship club on Wednesday after their last-gasp 2-1 quarter-final win over the Premier League giants when the semi-final draw offered them an even giddier follow-up.

For the Robins’ reward on one of the finest nights in their 123-year history was to set up the prospect of another when Guardiola’s Manchester City, Europe’s team of the moment, visit them in a last four, second leg tie in January. Johnson was asked how it felt to be presented with the hardest task in English football against a side unbeaten in domestic matches this term.

“It’s brilliant,” he enthused.

“We move on now. We didn’t show United too much respect. Now it’s on to Manchester City over two legs and there’s another chance for the players to test themselves against another elite group,” he said. “City are a beast of an organisation.”

The beasts who have been devouring all Premier League opposition this season, though, may find Ashton Gate as tricky and oppressive a venue as Mourinho’s

men, who became the Robins’ fourth Premier League victims of their inspired Cup run.

EXULTANT SCENES If they can keep any away-day deficit down to manageable proportions, Johnson’s young, eager outfit could cause a few problems in the return at their tight Bristol fortress.

The exultant scenes that greeted Korey Smith’s 93rd minute winner would, reckoned Johnson, “live in the memory of this football club for many years.”

His father Gary was one of City’s more successful managers when Lee was a player at the club. “But I think tonight was the greatest moment in both of our tenures,” reckoned Johnson, whose team are pushing for promotion in third place.

“My dad always says he was the most successful Bristol City man-

ager so maybe I’ve pushed him a little bit close with that result. “The players have been phenomenal. It’s a young group with real quality and energy and every single one of them will go down in the folklore of Bristol City football club.”

None more so than Joe Bryan, a popular Bristolian and product of the club’s academy, whose wonderful second-half strike had put City ahead before Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s equalising free kick looked likely to inspire a United comeback win.

Still, City kept believing and were rewarded by Smith’s superbly taken left-foot winner on the turn in the final seconds.

Mourinho, while praising City for playing “the game of their lives”, could not quite bring himself to offer unqualified admiration as he kept suggesting the home side were “lucky” to survive with Ibrahimovic

Firing the coach pays dividends for Italian pair MILAN - Having lost their unbeaten record and Serie A leadership in defeat to Udinese last week, Inter Milan must face another team who are enjoying a new lease of life after changing coach when they visit Sassuolo on Saturday. Inter will have further reason to be wary of Sassuolo, the team from the smallest town ever to be represented in Serie A - they have lost four of their last eight meetings against them.

Udinese and Sassuolo both made poor starts to the season and opted for the time-honoured solution of firing their coaches in order to turn their respective campaigns around.

Proud owners of one of the most modern stadiums in Serie A, Udinese gave Luigi Delneri his marching orders in mid-November after losing eight of their first 12 games and brought in the relatively inexperienced Massimo Oddo. Although Oddo’s only previous stint in Serie A ended abruptly when he was fired by Pescara in February

and Marcus Rashford hitting the woodwork.

Yet he understood this was City’s night, “a beautiful night for football”, even if he did not have time to hang around and share the special £450 bottle of fine Portuguese wine that Johnson had bought to entertain him. “Jose was very humble afterwards but he shot off so he couldn’t stay and have some wine,” smiled Johnson. “But I got to ask the questions I wanted.” And, anyway, who needed wine when this was clearly a night for champagne?(rtr)

Bristol City’s Jamie Paterson and fans celebrate on the pitch after the match

with his side bottom of the table, he has transformed Udinese by making the most of his team’s physical strength.

They have responded by winning three of their four games under him, capping their run with a 3-1 win at Inter last Saturday when they gave a lesson in quick counterattacking. “I’ve always said that the coach has to find the team for his players, not the other way round,” said Oddo, 41.

“This team is very different team from the one I had at Pescara with different characteristics. There is a great deal of power, physical presence and stamina, so I try to make the most of that.” Udinese host Verona on Saturday although Oddo warned against getting carried away. “We are getting great results but the worst thing we can do now is to start dreaming,” he said.

Sassuolo, meanwhile, have won two out of three league games since swapping Cristian Bucchi for the wily and much-travelled Giuseppe Iachini, who is at his 11th Italian

club but has yet to coach any of the top teams. They won 1-0 at sixth-placed Sampdoria on Sunday despite missing the fifth penalty of seven they have been awarded this season.

“We’ve only been together for three weeks,” said Iachini. “I’m convinced that if we continue to work like this, with this intensity in both attack and defence, we can make further progress. “Everyone has shown great willingness and we’re improving but I know we can do better. We haven’t been so good with our final passes.”

Sassuolo made their top flight debut in the 2013/14 season and were thumped 7-0 at home in their first meeting with Inter. But in seven meetings since then, Inter have won only three to Sassuolo’s four.

Inter, who went through their first 16 games unbeaten, are third with 40 points, two behind leaders Napoli, who host Sampdoria.

Titleholders Juventus, who host fourth-placed Roma on Saturday, are second with 41 points.(rtr)

REUTERS/David Klein

Defoe, Arter join Bournemouth’s growing injury list

Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu in action with Bournemouth’s Jermain Defoe

REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe was left concerned after striker Jermain Defoe and midfielder Harry Arter joined the club’s growing injury list during Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat at Chelsea in the League Cup quarter-finals.

England international Defoe was forced off with an ankle injury following a mistimed tackle from Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu early in the game while Arter was substituted in the second half with a calf problem.

The duo join several players, including Joshua King, Charlie Daniels and Tyrone Mings on the sidelines for Bournemouth and Howe is worried about his depleted squad ahead of a packed festive schedule.

“It looks like he has potentially got some damage to his ankle ligaments,” Howe said after the match.

“It was a nasty tackle. He went over on his ankle, he wasn’t right, he had to come off. “But it meant we lost Jermain and that is going to be a huge blow to us.

“Harry Arter felt his calf and had to come off so we really are stretched. We have a number of players back home who are injured so we hope none of them are too serious.”

Bournemouth are 16th in the Premier League and play four matches in the space of 10 days, starting with Saturday’s trip to leaders Manchester City and ending with a New Year’s day clash at Brighton and Hove Albion.(rtr)

Cristian Bucchi

IBP/net

MLS expansion franchise music to Nashville’s ears

Major League Soccer is heading for the Music City after Nashville was revealed as its latest expansion club on Wednesday. The city known more for country music than soccer was named the league’s 24th franchise by MLS Commissioner Don Garber during a news conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame, but a decision has not yet been made on when the team will begin to play.

“Nashville is a rising city with a passionate soccer fan base, a dedicated ownership group and civic leaders that truly believe in this sport,” Garber said in a statement.

“Nashville continues its ascent as one of America’s most dynamic communities, with its incredible energy and creativity. For us, that makes it a perfect place for MLS expansion.”

In January, MLS said Nashville was among 12 cities vying to secure a team in a league that began with 10 clubs in 1996. MLS said at the time

9

that two expansion teams would be announced by the end of 2017 and begin playing in 2020.

The Nashville team, which will play in a new, 27,500-seat soccer stadium at The Fairgrounds, is owned by a group that includes the Wilf brothers who own the National Football League’s Minnesota Vikings.

Despite not having a team to call their own until now, the city of Nashville has embraced soccer in impressive numbers in recent years.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup match between the U.S. and Panama in July drew a crowd of more than 47,000. Later that month, a staterecord 56,232 fans attended a game between Premier League clubs Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Nashville already has two major league sports franchises -- the Tennessee Titans of the NFL and Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League.(rtr)

8

Friday, December 22, 2017

Friday, December 22, 2017

Sp rt After Mourinho, rocking Robins now target unbeaten Pep

LONDON - After fashioning the sensation of the English football season with a League Cup triumph over Manchester United, Bristol City manager Lee Johnson knows there could only be one way to top a win over Jose Mourinho -- and that is by beating Pep Guardiola. The cheering was still reverberating at the Ashton Gate home of the second tier Championship club on Wednesday after their last-gasp 2-1 quarter-final win over the Premier League giants when the semi-final draw offered them an even giddier follow-up.

For the Robins’ reward on one of the finest nights in their 123-year history was to set up the prospect of another when Guardiola’s Manchester City, Europe’s team of the moment, visit them in a last four, second leg tie in January. Johnson was asked how it felt to be presented with the hardest task in English football against a side unbeaten in domestic matches this term.

“It’s brilliant,” he enthused.

“We move on now. We didn’t show United too much respect. Now it’s on to Manchester City over two legs and there’s another chance for the players to test themselves against another elite group,” he said. “City are a beast of an organisation.”

The beasts who have been devouring all Premier League opposition this season, though, may find Ashton Gate as tricky and oppressive a venue as Mourinho’s

men, who became the Robins’ fourth Premier League victims of their inspired Cup run.

EXULTANT SCENES If they can keep any away-day deficit down to manageable proportions, Johnson’s young, eager outfit could cause a few problems in the return at their tight Bristol fortress.

The exultant scenes that greeted Korey Smith’s 93rd minute winner would, reckoned Johnson, “live in the memory of this football club for many years.”

His father Gary was one of City’s more successful managers when Lee was a player at the club. “But I think tonight was the greatest moment in both of our tenures,” reckoned Johnson, whose team are pushing for promotion in third place.

“My dad always says he was the most successful Bristol City man-

ager so maybe I’ve pushed him a little bit close with that result. “The players have been phenomenal. It’s a young group with real quality and energy and every single one of them will go down in the folklore of Bristol City football club.”

None more so than Joe Bryan, a popular Bristolian and product of the club’s academy, whose wonderful second-half strike had put City ahead before Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s equalising free kick looked likely to inspire a United comeback win.

Still, City kept believing and were rewarded by Smith’s superbly taken left-foot winner on the turn in the final seconds.

Mourinho, while praising City for playing “the game of their lives”, could not quite bring himself to offer unqualified admiration as he kept suggesting the home side were “lucky” to survive with Ibrahimovic

Firing the coach pays dividends for Italian pair MILAN - Having lost their unbeaten record and Serie A leadership in defeat to Udinese last week, Inter Milan must face another team who are enjoying a new lease of life after changing coach when they visit Sassuolo on Saturday. Inter will have further reason to be wary of Sassuolo, the team from the smallest town ever to be represented in Serie A - they have lost four of their last eight meetings against them.

Udinese and Sassuolo both made poor starts to the season and opted for the time-honoured solution of firing their coaches in order to turn their respective campaigns around.

Proud owners of one of the most modern stadiums in Serie A, Udinese gave Luigi Delneri his marching orders in mid-November after losing eight of their first 12 games and brought in the relatively inexperienced Massimo Oddo. Although Oddo’s only previous stint in Serie A ended abruptly when he was fired by Pescara in February

and Marcus Rashford hitting the woodwork.

Yet he understood this was City’s night, “a beautiful night for football”, even if he did not have time to hang around and share the special £450 bottle of fine Portuguese wine that Johnson had bought to entertain him. “Jose was very humble afterwards but he shot off so he couldn’t stay and have some wine,” smiled Johnson. “But I got to ask the questions I wanted.” And, anyway, who needed wine when this was clearly a night for champagne?(rtr)

Bristol City’s Jamie Paterson and fans celebrate on the pitch after the match

with his side bottom of the table, he has transformed Udinese by making the most of his team’s physical strength.

They have responded by winning three of their four games under him, capping their run with a 3-1 win at Inter last Saturday when they gave a lesson in quick counterattacking. “I’ve always said that the coach has to find the team for his players, not the other way round,” said Oddo, 41.

“This team is very different team from the one I had at Pescara with different characteristics. There is a great deal of power, physical presence and stamina, so I try to make the most of that.” Udinese host Verona on Saturday although Oddo warned against getting carried away. “We are getting great results but the worst thing we can do now is to start dreaming,” he said.

Sassuolo, meanwhile, have won two out of three league games since swapping Cristian Bucchi for the wily and much-travelled Giuseppe Iachini, who is at his 11th Italian

club but has yet to coach any of the top teams. They won 1-0 at sixth-placed Sampdoria on Sunday despite missing the fifth penalty of seven they have been awarded this season.

“We’ve only been together for three weeks,” said Iachini. “I’m convinced that if we continue to work like this, with this intensity in both attack and defence, we can make further progress. “Everyone has shown great willingness and we’re improving but I know we can do better. We haven’t been so good with our final passes.”

Sassuolo made their top flight debut in the 2013/14 season and were thumped 7-0 at home in their first meeting with Inter. But in seven meetings since then, Inter have won only three to Sassuolo’s four.

Inter, who went through their first 16 games unbeaten, are third with 40 points, two behind leaders Napoli, who host Sampdoria.

Titleholders Juventus, who host fourth-placed Roma on Saturday, are second with 41 points.(rtr)

REUTERS/David Klein

Defoe, Arter join Bournemouth’s growing injury list

Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu in action with Bournemouth’s Jermain Defoe

REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe was left concerned after striker Jermain Defoe and midfielder Harry Arter joined the club’s growing injury list during Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat at Chelsea in the League Cup quarter-finals.

England international Defoe was forced off with an ankle injury following a mistimed tackle from Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu early in the game while Arter was substituted in the second half with a calf problem.

The duo join several players, including Joshua King, Charlie Daniels and Tyrone Mings on the sidelines for Bournemouth and Howe is worried about his depleted squad ahead of a packed festive schedule.

“It looks like he has potentially got some damage to his ankle ligaments,” Howe said after the match.

“It was a nasty tackle. He went over on his ankle, he wasn’t right, he had to come off. “But it meant we lost Jermain and that is going to be a huge blow to us.

“Harry Arter felt his calf and had to come off so we really are stretched. We have a number of players back home who are injured so we hope none of them are too serious.”

Bournemouth are 16th in the Premier League and play four matches in the space of 10 days, starting with Saturday’s trip to leaders Manchester City and ending with a New Year’s day clash at Brighton and Hove Albion.(rtr)

Cristian Bucchi

IBP/net

MLS expansion franchise music to Nashville’s ears

Major League Soccer is heading for the Music City after Nashville was revealed as its latest expansion club on Wednesday. The city known more for country music than soccer was named the league’s 24th franchise by MLS Commissioner Don Garber during a news conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame, but a decision has not yet been made on when the team will begin to play.

“Nashville is a rising city with a passionate soccer fan base, a dedicated ownership group and civic leaders that truly believe in this sport,” Garber said in a statement.

“Nashville continues its ascent as one of America’s most dynamic communities, with its incredible energy and creativity. For us, that makes it a perfect place for MLS expansion.”

In January, MLS said Nashville was among 12 cities vying to secure a team in a league that began with 10 clubs in 1996. MLS said at the time

9

that two expansion teams would be announced by the end of 2017 and begin playing in 2020.

The Nashville team, which will play in a new, 27,500-seat soccer stadium at The Fairgrounds, is owned by a group that includes the Wilf brothers who own the National Football League’s Minnesota Vikings.

Despite not having a team to call their own until now, the city of Nashville has embraced soccer in impressive numbers in recent years.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup match between the U.S. and Panama in July drew a crowd of more than 47,000. Later that month, a staterecord 56,232 fans attended a game between Premier League clubs Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Nashville already has two major league sports franchises -- the Tennessee Titans of the NFL and Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League.(rtr)

10

Destination

Friday, December 22, 2017

International

Friday, December 22, 2017

International

Gambuh, rare art supporting Kedisan as tourism village

BANGLI - The Gambuh art classified into classic and rare art becomes one of the supporters of Kedisan into a tourism village. The art with a unique range of movement is still preserved and can even be presented to foreign travelers usually having dinner at Kedisan Palace. While enjoying a unique cuisine of Kedisan Palace, travelers can also get to know the drama heritage of Kedisan community.

Most importantly, this gambuh dance-drama is always staged every piodalan or temple anniversary at temples at the village.

It happens because the art is quite sacred, where the headdresses are venerated at temple. It is supported by 30 dancers having daily profession as farmers. This gambuh art has indeed different style and has ever been staged in Switzerland and France.

Although there are no written data specifically in inscriptions as historical evidence of this art, people believe this art has existed from time immemorial. Moreover, it was long before the arrival of Aan residents to Kedisan, Gambuh

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already existed. Residents of Aan even joined the gambuh art and settled at Kedisan.

In the palm-leaf manuscript of Arya Wang Bang Sidemen is stated that Ki Pasek Katrangan and other companions left Aan in Caka year 1450 or 1528 AD to accompany the departure of I Gusti Kacang Dawa.

At that time the Aan residents were carrying the headdress of Panji which is a magic sign of Ki Pasek Katrangan. Until now the headdress remains to be stored at Kedisan.

It is made sacred and placed at clan temple of Aan residents. This inscription states if the Gambuh art at Kedisan has existed since the days of empire whose written evidence can be found in the chronogram telling about the formation of Kedisan village.

Local villagers believe that historically gambuh of Kedisan has nothing to do with and palaces in other areas, except for Kedisan Palace. Kedisan palace is the home to senior figures (royal figures) coming to Kedisan while carrying the Panji art headdress with Ki Pasek Katrangan.

REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

Gambuh of Kedisan was not established in the royal territory, but was autodidactically grew and developed by the people who did like the gambuh art of Kedisan. This gambuh always paid devotional

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Gymnast Maroney says in court filing she was forced to sign agreement

performance at Gianyar Palace, Ubud Palace, and other community activities when there is a religious ceremony. Therefore, the gambuh of Kedisan becomes famous and known as the gambuh Kedisan.

Gambuh Kedisan has its own characteristics. One of the most prominent characteristics is in terms of the dancer, in which all the dancers are men, so that the gambuh Kedisan is also referred to as gambuh lanang or male gambuh. So, it gives a slightly rigid impression as danced by men. But it makes a distinctive feature.

It is said, gambuh Kedisan had experienced dormancy due to small number of dancer generations. To raise it up, there was an initiative to bring in a gambuh instructor from Batuan village. But due strong style owned by gambuh of Kedisan and has been applied from ancient times, it is difficult to receive the dance style of Batuan. Ultimately it returns to the use of Kedisan style having been practiced from ancient times. (kmb)

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Place Your Add Here

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Please contact Gugiek : 08123840500

USA’s Venus Williams celebrates winning her semi final match against France’s Caroline Garcia during WTA Tour Finals in Singapore on October 28, 2017.

Venus Williams will not be charged in Florida fatal accident -report

LOS ANGELES - Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney sued USA Gymnastics (USAG) on Wednesday alleging that the organization forced her to sign a non-disclosure agreement about sexual abuse she endured from former national team doctor Larry Nassar.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney John Manly in the Los Angeles Superior Court, a copy of which has been seen by Reuters, states that Maroney was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement in December 2016, because she needed money to pay for psychological treatment.

The suit alleges Maroney was sexually abused by Nassar from about 2009 to 2013 while she was a teenager. It seeks to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement and seeks unspecified damages. USAG responded in a statement emailed to Reuters that the “concept of confidentiality was initiated by McKayla’s attorney, not USA Gymnastics.”

Maroney’s court filing states she was forced into the confidentiality agreement “after suffering for years from psychological trauma of her sexual abuse at the hands of Nassar, and in need of funds to pay for psychological treatment...”

This month, Nassar was sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge in Michigan to 60 years in prison on federal child pornography charges that grew out of a sex abuse investigation. Nassar was the team physician for the Michigan State University gymnastics and women’s crew teams. He served as the USA Gymnastics physician through four Olympic Games. Just months after Maroney signed the confidentiality statement, the lawsuit says, USAG “publicly discussed the exact same subject matter it sought to conceal...”

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that USAG paid Maroney a $1.25 million settlement. As well as USAG and Nassar, the lawsuit also names the U.S. Olympic Committee and Michigan State University. A lawyer representing Nassar did not immediately respond to a request for comment. USGA responded with a statement which says, in part: “In 2016, McKayla’s attorney at the time, Gloria Allred, approached USA Gymnastics, requesting that the organization participate in a confidential mediation process.”

“USA Gymnastics cannot speak to the mediation process, which is confidential and privileged under California law. The process culminated in a settlement agreement that included a mutual non-disclosure clause and a mutual non-disparagement clause.

“The settlement in 2016 was in accordance with state law, despite what has been alleged. At all times, McKayla was represented by Allred, a California-based attorney, who actively negotiated and approved the settlement agreement signed by McKayla.” (rtr)

FORT LAUDERDALE - Tennis star Venus Williams will not face any criminal charges in relation to a June fatal traffic accident she was involved in near her Florida residence, the SunSentinel newspaper reported on Wednesday, quoting police.

The driver of a car that struck Williams’ SUV in an intersection was also not charged, after Palm Beach Gardens police determined that neither violated the right-ofway, the newspaper reported. Palm Beach Gardens police and city clerk did not immediately respond to inquiries.

Police had initially said Williams was to blame for failing to

yield the right-of-way.

But by July, Palm Beach Gardens police said video evidence had surfaced that showed that Williams entered the intersection lawfully, and that a car not involved in the collision forced Williams to stop in the intersection. The traffic light changed, and a sedan that struck Williams’ SUV had a green light.

Jerome Barson, 78, who was a

passenger in a sedan that collided with the SUV Williams was driving, died 13 days after the June 9 accident. His wife, Linda Barson, 68, was driving the sedan.

The Barson family has filed a wrongful death suit against Williams. Calls to attorneys for both parties were not immediately returned on Wednesday evening. (rtr)

REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

McKayla Maroney of the U.S. celebrates with her silver medal in the women’s vault victory ceremony in the North Greenwich Arena during the London 2012 Olympic Games August 5, 2012.

Turkey wants NBA star jailed for insulting President Erdogan

ANKARA - A Turkish prosecutor asked for NBA’s New York Knicks star Enes Kanter to be jailed for up to four years for insulting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Wednesday.

Kanter’s passport was revoked

by Turkish authorities earlier this

year, and an arrest warrant was issued after he was named a “fugitive” by a Turkish court over his support for U.S-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating an attempted coup in July 2016.

Kanter is a long-time supporter of Gulen, who has lived in self-

imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999 and whose extradition Erdogan is seeking. Gulen denies involvement in the failed putsch.

The indictment on Wednesday said Kanter used Twitter to “defame and deride” Erdogan, Anadolu said.

The 6-foot-11-inch center tweeted on Wednesday in response to the

indictment, adding screenshots of the media reports.

“I have said less than that honourless (man) deserves. Add another 4 years for me, master,” he told his 526,000 Twitter followers.

Kanter was detained in Romania in May when authorities learned his Turkish passport had been

revoked. He later returned to the United States. Kanter lashed out at Erdogan at a news conference following his detention, calling him the “Hitler of our century.”

He holds a U.S. green card that allows him to live and work in the country on a permanent basis. (rtr)

6

Friday, December 22, 2017

British PM May forces her deputy to resign over pornography scandal

LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May forced her most senior minister, Damian Green, to resign after an internal investigation found he had made misleading comments about pornography on computers in his parliamentary office.

The resignation of one of May’s most trusted allies, who had helped pacify her deeply divided party, is a blow as she navigates the final year of tortuous negotiations towards Britain’s exit from the European Union in March 2019. Green, who voted to stay in the EU, was appointed as first secretary of state just six months ago in a bid to shore up May’s premiership following her disastrous bet on a June snap election that lost her party its majority in parliament.

But Green’s future was thrust into doubt when the Sunday Times newspaper reported last month that police in 2008 had found pornography on his office computers in the Houses of Parliament. In response, Green said the story was untrue. A review, requested by May and conducted by a senior government official, concluded that Green’s statements which suggested he was not aware that indecent material had been found on the computers, were “inaccurate and misleading.”

The inquiry, a summary of which was distributed by May’s Downing Street office, found he had breached rules governing the behaviour of ministers. “I regret that I’ve been asked to resign from the government following breaches of the Ministerial Code, for which I apologise,” Green said in a letter to May, who said she had accepted his resignation with deep regret.

Green, 61, said he did not download or view pornography on his parliamentary computers. He added that he should have been clearer about his statements after the story broke.

He is the most senior British politician to fall since a debate about a culture of abuse by some powerful men at the heart of Westminster was triggered by the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal.

May’s defence minister, Michael Fallon, quit last month for unspecified conduct which he said had fallen below required standards. Her aid minister resigned a week later after holding undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials.

CONDUIT FOR COMPLAINTS During the turmoil that followed the botched election, May turned to Green - a friend and ally from their days at Oxford University - to stabilise her premiership and appease those within the Conservative Party who wanted her to quit. One of his key roles was to act as a conduit for disgruntled party members who felt they had been ignored in May’s election campaign. He sought to help her to shed the image of a distant leader who only listens to those in her inner circle. “It’s another blow for May but it is not deadly in any way at all,” said Anand Menon, professor of European politics at King’s College London. “She has lost her soulmate in cabinet but this is not the end of Prime Minister May.” “May is surviving not because of Damian Green but because there are sufficient MPs in her party who don’t want to have a leadership election while Brexit is going on and that fundamental calculation has not changed,” he said. The internal investigation found that Green’s conduct as a minister was generally “professional and proper” but found two statements he made on Nov. 4 and 11 to be inaccurate and misleading.

In the statements he had suggested he was not aware that indecent material was found on parliamentary computers in his office. (rtr)

Catalonia...

From page 1

“I want a change, because things are going from bad to worse here and it’s the young people that carry the brunt of it,” said Manuela Gomez, 71, who voted for unionist favourites Ciudadanos, which could emerge as the most voted party in the election but would find it almost impossible to form a governing coalition. Analysts expect the next Catalan government to result from weeks of haggling between parties over viable coalitions.

An analysis of polling data by the Madrid daily El Pais pub-

lished on Tuesday found that the most likely scenario was separatists securing a majority with the backing or abstention of the Catalan offshoot of anti-austerity party Podemos.

Podemos backs the unity of Spain but says Catalans should be able to have a referendum authorised by Madrid to decide their future. At the same time, Podemos favours a left-wing alliance of Catalan parties that both back and reject independence.

In this, analysts say, Podemos is caught between two options it does not particularly like, but would prefer to back the separatists rather than a coalition involving Rajoy’s PP.(rtr)

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International

RLD

International

Friday, December 22, 2017

11

Indonesia to allow tarrif-free import of some Palestinian goods

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Tim Scott (R) as he celebrates with Congressional Republicans after the U.S. Congress passed sweeping tax overhaul legislation, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., December 20, 2017.

Trump threatens to cut aid to U.N. members over Jerusalem vote

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that vote in favor of a draft United Nations resolution calling for the United States to withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us.

We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The 193-member U.N. General Assembly will hold a rare emergency special session on Thursday - at the request of Arab and Muslim countries - to vote on a draft resolution, which the United States vetoed on Monday in the 15-member U.N. Security Council.

The remaining 14 Security Council members voted in favor of the Egyptian-drafted resolution, which did not specifically mention the United States or Trump but which expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.”

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, in a letter to dozens of U.N. states on Tuesday seen by Reuters, warned that Trump had asked her to “report back on those countries who voted against us.”

She bluntly echoed that call in a Twitter post: “The U.S. will be taking names.”

Several senior diplomats said Haley’s warning was unlikely to change many votes in the General Assembly, where such direct, public threats are rare. Some diplomats brushed off the warning as more likely aimed at impressing U.S. voters.

According to figures from the U.S. government’s aid agency USAID, in 2016 the United States provided some $13 billion in economic and military assistance to countries in sub-Saharan Africa and $1.6 billion to states in East Asia and Oceania.

It provided some $13 billion to countries in the Middle East and North Africa, $6.7 billion to countries in South and Central Asia, $1.5 billion to states in Europe and Eurasia and $2.2 billion to Western Hemisphere countries, according to USAID. Miroslav Lajcak, president of the General Assembly, declined to comment on Trump’s remarks, but added: “It’s the right and responsibility of member states to express their views.”

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also declined to comment on Trump’s remarks on Wednesday.

“I like the message that Nikki sent yesterday at the United Nations, for all those nations that take our money and then they vote against us at the Security Council, or they vote against us potentially at the assembly,” Trump said. (rtr)

JAKARTA - Indonesia will allow tariff-free imports and give direct market access to some Palestinian goods beginning in the new year, the Indonesian trade minister said on Wednesday.

Palestinian goods now come to Indonesia through Jordan. Starting on Jan. 1, some Palestinian goods will be shipped directly to Indonesia, said Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita.

“We’re opening market access for dates and olive oil. This is as requested by Palestine,” the minister told reporters in Jakarta, after meeting his Palestinian counterpart at a World Trade Organisation meeting in Buenos Aires. “We’re also asking them for a list of products they want to export and they need to import.”

Lukita also said that Indonesia, which has the world’s biggest Muslim population, had stated its support for the Palestinians to become a member of the World Trade Organization. Indonesia has long been a supporter of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Thousands of Indonesians have rallied in recent days to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s official recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be in the city’s eastern sector, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move never recognised internationally.(rtr)

REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

Demonstrators hold an “Interfaith Prayer Vigil for Immigrant Justice” outside the federal building, where ethnic Chinese Christians who fled Indonesia after wide scale rioting decades ago and overstayed their visas in the U.S. must check-in with ICE, in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S. on October 13, 2017.

U.S. responds in court fight over illegal Indonesian immigrants

BOSTON - U.S. immigration officials sought to block a federal judge’s order delaying efforts to deport 51 Indonesians living illegally in New Hampshire, saying they have not shown they would face harm if repatriated, court documents on Wednesday showed.

The U.S. government’s motion in federal court in Boston was in response to a judge’s order last month that found members of the group should be given time to make a case that changed conditions in the southeast Asian nation would make it dangerous for them to return.

“Even if they are removed, petitioners’ generalized evidence of Indonesia’s conditions do not prove that persecution or torture is immediate or likely for each petitioner,” the motion said.

It said the court lacked jurisdiction over their claims, and the immigrants did not state any plausible claims.

The group of ethnic Chinese Christians fled the world’s largest Muslim-majority country following violence that erupted 20 years ago and have been living openly

for years in New England under an informal deal reached with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Beginning in August, members of the group who showed up for ICE check-ins were told to prepare to leave the country, in keeping with U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.

Members of the group have said in interviews with Reuters that they entered the country on tourist visas but overstayed them and failed to seek asylum on time.

Several said they fear they would face persecution or violence for their Christian faith and Chinese ethnicity if they were returned to Indonesia.

Federal law gives authority

over immigration matters to the executive branch, not the courts, and ICE contends that it has always had authority to deport members of the group.

Chief U.S. District Judge Patti Saris in Boston last month found she had authority to ensure the Indonesians have a chance to argue that conditions in their home country had deteriorated significantly enough to reopen their cases for trying to stay in the United States.

The Indonesians are part of an ethnic community of about 2,000 people clustered around the city of Dover, New Hampshire. Their cause has drawn the support of the state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation, including U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, and Republican Governor Chris Sununu.(rtr)

12

International

Friday, December 22, 2017

Bali News

International

BUSINESS

But for some EU nationals - who have endured uncertainty over their rights since the Brexit vote in June 2016, not to mention an unpleasant feeling that many Britons do not want them around - May’s Dec. 8 deal is too little, too late.

It’s too late to keep German nurse Daniela Jones in the chronically short-staffed National Health Service (NHS), where she worked for 35 years.

It’s too late for French psychotherapist Baya Salmon-Hawk, who after 40 years in Britain has moved to Ireland to remain in the EU. It’s too late for French accountant Nathalie Duran, who is planning early retirement in France because after 31 years as a taxpayer in Britain she objects to being told she has to pay a fee and fill in forms to be granted a new “settled status”.

“I will have to regretfully decline your generous offer for settled status and oblige your lovely countrymen’s wishes and go home,” she wrote on Facebook in a response to May laden with irony. Duran told Reuters that the prime minister’s “late outpouring of love” for EU citizens, after years of tough talk on the need to cut immigration, could not mask negative attitudes towards immigrants unleashed by the Brexit vote.

“I think it’s turning ugly,” said 56-year-old Duran. “It’s now OK to say ‘go home foreigners’.” EU citizens, particularly those from the poorer eastern member states such as Poland and Romania, have complained of increasing hostility from some Britons.

They find themselves accused of stealing jobs from Britons and driving down wages, even though unemployment is at a four-decade low, or of overburdening health services as patients, even though many help to provide them by working for the NHS. Official figures show hate crimes in Britain surged by the highest amount on record last year, with the Brexit vote a significant factor.

Denpasar City Tour

The impact of Brexit on EU citizens in Britain is a serious concern for sectors of the economy that rely heavily on European workers, such as hospitality, construction, agriculture, care for the elderly and the cherished NHS. Britain won’t leave the bloc until March 2019, but many EU nationals are already voting with their feet. In the 12 months following the referendum, 123,000 of them left Britain, a 29 percent year-on-year increase.

They were still outnumbered by the 230,000 EU citizens who arrived to live in Britain in the same period, although that figure was down 19 percent on the previous year.

“A BRITISH JOB FOR A BRITISH WORKER” Not everyone is making plans to go: 28,500 EU citizens applied for British citizenship in the 12 months after the referendum, an 80 percent year-on-year jump. With personal and professional roots often running deep, many more have applied for permanent residence documents. UK citizenship would be an option for nurse Jones, 61, who moved to England from Munich just before her 18th birthday. That was in 1974, the year after Britain joined what is now the EU. Today she has a grown-up British son and a British husband.

But as a point of principle she cannot see why she should apply for something she never needed in the past.

“Despite my enormous love for Britain, I do not feel that I am British,” was how she put it in a letter to Ruth Deech, a pro-Brexit member of parliament’s House of Lords, sent in February to lobby her on the EU citizens’ rights issue. In a one-line response to the long, impassioned letter, which made clear Jones had worked for 35 years in the state NHS, Deech said she should have applied for UK citizenship.

IBP/kmb

Travelers Learn to Paint, Dance, Play Gamelan and Play Kites

REUTERS/Darren Staples/File Photo

A man works on the production line at the Toyota factory in Derby, central England, March 7, 2011.

Jones replied it had never been necessary and explained that she was already a dual German and U.S. national through her German mother and her American father, a serviceman in the U.S. army who was posted to Germany in the 1950s. Deech sent another oneliner: “You sought U.S. citizenship - presumably you could have shown the same commitment to this country.”

Jones was dismayed by that response, which in her eyes lacked understanding and respect. She began to think she needed to look after her own interests better.

A few months later, she quit her NHS job at a doctors’ office in Yateley, a small town southwest of London. She is now re-training as a foot and ear care specialist and plans to work privately. “I still like looking after people but I want to do it on my own terms,” she told Reuters. “It’s time to get out. Work for myself, start a little business.”

Jones wrote to Deech again, saying: “I have now freed up a British

job for a British worker.” This time she got no response. Deech declined an interview request from Reuters, but said in an emailed response to questions that obtaining a British passport “might be a good idea for any EU citizen who is (probably needlessly) concerned”.

“A NEW ADVENTURE” French national Baya SalmonHawk, 61, initially reacted to the Brexit vote by trying to make sure her residency rights were not under threat. Having lived in England for 40 years, had her son there, owned a home, worked in a variety of jobs and paid taxes, she thought that should be straightforward. But when she made inquiries about a permanent residence permit she had obtained in 1977, she was told this was no longer valid and she would have to re-apply by filling an 85-page form and providing lots of documents, including details of every time she had left the country and returned, stretching back years.

Besides, Salmon-Hawk was

struggling to adjust to the new reality. Having believed previously that she was integrated into British society, she felt unwelcome for the first time. “I just don’t understand what’s happened to the UK,” she said. “I became quite easily upset by all this and I didn’t want to live like that anymore.”

She and her 74-year-old wife Audrey Evelyn, who is British, decided to leave. They sold their house in a village north of London, and in July this year they moved to County Kilkenny in Ireland, where Evelyn has family ties.

At times, Salmon-Hawk has wondered if they made the right decision. “I may have made a foolish mistake. I have woken up in the middle of the night in a state of panic,” she said. But she is starting a new venture as a professional story-teller at Hook Lighthouse on the southeast coast of Ireland, telling visitors tales from Irish history. “I thought I was done, I was settled, and I’m not. I’m having a new adventure.” (rtr)

5

Come and Visit Nusa Dua Light Festival until January 2018

Too late, Theresa - Brexit offer to EU citizens leaves many cold

LONDON - Back from Brussels with a hard-fought Brexit deal, Prime Minister Theresa May wrote an open letter to the three million citizens of other European Union states living in Britain. “I know our country would be poorer if you left and I want you to stay,” she wrote after striking the initial agreement, which promises to secure their British residency rights after Brexit and allows the negotiations to move onto trade relations.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Denpasar Heritage City Tour has its own characteristics that cannot be separated from the history of the capital of Bali Province consisting of the temple, palace and market element.

The objects of Denpasar city tour specified by the Mayor of Denpasar, I.B. Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra, consist of the area of Jagatnatha Temple, Denpasar Art Space, Bali Museum, Pemecutan Palace, Jero Kuta Palace, Maospahit Temple, Jalan Gajah Mada, Badung Market, Catur Muka Area, Inna Bali Hotel and Satria Palace. Through this visit, foreign travelers can see and learn about the architecture of the region and their community activities.

Besides, travelers can also see various activities done by community of Belaluan Sadmerta hamlet included in the track of city tour. Foreign travelers have the opportunity to attend the training program and the introduction of activities at Sadmerta hamlet ranging from painting, dancing, playing gamelan to flying kite activities involving customary youth club of local hamlet.

Kadek Jango Pramartha, a cartoonist of Denpasar who is also from Belaluan Sadmertha hamlet as well as coordinator of the activities for foreign tourist visits, when met on Thursday (Jan. 12) said that the program has been running continuously in the Denpasar city tour program with the involvement of dozens of travelers from Australia who want to have a closer look at the objects of Denpasar city tour and activities in several regions.

Denpasar city tour has certainly been known to consist of three sections namely temple, palace and markets. Besides, it is also given an introduction to the hamlet activities

such as dancing, playing gamelan and flying kite. Of course, it is highly supported by the community of local hamlet. Hamlet chief of Belaluan Sadmerta, Prof. Ketut Ardana, and local community figure Aridus participated in the introduction of local hamlet to travelers.

“When staying at Inna Bali Hotel Denpasar, travelers have the opportunity to attend training of cartoon drawing at my home and get the introduction about Balinese building architecture at my home. At night, it is resumed with training activities of dancing, playing gamelan and playing kites with customary youth club,” said Kadek Jango.

As is known, the neighborhood of the Denpasar city tour is continuously developed by Mayor Rai Mantra. One of them is the establishment of Denpasar Art Space used as exhibition space for the artists of Denpasar that can be enjoyed by foreign travelers.

Denpasar Art Space is located on the north of Jagatnatha Temple of

Denpasar. Other than exploring the area of the city tour, they can also see the richness of architectures of temples, palaces and markets.

Due to this program, Denpasar has been able to achieve the highest award in terms of Indonesia Tourism Index (IPI) which refers to the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index. This success cannot be separated from the support of the entire community in the development and the expansion of tourism.

Implementation of tourism programs in Denpasar is inseparable from the participation of the entire community both from conservation activities and strengthening the culture, infrastructure, sanitation, social, security and order to education. Denpasar Heritage City Tour is also a reference in developing the tourism areas, so that they can be widely introduced. In addition, the program also invites the entire hotel management to realize a green city through green hotel that cannot be separated from the implementation of Tri Hita Karana. (kmb)

To ensure and campaign for Bali, especially Nusa Dua area remains safe to be visited, the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) held Nusa Dua Light Festival (NDLF). The festival, which began on December 8, will run until January 14, 2018, centered on Peninsula Island.

According to ITDC Director of Corporate Strategy and Finance, Jatmiko K. Santosa, the organization of NDLF aims to show off to the world that Bali remains safe to be visited. In addition, this event is also meant to welcome Christmas and New Year holidays.

“This festival is a form and effort to bring in tourists to the Island of the Gods in the middle of Mount Agung eruption disaster. We want to convey that all destinations in Bali beyond the red (dangerous) zone are still safe and operated as usual,” he said.

Jatmiko insisted that Bali is always ready to receive tourist arrivals at the end of the year. In the case of Mount Agung eruption impacting on tourists staying at The Nusa Dua, his management is also ready to implement the government policies related to mitigation standards so that security and comfort of tourists can still be maintained.

Previously, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has released an estimated radius of Mount Agung eruption dangers of 8 kilometers, plus sectoral expansion to the north-northeast and southeast-south-southwest as far as 10 km from Mount Agung. To that end, there are two tourist areas that should be avoided namely Besakih Temple and the area near Mount Agung.

Distance of The Nusa Dua from Mount Agung is very far reaching 40 kilometers. Thus, it remains in safe radius. “Tourists do not have to worry about attending the Nusa Dua Light Festival and enjoying their holiday in Bali while they are in the safe zone. We are optimistic that our target audience can be achieved,” added Jatmiko.

The NDLF held at the turn of the year is the second time after a similar event held in June-July 2017. In this year’s event, the ITDC cooperated with PT Cikal Bintang Bangsa with the theme of “The Jungle.” Visitors can enjoy the beauty of lanterns made to resemble forests and various types of animals, such as dragons, dinosaurs and other forest animals.

In addition, tourists will also be entertained with a variety of entertainments, such as traditional performances, music and culinary delights. For visitors wishing a challenge, there is hot air balloon with the capacity of six passengers that can be flown reaches a height of 25 meters. Other rides include trampolines, balloon houses, mini trains, and mini helicopters that can be enjoyed by children.

“With a variety of attractions and rides, the Nusa Dua Light Festival featuring the theme of “The Jungle” will become a perfect entertainment destination for families in late 2017 and early New Year 2018,” said Jatmiko. (kmb)

4

Friday, December 22, 2017

Bali News

International

Friday, December 22, 2017

International

13

Myanmar bars U.N. rights investigator before visit

REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

The South Korean army’s K-55 self-propelled artillery vehicles take part in a military exercise near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, November 29, 2017.

With nano bubble generator, the contaminated water in Lake Batur can be made clear and worth drinking.

IBP/kmb

To overcome pollution of Lake Batur

District govt proposes procurement of nano bubble

BANGLI — Water condition of Lake Batur in Kintamani has been contaminated. To overcome this, Bangli district government has proposed the procurement of five units of nano bubble generator to the Ministry of Environment. With these tools, the contaminated water in Lake Batur can be made clear and worth drinking.

Head of the Bangli Environment Agency, Ida Ayu Yudi Sutha, said on Wednesday (Dec. 20) that to overcome the pollution of Lake Batur, recently the Regent of Bangli, I Made Gianyar, has proposed the procurement of five units of nano bubble generator to the Ministry of Environment. This proposal, she said, becomes one of the priorities in 2018 for the rescue of Lake Batur.

She explained the nano bubble generator resembling to refrigerator is planned to be installed at some

points in the area of Lake Batur with high pollution levels. They serve to process water and filter impurities. The generator has the ability to filter at nano level. So, it is believed to be able to filter out bacteria and other contaminants.

With the five units of generator, it is predicted to be able to clean the total area of Lake Batur.

The nano bubble generator, she said, has so far been installed at the office of the Ministry of Environment. It is proved to have purified

the water near her office. Meanwhile, the price of the generator is IDR 1.5 billion each unit. If the proposal is approved by the Ministry of Environment, then the total value of the aid to be received by Bangli will be IDR 7.5 billion.

Last November, the Regent of Bangli, I Made Gianyar, already mentioned that his party and staff already conducted an audience with the Minister of Environment in Jakarta. In the audience, Gianyar conveyed the real condition of Lake

Batur that has experienced pollution and siltation. Besides, he also conveyed the condition of Lake Batur whose border all this time is not clear. According to the proposal submitted to central government, he requested the handling of pollution problems and sedimentation in Lake Batur can be assisted holistically from the upstream to downstream.

For the handling in downstream, he asked for help to central government in the form of lake water treatment machines, while for the upstream, he proposed to the Minister of Public Works and Housing to be made a dam in every rain-fed river / creek to accommodate water, mud,

garbage, sand and other objects that result in pollution and siltation in the lake. So, before reaching the lake, the mud, garbage, sand and others taken by water have been filtered in every dam. His government also proposed an organic farming system to the Ministry of Agriculture as well as the making of borders on the edge of the lake.

“We will also register the lake to National Land Agency (BPN) so that its boundaries are clear.

Another thing proposed is the making of communal water treatment plant at every village on the edge of the lake, so that household waste can be processed and cleaned,” he explained recently. (kmb40)

Promotion in 2018 only allocated at IDR 30 million

Tourism Office to maximize social media only

BANGLI — The Bangli Tourism and Culture Agency will be only able to maximize social media as media to promote tourist objects of the region in 2018. It happens because the campaign budget managed is very limited.

In 2018, the agency only gets a budget for tourism promotion as much as IDR 30 million. Division Head of Promotion at the Bangli Tourism and Culture Agency,

Wayan Merta, said on Wednesday (Dec. 19) that this year’s tourism promotion budget only gets IDR 80 million. This number has decreased for 2018. “In 2018, the budget set is only IDR 30 million. It is just to rent an exhibition stand,” he said.

Merta did not explain why the budget of tourism promotion decreases in 2018. He just said that direct promotional activities are actually very effective because it can pro-

vide information directly and clearly for foreign and domestic tourists.

According to him, the assumption that direct promotion is only wasting budget is not true. “Direct promotions can better convince tourists to come to Bangli,” he explained.

Since promotional budget rationed for 2018 is very minimal, his agency can only do more promotion through social media. Besides, the agency is also forced to join the promotional

activities of the Bali provincial government and the central government by commending booklet and CD. “We do that so that promotion can still be carried out,” he said.

Merta explained that to attract tourists to visit Bangli, promotional efforts cannot be done only by the government. All stakeholders should also help. He recognized that all this time tourism promotion has been done by tourism businesspeople.

For instance, one of the hotels in Kintamani has been aggressively doing independent promotion.

When asked about the low tourist visits due to eruption of Mount Agung, Merta said that what to do now is to convince tourists by providing information that Bangli is safe to be visited. This campaign should be performed more intensely by all parties including the media. (kmb40)

Shots fired along demilitarised zone as N.Korean soldier defects

SEOUL - South Korean guards fired warning shots across the heavily militarised border with North Korea on Thursday as a soldier from the North defected, officials said, complicating efforts to ease tensions over the Pyongyang’s weapons programmes.

A South Korean defence ministry official said up to 20 warning shots were fired at North Korean troops who approached too closely to the “military demarcation line”, apparently in search of the missing soldier. Thursday’s defection came about five weeks after another North Korean soldier suffered critical gunshot wounds during a defection dash across the border on Nov. 13.

Two North Korean civilians who were found in a fishing boat on Wednesday had also sought to defect, officials in the South said.

That brings the total number of North Koreans who have defected by taking dangerous routes either directly across the border or by sea to 15 so far this year, including two other soldiers. That is three times the number last year, according to South Korean officials.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula were already high after North Korea accelerated testing of its missile and nuclear programmes this year in defiance of international pressure.

The rash of defections also threatens to complicate South Korea’s efforts to ensure the smooth running of the 2018 Winter Olympics, which begin in Pyeongchang in February.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday he had proposed postponing major military

drills with the United States until after the games in an attempt to soothe relations, although officials in Seoul later said any proposed delay would depend on the North not engaging in any “provocations”.

LANDMINES, BARBED WIRE Seoul says more than 880 North Koreans have defected to the South so far in 2017, but the vast majority have taken a less dangerous route through China.

Going through China, North Korea’s neighbour and sole major ally, means they avoid the heavily fortified demilitarised zone, which features landmines, barbed wire, surveillance cameras, electric fencing, and thousands of armed troops on both sides.

The number of defectors arriving successfully in the South has dropped since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011, a trend defectors and experts say may be linked to a crackdown

by Pyongyang.

There was no immediate comment from the secretive North about the latest incidents.

However, the North’s state media released a statement sharply denying U.S. allegations this week that Pyongyang was behind a number of recent cyber attacks.

Washington has publicly blamed North Korean hackers for a cyber attack in May that crippled hospitals, banks and other companies.

Researchers also say the North was likely behind attacks on virtual currency exchanges.

The military drills with the United States have also complicated relations with China. South Korea says it needs the drills to guard against the North’s missile and nuclear ambitions but Pyongyang describes them as preparation for war. The proposed delay in drills was discussed during a summit between Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week after the proposal was submitted to Washington, an official at the presidential Blue House said this week.

China and Russia have proposed a “freeze for freeze” arrangement under which North Korea would stop its nuclear and missile tests in exchange for a halt to the exercises, but there has been little interest from Washington or Pyongyang.

Beijing was angered when the South deployed a controversial U.S. anti-missile system this year. China fears the system’s powerful radar can see far into its territory and the row led to China taking economic measures that included blocking tour groups from visiting South Korea. (rtr)

GENEVA - The U.N. independent investigator into human rights in Myanmar called on Wednesday for stronger international pressure to be exerted on Myanmar’s military commanders after being barred from visiting the country for the rest of her tenure.

Yanghee Lee, U.N. special rapporteur, had been due to visit in January to assess human rights across Myanmar, including alleged abuses against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.

But Myanmar had told her she was no longer welcome, she said, adding in a statement that this suggested something “terribly awful” was happening in the country.

“From what I see right now I’m not sure if they are feeling pressured. I’m not sure if there is the right kind of pressure placed on the military commanders and the generals,” she later told Reuters by telephone from Seoul.

She said it was alarming that Myanmar was strongly supported

by China, which has a veto at the U.N.’s top table in New York. Other countries including the United States and human groups were advocating targeted sanctions on the military, she said.

“It has to work. And I’m sure the world has to find a way to make it work. And I think the United Nations and its member states should really try to persuade China to really act towards the protection of human rights,” she said.

Surveys of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh by aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres have shown at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine state in the month after violence flared up on Aug 25, the aid group said last week.

More than 650,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when attacks by Muslim insurgents on the Myanmar security forces triggered a sweeping response by the army and Buddhist

vigilantes.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the situation in Rakhine State was an internal affair for Myanmar with its own complex history.

Myanmar and Bangladesh resolving this issue was the only way to go, she told reporters.

The international community should provide constructive help for Myanmar and Bangladesh to resolve the issue rather than complicating it, Hua added.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad alHussein has called the violence “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” and said he would not be surprised if a court eventually ruled that genocide had taken place.

Lee had planned to use her visit to find out procedures for the return of Rohingya refugees, and to investigate increased fighting in Kachin State and Shan Sate in northern Myanmar, where the military is battling autonomy-seeking ethic minority guerrillas.

Lee, in an earlier statement, said Myanmar’s refusal to cooperate with her was a strong indication that there must be “something terribly awful happening” throughout the country, although the government had repeatedly denied any violations of human rights.

“They have said that they have nothing to hide, but their lack of cooperation with my mandate and the fact-finding mission suggests otherwise,” she said.

She was “puzzled and disappointed”, since Myanmar’s ambassador in Geneva, Htin Lynn, had told the U.N. Human Rights Council only two weeks ago that it would cooperate.

“Now I am being told that this decision to no longer cooperate with me is based on the statement I made after I visited the country in July,” she said. (rtr)

REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A Rohingya refugee woman holds her baby as she stands outside her temporary shelter at the Balukhali refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh December 20, 2017.

14

Fashion

Friday, December 22, 2017

Nina Dobrev knows how to style jeggings for last-minute shopping NINA Dobrev was seen out and about in Beverly Hills yesterday doing some last-minute holiday shopping—something we’ve all been guilty of. For the outing, Dobrev opted for a casual look, consisting of a sleek pair of black jeggings, a simple tee underneath

a denim shirt, her always-cool star-embroidered Tommy Hilfiger boots, and a classic Burberry scarf.

Her entire look is as stylish as it is comfortable—so you might want to take note if you have some busy shopping days ahead of you.

We also couldn’t help but notice

her cute, heart-embroidered shirt, which hails from Los Angelesbased brand Lauren Moshi. The front of the denim button-up features a lightening heart patch, while the back is emblazoned with the message: “Make Love Not War.” (IBP/net)

4 Words: Pretty Italian Vacation Clothes

REMEMBER the cool-girl Italian brand that launched earlier this year, Ciao Lucia?

After gaining extreme popularity among the chicest bloggers and celebrities alike, the brand just launched its 2017 holiday collection, and it is next-level. To paint a clearer picture for you, all you have to do is think about is the exact definition of “pretty Italian vacation clothes.” Whatever just came to mind will almost certainly resemble the collection ahead.

Built off an ethos that is, according to the brand, “a year-long resort collection—a line dedicated to those who believe in la dolce vita,” the holiday campaign will inevitably sway you with its breezy fabrics, laid-back silhouettes, and idyllic landscapes.

If you haven’t already booked some time to get away this holiday season, Ciao Lucia’s latest drop will definitely convince you to do so while also clothing you with the chicest Italian vacation wear ever. (IBP/net)

International

Bali News

International

Friday, December 22, 2017

3

Ahead of Christmas and New Year

Tourist visit to Gianyar does not increase significantly GIANYAR — Commission II of Bali House of Representatives came to Gianyar Tourism Office on Wednesday (Dec. 20). The visit aimed to know the current condition of tourism in Gianyar after the eruption of Mount Agung.

According to the exposure of the Head of the Gianyar Tourism Office, A.A. Bagus Ari Brahmanta, there has been no significant increase in tourist visit to Gianyar both at tourist attractions and accommodation even though ahead of Christmas and New Year.

He continued that Gianyar has accommodation ranging from five-star to home stay category. Currently, the occupancy rate is below 10 percent. Though the occupancy rate usually reaching 60 percent drops dramatically, so far there is no layoff to employees due to the current condition. “What happens today is re-scheduling, but there is no layoff,” he said.

Although the current tourist visit is not as deserted as at beginning of Mount Agung eruption, he recognized there is no significant increase before Christmas and New Year. To overcome the sluggish tourism conditions, the Gianyar Tourism Office wanted to draw domestic tourists as currently they are more than foreign tourists, especially those wishing to enjoy accommodation facilities in Gianyar.

“Quite a lot of domestic tourists visit Gianyar currently.

However, they prefer to find accommodation in the Badung area like Kuta,” he said. One of the recommended accommodations for domestic tourists is home stay at tourism villages in Gianyar.

Secretary of Commission II of the Bali House of Representatives, Gede Kusuma Putra, after listening to the exposure said that Gianyar experiences the same tourism problems as other districts. The decline in foreign tourist arrivals happens due to the flight becoming the main entrance is affected by the eruption of Mount Agung.

“One of the conclusions, in my opinion, is to overcome this problem immediately by realizing the airport construction in the northern part of Bali. So, the flight is not dependent on the Southern Bali. If the eruption of Mount Agung affects the flight in Southern Bali, it can be diverted to Northern Bali and vice versa,” he explained.

These problems will be compiled and presented in order to get a solution at the meeting planned to be organized by inviting the Bali Tourism Office as well as the district/municipal tourism office. (kmb40)

IBP/kmb

The decline in foreign tourist arrivals happens due to the flight becoming the main entrance is affected by the eruption of Mount Agung.

IBP/gik

The village market project built since the beginning of this year has now been completed.

Bugbug builds people’s economy

Village market rehabilitated without govt assistance

SOMETHING different can be found at Bugbug village later this year. One of them is the condition of its village market.

The village market project built since the beginning of this year has now been completed. No more chaotic impression can be seen because the building is quite modern. The process of village market rehabilitation is also quite fast, even without government assistance.

This village market is built on the same land. The old building was leveled first and then built from the beginning with a new design. This market consists of 38 kiosks and 186 stalls of small, medium and large size. “All the components of the building are almost finished. We have agreed to name this market Sri Sedana Market 1,” said Chief of Village Market Development Committee, I Wayan Merta, on Tuesday (Dec. 19).

This market will be managed by a management board. It will not only be in charge of managing the Sri Sedana Market 1, but also other village markets, such as the Pasar Tirta Arum. “Next, we will also rehabilitate the Tirta Arum Market and renamed it into Sri Sedana Market 2 because when using the name of Tirta Arum the market was often hit by flood,” said Merta, while adding that establishment of the management body is based on the rules of awig-awig (customary village law) and perarem (appendix to customary village law) to Bug-

bug customary village.

With the capacity of such number of kiosks, Merta ensured that it can accommodate almost all the merchants. So far, only four merchants still cannot be accommodated yet. However, the development committee has ensured that all merchants will be accommodated.

Even if they cannot be accommodated, there remains Tirta Arum Market that can still accommodate many merchants.

Meanwhile, to maintain the security of merchants’ goods, Sri Sedana Market 1 has also been equipped with CCTV. Six units of CCTV are installed around the market, four of which are installed inside the market area. The remaining units are installed outside or parking lot. As planned, the village market spending IDR 2.2 billion will be ritually inaugurated on December 24. After that, it will be resumed to draw the kiosks and stalls until the end of 2017. Thus, in early January merchants can have occupied their kiosks and stalls to

sell as usual.

In terms of percentage, it has been set that 70 percent is allocated for Bugbug residents and 30 percent for non-Bugbug residents. Contract value of each kiosk has been agreed at IDR 5.4 million per year. Meanwhile, the contract value of stall is being finalized because there is a change of contract for larger-sized stalls. The change occurred as the market development is targeted to spend as much as IDR 1.8 billion to IDR 2.2 billion by empowering local LPD. This happens because the size of stall is longer than the original plan. “Every decision of the customary village remains to consider humanistic value, according to the aspirations of the merchants, especially in determining the contract value,” he said.

What about parking? Merta admitted the existing parking lot is not adequate. Therefore, his management is going to take advantage of a garden near the market to expand the parking space. Meanwhile, regarding the traffic management, he has sent a letter to the Karangasem Transportation Agency to install traffic signs. The traffic control and parking service will be handled by attendant from the management body and police personnel. (gik)

2

Friday, December 22, 2017

Bali News

International

International

Drug detective unit of Karangasem raids passengers in Padangbai Harbor

AMLAPURA —Ahead of Christmas and New Year, Padangbai Harbor becomes the focus of police security. In order to suppress drug smuggling through Padangbai Harbor, Narcotic Detective Unit of Karangasem Police conducted a raid against passengers newly dropping off at Padangbai Harbor on Wednesday (Dec. 20). This was done to prevent the harbor as the gateway of East Bali from being used as the entrance of drug smuggling.

After going down from ferry, a number of vehicles were immediately ransacked by the officers. Meanwhile, the drivers and ship passengers indicating suspicious behavior were immediately led by the officers for further taking urine test. As soon as a ship docked to drop off freight, the officer immediately moved and stopped them. At that time, the drivers of vehicle were asked to come down, and their body and luggage were searched. Likewise, it was resumed with the implementation of urine tests. Urine testing is not only done by inter-provincial passengers, bus crews, truck drivers and private vehicles, but also the officers and employees of PT ASDP. The ASDP employees were asked to take their urine and then put it into a tube having been provided by the officers for further inspection using a test pack. “We do not want to get rid of it,” said Chief of Drug Detective Unit, Agus Trisnadi.

Indeed, the raid of this time was only focused on the crews of interprovincial passenger bus, truckers and private vehicles. However, so far the results of examination are negative. This means that no one is found positive to have consumed drug. Nevertheless, these efforts will continuously maximize in a joint effort to secure Bali, especially Karangasem, ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Security of Christmas and New Year is implemented through Grand Candle Operation 2017. Chief of Karangasem Police, I Wayan Gede Ardana, emphasized that police’s focus point is on Padangbai Harbor as the entrance to East Bali. A total of 142 personnel are deployed to secure the harbor. In addition, it also focuses on other safeguards, such as places of worship and traditional routes or small ports along the coastline of Karangasem.(kmb31)

Seized goods worth IDR 3.6 billion eliminated

DENPASAR —The Supervisory and Service Office of Denpasar Customs and Excise eliminated confiscated goods worth IDR 3.6 billion on Wednesday (Dec. 20). The confiscated items consist of cigarettes, liquor, cosmetics, sex toys, samurai, airsoft gun, bows, arrows and drug supplements.

Head of the Denpasar Customs and Excise Office, Abdul Kharis, said the elimination of illegal items was symbolically carried out at the Denpasar Customs and Excise Office. After that, it was resumed to landfill at Serangan, South Denpasar.

“The elimination is carried out by burning, breaking, cutting and dumped,” he said.

According to him, the elimination was first done at the Denpasar Customs and Excise Office. He asserted by doing the elimination it means his office has been functioning as a community protector that protects people of Indonesia, especially in Bali, from negative impact of goods that are not worth entering the Indonesian customs area. In addition, it also performs the function as a revenue collector that secures state revenue. Abdul Kharis added the illegal goods are confiscated from 2016 until 2017.

“In 2016, there were three cases and have been resolved or decided in court, while in 2017 there were four suspects. The illegal goods are mostly from East Java and we are taking action from several locations, such as in Singaraja and Negara,” he said accompanied by Division Head of Action and Investigation of Customs & Excise Office for Bali, NTB and NTT Region, Husni Syaiful.

In addition, his office is still investigating whether Bali is made into the last destination or transit by the perpetrators. Confiscated goods in the form of sex toys and cosmetics are the results of prevention at the Renon Post Office since 2015. Meanwhile, the liquor is the result of market operations and finding of false taxes. (kmb36)

Activities

Friday, December 22, 2017

15

Christmas Feast at Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence

The prostitution homestead on Jalan Teges Nunggal, Bypass Ngurah Rai, South Kuta.

IBP/kmb

After sealing of prostitution homestead, activities at location always monitored

MANGUPURA —After the sealing of prostitution homestead on Jalan Teges Nunggal, Bypass Ngurah Rai, South Kuta, last Tuesday, by Regent of Badung, Nyoman Giri Prasta, on Wednesday (Dec. 20), the location looks quiet. The road usually crowded then looks deserted. Moreover, to ensure if there is no longer activity at the location, every day the municipal police officers continue to patrol.

Chief of Badung Municipal Police, IGAK Surya Negara, when contacted on Wednesday (Dec. 20) said that if there are any activities found taking place let alone pull out the seal, surely it has entered into criminal. Against this matter, his party will propose to the prosecutor office and the court to process. “Our officers continuously patrol at the location. If finding any activities or removal of the hotel seal, it has been categorized into criminal,” he concluded.

Regarding the existence of the residents or commercial sex workers (PSK) who probably still live there, until last Wednesday they were not seen. Surya Negara said when doing dissemination before the sealing, many of them already went home. Moreover, at that time there have been some owners that have dismantled their homestead.

“Until a week before the sealing, we have no longer found any occupants and activities there,” he said.

He said that before dissemi-

nating the closure plan, each homestead was occupied by eight people and 14 people. When averaged, every homestead is occupied by ten people. He asserted if the former occupants of the homestead will move to another location, they will be persistently pursued and disciplined. His agency has even been ready for the next program in 2018 and will aggressively conduct the discipline. “Before closing, the 52 homesteads were occupied by totally 520 people,” he said.

Head of the Badung Social Agency, I Ketut Sudarsana, said that before the closing process, he has made coordination and meeting with municipal police.

In this case, his agency is ready to accommodate and repatriate all the prostitutes that may be there during the closing process. However, when the closure was done, they were not found there at all.

He estimated that many of them have gone home. “We are ready to

coordinate with municipal police to take them to their area of origin, but until now they are not at the location. Municipal police do not receive any report related to their existence,” he said.

When contacted separately, Subdistrict Head of South Kuta, Made Widiana, conveyed that together with municipal police, peace and order officer as well as the local community will monitor the progress in the field.

This is done in response to the affirmation of Regent Giri Prasta, related to post sealing. Any persistent activities will deal with the law. “Below, we would like to uphold it and as the extension of the judiciary institution, we will uphold it,” he explained.

Widiana added that in the future, his authority together with health center officers will also monitor the presence of residents or the prostitutes. Since having something to do with the presence of HIV/AIDS, it should continue to be monitored.

So, the problem will not become the scourge in the community. “After the homestead is closed, their spread will be always monitored.

Persuasively, we will continuously check together with health workers.

This will become the main program,” he added. (kmb23)

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

This unspoiled island filled with natural beauty and cultures.

While enjoying Bali’s beaches and magical island of Gods, we will be invited into the festive spirit in Christmas Eve Dinner & Christmas Brunch at Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence.

The dinner feast on Christmas Eve offers a mouthwatering Roast Turkey with variant sauces, sweet stations, hot canapé stations, salads, bread station, live cooking pastas and special Christmas desserts that will tantalize for IDR 250,000 net per person. And take the family along on the Christmas Day to the Christmas Brunch,

offers various patisseries, salads, chicken cordon bleu, baked beef lasagna, and many more for IDR 125,000 net per person. Special visit of Santa Claus will be the perfect way to kick off the Christmas Festive.

“Christmas is a chance for us to spend some quality time with our loved ones. We hope both this event could give the memorable time of the festivities”, said Dewi Andriani,

General Manager of Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence.

Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence is a 4 star International hotel in Kuta area established from 2009.

In addition to being located in one of the most popular spots in Bali, Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence also boast complete resort facilities such as meeting rooms, rooftop bar, kids club and gymnasium. With its eight meeting rooms, AKHR is a perfect place for your business and leisure. for further information you can contact Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence Jl. Wana Segara, Kuta or www.

AstonKuta.com.

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

16 Pages Number 15 10th year

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

Price: Rp 3.000,-

Friday, December 22, 2017

Feminism and press freedom come together in ‘The Post’ LOS ANGELES - Steven Spielberg’s movie “The Post” is being hailed as a timely reminder about press freedom, democracy, whistle-blowing and government lies.

But its makers says it is also intended as an ode to feminism that resonates as powerfully today as the 1970s era in which it is set.

The movie, which begins its movie theater rollout on Friday, dramatizes the 1971 battle by U.S. newspapers, led by The New York Times, to publish the leaked Pentagon Papers. The documents showed that successive administrations had secretly enlarged the scope of American military action in Vietnam even as U.S. leaders became convinced the war was unwinnable.

Among those in the forefront of that battle was Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, played by Meryl Streep, who despite being in her mid-5Os at the time, was struggling to establish herself in a man’s world. She had taken over the publisher’s job following the death of her husband, Phil Graham.

“There is something very relatable to a woman finding her voice, to a woman standing in a room with men and being out-talked and overlooked,” said Liz Hannah, who wrote the screenplay with Josh Singer.

It was Graham who had to give the go-ahead to editor Ben Bradlee (played by Tom Hanks) to defy an injunction by the Nixon White House and risk imprisonment by publishing the Pentagon Papers.

The decision affected not only Graham’s family but the future of her company and the way she thought of herself.

Streep, 68, who is expected to be Oscar-nominated for a record 21st time next month, had no doubt about the film’s relevance for women who are still fighting for equality in corporate boardrooms and in Hollywood itself.

“I try to tell young women who weren’t alive then how different it was very recently, and it still is in those leadership circles. We have filled up the bottom of the pyramid but ... where it all gets decided, we don’t have parity. We’re not even close,” Streep said. (rtr)

TT News Agency/Fredrik Sandberg via REUTERS/File Photo

Terje Isungset preforms with ice instruments during the Nobel Banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm, Sweden December 10, 2017.

Chilled music: performer makes instruments out of ice

LONDON - While most musicians seek to avoid a frosty reception at concerts, for Norwegian composer and performer Terje Isungset a chilly feeling is nothing to fear: he performs with instruments he makes himself out of ice.

Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox/Niko Tavernise

A scene from “The Post”

A recent performance at London’s Royal Festival Hall featured a set including ice horns, ice drums and an ‘iceofone’ - an ice xylophone - accompanied by the vocal stylings of singer Maria Skranes.

He sees his work as being about more than making music, since he also aims to display the beauty and fragility of ice.

“I see it as a part of something bigger. It’s not me and my project and my ego - it’s the elements,” he told Reuters.

The Norwegian, equipped with

a background in traditional Scandinavian music and jazz, makes his instruments using chainsaws and pick axes.

Founder of an ice music festival in Norway, Isungset plays at about 50 festivals and concerts a year, many in the cold conditions of Norway, Canada or Russia.

At concerts in warmer climes, however, hotter temperatures can pose difficulties, as spending any more than 50 minutes at room temperature could damage the instruments.

All of the instruments for the London show were made in Norway and shipped over in special containers, highlighting the fact that, when it comes to making ice instruments, not any old water will do.

“If ice is from polluted water it doesn’t sound that good. If it’s from tap water it doesn’t work because there’s some chemicals in it,” he said. The best ice, he said, was from 2003 in the north of Sweden, adding “I’m very interested in that ice.” (rtr)

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Friday, December 22, 2017

Jl. D.Poso No 68 Jl. D.Poso No. 50D Jl. D.Poso No. 39 Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Poso Sanur Jl. D.Tamblingan Sanur Jl. D.Tamblingan

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People wait to vote in Catalonia’s regional elections at a polling station in Barcelona, Spain December 21, 2017.

REUTERS/Albert Gea

Catalonia votes in election pivotal for independence campaign

BARCELONA - Catalans flocked to the polls on Thursday for an election that could strip pro-independence parties of absolute control of the region’s parliament, though prospects of it ending the country’s worst political crisis in decades appear slim. Final surveys published last Friday showed separatists and unionists running neck-and-neck, though the same data suggests the pro-independence camp may still be able to form a minority government.

That would keep national politics mired in turmoil and raise concerns in European capitals and financial markets. However, the secessionist campaign has lost some momentum since it unilaterally declared independence in October to trigger Thursday’s vote, and one of its leaders took a conciliatory tone towards Madrid in comments published this week.

Long queues formed outside voting stations in the affluent region of northeastern Spain shortly after they opened at 0800 GMT. They will stay open until 1900 GMT in an election expected to draw a record turnout. Among those queuing in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, a working class suburb south of Barcelona, was Miguel

Rodriguez, a 53 year old doctor, who in October voted for independence in a referendum that Madrid declared unconstitutional.

“I’m not very optimistic that these elections will return a stable government,” he said, upset that the Spanish government had fired the previous regional government. “We’ve had all our rights taken away.”

International bond investors showed few signs of nerves on Thursday, with the premium demanded for holding Spanish debt over its top-rated German equivalent holding close to its narrowest levels in three months. “(The election) cannot be ignored going into year-end,” said Orlando Green, European fixed income strategist at Credit Agricole

in London. “But the secession movement has been significantly diminished and would need a decisive move to revive it.”

‘NORMALITY’ Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked Catalonia’s previous government for holding the referendum and declaring independence.

He called then Thursday’s vote in the hopes of returning Catalonia to “normality” under a unionist government, or failing that a separatist government acting within the Spanish and regional laws and not seeking a unilateral split.

A new separatist majority might further dampen investors’ confidence in Catalonia, which by itself

has an economy larger than that of Portugal and is a key driver of Spain’s economic growth.

However, separatist leaders -- who have campaigned while Spanish courts investigate them on allegations of rebellion for their roles in the Oct. 1 referendum -have recently backed away from demands for unilateral secession.

Deposed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has campaigned from self-imposed exile in Brussels and his former deputy and now rival candidate, Oriol Junqueras, has done so from behind bars at a prison outside Madrid. In a written interview with Reuters published on Monday, Junqueras struck a conciliatory tone and opened the door to building bridges with the Spanish state.

POLITICAL TURMOIL The independence campaign pitched Spain into its worst political turmoil since the collapse of fascist

rule and return of democracy in the 1970s. It has polarised public opinion, dented Spain’s economic rebound and prompted a business exodus from Catalonia to other parts of the country. Thursday’s vote has become a de facto referendum on how support for the independence movement has fared in recent months.

None of the six parties in the Catalan parliament - ranging across the ideological spectrum from separatist Marxists to the Catalan wing of Rajoy’s conservative People’s Party (PP) - are expected on their own to come close to the 68-seat majority.

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