I N T E R N A T I O N A L
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Thursday, May 23, 2019
Liam Gallagher doc to premiere at Cannes film festival
A new feature-length documentary about former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher’s years in the musical wilderness is to be shown at the Cannes film festival, its producers said Tuesday. “Liam Gallagher: As it Was” will be released next month to coincide with his second solo album, which is expected to hit the shelves soon. Co-director Charlie Lightening and his crew began followed the British singer -- whose gift for making headlines is nearly as prodigious as his musical talent -- just before his comeback. Gallagher’s first solo album, “As It Was”, was a hit in 2017 and Lightening told British music magazine NME that his new record is “gonna blow people away”. In a trailer for the film, which is showing at the Cannes market, Liam blames his brother Noel for the breakup of the Manchester band. Oasis -- once billed as the biggest British band since The Beatles -- imploded in 2009 after Liam threw a plum at his older sibling. The bickering brothers have still not buried the hatchet a decade after their famous final falling out, with Liam regularly taking swipes at his until now more successful sibling on social media. “Liam is one of the most influential and accomplished musicians of the last 30 years,” Seth Needle of distributors Screen Media told Variety, adding that the film “showcases his talent and personality like nothing before.” Lightening previously directed projects about Paul McCartney and British singer Jamiroquai. His co-director Gavin Fitzgerald made “Conor McGregor: Notorious” about the Irish mixed martial arts star as well as “The Fighting Irish” documentary on MMA fighters. (afp)
‘John Wick 3’ dethrones ‘Avengers: Endgame’ with $57 million
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Thursday, May 23, 2019
LOS ANGELES - The box office has a new king and his name is John Wick. The third installment of the hyper violent Keanu Reeves franchise has taken the top spot at the North American box office and ended the three-week reign of “Avengers: Endgame.”
Studios on Sunday say “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” has grossed an estimated $57 million in its opening weekend. Not only did it far exceed expectations, it’s a franchise best that nearly doubled the opening of the second film, which itself doubled the opening of the first film from 2014. The audience, in other words, is growing exponentially for this series about a talented assassin who never seems to get a break. This time, there’s a $14 million price tag on his head. Men made up the majority (63 of the “John Wick 3” opening weekend crowd. Overall audiences gave the film a rare A+ CinemaScore, indicating that word-of-mouth will be strong in subsequent weekends. According to Comscore’s PostTrak audience survey, 70% said they would “definitely recommend” to their friends and 21% said they would see it again in theaters. “This is the best reviewed film of the series so far,” said Joe Drake, chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, in a statement. “We believe word-of-mouth will continue to drive strong business for the film all over the world.” Internationally “John Wick 3” earned $35.2 million from 66 territories. “Avengers: Endgame” slid to second place in its fourth weekend with $29.4 million. Domestically, where the film has grossed $711 million, it’s now second only to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($937 million) and globally, with $2.6 billion, it’s still second to “Avatar” ($2.8 billion). In its second weekend, “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” also continued to do well, placing third with $24.8 million. But with the high-performing trifecta of John Wick, the Avengers and Pikachu, there weren’t very many moviegoers left over for the less flashy newcomers like “A Dog’s Journey” and “The
Niko Tavernise/Lionsgate via AP
This image released by Lionsgate shows Keanu Reeves in a scene from “John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.” The third installment of the hyper violent Keanu Reeves franchise has taken the top spot at the North American box office and ending the three-week reign of Avengers: Endgame. Sun Is Also a Star.” “The marketplace was so dominated by ‘John Wick,’” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It’s tough when one movie over performs by this kind of magnitude.” Amblin Entertainment and Reliance Entertainment’s “A Dog’s Journey” opened in fourth with an underwhelming $8 million. The Universal-distributed film is a sequel to the 2017 hit “A Dog’s Purpose.” But unlike John Wick, the audience for this sequel was less than half of that for the first, which opened to $18.2 million. But audiences who did turn out gave it an A CinemaScore, which could point toward long-term playability. Most disappointing, however, is the young adult adaptation “The Sun Is Also a Star” which grossed only $2.6 million from over 2,000 screens and landed in eighth place. Although modestly budgeted at a reported $9 million, and featuring popular television actors such as “Riverdale’s” Charles Melton
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and “grown-ish’s” Yara Shahidi, the Warner Bros.-released film failed to connect even with the audiences who turned out, 75% of whom were women. It got a poor B- CinemaScore. It’s a far cry from the days of “The Fault in Our Stars’” $48 million debut in 2014, and even the last film based on a Nicola Yoon novel, “Everything, Everything,” which opened to over $11 million in 2017. “As unpredictable and fickle as young adults are, so are the performances of films that target that audience,” Dergarabedian said. In limited release, Joanna Hogg’s wellreviewed relationship drama “The Souvenir” did well with $85,851 from four screens. Even with the success of “John Wick,” the weekend itself was down about 31% and the year to date is still down around 9%, but, Dergarabedian said that this is the calm before the storm. In the next few weekends theaters will see an influx of could-be hits such as “Rocketman,” ‘’Aladdin” and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” (ap)
BAY ISMOYO / AFP
Carcasses that were burned by the mob are seen during an overnight demonstration near by the Elections Oversight Body (Bawaslu) in Jakarta on May 22, 2019.
Six dead after election riots in Indonesia’s capital
JAKARTA - At least six people were killed as Indonesia’s capital erupted in violence on Wednesday when police clashed with protesters opposed to the re-election of President Joko Widodo. Dozens were arrested and parts of Jakarta were littered with debris and burned-out cars, as the violence triggered security advisories from the US and Australian embassies. Authorities also restricted access to some social media in a bid to stop rumours and fake news from spreading online. National police chief Tito Karnavian said six people had died, but denied authorities had fired live rounds on the crowd, and called for calm. “Some had gunshot wounds,
some had blunt force wounds but we still need to clarify this,” he told reporters. The violence came after Indonesia’s election commission on Tuesday confirmed Widodo had beaten retired military general Prabowo Subianto for the presidency in a poll held on April 17. Subianto has said he would challenge the results in court -- as he did, unsuccessfully, against Widodo in 2014 -- but also warned his claims of widespread cheating could spark street protests.
That was borne out early Wednesday as protesters set market stalls and cars on fire while hurling fireworks and rocks at security personnel clad in riot gear and holding shields, an AFP reporter on the scene said. The early morning clashes started after several thousand Subianto supporters rallied peacefully near the election supervisory agency’s office in the heart of the capital on Tuesday. - ‘Exercise caution’ Later, roads were blocked off in parts of the sprawling metropolis -- with some shopping malls, businesses and schools also closed as small groups of protesters engaged in skirmishes with police.
“I open myself to anyone to work together to build and develop this nation, but I won’t tolerate anyone who tries to disrupt public security, the democratic process or the unity of our... country,” Widodo said at a press briefing, flanked by his chief security ministry and the head of the military Subianto repeated calls for supporters to avoid violence. “We support people’s constitutional rights (to protest) as long as they are civilised, peaceful and non-violent,” he told reporters. By Wednesday afternoon, a crowd of several thousand demonstrators flowed into the city’s business and commercial heart for a rally. “Avoid areas where demonstra-
tions are occurring & exercise caution in the vicinity of any large gathering,” the US embassy said on Twitter. More than 30,000 troops had been deployed in anticipation of unrest, and the elections commission office was barricaded with razor wire and protected by scores of security personnel. 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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Thursday, May 23, 2019
Bali News
International
Estuary arrangement of Mati River almost accomplishes
PDAM to coordinate regarding utilization of raw water
IBP/kmb
Octopus is also attached to animal symbol identical to monsters from the sea as described as the Kraken in the Caribbean Pirate film.
Presenting giant octopus installation work
BBAF reminds importance of maintaining marine conservation
MANGUPURA — In contrast to the first event in 2018 that broke the MURI record with Colossal Cak a cappella concert involving 5,555 artists from high school and vocational school students across Badung district, the Brawa Beach Arts Festival (BBAF) 2019 will return to present something new. With the theme of Pasisi Lango: ‘Deep Blue Spirit,’ the concept is to break another MURI record with the category of gigantic installation art or the biggest one adopting the sea octopus animal. This festival will take place on May 23-26. According to Committee Chairman, I Made Dwijantara, octopus is a sea animal closely related to people’s life used as food ingredient by Tibubeneng community. Octopus is also attached to animal symbol identical to monsters from the sea as described as the Kraken in the Caribbean Pirate film. “Octopus was chosen because of its uniqueness. On the one side, it is attached to a fragile animal that is not too strong, but on the other side it also represents an animal as a scary monster,” he said when giving a statement on Tuesday (May 21) In this case, octopus is a symbol to represent the consciousness spirit of the deep ocean (Deep Blue Spirit). The concept of this theme is interpreted into the presence of the Giant Octopus which fills the Perancak Temple area posing the venue of the festival. Other meaning wishing to be showed off is how the basic spirit of the sea is brought
to echo the future concern for the potential of the sea increasingly polluted in the long run. “The message to convey is that never let the bottom of the sea get angry that can bring in misery to humanity. With the arrival of the giant octopus to the coast, the aim is to remind us of the importance of preserving the sea,” he concluded. Meanwhile, Secretary of the Badung Tourism Office, AA Yuyun Hanura Eny, hoped the festival could unite the tourism office with the community to enliven the atmosphere of Brawa Beach so that it could increase tourist visits. “The target of Tourism Office is to increase the tourist visits to Brawa Beach. In addition to tourist visits, it is also meant to extend their stay,” she hoped. The Brawa Beach Arts Festival will also feature performing arts (arts & music) in the form of dance and musical compositions elevating
the coastal values of North Kuta. Similarly, it will feature various types of local food having begun to be forgotten in the Food & Beverage corner. This cultural event is the Coastal Society Art Festival (Pasisi Lango) specifically in the North Kuta area. It aims to raise the values of the cultural wisdom of the coastal communities of South Bali, especially at Tibubeneng village and its surroundings. The life of coastal communities as fishermen has long been a buffer for fish consumption of Balinese people, and of course they have their own wisdom. This activity is not only an arena of creativity for the artists, but also a collective space of creativity involving the surrounding community. Like in the first event, the festival also presents art exhibitions of painting and sculpture, traditional and contemporary dance performances enlivened with local bands. (kmb23)
MANGUPURA — Arrangement of the estuary flow of the Mati River, Pata Sari area, Kuta, is now nearing completion. Other than holding the high tidal currents, the project is carried out for flood controller while the water in the dam can also be taken advantage by Municipal Waterworks or PDAM as raw water. However, currently the PDAM Tirta Mangutama of Badung said that it had not yet coordinated with the Bali-Penida River Agency (BWS). According to the Managing Director of PDAM Tirta Mangutama, I Ketut Golak, related to the near completion of the Mati River arrangement project, it will coordinate with the Bali-Penida River Agency to discuss about the use of raw water there. Hopefully, it will be able to increase the existing water load in Estuary dam. With the water accommodated in the mouth of the Mati River, it will certainly be able to provide additional water, especially during dry season or when it is really needed. “Previously, we also had time to deliver in the discussion forum, how to make connection or waterway from the Mati River to Estuary,” he said on Tuesday (May 21). When confirmed separately, the Commitment Making Of-
Activities
International
ficer (PPK) of River and Beach at the Bali-Penida River Agency (BWSBP), Wayan Riasa, stated that for the water utilization plan at the Mati River estuary, in the future this will be coordinated again because the current arrangement concept is indeed for flood control. However, to reduce excess water, an overflow to the Mati River is made to the north of the mouth of the Mati River. He explained, for the progress of the arrangement to the upper limit 2019, it is already almost 100 percent. It includes the installation of weir panels, landscape in the form of a road with a width of 5 meters. In the meantime, the workmanship is currently underway related to finishing generator set house and other finishing work. Meanwhile, overall the construction work has been complete. He said that target for workmanship is referring to the plan, indeed until December 31, 2019. However, implementation of this activity is almost completed, while waiting for revisions. “Currently, the remaining work is the making of generator set house, finishing of landscape, panel installation where some of them have not been done and finishing movable weir,” he said. (kmb23)
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Arrangement of the estuary flow of the Mati River, Pata Sari area, Kuta, is now nearing completion.
Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Swasrina, Buleleng: Mudiarta, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Eka Parananda, Klungkung: Bagiarta. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post
Thursday, May 23, 2019
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Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa, Bali Commemorates 36 years on the island
Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa, Bali will celebrate its 36th anniversary on 28th May 2019, as a leading Resort in Bali renowned for its traditional architectures, facilities, services and hospitality. The Resort was opened in 1983 by former President Soeharto and became the first five-star resort built in the southern enclave of Nusa Dua. For over three decades the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa has been committed to delivering outstand-
ing customer service as well as exceeding guests’ expectations. Additionally, the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa has continuously supported the local community and environmental initiatives by various programs including social visits to orphanages, monthly beach cleaning, recycling programs, tree planting and many others. After 36 years the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa is still committed as a successful leader in the hospitality industry by con-
tinuously providing “Authentically Bali” experiences through unique products and exceptional services. The anniversary celebrations will be enlivened by a series of events held at the end of May including a Cleaning Campaign and other celebrations amongst the staff. In recognizing this historic milestone, the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa is delighted to share a celebratory deal of 30% off on all room rates from 25 – 31 May 2019. Terms and conditions apply.
“I greatly appreciate and value this exceptional longevity. I am sure there will be many more years of this continued success ahead. ” said Jamal Hussain, General Manager of Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa. The Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa is the pioneer of luxury accommodation within the Nusa Dua area. This 5-star diamond resort, has been welcoming kings, queens, presidents and other dignitaries since its grand opening. Nestled within beautifully landscaped
gardens, the resort, with its 382 guestrooms and suites, features all the elegance of a Balinese palace, while offering modern amenities. The Nusa Dua Spa is designed to highlight its rich Balinese tradition with a variety of indigenous treatments. Dining at Nusa Dua Hotel & Spa is an epicurean journey with a choice of five restaurants and four bars under the close watch of an award-winning culinary team. For more information, please visit www.nusaduahotel.com.
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Thursday, May 23, 2019
Health
International
Bali News
International
IBP/net
Oumou Balde, 4, left, plays with her teacher Jacqualine Sanchez, right, and pretend food in a pre-kindergarten class at the Sheltering Arms Learning Center in New York in a program to educate children about nutrition and health on, Jan. 21, 2014.
Cholesterol improves in U.S. kids, yet only half have ideal numbers, study finds
which creates a much smaller stomach pouch, in 161 teens and 396 adults who had been obese since they were teens. Five years after their operations, both groups had lost 26% to 29% of their weight. Diabetes went into remission in 86% of teens and 53% of adults who had that disease before their operations; high blood pressure did the same in 68% of teens and 41% of adults. Some side effects were more common in teens, and they were twice as likely to need a second operation. One troubling finding: Although about 2 percent of each group died, two of the teens did so from drug overdoses, suggesting substance abuse and self-harm may be a concern. Overall, the results are consistent with an earlier study comparing teens and adults, Ted Adams of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City wrote in a commentary in the journal. “Almost 6% of adolescents in the United States are severely obese, and bariatric surgery is now the only successful, long-term treatment option” for them, he wrote. Most obese teens stay obese as adults, and adults who were obese as teens have worse health than people who started to weigh too much at an older age, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right choice to have surgery earlier than later, he warned. (net)
NEW YORK - Cholesterol levels in children and teens improved in the latest analysis of U.S. health surveys, yet only half of them had readings considered ideal. Overall, 7% of kids had high cholesterol in surveys from 2009 to 2016. That was down from 10% a decade earlier. In children, high levels mean 200 or above and ideal measures are below 170. The results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers say the mixed bag of results could reflect stubborn rates of childhood obesity, offset by U.S. kids eating fewer snack foods containing unhealthy trans fats. Manufacturers began phasing those out before a 2018 U.S. ban. In the analysis, researchers used
1999-2016 government surveys of 26,000 kids aged 6 to 19 who had home interviews, physical exams and lab tests. About 1 in 4 teens and 1 in 5 younger children had unhealthy levels of at least one of type of blood fat, including cholesterol and triglycerides. High cholesterol in childhood can lead to changes that cause blood vessels to narrow, said Dr. Amanda Perak, the study’s lead author and a heart specialist at Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital. Those changes put kids at risk for heart attacks and other heart trouble in adulthood, she said.
In most cases, kids can improve cholesterol levels by adopting healthier habits — eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and less processed food, and exercising more, Perak said. “Lifestyle contributes in the vast majority of cases,” she said. Obesity contributes to unhealthy cholesterol levels yet rates have remained stagnant for U.S. kids and adults. In 2015-16, 21% of teens, 18% of children aged 6-11, and 40% of adults were obese, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (net)
IBP/net
Miranda Taylor had obesity surgery when she was 16 and weighed 265 pounds. Taylor, who lost more than 100 pounds, said “I feel awesome. It’s like a new life.”
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Low-priced market at Blahbatuh lacks of buyers
Obesity surgery benefits may be bigger for teens than adults
HOUSTON - Teens who have obesity surgery lose as much weight as those who have the operation as adults and are more likely to have it resolve other health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure, a study finds. The results suggest there’s a benefit from not waiting to address obesity. Researchers say longer study is still needed to know lifetime effects of this radical surgery and that it’s a personal decision whether and when to try it. The study was published Thursday by the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the Combating Childhood Obesity conference in Houston. The National Institutes of Health paid for it, and some researchers consult for makers of obesity surgery tools. The damaging effects of obesity accumulate, and the risk of developing other diseases and dying prematurely rises the longer someone goes. Surgery is usually reserved for people who can’t lose enough weight through other means — diet, exercise and sometimes medicines — and are severely obese. Researchers led by Dr. Thomas Inge at the University of Colorado wanted to know whether it’s better or safer to have it in mid-life, the most common time now, or sooner before many of those other health problems appear or do much harm. They compared results from two studies of gastric bypass surgery,
Thursday, May 23, 2019
IBP/kmb31
PDAM Klungkung is now working hard to maximize Guyangan spring and Penida spring potential.
Two springs in Nusa Penida have not been utilized maximally SEMARAPURA — The basic needs of clean water for the residents of Nusa Penida subdistrict are met from two springs of clean water. They are the Guyangan spring and Penida spring. Apparently, both have considerable capacity. However, at this time the newly used ones are actually still very small. Director of the PDAM Klungkung, Nyoman Renin Suyasa, stated on Tuesday (May 21) the two springs have considerable capacity. Like the Penida spring, its capacity reaches 179 liters per second. However, so far only 30 liters per second has been used. Meanwhile, the source at the Guyangan spring has the capacity reaching 75 liters per second. However, only 20 liters per second has been used. PDAM Klungkung is now working hard to maximize this potential, so that all villages, especially on Nusa Penida Island, can be served with clean water. After the clean water has been channeled into the service connection, the effort of PDAM becomes easier to distribute water to each house connection. “If the water has arrived at one village we are heading for, to stream it to customers is certainly easier. Now, there are only three villages having not been reached by PDAM services, namely Tanglad, Pantungutan and Sekartaji village,” said Renin. As a step to maximize the potential of these two springs, it certainly requires budget planning and support. In its management, the power, pumps and creation of new networks with larger pipe widths will be added. “For example, from the Guyangan spring, we are going to increase the usage capacity amounting to 25 liters per second. So, the total usage rises to 45 liters per second,” he said. The efforts to increase the us-
age capacity will be carried out in stages. This is an anticipatory measure seeing the development of Nusa Penida which is increasingly rapid, along with the development of tourism. The increasingly rapid development of tourist accommodation certainly requires a good supply of clean water services, as a means of supporting the development process of the local government. “This is our answer to the demands of the development of Nusa Penida currently running so fast. If there is a disruption of services, of course we must be ready to follow up,” he said. He hopes that Nusa Penida community can understand the development of this situation. The situation is clearly different, when comparing the past to current situation of Nusa Penida where currently it has got a touch of tourism innovation. So, when lately there is frequent disruption of services, it cannot be analogized that the past PDAM management is better than the current one. Renin affirmed that currently PDAM has 5,906 connections in Nusa Penida with the percentage of service coverage reaching 63.98 percent of the total population in Nusa Penida. Meanwhile, overall in Klungkung, total services reached 33,095 connections, with a percentage of services reaching 94.61 percent. This clearly showed significant increase from before he took office, where at that time the Nusa Penida service totaled only 2,700 home connections. Or the service coverage was only 16 percent. “If there are service complaints, immediately tell us, we can handle it. We are ready to explain, what we have done,” said Renin who has long been in the world of clean water services, since working at the PDAM Gianyar. (kmb31)
GIANYAR — The low-priced market opened by the Gianyar Industry and Trade Agency in Blahbatuh Public Market seemed lonely on Tuesday (May 21). Some visitors preferred shopping to merchants in the public market, with the same price and better quality of goods. Ni Made Yanti, a resident visiting Blahbatuh Public Market on Tuesday, admitted that she prefers to shop at merchants in the public market to meet her kitchen needs. She pointed out that rice price in public market merchants just differ slightly from low-priced market, but the quality is much better. “In the low-priced market, the price of rice is around IDR 8,000, but visitors have to buy 5 kg. Besides, I see the rice is rather dirty. Meanwhile, the merchants in the public market sell for IDR 10,000 per kg and the rice is good. Besides, I can buy only 3 kg,” he said. She also complained about the difference in oil prices in the public market compared to low-priced market using box vehicle. She exemplified that at the merchants of Blahbatuh Market she used to buy cooking oil for IDR 11,000 for well known brand. While at the lowpriced market, the price of cooking oil is IDR 10,000, but the brand is unfamiliar. “So, I buy cooking oil with the brand of more commonly
used at home, while the price is also a little different,” she said. Meanwhile, a merchant in the Public Market, Ni Wayan Sedana, admitted that at first she was worried about the existence of the low-priced market, coming every holiday in the parking area of Blahbatuh Public Market. “I was worried it will cause no visitors shopping in my shop, but it wasn’t,” she said. She revealed that after getting information, in fact the price offered is not much different from the price of the products she sold. She pointed out that the price of egg she sells in her shop is IDR 1,500 each, where this price is the same as those sold in low-priced market. “The price is the same. Moreover, according to buyers, the eggs on sale at my shop look bigger,” she affirmed. As seen in the parking area of Blahbatuh Public Market, the low-priced market using box vehicle was guarded by a number of officers in civil servant uniforms.
They have sold from Tuesday morning around 08:00. However, around 09:00, a number of items in the open box vehicle seemed to be intact. Until entering 10:00, the low-priced market was closed by its officers on duty. A few days before the holy month of Ramadan, the Gianyar Industry and Trade Agency in cooperation with the Bali Logistics Agency held a low-priced market in three public markets in Gianyar district. This was revealed by the Division Head of Consumer Protection and Commercial Order, Ni Wayan Adnyaningsih, on Monday (May 20). According to her, the lowpriced market activity is carried out in turns on the public market in Gianyar district. It was started at the Sukawati Public market (May 17), Gianyar Public Market (May 20) and Blahbatuh Public Market (May 21). “Ahead of the feast, usually the price of some basic needs have increased significantly,” explained Wayan Adnyaningsih. (kmb35)
IBP/kmb35
The low-priced market opened by the Gianyar Industry and Trade Agency in Blahbatuh Public Market seemed lonely on Tuesday (May 21).
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Bali News
Thursday, May 23, 2019
International
Thursday, May 23, 2019
International
Aftermath of claims of IDR 2.9 billion
Boy or girl? Hong Kong at centre of banned China gender test
Suastawa finally relocates his livestock
GIANYAR - The hotel lawsuit amounting to IDR 2.9 billion to a farmer at Buahan village, Payangan subdistrict, returned to make mediation. Result of the mediation is that I Nyoman Suastawa finally agreed to move his pig from the pigsty complained by the hotel on Monday afternoon (May 20). The pigsty located adjacent with the hotel restaurant is planned to be demolished in the near future.
When contacted on Tuesday (May 21), I Nyoman Suastawa explained that two of his pigs had been relocated to the old pigsties located approximately 80 meters from the pigsty complained by the hotel. Relocation of the pigs was carried out on Monday afternoon. So, on Tuesday the pigsty was already clear. “Relocation of the pigs was done last Monday at around 15:00. The pigsty was cleared up while waiting for further follow-up from the hotel. Besides, I make sure the pigsty will also be dismantled immediately,” he said firmly. The breeder who was also former chief of Buahan customary village claimed that the land near the restaurant will no longer be built a pigsty. However, it will still be utilized for banana cultivation. When asked about compensation funds from the hotel for the relocation of the pigsty, in accordance with the results of mediation, he has not received it. “Indeed, the initial agreement is like that, but the agreement letter was not yet signed. So far, I am still waiting for information from the hotel,” he explained. Separately, the Legal Counsel of PT Nandini Bali, Gede Masa, said that the owner of PT Nandini Bali was outside Bali. So, he had not had time to coordinate with his client. “If it has been removed and will be dismantled, it is good. Indeed we hope so. As soon as possible we will revoke the lawsuit,” he said. When asked about the compensation funds to be given to Nyoman Suastawa, he is also still waiting for certainty from the owner of PT Nandini Bali. “The cost of relocating the pigsty will be surely given, but still waiting for the owner to come. According to yesterday’s agreement, it is around IDR 2.5 million,” he added. (kmb35)
AFP
This photograph taken on April 21, 2019 shows 99-year-old Pham Thi Ca resting in a hammock in her makeshift shelter in Van Phong Bay.
Grandma Ca: the 99year-old standing up to Vietnam’s coal rush
VIETNAM - Toothless and nearly blind, grandmother Pham Thi Ca refuses to leave her plot of land even after bulldozers demolished her house -- an extraordinary holdout against communist Vietnam’s deepening addiction to coal.
IBP/kmb35
The pigsty located adjacent with the hotel restaurant is planned to be demolished in the near future.
Dog vaccination achieves 50 percent of estimated number
IBP/kmb24
The number of vaccinated dogs just reached 50 percent of the estimation in 2019 amounting to 55,447.
TABANAN - Mass vaccination activities for 2019 will continue until June 22. Based on the latest data, the achievement of rabies carrier animal vaccination reached 25,952, consisting of 25,633 dogs, 315 cats and four monkeys. The number of vaccinated dogs just reached 50 percent of the estimation in 2019 amounting to 55,447. Vaccination of rabies carrier animal, especially dogs, can reach 95 percent of the estimated amount until the deadline for mass vaccination. Livestock Division Head at the Tabanan Agriculture Agency, Wayan Suamba, said even though the 95 percent target cannot be achieved until the deadline, his agency will conduct sweeping against dogs that were not reached by vaccination. “‘This deadline
applies to simultaneous mass vaccinations in Bali. If during this period the 95 percent vaccination achievement cannot be achieved, a sweeping will be carried out” he said on Tuesday (May 21). Suamba added that if in the sweeping cannot still be achieved because no dogs are found scattered, it can be said the vaccination had met the target. “In this care, we use the number of estimation as the target. If during the sweeping, there is no additional number, so it is the real data of the dog population in Tabanan,” he explained. Based on the data, the subdistrict mostly doing vaccination is Kediri with 4,964 rabies carrier animals followed by Pupuan (3,848 heads), Tabanan (3,278 heads), Selemadeg (2,641 heads), Kerambitan (2,484
heads), Baturiti (2,444 heads), Marga (2,178 heads), Penebel (1,834 heads), West Selemadeg (1,552 heads) and East Selemadeg (729 heads). In addition to vaccinating, continued Suamba, the officers also carried out elimination. The elimination measures are carried out if there is a suspected positive bite in an area having not received any vaccination schedule or from the red zone in this case there have been positive bite cases. At least, six dogs were eliminated and taken its sample for examination. The six samples were taken from Delod Peken village (2 samples), Banjar Anyar village (1), Cepaka village (1), Beraban village (1) and Jegu village (1). All the samples taken were negative. (kmb24)
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The 99-year-old was offered money to move as authorities hoovered up land for a planned $2.6 billion Japanese-funded coal plant in the remote Van Phong Bay she has called home since birth. But when she said no, around 100 authorities showed up, forcibly removed her from the house and bulldozed it as she and her grandson looked on. They were helpless to prevent the destruction of the property two years ago, but Ca, frail and wizened, has rebuffed all attempts to evict her from the land since. “The authorities carried me away, but I refuse to move,” explains Ca, who now lives in a makeshift shelter of corrugated tin, wooden beams and coconut fronds next to the pile of rubble that was once her home. “My house is here, my land is here, so I will be buried here,” she tells AFP, sitting on a small cot where she spends much of her time. It’s a story playing out across Vietnam, where a strong-fisted government is powering ahead with coal projects to meet the soaring energy demands of a turbo-charged economy. Coal accounts for about a third of
Vietnam’s current energy production and is slated to rise to about 50 percent by 2030. That means building more coal plants in places like Van Phong Bay despite a chorus of opposition from locals who complain of land grabs, loss of livelihood and environmental damage. - ‘I can’t do anything’ Some 300 people have already been relocated from Ca’s community in south-central Khanh Hoa province. They were offered cash compensation and rooms in state housing -- but the residences were far from their farms and fishing grounds. The $43,000 inducement to leave their 9,000 square-meter plot was not enough to upend Ca’s family. “We cannot work there, there is no land for cultivation,” says Ca’s son Ho Huu Hanh, referring to the proposed relocation area. He insists that they were never told about the planned coal plant and accuses authorities of bending the law to strongarm residents to leave. The family lost their farmland anyway. Now Hanh works as a daylabourer or catches snails and small
fish to get by, earning about $170 a month. “I can’t do anything, I feel so sorry for myself,” he adds, crying. Others in the area are worried about what the coal plant will do to fish and coral reefs in the bay where water temperatures could rise due to the plant’s runoff. Like many of the 20 or so coal plants already operating in Vietnam, the bulk of the funding for the yet-tobe-built Van Phong plant is external. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) last month approved a $1.2 billion loan for the project, which is sponsored by the Sumitomo Corporation of Japan and is set to come online in 2023. Sumitomo says assessments were conducted to measure the environmental, social and health impacts of the project which were “managed and mitigated appropriately”. It says consultation meetings were held with residents and that compensation and resettlement was “carried out under the responsibility of local authorities in accordance with the laws of Vietnam”. Vietnamese officials did not reply to AFP’s request for comment. (afp)
HONG KONG - Shady middlemen are openly advertising on Chinese social media to smuggle blood samples of pregnant women to Hong Kong to skirt the mainland’s ban on gender testing, an AFP investigation has found. The business thrives on a wellorganised underground network that serves the huge demand for illicit sexselective abortion in mainland China –- driven by limits on family size and an entrenched cultural preference for sons. Chinese authorities vowed to crack down on the trade in 2015. But dozens of blood smuggling agents are openly advertising services on the Twitter-like platform Weibo and on websites, despite China’s proven ability to scrub digital content. Gender testing -- except on medical grounds -- is outlawed in China, where sex-selective abortions have helped create a surplus of about 31.6 million men, with some 115 boys born for every 100 girls last year. A long-standing one-child policy was eased to permit two children in 2016 but gender testing continues, with many parents of daughters trying for a son the second time around. Gender testing is legal in Hong Kong, with some clinics apparently turning a blind eye to the origins of the smuggled samples. Three agents contacted by an AFP reporter posing as a customer offered to arrange in-person appointments with medical testing labs or transport blood samples to Hong Kong for around US$580, promising results starting from six weeks into pregnancy. Upon payment of a deposit, the agent sends a testing kit to the client through a delivery service. One advised using an app to hire a nurse who could come to the patient’s home in mainland China to extract blood. - ‘Nothing will go wrong’ The client sends the blood sample to Shenzhen from where it is smug-
gled across the border to Hong Kong. The agents did not directly address questions about how the samples would be transported, but assured the reporter they would arrive safely at their destination. “They will be taken to the lab in a designated vehicle, the samples can be safely sent over for testing, nothing will go wrong,” one representative said, adding that results would be sent out in one working day. Other agents use human smugglers. In February, a 12-year-old girl headed to Hong Kong was caught at the Shenzhen border carrying 142 vials of blood samples from pregnant women in her backpack. The tests analyse small fragments of foetal DNA in a pregnant woman’s blood and can detect the presence of a Y chromosome. They are also used to screen for chromosomal disorders such as Down’s syndrome. They can often accurately predict the gender of a foetus weeks before doctors can see the sex organs in an ultrasound. Some mainlanders take the legal option of travelling directly to Hong Kong for gender testing. “I have three daughters already. To be honest I want a son,” a 39-year-old man surnamed Wang told AFP outside a lab in Kowloon where his wife was getting her blood tested. Wang, who circumvented the onechild policy as many well-connected or wealthy Chinese families do, said he was under intense parental pressure to produce a male heir and had made the journey from the southern province of Guizhou. “Chinese people still want to have a son to carry on the ancestral line, this is an antiquated way of thinking, but back home there are lots of people who think this way,” he explained. He added he and his wife would terminate the pregnancy in China if it turned out be a girl. “Right now she’s only about 50 days along, so it can be solved by taking some medicine,” he said. (afp)
ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP
In this photo taken on May 20, 2019 a general view of the Hong Kong sky line and Victoria Harbour.
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International
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Come on, Ride Free Gig in Denpasar City
BUSINESS OECD cuts global growth forecast as US-China tensions rise
The OECD on Tuesday cut its forecast for the world economy, urging governments to resolve their trade disputes as the latest flare-up in the US-China trade war threatens to crimp global growth. “Governments must act urgently to reinvigorate growth that benefits all,” the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said as it pared back its forecast for global growth to 3.2 percent this year from 3.3 percent earlier. “Resolve trade disputes through increased international cooperation while fixing the international rules-based system,” said the OECD, a Paris-based forum that advises the world’s advanced economy. “Invest in infrastructure, digital transformation and skills to meet tomorrow’s challenges. In the euro area, combine structural with fiscal policies to stimulate activity.” The OECD’s updated forecasts did not take directly into account the latest flare-up in the longrunning trade war between Washington and Beijing, “insofar that there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the length of time (tariffs) will remain in place and the future evolution of the trade relationship between the two countries,” an OECD source told AFP. Nevertheless, the projections did “incorporate” the increased uncertainty generated by the trade tensions, the source said. As both Washington and Beijing slap trade tariffs on more and more of each other’s goods, President Donald Trump has barred US companies from engaging in telecommunications trade with foreign companies said to threaten American national security. US internet giant Google, whose Android mobile operating system powers most of the world’s smartphones, then announced that it was beginning to cut ties with China’s Huawei, which Washington considers a national security threat. OECD secretary general Angel Gurria told a news conference it was imperative that Washington and Beijing bury their differences. “There is an urgent need that we sit around a multilateral table and that we create the conditions that will allow trade to continue to underpin global growth and global well-being,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do, but if we do it together we will have a much better chance to succeed.” The organisation’s chief economist Laurence Boone said the “worst scenario possible” was that trade tensions would continue and snowball. “A climate of uncertainty (was) detrimental to investment and for confidence” and could erode purchasing power, she argued. While the OECD pared back its global growth forecast for the current year, it predicted a pick-up in activity to 3.4 percent in 2020. It notched up its forecast for US growth this year by 0.2 percentage point to 2.8 percent, but predicted a slowdown to 2.3 percent next year. Chinese growth was projected to slow to 6.2 percent this year and 6.0 percent next year. The outlook for euro area growth was unchanged at 1.2 percent this year. (afp)
Bali News
International
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Have you ever ridden a gig? Once upon a time, try to enjoy the attraction of riding a free gig prepared by the Denpasar municipality. The location is at the office of the Regional Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) of Denpasar, the former building of the Denpasar Tourism Office, precisely on Jalan Raya Surapati, north of Jagatnatha Temple, Denpasar. Gig is a traditional means of transportation taking advantage of the horse power. To be able to enjoy the atmosphere of Denpasar city through gig rides for free, just come on Saturday and Sunday at the office of the BPPD Denpasar. This attraction starts at 9:00 until 15:00. However, passengers should fill out the participant’s log book put at the entrance of the office. When riding a gig, guests can invite their sister, brother or parents. By all means, there are eight gigs that always line up while waiting for the public or tourists to enjoy the atmosphere of the city. A gig must not be ridden by more than four people. After getting enough passenger, the driver of the gig then drive to the center of the Bali’s capital. “My children are very happy to be invited to ride a gig,” said Ni Made Suparmi, a mother of 2 sons from Karangasem living at Penatih. The route in the city of Denpasar is passed through for around 18-20 minutes. The journey starts from the office of the Regional Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD), moving towards the left via Jalan Surapati, turn right towards Jalan Kapten Agung, turn right towards Jalan Baliton and then turn right towards Jalan Udayana. The journey continues to pass in the area of ??the Catur Muka Statue, go to Jalan Veteran at Inna Bali Hotel and then move towards Jalan Gatot Kaca, turn left passing Jalan Arjuna and then enter Jalan Gajah Mada. After crossing the area of ??the Catur Muka statue, passengers are taken to return to the BPPD Building. “Foreign tourists also often ride a gig, but not on Sundays,” said one of the coaches commonly called Pak Ketut (rejecting to mention his surname). (kmb)
Chinatopix via AP, File
In this May 22, 2018 file photo, a staff member works in a circuit board manufacturing facility in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. In a report issued Monday, May 20, 2019, a business group says the number of foreign companies in China that feel compelled to hand over technology in exchange for market access has doubled since two years ago.
Report: More companies in China handing over technology
BEIJING - The number of foreign companies that feel compelled to hand over technology in exchange for Chinese market access — an issue that sparked President Donald Trump’s tariff fight with Beijing — has doubled since two years ago despite official promises to end such pressure, a business group reported Monday. The European Chamber of Commerce in China’s report highlighted enduring complaints about “forced technology transfer” that China’s trading partners say violate its market-opening commitments despite denials and promises of change. European leaders have criticized Trump’s tactics in confronting Beijing over its technology ambitions but echo U.S. criticisms. One in five companies that responded to a survey in January, before the latest round of U.S. and Chinese tariff hikes, said they felt compelled to hand over technology, up from 10% in a 2017 survey, the European chamber said. “It is not something that is back in history. It is still happening now,” a chamber vice president, Charlotte Roule, told reporters ahead of the report’s release. She said ending that “should be a priority.” The share of companies that said they
felt compelled to transfer technology was higher in some fields — 30% in petroleum and chemicals, 28% in medical devices, 27% for pharmaceuticals and 21% in the auto industry. One-quarter of those companies said transfers were happening at the time of the survey. The report gave no details of why companies felt compelled to hand over technology. But the heavily regulated economy gives Chinese regulators leverage over companies, and business groups say they sometimes give orders in secret. Trump started raising tariffs on Chinese imports last July over complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Europe, Japan and other trading partners echo U.S. complaints that such practices violate Chinese commitments to open its markets and treat foreign companies equally in exchange for access to their markets.
“China’s lagging reform agenda not only holds back economic development but it has also driven global tension,” said Roule. Chinese officials deny foreign companies are required to hand over technology. But companies in auto manufacturing, electronics and other industries that want to operate in China are required to be minority partners in ventures with stateowned partners, which forces them to share technology and expertise. A law endorsed in March by China’s ceremonial legislature tries to reassure foreign investors by prohibiting use of “administrative measures” to compel technology transfer. Business groups welcomed that but said Chinese officials still have extensive leverage in the heavily regulated economy. Tech transfer was one of a series of complaints the European chamber said prompts pessimism among companies about whether the ruling Communist Party will follow through on promises to open its markets. One-third of companies surveyed said they don’t expect ever to see a “meaningful opening” of Chinese markets. (ap)
Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon, A Unique Tradition to Invoke Fertility at Kapal Village
Bleganjur gamelan music was played. Hundreds of villagers then threw tipat (rice bag) bantal (pillow-like cake) each other. Although, they seemed to mutually reciprocate, between the two camps (people in the north and south) did not keep any revenge. Their throw was not focused on particular person, but to the air above the opposite camp. Although this looked like a war, they cheered each other due to excitement. It is the atmosphere of the Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon ritual or often known as the Siat Tipat Bantal at Kapal customary village, Mengwi, Badung district, Thursday (Oct. 5). Hundreds of Kapal customary villagers were involved in the Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon. In addition to the community, this unique tradition was also attended by the Regional Secretary of Badung district, Wayan Adi Arnawa. The ritual was followed by all Kapal customary villagers. All the villagers were then divided into two camps, namely the northern camp and southern camp. At first, the
two camps held a ceremony in the temple and were then resumed with worship at the outermost courtyard of the Desa/Puseh temple of Kapal. Thousands of tipat and bantal were prepared by the temple apparatus. After dividing them, they were thrown each other like a war accompanied with bleganjur gamelan music. Chief of Kapal customary village, Ketut Sudarsana, said that Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon formerly known as perang tipat (tipat war) is an annual ritual having been carried out for generations at Kapal customary village. This tradition is then preserved, so that it is always carried out by the Kapal customary village. “This activity aims to invoke prosperity for all customary villagers of Kapal,” he said. Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon has the meaning of offerings or an expression of gratitude before God in his manifestation as Lord Shiva. Aci means ‘offering,’ Tabuh means ‘echoing,’ Rah means ‘power’ and Pengangon is another name of Lord Shiva. “Mutual throw of tipat and bantal is aimed to bring together
the symbol of pradhana (female) and purusha (male), resulting in fertility,” he explained. Ketut Sudarsana asserted that Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon is held by customary village because all the villages participated to enjoy the welfare. It is bringing together the tipat as symbol of ocean, pradhana (female) and bantal as symbol of mountain, purusha (male). Uniting the ocean and mountain is believed to be able to create life. “Two different things will present a life that can produce a good life,” he said. Tipat and bantal thrown are not to target the opponent’s body but to make them both merge in the air and then fall to the ground. This symbolizes the rendezvous of purusha and pradhana which then produces a seed of life. Remnants of the scattered tipat and bantal are the collected again. Those remaining intact are distributed back to residents for consumption, while the infeasible ones are distributed to residents to be scattered in paddy fields and used as animal feed. It is
meant to invoke a good life seed for residents, animals and plants. Sudarsana explained the tradition was started to be implemented in 1339. It marked the arrival of prime minister of Singasari dynasty in Bali, namely Ki Kebo Waruya. He received a mandate from the Balinese King named Asta Sura Ratna Bumi Banten to renovate the Purusada Temple at Kapal village. When arriving at Kapal, his heart
was touched when seeing the condition of local village experiencing famine season. Seeing such condition, he then invoked to deity abiding at Purusada Temple in order to bestow his graces. After applying for it, he was given instructions to perform the aci or ritual dedicated to Lord Shiva by means of tipat and bantal followed by all the Kapal customary villagers. (kmb)
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Frederic J. BROWN / AFP
This file photo taken on April 21, 2011 shows a cyclist wearing a protective face mask while riding along a dusty road, where dozens of factories process rare earths, iron and coal operate, on the outskirts of Baotou city in Inner Monglia, northwest China.
Fears rise China could weaponise rare earths in US tech war
BEIJING - The US has hit China where it hurts by going after its telecom champion Huawei, but Beijing’s control of the global supply of rare earths used in smartphones and electric cars gives it a powerful weapon in their escalating tech war. A seemingly routine visit by President Xi Jinping to a Chinese rare earths company this week is being widely read as an obvious threat that Beijing is standing ready for action. “We should firmly grasp the strategic basis of technological innovation, master more key core technologies and seize the commanding heights of industry development,” Xi said during the visit, the official Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday. “Rare earth is not only an important strategic resource, but also a non-renewable resource,” he added, in comments likely to further fuel speculation. However, analysts say China appears apprehensive to target the minerals just yet, possibly fearful of shooting itself in the foot by hastening a global search for alternative supplies of the commodities. Xi’s inspection tour “is no accident, this didn’t happen by chance,” said Li Mingjiang, China programme coordinator at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore. “At this moment, clearly the policy circles in China are considering the possibility of using a rare earth exports ban as a policy
weapon against the US.” The United States last week threatened to cut supplies of US technology needed by Chinese telecom champion Huawei, which Washington suspects is in bed with China’s military. The US move has fanned speculation that Xi could impose retaliatory measures and in an indication of the importance of rare earths to the US, Washington did not include them in a tariffs increase on Chinese goods this month. - China has leverage -
China occupies a commanding position, producing more than 95 percent of the world’s rare earths, and the United States relies on China for upwards of 80 percent of its imports. Rare earths are 17 elements critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and televisions to cameras and lightbulbs. That gives Beijing tremendous leverage in what is shaping up largely as a battle between the US and China over who will own the future of high-tech. “China could shut down nearly every automobile, computer, smartphone and aircraft assembly line
outside of China if they chose to embargo these materials,” James Kennedy, president of ThREE Consulting, wrote Tuesday in National Defense, a US industry publication. China has been accused of using its rare earth leverage for political reasons before. Japanese industry sources said it temporarily cut off exports in 2010 as a territorial row flared between the Asian rivals, charges that Beijing denied. In 2014, the World Trade Organization ruled the country had violated global trade rules by restricting exports of the minerals. The case was brought by the United States, European Union and Japan, which accused China of curbing exports to give its tech companies an edge over foreign rivals. China has cited environmental damage from mining and the need to conserve supplies as the reason for any past limits on output. While disruptive, any leverage gained from a supply block may be short-lived, experts said. “This would accelerate moves to find alternative supply sources,” said Kokichiro Mio, who studies China’s economy at NLI Research Institute. (afp)
International
Duterte tightens grip on power in Philippine polls
MANILA - Allies of President Rodrigo Duterte stormed to a landslide victory in midterm polls, final results showed Wednesday, dissolving a last check on his controversial rule. Loyalists won both houses of the legislature, shutting out all opposition candidates in the Senate, which had served as a buffer against Duterte’s most contentious plans. The results open a path for Duterte -- who has remarkably high approval ratings -- to make good on his call to bring back the death penalty and advance his project to re-write the constitution. “It’s a clear signal that the people will be behind him as he pushes bills and processes that went nowhere previously,” political analyst Ramon Casiple told AFP. With nine Duterte backers and three nominally unaligned politicians taking the 12 seats at stake in the 24-member Senate, only four oppositions members will remain, results from the elections authority showed. Duterte allies kept control of the lower House of Representatives, which has approved legislation to bring back capital punishment and re-write the constitution since Duterte’s 2016 election. Among the new senators is former national police chief Ronald dela Rosa, the first enforcer of Duterte’s narcotics crackdown that has killed over 5,300. Campaigners say the true toll is at least triple that and may amount to crimes against humanity. “Number one on my agenda is the reimposition of the death penalty for drug trafficking,” dela Rosa told reporters. “I will focus on that.”
Six dead... From page 1
In Medan city on Sumatra island, hundreds took part in a peaceful rally over election cheating claims Wednesday. But the violence in Jakarta was a planned act by paid “provocateurs”, authorities claimed, citing envelopes with money found on some of nearly 70 demonstrators who had been arrested. - ‘Massive fraud’ -
Election officials and analysts have discounted Subianto’s claims, but many supporters appeared convinced of rampant
Senate seats also went to Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte’s long-time advisor, and Imee Marcos, the daughter of deceased dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted in a 1986 popular uprising.
- Duterte family wins -
The top vote-getter in the Senate race, Cynthia Villar, thanked the president for his backing and asked for a round of applause for him in a speech after the results were announced. “The laws we craft or legislate must consider all interests involved,” she added. “A strong and independent Senate has always been our goal.” Opponents fear the majority will allow Duterte to push forward his legislative agenda, which includes re-writing the constitution. In addition to opening avenues for him to stay in power beyond his legally mandated single term that ends in 2022, a charter change could reshape the Philippines for decades. Duterte has pitched constitutional reform to turn the Asian country into a decentralised federal republic where regions would have the power to fix local problems. But the various initiatives launched in his first three years in office have also included proposals dropping term limits, allowing him to run for another term and weakening checks on presidential power. “The pessimistic assessment is that what we’re looking towards is the complete transformation of the Philippine political system in the years to come, well beyond 2022 when Duterte’s term is supposed to end,” political analyst Richard Heydarian said. (afp)
cheating in the world’s thirdbiggest democracy. “I need to support Indonesia’s sovereignty -- there has been massive fraud in this election,” said Puji Astuti, a 42-year-old Subianto supporter at a rally in central Jakarta Wednesday. The protests in support of Subianto have sparked a backlash online from opponents with the hashtag #Tangkapprabowo (#ArrestPrabowo) trending widely on social media. Tensions have also spiked since police said last week that they had arrested dozens of Islamic State-linked terror suspects who had planned to cause chaos by bombing protests. (afp)
International
Thursday, May 23, 2019
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Police detain 99 people at protest location
JAKARTA - The Police have, since Tuesday night until Wednesday afternoon, taken into custody 99 people at several points of the location where the riots erupted.
“At noon, we had rounded up 99 people, who are facing questioning at the West Jakarta Precinct Police, and some are also being detained by the Jakarta Police,” West Jakarta Precinct Police Chief Senior Commissioner Hengki Hariyadi remarked. The outcome of interim investigation showed that the detainees were not from Jakarta, and some of them were from Tasikmalaya, Banten, and Flores. “These rioters are not from Jakarta or Petamburan. This morning, we along with FPI figures and Muslim scholar drove them away,” Hariyadi remarked. He pointed out that most detainees reeked of alcohol so were conducting themselves under its influence. “We are currently trying to conduct their urine tests,” Senior Commissioner Hariyadi stated. Leaders of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) in Indonesia also extended assistance to the police to bring the rioting crowd under control. The rioters had come equipped with bows and fuel to create mayhem, Senior Commissioner Hengki Hariyadi revealed. “They are targeting residential property, police, and military,” he remarked. Six fatalities were reported, while 200 others suffered injuries and had to be moved to several hospitals in Jakarta until Wednesday at 9 a.m. local time after a protest staged to oppose the General Election Commission’s announcement of the presidential election results on Tuesday. “According to data received at 9 a.m. local time, some 200 people were taken to five hospitals in Jakarta, while six others had died,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan had earlier stated. Investigation and post-mortems will be conducted to ascertain the causes of deaths, he noted. The governor appealed to the public to not panic and become provoked. “Maintain order and security. We all need peace. I request all on the field to maintain (your composure) and stay calm in expressing your views,” Baswedan emphasized. IBP/ant The Jakarta administration will foot the bills for the victims’ West Jakarta Police Chief Senior Commissioner Hengki Hariyadi monitored the situation at Petammedical treatments. (ant) buran, West Jakarta on Wednesday (22/5).
Governor Baswedan confirms security situation in Jakarta is conducive
IBP/ant
A soldier tried to calm angry protesters at KS Tubun Street, West jakarta on Wednesday (22/5).
JAKARTA - The security situation in Indonesia’s capital and most populous city of Jakarta is conducive in spite of rioting around Tanah Abang and Petamburan. “In general, the security situation in Jakarta remains conducive. The unrest only occurred around the streets of M.H. Thamrin, Tanah Abang, and Petamburan, though outside these areas, Jakarta remains conducive,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan noted after paying a visit to the victims of the
riots at Tarakan Hospital, Jakarta, Wednesday. Governor Baswedan called on Jakarta’s citizens to not panic and stay calm as well as to conduct their activities as usual. “Continue to follow the principles of peace. Employ peaceful means. All parties safeguarding the demonstration must exercise self-restraint to create a conducive atmosphere,” the governor emphasized. Six people were killed, while
some 200 others suffered injuries for which they were moved to several hospitals in Jakarta until Wednesday at 9 a.m. local time following a protest against the presidential election results declared by the General Election Commission on Tuesday. “According to data made available at 9 a.m. local time, some 200 people were moved to five hospitals in Jakarta, while six others died,” Jakarta Governor Baswedan had earlier stated. (ant)
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Thursday, May 23, 2019
Destination
International
Thursday, May 23, 2019
International
Stephen Curry reveals emotional message he had for brother Seth
After the Warriors defeated the Trail Blazers 119-117 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, the Curry brothers met at the middle of the court, embraced and exchanged jerseys.
Pos II
SINGARAJA - Located on Menjangan’s most southeasterly point, Pos II can be beach-entry or boat-entry, and is usually drift-diving: whether beach or boat, the dives start at 12M, where the white sand slope meets the top of the wall. If there is a current, it is generally northeasterly. Slowly descending along the wall, drifting with the current, to approx 25M (max depth 50M+) we see a profusion of soft corals, sponges, small gorgonians, moray eels and lionfish. Levelling out at 25M, the current takes us along the wall to the east point of the island, a dramatic area covered in large gorgonians. Here, where we meet the waters travelling down the north-east of Menjangan, there is an upwelling of cold waters from the deep ocean. This brings with it turtle, Manta Ray, shark, occasional Mola-Mola and other pelagics. We, of course also encounter thermoclines here. Our safety stop is done above the remains of the coral reef (8-12M). As there is quite a population of Titan Triggerfish in the area, we need to choose our spot carefully. Very occasionally we find that the current is actually heading west. Almost immediately you find an area where, if the conditions are right, you can see pelagics. Descending slowly along the wall, the diversity of reef fish is remarkable: angelfish, anthias, chromis, gobies, scorpionfish. The surface of the wall is full of crevasses, cracks and overhangs which hide many treasures. There is the occasional cave too. (IBP/net)
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The two also exchanged words, and an emotional Seth Curry walked off the court as his brother Stephen put on an NBA Finals hat and prepared for an interview circuit. While speaking to ESPN’s Doris Burke, the Warriors star revealed the emotional message he gave his younger brother. “Somebody had to lose, but this is just the beginning for him and his career in terms of being on this stage,” Curry said. “He’s proved to a lot of people that not only does he belong, but he can play big minutes in playoff games. We’ll remember this for the rest of our lives ... this is what it’s all about.” Stephen Curry had a spectacular Game 4 and helped lead the Warriors to their fifth-straight NBA Finals. The former MVP recorded a triple-double with 37 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.The Warriors will face either the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals, and the team hopes Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and DeMarcus Cousins will be available for the series. Milwaukee currently leads Toronto 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals. (afp)
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, right, hugs his brother, Portland Trail Blazers guard Seth Curry at the end of Game 4 of the NBA basketball playoffs Western Conference finals Monday, May 20, 2019, in Portland, Ore. The Warriors won 119-117 in overtime.
IOC confident Tokyo can resolve complaints over budget cuts
TOKYO - The heads of some international sports federations complained this month that Tokyo Olympic organizers were cutting too deeply to save money. One said the cost reductions could make venues look cheap, reminding of deep, last-minute budget slashing at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. John Coates, the IOC member who heads an inspection team that toured venues being built for the Tokyo Olympics, said Tuesday he was confident the problems will be solved. “There were some issues identified recently,” Coates said, speaking to open three days of meetings. “We think that you’ve been working them through. We’re confident that you will be able to address them. They’ll be the subject of more discussion.” Local organizers and the International Olympic Committee face a full agenda that includes labor issues, rising costs, worries about summer heat when the games open in less than 15 months, transportation and complaints about cost
cutting from international sports federations. Issued last week, a report titled “The Dark Side of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics,” focused on alleged labor abuse at the new national stadium and the Olympic village, the two centerpiece venues. With an aging and declining population, Japan is shorthanded in many industries. The government has provided more visas for construction workers tied to the Olympics, and in April started allowing more foreign workers to reside in the country. Ambet Yuson, general secretary of Building and Wood Workers’ International based in Geneva, said the critical report had been sent to IOC President Thomas Bach. “We were informed by the IOC that they are in direct contact with the Tokyo 2020 to find remedies,” Yuson said in an email to The Associated Press. Yuson said he had not received a response from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which is building the Olympic village, nor the Japan Sport Council, a national
government body that is building the stadium. The municipal government and the sports council told the AP they were reviewing the report but offered few other details. The report said interviewed workers complained about “a pervasive culture of fear” that discouraged speaking out. It said almost half of the workers interviewed did not have formal contracts, and it found “dangerous patterns of overwork” at both high-profile venues. It said some workers at the Olympic village reported working 28 consecutive days, and up to 26 straight at the national stadium. Yuson said some problems are exacerbated by tight Olympic deadlines and pressure to finish on time. “The situation is even worse with so-called interns or migrant workers with issues — language, employment contracts and immigration issues,” Yuson said by email. “Massive overtime in construction is really a big problem in Japan.” The labor federation began monitoring the Tokyo Olympics in
2016 and last interviewed workers in February. The report noted two workers have died on projects for the Tokyo Olympics. Death by overwork, known as “karoshi,” is a problem in Japan with employees often forced to work long hours despite government measures to try to prevent it. Tokyo organizers also say they are trying to cut spending . This drew strong rebukes this month at an annual meeting in Australia of Summer Olympic sports federations. Federation heads said Tokyo organizers are trying to cut items they view as “decorative” and might be out of the view of television cameras. They also complained about high hotel prices, and items being cut that they deem basic like food services, storage facilities and the “look” of the venues. Francesco Ricci Bitti, head of the Summer Olympic sports federations, is also an IOC member and part of the inspection team. He has promised to push organizers about the cuts. Tokyo appears to be well-fi-
nanced. The $5.6 billion privately funded operating budget — the budget to run the games themselves — is twice as large as that for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Still, the national government, cities and prefectures are chipping in at least $15 billion more to update infrastructure, build venues and get the country ready when the games open. Costs are higher in Japan than Brazil, with the governments still picking up about 70% of the Olympic bill. Tokyo officials have said operating costs have increased, partly by a decision to use more existing venues. Earlier plans called for constructing new venues, most of which would have been built at government expense. Coates said Tuesday that $2 billion to $4 billion had already been saved, partly by using existing venues. But doing so has also shifted more costs to local organizers. “We think there is still more savings to be obtained,” Coates said, implying more reductions in certain areas. (ap)
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Thursday, May 23, 2019
Thursday, May 23, 2019
No room for sentiment as Giroud gears up to face Arsenal
Migrants on the island of Lesbos find refuge on soccer field
Olivier Giroud is relishing the prospect of beating his old Arsenal team-mates when he lines up for Chelsea in the Europa League final in Baku on May 29.
AP Photo/Alastair Grant
Chelsea’s Oliver Giroud encourages the crowd during the Europa League semifinal second leg soccer match between FC Chelsea and Eintracht Frankfurt at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, May 9, 2019.
The 32-year-old French World Cup winner’s move across London 18 months ago has failed to deliver the regular first team football he hoped after falling behind compatriot Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the pecking order at Arsenal. However, he has played a huge part in the Blues run to the Europa League final and is the joint top scorer in this season’s competition with 10 goals. “I always like playing against my old teams,” Giroud, won three FA Cups in five-and-a-half years at Arsenal, told the Daily Mail. “It’s going to be tough, and it could be painful if it’s not going the right way, but you have to put the feelings and memories aside. “I enjoyed the years I spent there. It has been a big part of my career, my first club in England and it will always be special, but now I feel my blood is blue. The same as the national team, blue suits me well.” Giroud, who on Tuesday signed a one-year contract extension with the Blues, says he found no problem in fitting in with his Chelsea team-mates following his reported £18million ($22.9 million) transfer. “I settled in quickly. I felt like part of the family straight away,” said Giroud. “I knew a few of the players and I’m a sociable person, I always try to communicate.” Giroud believes there is a more cut-throat culture at his new club compared to the Gunners and part of the reason why Chelsea have outstripped Arsenal for silverware over the past decade. “Maybe you would get more time at Arsenal. They would be more patient,” he added. “At Chelsea you have to be ready quickly because in terms of trophies it has been the best club in England for the last 10 years. “You don’t have time at Chelsea and when you are young it is quite difficult to find your place. “I don’t want to kill the dreams of these young Chelsea players. “They are very talented, but it makes sense because Chelsea invest more in every transfer window and they buy more top players in the world who are more experienced.” Giroud has scored 17 goals in 62 appearances for Chelsea since joining in January 2018, but has largely been used as an understudy to Gonzalo Higuain since Alvaro Morata’s loan move to Atletico Madrid. Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: “We are very pleased that Olivier will be a Chelsea player for another season. “Since joining us 18 months ago, he has at times had to be patient and wait for opportunities, but has still been able to make a positive contribution to the team. “Whether it is his unselfish link-up play or his 10 Europa League goals this season, he has been a crucial member of the squad and we hope he will be able to pick up a second Chelsea winner’s medal in Baku later this month to accompany last season’s FA Cup win.” With Chelsea still facing a two-window transfer ban, subject to an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the club were keen to retain Giroud to ensure Sarri has attacking options next term. Higuain is set to return to Juventus after a disappointing loan, while Chelsea’s Belgian winger Eden Hazard is being heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid. (afp)
9
OLLY GREENWOOD / AFP
Arsenal’s Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan (L) and Arsenal’s Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira attemnd a training session at Arsenal’s Colney training centre in St. Albans on May 21, 2019 ahead of their Europa League final football match against Chelsea on May 29.
Azerbaijan says Mkhitaryan ‘can play’ in Europa League final
Azerbaijani authorities on Tuesday issued assurances that Arsenal’s Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan can play in the Europa League final against Chelsea in Baku, dismissing fears over his safety due to tensions between the countries. “In spite of the difficult relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Mkhitaryan can play in the Europa League final in Baku,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Leyla Abdullayeva, told AFP. “Armenian sports figures have already taken part in numerous major sporting events that Azerbaijan has welcomed previously. One shouldn’t mix up sport and politics,” she said. Earlier on Tuesday, Arsenal
announced that Mkhitaryan, who is captain of Armenia’s national squad, would miss the game next week in Baku amid safety fears. The General Secretary of Azerbaijan’s Association of Football Federations (AFFA), Elkhan Mamedov, said last week that “the Azerbaijani authorities have provided UEFA with guarantees of Mkhitaryan’s safety”. “He wouldn’t face any safety problems in Azerbaijan,” he said. Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a decades-long conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region. Despite a 1994 ceasefire, frequent exchanges of fire along Karabakh’s volatile frontline risk escalating into an all-out war. (afp)
LESBOS — A 10-minute walk from Europe’s largest refugee camp, across olive groves and open land scattered with thorns and wildflowers, sits a nondescript yet remarkable soccer field. It’s a place where residents of the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos can briefly forget about their tiny container-homes and crowded tents and instead worry about corner kicks and throw-ins. One of the latest big games on the well-kept grass was the highly anticipated match between a group of Afghan migrants and the African asylum seekers who dominate the camp’s soccer team, Cosmos FC. Many of the players hope to turn professional and leave the camp, where they are forced to remain indefinitely under European Union rules designed to limit the number of migrants and refugees reaching the mainland. But their quest to escape camp life got a little easier when 15-year-old Francis Kalombo became the first refugee to sign for a professional Greek soccer club. Kalombo’s talent inspired the government in Athens to change sporting laws in March that grant stateless refugees and other asylum seekers the right to participate in competitive sports. Kalombo, slightly built and with short braids twisted into a crown, has become something of a celebrity on the island since joining Aiolikos, a third-division team ambitiously named after Aeolus, master of the wind in ancient Greek mythology. “It felt like a miracle ... I didn’t realize they had to change (the law) for me to play,” Kalombo said after a training session at his new club, which is based on Lesbos. “There is always a lot of pressure because you are the first refugee to play in an official Greek team, the best team on this island. So
it feels good. It feels very good.” In that recent big match near the camp, Kalombo stood in as coach for the African team, and then came on to score as a late substitute. The fiercely fought game ended in a 2-2 draw with the Afghan players throwing their goalkeeper into the air to celebrate the surprising result. Kalombo was born in Congo and his family’s effort to reach Europe lasted more than a decade, moving to South Africa and then on to Malaysia, Thailand and Turkey. Along the way, he picked up local languages and soccer skills, and is now enrolled in a Greek school. More than a million refugees, many escaping war in Syria and Iraq, fled to Europe in 2015 and 2016, and the illegal passage from Turkey to the beaches of northern Lesbos became the busiest crossing point during the crisis. Kalombo traveled with his father, a doctor, and his younger brother in 2017 on a boat run by traffickers. About 7,000 asylum seekers are currently on Lesbos, one of five Greek islands near the Turkish coast where the movement of refugees and migrants has been legally restricted for the past three years. Most live at the sprawling hillside camp at Moria in container-homes or in tents in an informal spill-over camp outside the perimeter. Since signing Kalombo, Aiolikos has also brought in two 19-year-old asylum seekers from Guinea to join training sessions and help the club cope with injuries. Cosmos was founded three years ago by Giorgos Patlakas, a former Greece under-20 national team goalkeeper and local businessman who retired in his early 50s because of the strain of cancer treatment. “These guys train six hours a week and it’s the only time they can find some kind of release from their diffi-
cult daily lives. But the team feels like treatment for me, too,” Patlakas said. Standouts at Cosmos had nowhere else to play, and through acquaintances, Patlakas brought the issue to the attention of local lawmakers, who eventually helped push the legal changes through parliament. “The events conspired in our favor. For us and for me personally, it’s a vindication,” Patlakas said, adding that he welcomed the attention brought by Kalombo. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to cover our costs. Hundreds of players have come through here, but every month we worry if we’ll be able to provide the basics, to pay rent for the soccer field. We only have four balls left for practice and there are a hundred people who show up wanting to play. I need help.” Kalombo, who speaks English, French, Turkish and four African languages, helps Patlakas with coaching and translation, and hopes to become a regular starter at his new club, which narrowly missed promotion to Greece’s second division this season. He’s unsure about what country he would like to represent internationally — his favorites are South Africa and Greece — but there’s no doubt about his dream club, Champions League finalist Liverpool. Kalombo was born a year before Liverpool’s last major international triumph, when the team overturned a 3-0 halftime deficit to beat AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul. Watching games and highlights on the internet, he picked members of that generation of players as his role models. “I liked Fernando Torres. He’s one of my favorite players. And I like the style that he played, him and Steven Gerrard,” Kalombo said. “The 2005 Champions League final, it was a miracle, and I like Liverpool because of that. They don’t give up.” (ap)
AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis
In this Saturday, May 4, 2019, Francis Kalombo from Congo, right, shakes hands with players of Cosmos FC at a soccer field, in Moria village, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece.
8
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Thursday, May 23, 2019
No room for sentiment as Giroud gears up to face Arsenal
Migrants on the island of Lesbos find refuge on soccer field
Olivier Giroud is relishing the prospect of beating his old Arsenal team-mates when he lines up for Chelsea in the Europa League final in Baku on May 29.
AP Photo/Alastair Grant
Chelsea’s Oliver Giroud encourages the crowd during the Europa League semifinal second leg soccer match between FC Chelsea and Eintracht Frankfurt at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, May 9, 2019.
The 32-year-old French World Cup winner’s move across London 18 months ago has failed to deliver the regular first team football he hoped after falling behind compatriot Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the pecking order at Arsenal. However, he has played a huge part in the Blues run to the Europa League final and is the joint top scorer in this season’s competition with 10 goals. “I always like playing against my old teams,” Giroud, won three FA Cups in five-and-a-half years at Arsenal, told the Daily Mail. “It’s going to be tough, and it could be painful if it’s not going the right way, but you have to put the feelings and memories aside. “I enjoyed the years I spent there. It has been a big part of my career, my first club in England and it will always be special, but now I feel my blood is blue. The same as the national team, blue suits me well.” Giroud, who on Tuesday signed a one-year contract extension with the Blues, says he found no problem in fitting in with his Chelsea team-mates following his reported £18million ($22.9 million) transfer. “I settled in quickly. I felt like part of the family straight away,” said Giroud. “I knew a few of the players and I’m a sociable person, I always try to communicate.” Giroud believes there is a more cut-throat culture at his new club compared to the Gunners and part of the reason why Chelsea have outstripped Arsenal for silverware over the past decade. “Maybe you would get more time at Arsenal. They would be more patient,” he added. “At Chelsea you have to be ready quickly because in terms of trophies it has been the best club in England for the last 10 years. “You don’t have time at Chelsea and when you are young it is quite difficult to find your place. “I don’t want to kill the dreams of these young Chelsea players. “They are very talented, but it makes sense because Chelsea invest more in every transfer window and they buy more top players in the world who are more experienced.” Giroud has scored 17 goals in 62 appearances for Chelsea since joining in January 2018, but has largely been used as an understudy to Gonzalo Higuain since Alvaro Morata’s loan move to Atletico Madrid. Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: “We are very pleased that Olivier will be a Chelsea player for another season. “Since joining us 18 months ago, he has at times had to be patient and wait for opportunities, but has still been able to make a positive contribution to the team. “Whether it is his unselfish link-up play or his 10 Europa League goals this season, he has been a crucial member of the squad and we hope he will be able to pick up a second Chelsea winner’s medal in Baku later this month to accompany last season’s FA Cup win.” With Chelsea still facing a two-window transfer ban, subject to an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the club were keen to retain Giroud to ensure Sarri has attacking options next term. Higuain is set to return to Juventus after a disappointing loan, while Chelsea’s Belgian winger Eden Hazard is being heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid. (afp)
9
OLLY GREENWOOD / AFP
Arsenal’s Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan (L) and Arsenal’s Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira attemnd a training session at Arsenal’s Colney training centre in St. Albans on May 21, 2019 ahead of their Europa League final football match against Chelsea on May 29.
Azerbaijan says Mkhitaryan ‘can play’ in Europa League final
Azerbaijani authorities on Tuesday issued assurances that Arsenal’s Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan can play in the Europa League final against Chelsea in Baku, dismissing fears over his safety due to tensions between the countries. “In spite of the difficult relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Mkhitaryan can play in the Europa League final in Baku,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Leyla Abdullayeva, told AFP. “Armenian sports figures have already taken part in numerous major sporting events that Azerbaijan has welcomed previously. One shouldn’t mix up sport and politics,” she said. Earlier on Tuesday, Arsenal
announced that Mkhitaryan, who is captain of Armenia’s national squad, would miss the game next week in Baku amid safety fears. The General Secretary of Azerbaijan’s Association of Football Federations (AFFA), Elkhan Mamedov, said last week that “the Azerbaijani authorities have provided UEFA with guarantees of Mkhitaryan’s safety”. “He wouldn’t face any safety problems in Azerbaijan,” he said. Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a decades-long conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region. Despite a 1994 ceasefire, frequent exchanges of fire along Karabakh’s volatile frontline risk escalating into an all-out war. (afp)
LESBOS — A 10-minute walk from Europe’s largest refugee camp, across olive groves and open land scattered with thorns and wildflowers, sits a nondescript yet remarkable soccer field. It’s a place where residents of the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos can briefly forget about their tiny container-homes and crowded tents and instead worry about corner kicks and throw-ins. One of the latest big games on the well-kept grass was the highly anticipated match between a group of Afghan migrants and the African asylum seekers who dominate the camp’s soccer team, Cosmos FC. Many of the players hope to turn professional and leave the camp, where they are forced to remain indefinitely under European Union rules designed to limit the number of migrants and refugees reaching the mainland. But their quest to escape camp life got a little easier when 15-year-old Francis Kalombo became the first refugee to sign for a professional Greek soccer club. Kalombo’s talent inspired the government in Athens to change sporting laws in March that grant stateless refugees and other asylum seekers the right to participate in competitive sports. Kalombo, slightly built and with short braids twisted into a crown, has become something of a celebrity on the island since joining Aiolikos, a third-division team ambitiously named after Aeolus, master of the wind in ancient Greek mythology. “It felt like a miracle ... I didn’t realize they had to change (the law) for me to play,” Kalombo said after a training session at his new club, which is based on Lesbos. “There is always a lot of pressure because you are the first refugee to play in an official Greek team, the best team on this island. So
it feels good. It feels very good.” In that recent big match near the camp, Kalombo stood in as coach for the African team, and then came on to score as a late substitute. The fiercely fought game ended in a 2-2 draw with the Afghan players throwing their goalkeeper into the air to celebrate the surprising result. Kalombo was born in Congo and his family’s effort to reach Europe lasted more than a decade, moving to South Africa and then on to Malaysia, Thailand and Turkey. Along the way, he picked up local languages and soccer skills, and is now enrolled in a Greek school. More than a million refugees, many escaping war in Syria and Iraq, fled to Europe in 2015 and 2016, and the illegal passage from Turkey to the beaches of northern Lesbos became the busiest crossing point during the crisis. Kalombo traveled with his father, a doctor, and his younger brother in 2017 on a boat run by traffickers. About 7,000 asylum seekers are currently on Lesbos, one of five Greek islands near the Turkish coast where the movement of refugees and migrants has been legally restricted for the past three years. Most live at the sprawling hillside camp at Moria in container-homes or in tents in an informal spill-over camp outside the perimeter. Since signing Kalombo, Aiolikos has also brought in two 19-year-old asylum seekers from Guinea to join training sessions and help the club cope with injuries. Cosmos was founded three years ago by Giorgos Patlakas, a former Greece under-20 national team goalkeeper and local businessman who retired in his early 50s because of the strain of cancer treatment. “These guys train six hours a week and it’s the only time they can find some kind of release from their diffi-
cult daily lives. But the team feels like treatment for me, too,” Patlakas said. Standouts at Cosmos had nowhere else to play, and through acquaintances, Patlakas brought the issue to the attention of local lawmakers, who eventually helped push the legal changes through parliament. “The events conspired in our favor. For us and for me personally, it’s a vindication,” Patlakas said, adding that he welcomed the attention brought by Kalombo. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to cover our costs. Hundreds of players have come through here, but every month we worry if we’ll be able to provide the basics, to pay rent for the soccer field. We only have four balls left for practice and there are a hundred people who show up wanting to play. I need help.” Kalombo, who speaks English, French, Turkish and four African languages, helps Patlakas with coaching and translation, and hopes to become a regular starter at his new club, which narrowly missed promotion to Greece’s second division this season. He’s unsure about what country he would like to represent internationally — his favorites are South Africa and Greece — but there’s no doubt about his dream club, Champions League finalist Liverpool. Kalombo was born a year before Liverpool’s last major international triumph, when the team overturned a 3-0 halftime deficit to beat AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul. Watching games and highlights on the internet, he picked members of that generation of players as his role models. “I liked Fernando Torres. He’s one of my favorite players. And I like the style that he played, him and Steven Gerrard,” Kalombo said. “The 2005 Champions League final, it was a miracle, and I like Liverpool because of that. They don’t give up.” (ap)
AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis
In this Saturday, May 4, 2019, Francis Kalombo from Congo, right, shakes hands with players of Cosmos FC at a soccer field, in Moria village, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece.
10
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Destination
International
Thursday, May 23, 2019
International
Stephen Curry reveals emotional message he had for brother Seth
After the Warriors defeated the Trail Blazers 119-117 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, the Curry brothers met at the middle of the court, embraced and exchanged jerseys.
Pos II
SINGARAJA - Located on Menjangan’s most southeasterly point, Pos II can be beach-entry or boat-entry, and is usually drift-diving: whether beach or boat, the dives start at 12M, where the white sand slope meets the top of the wall. If there is a current, it is generally northeasterly. Slowly descending along the wall, drifting with the current, to approx 25M (max depth 50M+) we see a profusion of soft corals, sponges, small gorgonians, moray eels and lionfish. Levelling out at 25M, the current takes us along the wall to the east point of the island, a dramatic area covered in large gorgonians. Here, where we meet the waters travelling down the north-east of Menjangan, there is an upwelling of cold waters from the deep ocean. This brings with it turtle, Manta Ray, shark, occasional Mola-Mola and other pelagics. We, of course also encounter thermoclines here. Our safety stop is done above the remains of the coral reef (8-12M). As there is quite a population of Titan Triggerfish in the area, we need to choose our spot carefully. Very occasionally we find that the current is actually heading west. Almost immediately you find an area where, if the conditions are right, you can see pelagics. Descending slowly along the wall, the diversity of reef fish is remarkable: angelfish, anthias, chromis, gobies, scorpionfish. The surface of the wall is full of crevasses, cracks and overhangs which hide many treasures. There is the occasional cave too. (IBP/net)
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The two also exchanged words, and an emotional Seth Curry walked off the court as his brother Stephen put on an NBA Finals hat and prepared for an interview circuit. While speaking to ESPN’s Doris Burke, the Warriors star revealed the emotional message he gave his younger brother. “Somebody had to lose, but this is just the beginning for him and his career in terms of being on this stage,” Curry said. “He’s proved to a lot of people that not only does he belong, but he can play big minutes in playoff games. We’ll remember this for the rest of our lives ... this is what it’s all about.” Stephen Curry had a spectacular Game 4 and helped lead the Warriors to their fifth-straight NBA Finals. The former MVP recorded a triple-double with 37 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.The Warriors will face either the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals, and the team hopes Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and DeMarcus Cousins will be available for the series. Milwaukee currently leads Toronto 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals. (afp)
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, right, hugs his brother, Portland Trail Blazers guard Seth Curry at the end of Game 4 of the NBA basketball playoffs Western Conference finals Monday, May 20, 2019, in Portland, Ore. The Warriors won 119-117 in overtime.
IOC confident Tokyo can resolve complaints over budget cuts
TOKYO - The heads of some international sports federations complained this month that Tokyo Olympic organizers were cutting too deeply to save money. One said the cost reductions could make venues look cheap, reminding of deep, last-minute budget slashing at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. John Coates, the IOC member who heads an inspection team that toured venues being built for the Tokyo Olympics, said Tuesday he was confident the problems will be solved. “There were some issues identified recently,” Coates said, speaking to open three days of meetings. “We think that you’ve been working them through. We’re confident that you will be able to address them. They’ll be the subject of more discussion.” Local organizers and the International Olympic Committee face a full agenda that includes labor issues, rising costs, worries about summer heat when the games open in less than 15 months, transportation and complaints about cost
cutting from international sports federations. Issued last week, a report titled “The Dark Side of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics,” focused on alleged labor abuse at the new national stadium and the Olympic village, the two centerpiece venues. With an aging and declining population, Japan is shorthanded in many industries. The government has provided more visas for construction workers tied to the Olympics, and in April started allowing more foreign workers to reside in the country. Ambet Yuson, general secretary of Building and Wood Workers’ International based in Geneva, said the critical report had been sent to IOC President Thomas Bach. “We were informed by the IOC that they are in direct contact with the Tokyo 2020 to find remedies,” Yuson said in an email to The Associated Press. Yuson said he had not received a response from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which is building the Olympic village, nor the Japan Sport Council, a national
government body that is building the stadium. The municipal government and the sports council told the AP they were reviewing the report but offered few other details. The report said interviewed workers complained about “a pervasive culture of fear” that discouraged speaking out. It said almost half of the workers interviewed did not have formal contracts, and it found “dangerous patterns of overwork” at both high-profile venues. It said some workers at the Olympic village reported working 28 consecutive days, and up to 26 straight at the national stadium. Yuson said some problems are exacerbated by tight Olympic deadlines and pressure to finish on time. “The situation is even worse with so-called interns or migrant workers with issues — language, employment contracts and immigration issues,” Yuson said by email. “Massive overtime in construction is really a big problem in Japan.” The labor federation began monitoring the Tokyo Olympics in
2016 and last interviewed workers in February. The report noted two workers have died on projects for the Tokyo Olympics. Death by overwork, known as “karoshi,” is a problem in Japan with employees often forced to work long hours despite government measures to try to prevent it. Tokyo organizers also say they are trying to cut spending . This drew strong rebukes this month at an annual meeting in Australia of Summer Olympic sports federations. Federation heads said Tokyo organizers are trying to cut items they view as “decorative” and might be out of the view of television cameras. They also complained about high hotel prices, and items being cut that they deem basic like food services, storage facilities and the “look” of the venues. Francesco Ricci Bitti, head of the Summer Olympic sports federations, is also an IOC member and part of the inspection team. He has promised to push organizers about the cuts. Tokyo appears to be well-fi-
nanced. The $5.6 billion privately funded operating budget — the budget to run the games themselves — is twice as large as that for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Still, the national government, cities and prefectures are chipping in at least $15 billion more to update infrastructure, build venues and get the country ready when the games open. Costs are higher in Japan than Brazil, with the governments still picking up about 70% of the Olympic bill. Tokyo officials have said operating costs have increased, partly by a decision to use more existing venues. Earlier plans called for constructing new venues, most of which would have been built at government expense. Coates said Tuesday that $2 billion to $4 billion had already been saved, partly by using existing venues. But doing so has also shifted more costs to local organizers. “We think there is still more savings to be obtained,” Coates said, implying more reductions in certain areas. (ap)
6
Thursday, May 23, 2019
W
RLD
Frederic J. BROWN / AFP
This file photo taken on April 21, 2011 shows a cyclist wearing a protective face mask while riding along a dusty road, where dozens of factories process rare earths, iron and coal operate, on the outskirts of Baotou city in Inner Monglia, northwest China.
Fears rise China could weaponise rare earths in US tech war
BEIJING - The US has hit China where it hurts by going after its telecom champion Huawei, but Beijing’s control of the global supply of rare earths used in smartphones and electric cars gives it a powerful weapon in their escalating tech war. A seemingly routine visit by President Xi Jinping to a Chinese rare earths company this week is being widely read as an obvious threat that Beijing is standing ready for action. “We should firmly grasp the strategic basis of technological innovation, master more key core technologies and seize the commanding heights of industry development,” Xi said during the visit, the official Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday. “Rare earth is not only an important strategic resource, but also a non-renewable resource,” he added, in comments likely to further fuel speculation. However, analysts say China appears apprehensive to target the minerals just yet, possibly fearful of shooting itself in the foot by hastening a global search for alternative supplies of the commodities. Xi’s inspection tour “is no accident, this didn’t happen by chance,” said Li Mingjiang, China programme coordinator at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore. “At this moment, clearly the policy circles in China are considering the possibility of using a rare earth exports ban as a policy
weapon against the US.” The United States last week threatened to cut supplies of US technology needed by Chinese telecom champion Huawei, which Washington suspects is in bed with China’s military. The US move has fanned speculation that Xi could impose retaliatory measures and in an indication of the importance of rare earths to the US, Washington did not include them in a tariffs increase on Chinese goods this month. - China has leverage -
China occupies a commanding position, producing more than 95 percent of the world’s rare earths, and the United States relies on China for upwards of 80 percent of its imports. Rare earths are 17 elements critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and televisions to cameras and lightbulbs. That gives Beijing tremendous leverage in what is shaping up largely as a battle between the US and China over who will own the future of high-tech. “China could shut down nearly every automobile, computer, smartphone and aircraft assembly line
outside of China if they chose to embargo these materials,” James Kennedy, president of ThREE Consulting, wrote Tuesday in National Defense, a US industry publication. China has been accused of using its rare earth leverage for political reasons before. Japanese industry sources said it temporarily cut off exports in 2010 as a territorial row flared between the Asian rivals, charges that Beijing denied. In 2014, the World Trade Organization ruled the country had violated global trade rules by restricting exports of the minerals. The case was brought by the United States, European Union and Japan, which accused China of curbing exports to give its tech companies an edge over foreign rivals. China has cited environmental damage from mining and the need to conserve supplies as the reason for any past limits on output. While disruptive, any leverage gained from a supply block may be short-lived, experts said. “This would accelerate moves to find alternative supply sources,” said Kokichiro Mio, who studies China’s economy at NLI Research Institute. (afp)
International
Duterte tightens grip on power in Philippine polls
MANILA - Allies of President Rodrigo Duterte stormed to a landslide victory in midterm polls, final results showed Wednesday, dissolving a last check on his controversial rule. Loyalists won both houses of the legislature, shutting out all opposition candidates in the Senate, which had served as a buffer against Duterte’s most contentious plans. The results open a path for Duterte -- who has remarkably high approval ratings -- to make good on his call to bring back the death penalty and advance his project to re-write the constitution. “It’s a clear signal that the people will be behind him as he pushes bills and processes that went nowhere previously,” political analyst Ramon Casiple told AFP. With nine Duterte backers and three nominally unaligned politicians taking the 12 seats at stake in the 24-member Senate, only four oppositions members will remain, results from the elections authority showed. Duterte allies kept control of the lower House of Representatives, which has approved legislation to bring back capital punishment and re-write the constitution since Duterte’s 2016 election. Among the new senators is former national police chief Ronald dela Rosa, the first enforcer of Duterte’s narcotics crackdown that has killed over 5,300. Campaigners say the true toll is at least triple that and may amount to crimes against humanity. “Number one on my agenda is the reimposition of the death penalty for drug trafficking,” dela Rosa told reporters. “I will focus on that.”
Six dead... From page 1
In Medan city on Sumatra island, hundreds took part in a peaceful rally over election cheating claims Wednesday. But the violence in Jakarta was a planned act by paid “provocateurs”, authorities claimed, citing envelopes with money found on some of nearly 70 demonstrators who had been arrested. - ‘Massive fraud’ -
Election officials and analysts have discounted Subianto’s claims, but many supporters appeared convinced of rampant
Senate seats also went to Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte’s long-time advisor, and Imee Marcos, the daughter of deceased dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted in a 1986 popular uprising.
- Duterte family wins -
The top vote-getter in the Senate race, Cynthia Villar, thanked the president for his backing and asked for a round of applause for him in a speech after the results were announced. “The laws we craft or legislate must consider all interests involved,” she added. “A strong and independent Senate has always been our goal.” Opponents fear the majority will allow Duterte to push forward his legislative agenda, which includes re-writing the constitution. In addition to opening avenues for him to stay in power beyond his legally mandated single term that ends in 2022, a charter change could reshape the Philippines for decades. Duterte has pitched constitutional reform to turn the Asian country into a decentralised federal republic where regions would have the power to fix local problems. But the various initiatives launched in his first three years in office have also included proposals dropping term limits, allowing him to run for another term and weakening checks on presidential power. “The pessimistic assessment is that what we’re looking towards is the complete transformation of the Philippine political system in the years to come, well beyond 2022 when Duterte’s term is supposed to end,” political analyst Richard Heydarian said. (afp)
cheating in the world’s thirdbiggest democracy. “I need to support Indonesia’s sovereignty -- there has been massive fraud in this election,” said Puji Astuti, a 42-year-old Subianto supporter at a rally in central Jakarta Wednesday. The protests in support of Subianto have sparked a backlash online from opponents with the hashtag #Tangkapprabowo (#ArrestPrabowo) trending widely on social media. Tensions have also spiked since police said last week that they had arrested dozens of Islamic State-linked terror suspects who had planned to cause chaos by bombing protests. (afp)
International
Thursday, May 23, 2019
11
Police detain 99 people at protest location
JAKARTA - The Police have, since Tuesday night until Wednesday afternoon, taken into custody 99 people at several points of the location where the riots erupted.
“At noon, we had rounded up 99 people, who are facing questioning at the West Jakarta Precinct Police, and some are also being detained by the Jakarta Police,” West Jakarta Precinct Police Chief Senior Commissioner Hengki Hariyadi remarked. The outcome of interim investigation showed that the detainees were not from Jakarta, and some of them were from Tasikmalaya, Banten, and Flores. “These rioters are not from Jakarta or Petamburan. This morning, we along with FPI figures and Muslim scholar drove them away,” Hariyadi remarked. He pointed out that most detainees reeked of alcohol so were conducting themselves under its influence. “We are currently trying to conduct their urine tests,” Senior Commissioner Hariyadi stated. Leaders of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) in Indonesia also extended assistance to the police to bring the rioting crowd under control. The rioters had come equipped with bows and fuel to create mayhem, Senior Commissioner Hengki Hariyadi revealed. “They are targeting residential property, police, and military,” he remarked. Six fatalities were reported, while 200 others suffered injuries and had to be moved to several hospitals in Jakarta until Wednesday at 9 a.m. local time after a protest staged to oppose the General Election Commission’s announcement of the presidential election results on Tuesday. “According to data received at 9 a.m. local time, some 200 people were taken to five hospitals in Jakarta, while six others had died,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan had earlier stated. Investigation and post-mortems will be conducted to ascertain the causes of deaths, he noted. The governor appealed to the public to not panic and become provoked. “Maintain order and security. We all need peace. I request all on the field to maintain (your composure) and stay calm in expressing your views,” Baswedan emphasized. IBP/ant The Jakarta administration will foot the bills for the victims’ West Jakarta Police Chief Senior Commissioner Hengki Hariyadi monitored the situation at Petammedical treatments. (ant) buran, West Jakarta on Wednesday (22/5).
Governor Baswedan confirms security situation in Jakarta is conducive
IBP/ant
A soldier tried to calm angry protesters at KS Tubun Street, West jakarta on Wednesday (22/5).
JAKARTA - The security situation in Indonesia’s capital and most populous city of Jakarta is conducive in spite of rioting around Tanah Abang and Petamburan. “In general, the security situation in Jakarta remains conducive. The unrest only occurred around the streets of M.H. Thamrin, Tanah Abang, and Petamburan, though outside these areas, Jakarta remains conducive,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan noted after paying a visit to the victims of the
riots at Tarakan Hospital, Jakarta, Wednesday. Governor Baswedan called on Jakarta’s citizens to not panic and stay calm as well as to conduct their activities as usual. “Continue to follow the principles of peace. Employ peaceful means. All parties safeguarding the demonstration must exercise self-restraint to create a conducive atmosphere,” the governor emphasized. Six people were killed, while
some 200 others suffered injuries for which they were moved to several hospitals in Jakarta until Wednesday at 9 a.m. local time following a protest against the presidential election results declared by the General Election Commission on Tuesday. “According to data made available at 9 a.m. local time, some 200 people were moved to five hospitals in Jakarta, while six others died,” Jakarta Governor Baswedan had earlier stated. (ant)
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International
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Come on, Ride Free Gig in Denpasar City
BUSINESS OECD cuts global growth forecast as US-China tensions rise
The OECD on Tuesday cut its forecast for the world economy, urging governments to resolve their trade disputes as the latest flare-up in the US-China trade war threatens to crimp global growth. “Governments must act urgently to reinvigorate growth that benefits all,” the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said as it pared back its forecast for global growth to 3.2 percent this year from 3.3 percent earlier. “Resolve trade disputes through increased international cooperation while fixing the international rules-based system,” said the OECD, a Paris-based forum that advises the world’s advanced economy. “Invest in infrastructure, digital transformation and skills to meet tomorrow’s challenges. In the euro area, combine structural with fiscal policies to stimulate activity.” The OECD’s updated forecasts did not take directly into account the latest flare-up in the longrunning trade war between Washington and Beijing, “insofar that there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the length of time (tariffs) will remain in place and the future evolution of the trade relationship between the two countries,” an OECD source told AFP. Nevertheless, the projections did “incorporate” the increased uncertainty generated by the trade tensions, the source said. As both Washington and Beijing slap trade tariffs on more and more of each other’s goods, President Donald Trump has barred US companies from engaging in telecommunications trade with foreign companies said to threaten American national security. US internet giant Google, whose Android mobile operating system powers most of the world’s smartphones, then announced that it was beginning to cut ties with China’s Huawei, which Washington considers a national security threat. OECD secretary general Angel Gurria told a news conference it was imperative that Washington and Beijing bury their differences. “There is an urgent need that we sit around a multilateral table and that we create the conditions that will allow trade to continue to underpin global growth and global well-being,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do, but if we do it together we will have a much better chance to succeed.” The organisation’s chief economist Laurence Boone said the “worst scenario possible” was that trade tensions would continue and snowball. “A climate of uncertainty (was) detrimental to investment and for confidence” and could erode purchasing power, she argued. While the OECD pared back its global growth forecast for the current year, it predicted a pick-up in activity to 3.4 percent in 2020. It notched up its forecast for US growth this year by 0.2 percentage point to 2.8 percent, but predicted a slowdown to 2.3 percent next year. Chinese growth was projected to slow to 6.2 percent this year and 6.0 percent next year. The outlook for euro area growth was unchanged at 1.2 percent this year. (afp)
Bali News
International
5
Have you ever ridden a gig? Once upon a time, try to enjoy the attraction of riding a free gig prepared by the Denpasar municipality. The location is at the office of the Regional Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) of Denpasar, the former building of the Denpasar Tourism Office, precisely on Jalan Raya Surapati, north of Jagatnatha Temple, Denpasar. Gig is a traditional means of transportation taking advantage of the horse power. To be able to enjoy the atmosphere of Denpasar city through gig rides for free, just come on Saturday and Sunday at the office of the BPPD Denpasar. This attraction starts at 9:00 until 15:00. However, passengers should fill out the participant’s log book put at the entrance of the office. When riding a gig, guests can invite their sister, brother or parents. By all means, there are eight gigs that always line up while waiting for the public or tourists to enjoy the atmosphere of the city. A gig must not be ridden by more than four people. After getting enough passenger, the driver of the gig then drive to the center of the Bali’s capital. “My children are very happy to be invited to ride a gig,” said Ni Made Suparmi, a mother of 2 sons from Karangasem living at Penatih. The route in the city of Denpasar is passed through for around 18-20 minutes. The journey starts from the office of the Regional Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD), moving towards the left via Jalan Surapati, turn right towards Jalan Kapten Agung, turn right towards Jalan Baliton and then turn right towards Jalan Udayana. The journey continues to pass in the area of ??the Catur Muka Statue, go to Jalan Veteran at Inna Bali Hotel and then move towards Jalan Gatot Kaca, turn left passing Jalan Arjuna and then enter Jalan Gajah Mada. After crossing the area of ??the Catur Muka statue, passengers are taken to return to the BPPD Building. “Foreign tourists also often ride a gig, but not on Sundays,” said one of the coaches commonly called Pak Ketut (rejecting to mention his surname). (kmb)
Chinatopix via AP, File
In this May 22, 2018 file photo, a staff member works in a circuit board manufacturing facility in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. In a report issued Monday, May 20, 2019, a business group says the number of foreign companies in China that feel compelled to hand over technology in exchange for market access has doubled since two years ago.
Report: More companies in China handing over technology
BEIJING - The number of foreign companies that feel compelled to hand over technology in exchange for Chinese market access — an issue that sparked President Donald Trump’s tariff fight with Beijing — has doubled since two years ago despite official promises to end such pressure, a business group reported Monday. The European Chamber of Commerce in China’s report highlighted enduring complaints about “forced technology transfer” that China’s trading partners say violate its market-opening commitments despite denials and promises of change. European leaders have criticized Trump’s tactics in confronting Beijing over its technology ambitions but echo U.S. criticisms. One in five companies that responded to a survey in January, before the latest round of U.S. and Chinese tariff hikes, said they felt compelled to hand over technology, up from 10% in a 2017 survey, the European chamber said. “It is not something that is back in history. It is still happening now,” a chamber vice president, Charlotte Roule, told reporters ahead of the report’s release. She said ending that “should be a priority.” The share of companies that said they
felt compelled to transfer technology was higher in some fields — 30% in petroleum and chemicals, 28% in medical devices, 27% for pharmaceuticals and 21% in the auto industry. One-quarter of those companies said transfers were happening at the time of the survey. The report gave no details of why companies felt compelled to hand over technology. But the heavily regulated economy gives Chinese regulators leverage over companies, and business groups say they sometimes give orders in secret. Trump started raising tariffs on Chinese imports last July over complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Europe, Japan and other trading partners echo U.S. complaints that such practices violate Chinese commitments to open its markets and treat foreign companies equally in exchange for access to their markets.
“China’s lagging reform agenda not only holds back economic development but it has also driven global tension,” said Roule. Chinese officials deny foreign companies are required to hand over technology. But companies in auto manufacturing, electronics and other industries that want to operate in China are required to be minority partners in ventures with stateowned partners, which forces them to share technology and expertise. A law endorsed in March by China’s ceremonial legislature tries to reassure foreign investors by prohibiting use of “administrative measures” to compel technology transfer. Business groups welcomed that but said Chinese officials still have extensive leverage in the heavily regulated economy. Tech transfer was one of a series of complaints the European chamber said prompts pessimism among companies about whether the ruling Communist Party will follow through on promises to open its markets. One-third of companies surveyed said they don’t expect ever to see a “meaningful opening” of Chinese markets. (ap)
Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon, A Unique Tradition to Invoke Fertility at Kapal Village
Bleganjur gamelan music was played. Hundreds of villagers then threw tipat (rice bag) bantal (pillow-like cake) each other. Although, they seemed to mutually reciprocate, between the two camps (people in the north and south) did not keep any revenge. Their throw was not focused on particular person, but to the air above the opposite camp. Although this looked like a war, they cheered each other due to excitement. It is the atmosphere of the Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon ritual or often known as the Siat Tipat Bantal at Kapal customary village, Mengwi, Badung district, Thursday (Oct. 5). Hundreds of Kapal customary villagers were involved in the Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon. In addition to the community, this unique tradition was also attended by the Regional Secretary of Badung district, Wayan Adi Arnawa. The ritual was followed by all Kapal customary villagers. All the villagers were then divided into two camps, namely the northern camp and southern camp. At first, the
two camps held a ceremony in the temple and were then resumed with worship at the outermost courtyard of the Desa/Puseh temple of Kapal. Thousands of tipat and bantal were prepared by the temple apparatus. After dividing them, they were thrown each other like a war accompanied with bleganjur gamelan music. Chief of Kapal customary village, Ketut Sudarsana, said that Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon formerly known as perang tipat (tipat war) is an annual ritual having been carried out for generations at Kapal customary village. This tradition is then preserved, so that it is always carried out by the Kapal customary village. “This activity aims to invoke prosperity for all customary villagers of Kapal,” he said. Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon has the meaning of offerings or an expression of gratitude before God in his manifestation as Lord Shiva. Aci means ‘offering,’ Tabuh means ‘echoing,’ Rah means ‘power’ and Pengangon is another name of Lord Shiva. “Mutual throw of tipat and bantal is aimed to bring together
the symbol of pradhana (female) and purusha (male), resulting in fertility,” he explained. Ketut Sudarsana asserted that Aci Tabuh Rah Pengangon is held by customary village because all the villages participated to enjoy the welfare. It is bringing together the tipat as symbol of ocean, pradhana (female) and bantal as symbol of mountain, purusha (male). Uniting the ocean and mountain is believed to be able to create life. “Two different things will present a life that can produce a good life,” he said. Tipat and bantal thrown are not to target the opponent’s body but to make them both merge in the air and then fall to the ground. This symbolizes the rendezvous of purusha and pradhana which then produces a seed of life. Remnants of the scattered tipat and bantal are the collected again. Those remaining intact are distributed back to residents for consumption, while the infeasible ones are distributed to residents to be scattered in paddy fields and used as animal feed. It is
meant to invoke a good life seed for residents, animals and plants. Sudarsana explained the tradition was started to be implemented in 1339. It marked the arrival of prime minister of Singasari dynasty in Bali, namely Ki Kebo Waruya. He received a mandate from the Balinese King named Asta Sura Ratna Bumi Banten to renovate the Purusada Temple at Kapal village. When arriving at Kapal, his heart
was touched when seeing the condition of local village experiencing famine season. Seeing such condition, he then invoked to deity abiding at Purusada Temple in order to bestow his graces. After applying for it, he was given instructions to perform the aci or ritual dedicated to Lord Shiva by means of tipat and bantal followed by all the Kapal customary villagers. (kmb)
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Bali News
Thursday, May 23, 2019
International
Thursday, May 23, 2019
International
Aftermath of claims of IDR 2.9 billion
Boy or girl? Hong Kong at centre of banned China gender test
Suastawa finally relocates his livestock
GIANYAR - The hotel lawsuit amounting to IDR 2.9 billion to a farmer at Buahan village, Payangan subdistrict, returned to make mediation. Result of the mediation is that I Nyoman Suastawa finally agreed to move his pig from the pigsty complained by the hotel on Monday afternoon (May 20). The pigsty located adjacent with the hotel restaurant is planned to be demolished in the near future.
When contacted on Tuesday (May 21), I Nyoman Suastawa explained that two of his pigs had been relocated to the old pigsties located approximately 80 meters from the pigsty complained by the hotel. Relocation of the pigs was carried out on Monday afternoon. So, on Tuesday the pigsty was already clear. “Relocation of the pigs was done last Monday at around 15:00. The pigsty was cleared up while waiting for further follow-up from the hotel. Besides, I make sure the pigsty will also be dismantled immediately,” he said firmly. The breeder who was also former chief of Buahan customary village claimed that the land near the restaurant will no longer be built a pigsty. However, it will still be utilized for banana cultivation. When asked about compensation funds from the hotel for the relocation of the pigsty, in accordance with the results of mediation, he has not received it. “Indeed, the initial agreement is like that, but the agreement letter was not yet signed. So far, I am still waiting for information from the hotel,” he explained. Separately, the Legal Counsel of PT Nandini Bali, Gede Masa, said that the owner of PT Nandini Bali was outside Bali. So, he had not had time to coordinate with his client. “If it has been removed and will be dismantled, it is good. Indeed we hope so. As soon as possible we will revoke the lawsuit,” he said. When asked about the compensation funds to be given to Nyoman Suastawa, he is also still waiting for certainty from the owner of PT Nandini Bali. “The cost of relocating the pigsty will be surely given, but still waiting for the owner to come. According to yesterday’s agreement, it is around IDR 2.5 million,” he added. (kmb35)
AFP
This photograph taken on April 21, 2019 shows 99-year-old Pham Thi Ca resting in a hammock in her makeshift shelter in Van Phong Bay.
Grandma Ca: the 99year-old standing up to Vietnam’s coal rush
VIETNAM - Toothless and nearly blind, grandmother Pham Thi Ca refuses to leave her plot of land even after bulldozers demolished her house -- an extraordinary holdout against communist Vietnam’s deepening addiction to coal.
IBP/kmb35
The pigsty located adjacent with the hotel restaurant is planned to be demolished in the near future.
Dog vaccination achieves 50 percent of estimated number
IBP/kmb24
The number of vaccinated dogs just reached 50 percent of the estimation in 2019 amounting to 55,447.
TABANAN - Mass vaccination activities for 2019 will continue until June 22. Based on the latest data, the achievement of rabies carrier animal vaccination reached 25,952, consisting of 25,633 dogs, 315 cats and four monkeys. The number of vaccinated dogs just reached 50 percent of the estimation in 2019 amounting to 55,447. Vaccination of rabies carrier animal, especially dogs, can reach 95 percent of the estimated amount until the deadline for mass vaccination. Livestock Division Head at the Tabanan Agriculture Agency, Wayan Suamba, said even though the 95 percent target cannot be achieved until the deadline, his agency will conduct sweeping against dogs that were not reached by vaccination. “‘This deadline
applies to simultaneous mass vaccinations in Bali. If during this period the 95 percent vaccination achievement cannot be achieved, a sweeping will be carried out” he said on Tuesday (May 21). Suamba added that if in the sweeping cannot still be achieved because no dogs are found scattered, it can be said the vaccination had met the target. “In this care, we use the number of estimation as the target. If during the sweeping, there is no additional number, so it is the real data of the dog population in Tabanan,” he explained. Based on the data, the subdistrict mostly doing vaccination is Kediri with 4,964 rabies carrier animals followed by Pupuan (3,848 heads), Tabanan (3,278 heads), Selemadeg (2,641 heads), Kerambitan (2,484
heads), Baturiti (2,444 heads), Marga (2,178 heads), Penebel (1,834 heads), West Selemadeg (1,552 heads) and East Selemadeg (729 heads). In addition to vaccinating, continued Suamba, the officers also carried out elimination. The elimination measures are carried out if there is a suspected positive bite in an area having not received any vaccination schedule or from the red zone in this case there have been positive bite cases. At least, six dogs were eliminated and taken its sample for examination. The six samples were taken from Delod Peken village (2 samples), Banjar Anyar village (1), Cepaka village (1), Beraban village (1) and Jegu village (1). All the samples taken were negative. (kmb24)
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The 99-year-old was offered money to move as authorities hoovered up land for a planned $2.6 billion Japanese-funded coal plant in the remote Van Phong Bay she has called home since birth. But when she said no, around 100 authorities showed up, forcibly removed her from the house and bulldozed it as she and her grandson looked on. They were helpless to prevent the destruction of the property two years ago, but Ca, frail and wizened, has rebuffed all attempts to evict her from the land since. “The authorities carried me away, but I refuse to move,” explains Ca, who now lives in a makeshift shelter of corrugated tin, wooden beams and coconut fronds next to the pile of rubble that was once her home. “My house is here, my land is here, so I will be buried here,” she tells AFP, sitting on a small cot where she spends much of her time. It’s a story playing out across Vietnam, where a strong-fisted government is powering ahead with coal projects to meet the soaring energy demands of a turbo-charged economy. Coal accounts for about a third of
Vietnam’s current energy production and is slated to rise to about 50 percent by 2030. That means building more coal plants in places like Van Phong Bay despite a chorus of opposition from locals who complain of land grabs, loss of livelihood and environmental damage. - ‘I can’t do anything’ Some 300 people have already been relocated from Ca’s community in south-central Khanh Hoa province. They were offered cash compensation and rooms in state housing -- but the residences were far from their farms and fishing grounds. The $43,000 inducement to leave their 9,000 square-meter plot was not enough to upend Ca’s family. “We cannot work there, there is no land for cultivation,” says Ca’s son Ho Huu Hanh, referring to the proposed relocation area. He insists that they were never told about the planned coal plant and accuses authorities of bending the law to strongarm residents to leave. The family lost their farmland anyway. Now Hanh works as a daylabourer or catches snails and small
fish to get by, earning about $170 a month. “I can’t do anything, I feel so sorry for myself,” he adds, crying. Others in the area are worried about what the coal plant will do to fish and coral reefs in the bay where water temperatures could rise due to the plant’s runoff. Like many of the 20 or so coal plants already operating in Vietnam, the bulk of the funding for the yet-tobe-built Van Phong plant is external. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) last month approved a $1.2 billion loan for the project, which is sponsored by the Sumitomo Corporation of Japan and is set to come online in 2023. Sumitomo says assessments were conducted to measure the environmental, social and health impacts of the project which were “managed and mitigated appropriately”. It says consultation meetings were held with residents and that compensation and resettlement was “carried out under the responsibility of local authorities in accordance with the laws of Vietnam”. Vietnamese officials did not reply to AFP’s request for comment. (afp)
HONG KONG - Shady middlemen are openly advertising on Chinese social media to smuggle blood samples of pregnant women to Hong Kong to skirt the mainland’s ban on gender testing, an AFP investigation has found. The business thrives on a wellorganised underground network that serves the huge demand for illicit sexselective abortion in mainland China –- driven by limits on family size and an entrenched cultural preference for sons. Chinese authorities vowed to crack down on the trade in 2015. But dozens of blood smuggling agents are openly advertising services on the Twitter-like platform Weibo and on websites, despite China’s proven ability to scrub digital content. Gender testing -- except on medical grounds -- is outlawed in China, where sex-selective abortions have helped create a surplus of about 31.6 million men, with some 115 boys born for every 100 girls last year. A long-standing one-child policy was eased to permit two children in 2016 but gender testing continues, with many parents of daughters trying for a son the second time around. Gender testing is legal in Hong Kong, with some clinics apparently turning a blind eye to the origins of the smuggled samples. Three agents contacted by an AFP reporter posing as a customer offered to arrange in-person appointments with medical testing labs or transport blood samples to Hong Kong for around US$580, promising results starting from six weeks into pregnancy. Upon payment of a deposit, the agent sends a testing kit to the client through a delivery service. One advised using an app to hire a nurse who could come to the patient’s home in mainland China to extract blood. - ‘Nothing will go wrong’ The client sends the blood sample to Shenzhen from where it is smug-
gled across the border to Hong Kong. The agents did not directly address questions about how the samples would be transported, but assured the reporter they would arrive safely at their destination. “They will be taken to the lab in a designated vehicle, the samples can be safely sent over for testing, nothing will go wrong,” one representative said, adding that results would be sent out in one working day. Other agents use human smugglers. In February, a 12-year-old girl headed to Hong Kong was caught at the Shenzhen border carrying 142 vials of blood samples from pregnant women in her backpack. The tests analyse small fragments of foetal DNA in a pregnant woman’s blood and can detect the presence of a Y chromosome. They are also used to screen for chromosomal disorders such as Down’s syndrome. They can often accurately predict the gender of a foetus weeks before doctors can see the sex organs in an ultrasound. Some mainlanders take the legal option of travelling directly to Hong Kong for gender testing. “I have three daughters already. To be honest I want a son,” a 39-year-old man surnamed Wang told AFP outside a lab in Kowloon where his wife was getting her blood tested. Wang, who circumvented the onechild policy as many well-connected or wealthy Chinese families do, said he was under intense parental pressure to produce a male heir and had made the journey from the southern province of Guizhou. “Chinese people still want to have a son to carry on the ancestral line, this is an antiquated way of thinking, but back home there are lots of people who think this way,” he explained. He added he and his wife would terminate the pregnancy in China if it turned out be a girl. “Right now she’s only about 50 days along, so it can be solved by taking some medicine,” he said. (afp)
ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP
In this photo taken on May 20, 2019 a general view of the Hong Kong sky line and Victoria Harbour.
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Thursday, May 23, 2019
Health
International
Bali News
International
IBP/net
Oumou Balde, 4, left, plays with her teacher Jacqualine Sanchez, right, and pretend food in a pre-kindergarten class at the Sheltering Arms Learning Center in New York in a program to educate children about nutrition and health on, Jan. 21, 2014.
Cholesterol improves in U.S. kids, yet only half have ideal numbers, study finds
which creates a much smaller stomach pouch, in 161 teens and 396 adults who had been obese since they were teens. Five years after their operations, both groups had lost 26% to 29% of their weight. Diabetes went into remission in 86% of teens and 53% of adults who had that disease before their operations; high blood pressure did the same in 68% of teens and 41% of adults. Some side effects were more common in teens, and they were twice as likely to need a second operation. One troubling finding: Although about 2 percent of each group died, two of the teens did so from drug overdoses, suggesting substance abuse and self-harm may be a concern. Overall, the results are consistent with an earlier study comparing teens and adults, Ted Adams of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City wrote in a commentary in the journal. “Almost 6% of adolescents in the United States are severely obese, and bariatric surgery is now the only successful, long-term treatment option” for them, he wrote. Most obese teens stay obese as adults, and adults who were obese as teens have worse health than people who started to weigh too much at an older age, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right choice to have surgery earlier than later, he warned. (net)
NEW YORK - Cholesterol levels in children and teens improved in the latest analysis of U.S. health surveys, yet only half of them had readings considered ideal. Overall, 7% of kids had high cholesterol in surveys from 2009 to 2016. That was down from 10% a decade earlier. In children, high levels mean 200 or above and ideal measures are below 170. The results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers say the mixed bag of results could reflect stubborn rates of childhood obesity, offset by U.S. kids eating fewer snack foods containing unhealthy trans fats. Manufacturers began phasing those out before a 2018 U.S. ban. In the analysis, researchers used
1999-2016 government surveys of 26,000 kids aged 6 to 19 who had home interviews, physical exams and lab tests. About 1 in 4 teens and 1 in 5 younger children had unhealthy levels of at least one of type of blood fat, including cholesterol and triglycerides. High cholesterol in childhood can lead to changes that cause blood vessels to narrow, said Dr. Amanda Perak, the study’s lead author and a heart specialist at Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital. Those changes put kids at risk for heart attacks and other heart trouble in adulthood, she said.
In most cases, kids can improve cholesterol levels by adopting healthier habits — eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and less processed food, and exercising more, Perak said. “Lifestyle contributes in the vast majority of cases,” she said. Obesity contributes to unhealthy cholesterol levels yet rates have remained stagnant for U.S. kids and adults. In 2015-16, 21% of teens, 18% of children aged 6-11, and 40% of adults were obese, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (net)
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Miranda Taylor had obesity surgery when she was 16 and weighed 265 pounds. Taylor, who lost more than 100 pounds, said “I feel awesome. It’s like a new life.”
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Low-priced market at Blahbatuh lacks of buyers
Obesity surgery benefits may be bigger for teens than adults
HOUSTON - Teens who have obesity surgery lose as much weight as those who have the operation as adults and are more likely to have it resolve other health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure, a study finds. The results suggest there’s a benefit from not waiting to address obesity. Researchers say longer study is still needed to know lifetime effects of this radical surgery and that it’s a personal decision whether and when to try it. The study was published Thursday by the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the Combating Childhood Obesity conference in Houston. The National Institutes of Health paid for it, and some researchers consult for makers of obesity surgery tools. The damaging effects of obesity accumulate, and the risk of developing other diseases and dying prematurely rises the longer someone goes. Surgery is usually reserved for people who can’t lose enough weight through other means — diet, exercise and sometimes medicines — and are severely obese. Researchers led by Dr. Thomas Inge at the University of Colorado wanted to know whether it’s better or safer to have it in mid-life, the most common time now, or sooner before many of those other health problems appear or do much harm. They compared results from two studies of gastric bypass surgery,
Thursday, May 23, 2019
IBP/kmb31
PDAM Klungkung is now working hard to maximize Guyangan spring and Penida spring potential.
Two springs in Nusa Penida have not been utilized maximally SEMARAPURA — The basic needs of clean water for the residents of Nusa Penida subdistrict are met from two springs of clean water. They are the Guyangan spring and Penida spring. Apparently, both have considerable capacity. However, at this time the newly used ones are actually still very small. Director of the PDAM Klungkung, Nyoman Renin Suyasa, stated on Tuesday (May 21) the two springs have considerable capacity. Like the Penida spring, its capacity reaches 179 liters per second. However, so far only 30 liters per second has been used. Meanwhile, the source at the Guyangan spring has the capacity reaching 75 liters per second. However, only 20 liters per second has been used. PDAM Klungkung is now working hard to maximize this potential, so that all villages, especially on Nusa Penida Island, can be served with clean water. After the clean water has been channeled into the service connection, the effort of PDAM becomes easier to distribute water to each house connection. “If the water has arrived at one village we are heading for, to stream it to customers is certainly easier. Now, there are only three villages having not been reached by PDAM services, namely Tanglad, Pantungutan and Sekartaji village,” said Renin. As a step to maximize the potential of these two springs, it certainly requires budget planning and support. In its management, the power, pumps and creation of new networks with larger pipe widths will be added. “For example, from the Guyangan spring, we are going to increase the usage capacity amounting to 25 liters per second. So, the total usage rises to 45 liters per second,” he said. The efforts to increase the us-
age capacity will be carried out in stages. This is an anticipatory measure seeing the development of Nusa Penida which is increasingly rapid, along with the development of tourism. The increasingly rapid development of tourist accommodation certainly requires a good supply of clean water services, as a means of supporting the development process of the local government. “This is our answer to the demands of the development of Nusa Penida currently running so fast. If there is a disruption of services, of course we must be ready to follow up,” he said. He hopes that Nusa Penida community can understand the development of this situation. The situation is clearly different, when comparing the past to current situation of Nusa Penida where currently it has got a touch of tourism innovation. So, when lately there is frequent disruption of services, it cannot be analogized that the past PDAM management is better than the current one. Renin affirmed that currently PDAM has 5,906 connections in Nusa Penida with the percentage of service coverage reaching 63.98 percent of the total population in Nusa Penida. Meanwhile, overall in Klungkung, total services reached 33,095 connections, with a percentage of services reaching 94.61 percent. This clearly showed significant increase from before he took office, where at that time the Nusa Penida service totaled only 2,700 home connections. Or the service coverage was only 16 percent. “If there are service complaints, immediately tell us, we can handle it. We are ready to explain, what we have done,” said Renin who has long been in the world of clean water services, since working at the PDAM Gianyar. (kmb31)
GIANYAR — The low-priced market opened by the Gianyar Industry and Trade Agency in Blahbatuh Public Market seemed lonely on Tuesday (May 21). Some visitors preferred shopping to merchants in the public market, with the same price and better quality of goods. Ni Made Yanti, a resident visiting Blahbatuh Public Market on Tuesday, admitted that she prefers to shop at merchants in the public market to meet her kitchen needs. She pointed out that rice price in public market merchants just differ slightly from low-priced market, but the quality is much better. “In the low-priced market, the price of rice is around IDR 8,000, but visitors have to buy 5 kg. Besides, I see the rice is rather dirty. Meanwhile, the merchants in the public market sell for IDR 10,000 per kg and the rice is good. Besides, I can buy only 3 kg,” he said. She also complained about the difference in oil prices in the public market compared to low-priced market using box vehicle. She exemplified that at the merchants of Blahbatuh Market she used to buy cooking oil for IDR 11,000 for well known brand. While at the lowpriced market, the price of cooking oil is IDR 10,000, but the brand is unfamiliar. “So, I buy cooking oil with the brand of more commonly
used at home, while the price is also a little different,” she said. Meanwhile, a merchant in the Public Market, Ni Wayan Sedana, admitted that at first she was worried about the existence of the low-priced market, coming every holiday in the parking area of Blahbatuh Public Market. “I was worried it will cause no visitors shopping in my shop, but it wasn’t,” she said. She revealed that after getting information, in fact the price offered is not much different from the price of the products she sold. She pointed out that the price of egg she sells in her shop is IDR 1,500 each, where this price is the same as those sold in low-priced market. “The price is the same. Moreover, according to buyers, the eggs on sale at my shop look bigger,” she affirmed. As seen in the parking area of Blahbatuh Public Market, the low-priced market using box vehicle was guarded by a number of officers in civil servant uniforms.
They have sold from Tuesday morning around 08:00. However, around 09:00, a number of items in the open box vehicle seemed to be intact. Until entering 10:00, the low-priced market was closed by its officers on duty. A few days before the holy month of Ramadan, the Gianyar Industry and Trade Agency in cooperation with the Bali Logistics Agency held a low-priced market in three public markets in Gianyar district. This was revealed by the Division Head of Consumer Protection and Commercial Order, Ni Wayan Adnyaningsih, on Monday (May 20). According to her, the lowpriced market activity is carried out in turns on the public market in Gianyar district. It was started at the Sukawati Public market (May 17), Gianyar Public Market (May 20) and Blahbatuh Public Market (May 21). “Ahead of the feast, usually the price of some basic needs have increased significantly,” explained Wayan Adnyaningsih. (kmb35)
IBP/kmb35
The low-priced market opened by the Gianyar Industry and Trade Agency in Blahbatuh Public Market seemed lonely on Tuesday (May 21).
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Thursday, May 23, 2019
Bali News
International
Estuary arrangement of Mati River almost accomplishes
PDAM to coordinate regarding utilization of raw water
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Octopus is also attached to animal symbol identical to monsters from the sea as described as the Kraken in the Caribbean Pirate film.
Presenting giant octopus installation work
BBAF reminds importance of maintaining marine conservation
MANGUPURA — In contrast to the first event in 2018 that broke the MURI record with Colossal Cak a cappella concert involving 5,555 artists from high school and vocational school students across Badung district, the Brawa Beach Arts Festival (BBAF) 2019 will return to present something new. With the theme of Pasisi Lango: ‘Deep Blue Spirit,’ the concept is to break another MURI record with the category of gigantic installation art or the biggest one adopting the sea octopus animal. This festival will take place on May 23-26. According to Committee Chairman, I Made Dwijantara, octopus is a sea animal closely related to people’s life used as food ingredient by Tibubeneng community. Octopus is also attached to animal symbol identical to monsters from the sea as described as the Kraken in the Caribbean Pirate film. “Octopus was chosen because of its uniqueness. On the one side, it is attached to a fragile animal that is not too strong, but on the other side it also represents an animal as a scary monster,” he said when giving a statement on Tuesday (May 21) In this case, octopus is a symbol to represent the consciousness spirit of the deep ocean (Deep Blue Spirit). The concept of this theme is interpreted into the presence of the Giant Octopus which fills the Perancak Temple area posing the venue of the festival. Other meaning wishing to be showed off is how the basic spirit of the sea is brought
to echo the future concern for the potential of the sea increasingly polluted in the long run. “The message to convey is that never let the bottom of the sea get angry that can bring in misery to humanity. With the arrival of the giant octopus to the coast, the aim is to remind us of the importance of preserving the sea,” he concluded. Meanwhile, Secretary of the Badung Tourism Office, AA Yuyun Hanura Eny, hoped the festival could unite the tourism office with the community to enliven the atmosphere of Brawa Beach so that it could increase tourist visits. “The target of Tourism Office is to increase the tourist visits to Brawa Beach. In addition to tourist visits, it is also meant to extend their stay,” she hoped. The Brawa Beach Arts Festival will also feature performing arts (arts & music) in the form of dance and musical compositions elevating
the coastal values of North Kuta. Similarly, it will feature various types of local food having begun to be forgotten in the Food & Beverage corner. This cultural event is the Coastal Society Art Festival (Pasisi Lango) specifically in the North Kuta area. It aims to raise the values of the cultural wisdom of the coastal communities of South Bali, especially at Tibubeneng village and its surroundings. The life of coastal communities as fishermen has long been a buffer for fish consumption of Balinese people, and of course they have their own wisdom. This activity is not only an arena of creativity for the artists, but also a collective space of creativity involving the surrounding community. Like in the first event, the festival also presents art exhibitions of painting and sculpture, traditional and contemporary dance performances enlivened with local bands. (kmb23)
MANGUPURA — Arrangement of the estuary flow of the Mati River, Pata Sari area, Kuta, is now nearing completion. Other than holding the high tidal currents, the project is carried out for flood controller while the water in the dam can also be taken advantage by Municipal Waterworks or PDAM as raw water. However, currently the PDAM Tirta Mangutama of Badung said that it had not yet coordinated with the Bali-Penida River Agency (BWS). According to the Managing Director of PDAM Tirta Mangutama, I Ketut Golak, related to the near completion of the Mati River arrangement project, it will coordinate with the Bali-Penida River Agency to discuss about the use of raw water there. Hopefully, it will be able to increase the existing water load in Estuary dam. With the water accommodated in the mouth of the Mati River, it will certainly be able to provide additional water, especially during dry season or when it is really needed. “Previously, we also had time to deliver in the discussion forum, how to make connection or waterway from the Mati River to Estuary,” he said on Tuesday (May 21). When confirmed separately, the Commitment Making Of-
Activities
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ficer (PPK) of River and Beach at the Bali-Penida River Agency (BWSBP), Wayan Riasa, stated that for the water utilization plan at the Mati River estuary, in the future this will be coordinated again because the current arrangement concept is indeed for flood control. However, to reduce excess water, an overflow to the Mati River is made to the north of the mouth of the Mati River. He explained, for the progress of the arrangement to the upper limit 2019, it is already almost 100 percent. It includes the installation of weir panels, landscape in the form of a road with a width of 5 meters. In the meantime, the workmanship is currently underway related to finishing generator set house and other finishing work. Meanwhile, overall the construction work has been complete. He said that target for workmanship is referring to the plan, indeed until December 31, 2019. However, implementation of this activity is almost completed, while waiting for revisions. “Currently, the remaining work is the making of generator set house, finishing of landscape, panel installation where some of them have not been done and finishing movable weir,” he said. (kmb23)
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Arrangement of the estuary flow of the Mati River, Pata Sari area, Kuta, is now nearing completion.
Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Swasrina, Buleleng: Mudiarta, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Eka Parananda, Klungkung: Bagiarta. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post
Thursday, May 23, 2019
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Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa, Bali Commemorates 36 years on the island
Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa, Bali will celebrate its 36th anniversary on 28th May 2019, as a leading Resort in Bali renowned for its traditional architectures, facilities, services and hospitality. The Resort was opened in 1983 by former President Soeharto and became the first five-star resort built in the southern enclave of Nusa Dua. For over three decades the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa has been committed to delivering outstand-
ing customer service as well as exceeding guests’ expectations. Additionally, the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa has continuously supported the local community and environmental initiatives by various programs including social visits to orphanages, monthly beach cleaning, recycling programs, tree planting and many others. After 36 years the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa is still committed as a successful leader in the hospitality industry by con-
tinuously providing “Authentically Bali” experiences through unique products and exceptional services. The anniversary celebrations will be enlivened by a series of events held at the end of May including a Cleaning Campaign and other celebrations amongst the staff. In recognizing this historic milestone, the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa is delighted to share a celebratory deal of 30% off on all room rates from 25 – 31 May 2019. Terms and conditions apply.
“I greatly appreciate and value this exceptional longevity. I am sure there will be many more years of this continued success ahead. ” said Jamal Hussain, General Manager of Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa. The Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa is the pioneer of luxury accommodation within the Nusa Dua area. This 5-star diamond resort, has been welcoming kings, queens, presidents and other dignitaries since its grand opening. Nestled within beautifully landscaped
gardens, the resort, with its 382 guestrooms and suites, features all the elegance of a Balinese palace, while offering modern amenities. The Nusa Dua Spa is designed to highlight its rich Balinese tradition with a variety of indigenous treatments. Dining at Nusa Dua Hotel & Spa is an epicurean journey with a choice of five restaurants and four bars under the close watch of an award-winning culinary team. For more information, please visit www.nusaduahotel.com.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
16 Pages Number 102 11th year
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
Price: Rp 3.000,-
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Liam Gallagher doc to premiere at Cannes film festival
A new feature-length documentary about former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher’s years in the musical wilderness is to be shown at the Cannes film festival, its producers said Tuesday. “Liam Gallagher: As it Was” will be released next month to coincide with his second solo album, which is expected to hit the shelves soon. Co-director Charlie Lightening and his crew began followed the British singer -- whose gift for making headlines is nearly as prodigious as his musical talent -- just before his comeback. Gallagher’s first solo album, “As It Was”, was a hit in 2017 and Lightening told British music magazine NME that his new record is “gonna blow people away”. In a trailer for the film, which is showing at the Cannes market, Liam blames his brother Noel for the breakup of the Manchester band. Oasis -- once billed as the biggest British band since The Beatles -- imploded in 2009 after Liam threw a plum at his older sibling. The bickering brothers have still not buried the hatchet a decade after their famous final falling out, with Liam regularly taking swipes at his until now more successful sibling on social media. “Liam is one of the most influential and accomplished musicians of the last 30 years,” Seth Needle of distributors Screen Media told Variety, adding that the film “showcases his talent and personality like nothing before.” Lightening previously directed projects about Paul McCartney and British singer Jamiroquai. His co-director Gavin Fitzgerald made “Conor McGregor: Notorious” about the Irish mixed martial arts star as well as “The Fighting Irish” documentary on MMA fighters. (afp)
‘John Wick 3’ dethrones ‘Avengers: Endgame’ with $57 million
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Thursday, May 23, 2019
LOS ANGELES - The box office has a new king and his name is John Wick. The third installment of the hyper violent Keanu Reeves franchise has taken the top spot at the North American box office and ended the three-week reign of “Avengers: Endgame.”
Studios on Sunday say “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” has grossed an estimated $57 million in its opening weekend. Not only did it far exceed expectations, it’s a franchise best that nearly doubled the opening of the second film, which itself doubled the opening of the first film from 2014. The audience, in other words, is growing exponentially for this series about a talented assassin who never seems to get a break. This time, there’s a $14 million price tag on his head. Men made up the majority (63 of the “John Wick 3” opening weekend crowd. Overall audiences gave the film a rare A+ CinemaScore, indicating that word-of-mouth will be strong in subsequent weekends. According to Comscore’s PostTrak audience survey, 70% said they would “definitely recommend” to their friends and 21% said they would see it again in theaters. “This is the best reviewed film of the series so far,” said Joe Drake, chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, in a statement. “We believe word-of-mouth will continue to drive strong business for the film all over the world.” Internationally “John Wick 3” earned $35.2 million from 66 territories. “Avengers: Endgame” slid to second place in its fourth weekend with $29.4 million. Domestically, where the film has grossed $711 million, it’s now second only to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($937 million) and globally, with $2.6 billion, it’s still second to “Avatar” ($2.8 billion). In its second weekend, “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” also continued to do well, placing third with $24.8 million. But with the high-performing trifecta of John Wick, the Avengers and Pikachu, there weren’t very many moviegoers left over for the less flashy newcomers like “A Dog’s Journey” and “The
Niko Tavernise/Lionsgate via AP
This image released by Lionsgate shows Keanu Reeves in a scene from “John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.” The third installment of the hyper violent Keanu Reeves franchise has taken the top spot at the North American box office and ending the three-week reign of Avengers: Endgame. Sun Is Also a Star.” “The marketplace was so dominated by ‘John Wick,’” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It’s tough when one movie over performs by this kind of magnitude.” Amblin Entertainment and Reliance Entertainment’s “A Dog’s Journey” opened in fourth with an underwhelming $8 million. The Universal-distributed film is a sequel to the 2017 hit “A Dog’s Purpose.” But unlike John Wick, the audience for this sequel was less than half of that for the first, which opened to $18.2 million. But audiences who did turn out gave it an A CinemaScore, which could point toward long-term playability. Most disappointing, however, is the young adult adaptation “The Sun Is Also a Star” which grossed only $2.6 million from over 2,000 screens and landed in eighth place. Although modestly budgeted at a reported $9 million, and featuring popular television actors such as “Riverdale’s” Charles Melton
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and “grown-ish’s” Yara Shahidi, the Warner Bros.-released film failed to connect even with the audiences who turned out, 75% of whom were women. It got a poor B- CinemaScore. It’s a far cry from the days of “The Fault in Our Stars’” $48 million debut in 2014, and even the last film based on a Nicola Yoon novel, “Everything, Everything,” which opened to over $11 million in 2017. “As unpredictable and fickle as young adults are, so are the performances of films that target that audience,” Dergarabedian said. In limited release, Joanna Hogg’s wellreviewed relationship drama “The Souvenir” did well with $85,851 from four screens. Even with the success of “John Wick,” the weekend itself was down about 31% and the year to date is still down around 9%, but, Dergarabedian said that this is the calm before the storm. In the next few weekends theaters will see an influx of could-be hits such as “Rocketman,” ‘’Aladdin” and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” (ap)
BAY ISMOYO / AFP
Carcasses that were burned by the mob are seen during an overnight demonstration near by the Elections Oversight Body (Bawaslu) in Jakarta on May 22, 2019.
Six dead after election riots in Indonesia’s capital
JAKARTA - At least six people were killed as Indonesia’s capital erupted in violence on Wednesday when police clashed with protesters opposed to the re-election of President Joko Widodo. Dozens were arrested and parts of Jakarta were littered with debris and burned-out cars, as the violence triggered security advisories from the US and Australian embassies. Authorities also restricted access to some social media in a bid to stop rumours and fake news from spreading online. National police chief Tito Karnavian said six people had died, but denied authorities had fired live rounds on the crowd, and called for calm. “Some had gunshot wounds,
some had blunt force wounds but we still need to clarify this,” he told reporters. The violence came after Indonesia’s election commission on Tuesday confirmed Widodo had beaten retired military general Prabowo Subianto for the presidency in a poll held on April 17. Subianto has said he would challenge the results in court -- as he did, unsuccessfully, against Widodo in 2014 -- but also warned his claims of widespread cheating could spark street protests.
That was borne out early Wednesday as protesters set market stalls and cars on fire while hurling fireworks and rocks at security personnel clad in riot gear and holding shields, an AFP reporter on the scene said. The early morning clashes started after several thousand Subianto supporters rallied peacefully near the election supervisory agency’s office in the heart of the capital on Tuesday. - ‘Exercise caution’ Later, roads were blocked off in parts of the sprawling metropolis -- with some shopping malls, businesses and schools also closed as small groups of protesters engaged in skirmishes with police.
“I open myself to anyone to work together to build and develop this nation, but I won’t tolerate anyone who tries to disrupt public security, the democratic process or the unity of our... country,” Widodo said at a press briefing, flanked by his chief security ministry and the head of the military Subianto repeated calls for supporters to avoid violence. “We support people’s constitutional rights (to protest) as long as they are civilised, peaceful and non-violent,” he told reporters. By Wednesday afternoon, a crowd of several thousand demonstrators flowed into the city’s business and commercial heart for a rally. “Avoid areas where demonstra-
tions are occurring & exercise caution in the vicinity of any large gathering,” the US embassy said on Twitter. More than 30,000 troops had been deployed in anticipation of unrest, and the elections commission office was barricaded with razor wire and protected by scores of security personnel. Continued to page 6
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