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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

‘A Star Is Born’ leads pack for Screen Actors Guild Awards

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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

LOS ANGELES - Popular musical romance “A Star Is Born” --featuring the powerhouse duo of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga -- leads the field for Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, which are seen as a major predictor of Oscars success.

This year, the SAG Awards comes at a key point in the race to next month’s Academy Awards -- just after the Oscars nominations, and before the voting for the winners begins.

The Screen Actors Guild accounts for a major percentage of the 8,000-odd Oscar voters, so the SAG winners crowned Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles will earn a lot of awards season momentum.

“A Star Is Born,” the latest iteration of the classic Tinseltown story of an aging star and

the ingenue he discovers, earned four SAG nominations for Cooper, Gaga, Sam Elliott and best ensemble cast -- the top prize.

“BlacKkKlansman,” Spike Lee’s latest film, is just behind with three and could spark a surprise, pundits say, due to the great respect for the veteran US director among Hollywood’s actors.

And superhero juggernaut “Black Panther” could pull a major upset in the best ensemble category -- giving its star-studded cast the chance to give the signature “Wakanda Forever” salute from the stage.

One major absence at the 25th edition of the starry event is Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” -- the top Oscar nomination getter was left out of SAG contention. Longtime

Oscar watcher Sasha Stone sees the race as a major toss-up. “’A Star Is Born’ could win big, setting it up as once again the season’s frontrunner. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ could win -- yes, even still,” Stone wrote on her website, Awards Daily.

But she ultimately put her money on “BlacKkKlansman,” which is based on the true story of a black cop who successfully infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan with the help of his white partner, who acts as his surrogate.

She notes it’s the only film to earn nominations at all the major awards shows and in the key categories, while acknowledging: “We all must agree that it’s a weird year and stats don’t matter.” (afp) Tolga AKMEN / AFP

In this file photo taken on January 21, 2019 A pedestrian walks pas a placard reading “People’s Vote” as Brexit activits demonstrate outside of the Houses of Parliament in central London, whilst Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement to the House of Commons on changes to her Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Michael Jackson estate slams Leaving Neverland documentary with new abuse claims

CALIFORNIA - Michael Jackson’s estate has blasted a documentary featuring two men who accuse the late pop star of sexually molesting them when they were young boys.

Due to be aired on Channel 4 later this year, the film includes a string of new sexual abuse allegations against the singer, including claims of abuse made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck.

In the film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, it is alleged the Billie Jean

singer gave his young male victims jewellery in exchange for sexual favours.

Leaving Neverland - a reference to the singer’s California ranch - also alleges that the King of Pop even staged a mock wedding complete with vows and a diamond ring with one boy.

Jackson, who died in 2009 aged 50, denied all allegations that he was involved in abusing underage boys and was acquitted of molestation charges in 2005.

His estate described Mr Robson

and Mr Safechuck as “two perjurers” after they made sworn statements when Jackson was alive that he had not abused them.

It said the film was not a documentary but a “tabloid assassination” of Jackson that he had endured in life and now in death.

The estate accused the film of focusing too much on Mr Robson and Mr Safechuck while ignoring others who spent significant time with Jackson and “stated that he treated children with respect and did nothing hurtful to them”. (net)

‘Listen to Europe,’ Dublin tells UK MPs ahead of Brexit votes

British MPs seeking to pressure Prime Minister Theresa May this week to renegotiate her Brexit deal should heed EU warnings that it will not succeed, Ireland’s foreign minister warned Sunday.

IBP/net

It is alleged Jackson carried out sexual abuse at his Neverland Ranch in California.

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Simon Coveney said attempts

by Brexit supporters to remove or set a time-limit on a controversial “backstop” clause on the Irish border would never be accepted

by Brussels.

“Listen to what people are saying in Europe,” he told BBC television, saying May’s Brexit deal was “a balanced package that isn’t going to change”.

“The European Parliament will not ratify a withdrawal agreement that doesn’t have a backstop in it, it’s as simple as that,” he added.

He was speaking ahead of another showdown between May and the House of Commons over Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, which is scheduled for March 29.

MPs this month rejected the divorce agreement she struck with the bloc last year. One Tuesday night, in a series of votes on parliamentary amendments, they will set out what they want her to do next.

Some MPs want to delay Brexit or adopt a whole new strategy, but others are demanding changes to

May’s deal that they suggest could allow them to support it.

These focus on the backstop, an arrangement intended to keep open the border between the UK and Ireland by temporarily tying London to the EU’s trade rules.

May has already spent months trying to amend the backstop with no success, but has promised to return to Brussels if that is what her MPs want.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied Coveney’s comments meant she could not succeed, telling the same BBC programme that he was taking a “negotiating position”.

He said Dublin did not want Britain to leave the EU without a deal, which is the default position if

MPs cannot reach agreement.

The European Commission this week conceded that without a deal, controls would be reimposed on the Irish border, which all sides have warned could undermine the Northern Irish peace process.

“The idea the EU and the Irish government would drive this process to a no-deal exit in order to try to achieve something which is intended to avoid no-deal Brexit, that is not going to happen,” Hancock said.

Coveney repeated that Dublin would be open to amending an accompanying political declaration on future trading ties, to emphasise that the backstop may never be used.

- Scrap MPs’ holiday The rejection of May’s EU deal on January 15 left Britain hurtling towards the exit door with no plan.

If her efforts to salvage her deal fail, Britain runs the risk of severing ties with its closest trading partner overnight, with no new arrangements in place.

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.

2

Bali News

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

International

International

Activities

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

15

Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center Won Several Categories on the 7th Bali Culinary Festive

Bali to build sugar cane factory

Continuity of raw materials needs to think about

DENPASAR - Bali will develop sugar cane farming in Buleleng. If the land area requirements are met, a sugar factory will be built in Bali. However, construction of the sugar factory needs to think about the continuity of raw material supply in order not to become a new problem for Bali.

Division Head of Plantation at the Bali Food, Plantation and Horticulture Agency, Lanang Aryawan, said he had just finished planting 1,200 hectares of sugarcane in 2018 in Singaraja. In 2019, 2,000 hectares will be cultivated. Thus, the total land area amounts to 3,200 hectares in 2019. If the land area meets the requirements, a sugar factory is planned to be built in Bali.

“As planned, the reconnaissance and feasibility study will be held in the middle of this year,” he said.

Meanwhile, sugar cane plants having been planted in 2018 are said to have grown well. If it does not grow, it must be replanted so as not to hollow.

Later on, the results will be taken to

the Asem Bagus Factory according to the cooperation agreement with the PTPN XI Surabaya.

In the process of planting sugarcane, in the past period he had difficulty in the procurement of sugarcane seedlings because of limited supply while the need in Java is very high.

So, the target for planting is delayed from the target of planting completion in August-September. “This year, we have anticipated so that last year’s problem will not happen again,” he said.

This year, he prepared 300-400 hectares of land for prospective seedlings in 2019. So, it is enough for the needs of Bali. “We have prepared

around 400 hectares of land for sugarcane seedlings. Actually, we just need 200 hectares for seedlings but have prepared 400 ha,” he added.

Chairperson of the Indonesia Farmers Association (HKTI), Prof.

Supartha, said the land in Bali is narrow, as having been cultivated for other plants such as rice, corn, soybeans, onions and chili. So, it is not possible to develop sugar cane fields for sugar industry. “The industry must be sufficient in terms of raw materials. This is the characteristic of industry. Don’t be playful if we’ve already known the spirit of the machine, the spirit of the industry. The industry is related to long process of

raw materials so that it must connect from A to B, B to C, C to D. On that account, the industrial principles must be understood,” he said.

In the sugar industry, regular raw materials are needed. So the land area must be a consideration of industrial development. “However, if raw materials are not enough, the land is not enough, don’t make new problems,” he joked.

Almost all lands in Bali are used for other crops. So, the presence of sugar cane will replace the other plants or shift other plants. “If there are more plants shifting them coming with better results, it is good. But if otherwise, how about it?” he said.

In addition, this program must have an appointment or agreement with the farmers. The agreement with farmers means that farmers are invited

to join in supporting the factory and the life of farmers are guaranteed by meeting their daily needs.

The government hoped with the construction of sugar cane factory, the price of sugar in Bali will be cheaper.

But according to him, the price of sugar is a national framework. So, with the area of sugar cane in Bali, it is less likely to affect the price of sugar cane to be cheaper. By lowering prices, it will pressure sugar cane producers.

If the price of sugar cane is cheap, the farmers will be affected. “Farmers will be definitely suppressed and the price is low bargained. As a result, farmers are depressed. If Bali follows such a concept, Bali farmers having been better than other regions will follow the lower income farmers,” he said. (kmb40)

Balingkang Kintamani Festival

3,000 Chinese tourists ensured to visit Kintamani

BANGLI - Approximately 3,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit Kintamani to watch the Balingkang Kintamani Festival next February.

The festival scheduled to be held at Batur village, Kintamani, will feature a parade of acculturation of Chinese and Balinese culture.

The plan to implement the Balingkang Kintamani Festival is revealed by Deputy Regent of Bangli, Sang Nyoman Sedana Arta, when attending the work meeting of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) of Bangli Chapter, in Kintamani on Friday (Jan. 25).

Sedana Arta said the Balingkang Kintamani Festival is held for the first time in Kintamani. In the festival, the culture to be displayed will bring up the love story of King Jayapangus and Princess from China, Kang Cing Wie, who is still legendary. He ensured that during the festival, Kintamani will be flooded with three thousand Chinese tourists. “So far, along the history of Bangli tourism, it has never been attended by thousands of Chinese tourists at once,” he said.

According to him, the event is a good opportunity for Bangli to pro-

mote tourism it has. On that account, the moment must be utilized as well as possible by all parties. Sedana Arta also hoped that all components, especially those engaged in tourism in Bangli district, will support and succeed in organizing the festival. “If this can be packaged and promoted properly, something big will happen.

More and more Chinese tourists will come to Bangli,” he explained.

Full support for the holding of the Balingkang Kintamani Festival is also conveyed by Chairperson of PHRI Bangli, Ketut Mardjana. According to him, the festival held by

the Bali provincial government is a very appropriate and effective effort to draw the interest of Chinese tourists to visit Bali having previously dropped. With the implementation of the festival, it is hoped to result in a tremendous impact on the level of Chinese tourist visits in the future.

“PHRI Bangli provides full support for the organization of the festival,” he explained.

Separately, the Head of the Bangli Tourism and Culture Office, Wayan Adnyana, said the Balingkang Kintamani Festival will be held on February 6 in front of the

Ulundanu Batur Temple, Kintamani.

It will be filled with a cultural parade and fragmentary show on Jayapangus-Kang Cing Wie’s romance for approximately two hours starting at 10:00 local time. In addition to enhancing the image of Bali tourism in the eyes of Chinese tourists, this festival is held to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

“So far, Kintamani is only known for the beautiful panorama of Mount Batur and its natural attractions.

More than that, Kintamani also has cultural and spiritual tourism,” added Adnyana. (kmb40)

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Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center is all about winning these days, after previous award for the highest iAudit score of Food & Beverage Service in November 2018, several winners on the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th of the cooking competition, the hotel has just won several categories on the 7th Bali Culinary Festive that being held on the 21st of January 2019.

“It’s certainly an extraordinary moment that we prove the quality of work by dispatched our Cook Helper – I Putu Santana Putra in cooking competition as the first winner in a creative & innovative Indonesian Cuisine category, and as the second runner up in a creative & innovative pasta dish category. The whole point of the competition is to lay as much technique, visual and flavor as possible into one dish. Usually, there’s a dozens of recipes in each component on the plate.” Said Komang Aryana – Executive Chef at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center on press conference at Quest San Hotel Denpasar last January 21st, 2019.

Furthermore, Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center also participated in a mocktail creation and creative & innovative mocktail competition and assigned its Mixologist – Ni Kadek Dwi Erawati. “She created Mango Dragon by mixing the main ingredients; fresh mango and dragon fruit in mandatory mocktail category, and came out as the runner up. Besides that, Era also created Sunset Dewata in creative & innovative mocktail category with the main ingredient was herb and mangosteen water, blimbing wuluh/ averrhoa bilimbi, bonny fruit, and honey. This category won as the second runner up.” Said Ady Suardi - Restaurant & Banquet Manager at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center after the event.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Science

International

Bali News

International

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

3

Ray of light photography

To record dramatic stripes of lights

ON one occasion, you may get amazed to see the beauty of the sun bursting between the trees, fog, clouds and smoke or cave cracks. Sunlight forming a straight-line ray unit seems very soft and dramatic that reassures the feeling. Frequently, the lines of light also raise a magical and dreamy feel. Among photographers, these dramatic ray lines, known as ray of light (ROL) are ‘fabulous’ hunted objects, so it becomes a pity to miss. However, it is not easy to move the ROL effect into your photo frame. The following are practical tips that can be used as a guide for capturing the ROL effect so that it results in photos deserved to be appreciated!

IBP/net

Lack of sleep is tied to increases in two Alzheimer’s proteins

Tangles of tau protein (green) muck up a nerve cell from a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, as seen in this transmission electron micrograph.

WASHINGTON - A sleep-deprived brain is awash in excess amounts of not one but two proteins whose bad behavior is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease.

A new study finds excessive amounts of a protein called tau in the fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord of extremely sleepdeprived adults. Tau, which is tied to nerve cell death, tangles and spreads throughout the brain during Alzheimer’s. An earlier report on these sleepy adults found that the protein amyloid-beta — globs of which dot the brains of Alzheimer’s patients — also increased.

Samples of cerebrospinal fluid collected from eight adults, monitored during a night of normal sleep and over the course of 36 hours of sleep deprivation, revealed a 51.5 percent increase in tau in participants robbed of shut-eye. And sleep-deprived mice had twice the

amount of tau as well-rested mice, researchers report online January 24 in Science. Earlier work by these researchers had suggested that the quality of sleep might affect tau levels; this time, it’s been linked to duration of sleep.

With both A-beta and tau increasing with a lack of sleep, “it certainly argues that treating sleep disorders during mid-life as well as getting appropriate levels of sleep is likely to decrease risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” says coauthor David Holtzman, a neurologist and neuroscientist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

During sleep, the brain appears to flush out excess proteins and other debris, so perhaps less sleep means

that wash cycle is curtailed.

An estimated 5.7 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. A type of dementia, Alzheimer’s leads to problems with thinking, memory and behavior that eventually interfere with one’s ability to function day-to-day. Plaques of A-beta and twisted bits of tau litter the brains of those with the disease, producing damage that leads to Alzheimer’s symptoms.

In 2017, Holtzman and colleagues had reported that a night of poorquality sleep raised levels of A-beta in the cerebrospinal fluid, and if that night had been preceded by a week of less-than-sound snoozing, the amount of tau also increased. In that study, volunteers were monitored on a night of sound sleep and a night in which they got the same amount, but

GENEVA - Babies love to be rocked to sleep. It turns out that we never quite grow out of it.

Grown-ups tucked into a gently swaying bed for the night fell asleep faster and slept deeper, scientists report in the Feb. 4 Current Biology. What’s more, these rocked adults had sharper memories the next morning.

Aside from hinting at the next great sleep aid, the results offer clues about how the brain refreshes itself each night.

“We’ve been rocking our babies for thousands of years now. We know it helps them fall asleep,” says Robert Stickgold, a cognitive

neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School. So why not adults? “I’m putting my bed on a rocker tonight,” he says, calling the results “a lot of fun.”

Neuroscientist Laurence Bayer of the University of Geneva and her colleagues first got a hint that adults might benefit from rocking in 2011. The researchers found that adults napped better in a custom-built rocking bed — a contraption that gently sways back and forth every four seconds, moving 10½ centimeters each way. But it wasn’t clear whether rocking might improve sleep across an entire night.

So for the new study, Bayer and her colleagues invited 18 healthy young adults for several laboratory sleepovers, with one night spent on a rocking bed and one night spent on a stationary one. All the while, the researchers measured the people’s brain activity by electroencephalogram, or EEG, which can spot electrical signs of certain sleep stages.

The rhythmic motion affected people’s sleeping brains. Study participants fell asleep faster while being rocked, the researchers found. In a stationary bed, people took an average of 16.7 minutes to reach a light stage of

their deep sleep was disrupted.

Evidence suggests that when brain nerve cells are highly active — that is, busily firing away electrical messages to other neurons — they release more tau. Since being awake appears to result in more nerve cell activity, Holtzman says, “we wondered whether the release of tau from nerve cells might also be accelerated during wakefulness versus during sleep.” In fact, when mice were awake, tau levels were 90 percent higher in the fluid between neurons than when the animals were slumbering, the researchers found.

And sleep deprivation seems to impact tau more than A-beta. In the samples of cerebrospinal fluid from the sleep-starved adults, the increase in tau surpassed the 30 percent increase in A-beta. The excessive amounts of these two proteins in the fluid may set the stage for later

problems. The more A-beta released from cells, the more likely it is to clump up and accumulate over time, Holtzman says, while chronic increases of tau — driven by sleep deprivation or other means — may push the spread of its tangled, destructive form throughout the brain.

The findings show that just as the sleep-wake cycle regulates the release of A-beta from neurons, it also affects the amount of tau those cells release, says Bess Frost, a tau biologist at the University of Texas Health San Antonio, who was not involved in the study. “The two main pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease are both affected by sleep.”

Frost says that the effect of the sleep-wake cycle on tau is also important to know for other neurodegenerative diseases that feature tau tangles, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. (net)

non-REM sleep called N2. But when rocked, the young adults hit this sleep stage after an average of 10 minutes. Rocked people also spent more time in a deep nonREM stage of sleep called N3, and had fewer wake-ups. And rocking boosted the number of sleep spindles — fast bursts of brain activity that mark good sleep.

Before people fell asleep, they learned pairs of words, and then were given a memory test the next morning. After a night of rocking, people were better at remembering the words, an improvement that suggested higher quality sleep.

Mice, like people, also sleep

better while jiggled, a related study by many of the same researchers found. The vestibular system, which detects motion and helps coordinate balance, seems to be key to translating the rocking motion into sleep benefits. That study, also published in the Feb. 4 Current Biology, hints that rhythmic movement signals can help shape brain activity during sleep.

Rocking while asleep might be particularly helpful to people with insomnia, Bayer says. “If rocking can help this population to sleep better, it will be a nice alternative or a natural complement” to sleeping pills. (net)

Rocking puts adults to sleep faster and makes slumber deeper

The primary key to get photos with a strong and dramatic ROL effect is our carefulness to observe light well, be in the right position or location with the right camera settings. Usually, in the morning or a few moments after the sun rises is the right time to hunt ROL. You can choose a shooting location on a plateau with a composition of trees remaining to leave gaps that allow sunlight to enter. Another advantage, in highland areas, there

is usually a lot of fog floating quite low. When sunlight penetrates into the fog, it is the best moment because we will see the lines of light quite clearly. Another interesting location for hunting ROL is in a cave and a dark room but there are cracks or vents allowing sunlight to enter.

Refracting the light Afterward, look for a dark background. Backgrounds such

as cliff walls or lush trees will make the ROL increasingly clear because of the contrasting darkness. To strengthen the ROL effect, you can also create with smoke to refract light. The use of artificial smoke by burning garbage, lighting cigarettes and incense can also be applied when there is no fog.

Arrange in such a way so that the position of the smoke is right on the beam path.

Keep in mind, too bright sun-

light can outwit light calculations or camera metering. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to set the ISO and shutter speed manually in order to get the desired dark light. For openings, use relatively small openings such as f / 8 to f / 16 to limit light and increase sharpness. Meanwhile, the ISO and shutter speed settings adjust so that the resulting photo is not over or under exposure.

To take a picture of ROL, actually all types of lenses can be used and produce the effects can be recorded well. But the use of a wide-angle lens is highly recommended because the ambience of light is more pronounced. Make a photo shoot without facing the light. Usually, the ROL effect

will look very clear from the side or slightly sideways from the direction of light.

To create more dramatic photos, fill in the photo frames with various natural activities that look natural. So, the attraction of the photos is not just in the ROL effect. For example, you can include people riding a bicycle, children playing and so on. Of course, the added attraction of human activity is not always easily found when shooting. On that account, there is nothing wrong if you prepare yourself a number of models from the house to continue with the beauty of the ROL created at the shooting location. Have a nice creativity with ROL! (ian)

4

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Bali News

International

Beware of Riley tropical cyclones up to next three days DENPASAR - The Riley tropical cyclone detected on Thursday (Jan. 24) in some parts of Indonesia still has the potential to occur for the next three days.

Although moving away from Indonesia’s territory, Bali is estimated to be affected.

It will be marked with medium to heavy intensity rain, and high sea waves with a height of 2.5 meters to 4 meters (South Java to Sumbawa waters, Bali Strait, Lombok Strait, Southern Alas Strait, South Sumba waters, Sawu Island’s waters to Rote Island - Kupang, Eastern Java Sea, Sumbawa Sea and Western Flores Sea). Meanwhile, in the southern Indian Ocean, East Java to NTT the wave height reaches 4-6 meters.

Forecaster of the National Weather Service (BMKG) for Region III Denpasar, Putu Agus Dedy Permana, said that based on the analysis issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center (TCWC) Jakarta on Saturday (Jan. 26) at 07:00 West Indonesia Time, position of the Riley tropical cyclone was at coordinates of 16.9 South latitude and 117.4 East longitude or about 860 km southwest of Sabu. It moved to the West at a speed of 2 knots or equivalent to 4 km / h going away from the territory of Indonesia.

Maximum speed of the wind reaches 60 knots (110 km / h).

Meanwhile, for the 24-hour forecast or Sunday (Jan. 27) at 07:00 West Indonesia Time, its position is located at 17.4 South latitude and 114.5 East longitude or around 1,100 km southwest of Sabu. The movement is to the West leaving the territory of Indonesia with a maximum wind speed of 60 knots (110 km / h) Then, 48-hour prediction or Monday (Jan. 28) at 07:00 West Indonesia Time, the position of this tropical cyclone is at the coordinates of 17.8 South latitude, 110.0 East longitudes with the movement to the West leaving the territory of Indonesia with maximum wind speed of 50 knots (95 km / hour).

In the meantime, the prediction of 72 hours or Tuesday (Jan. 29) at 07:00 West Indonesia Time, it has the position in the coordinate of 18.7 South latitude and 106.8 East longitude and moves Southwestward leaving the territory of Indonesia with a maximum wind speed of 45 knots (85 km / hour).

“In accordance with the data, within the next three days until January 29 the Riley tropical cyclone is still going on in Bali, but it moves further away from the Indonesian territory and with diminishing wind power,” said Putu Agus Dedy Permana, on Saturday (Jan. 26).

He urged the public to remain vigilant and alert to the impacts caused by high intensity rain accompanied by strong winds, such as fallen trees, high ocean waves, landslides, and flash floods, and always pay attention to BMKG’s information on extreme climate. “Avoid sheltering under trees or billboards. If possible, cut the too high trees and avoid activities on the beach and sea,” he advised. (win)

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

International

13

Abe vows Kim meeting to ‘break shell of mutual distrust’

TOKYO - Japan’s prime minister vowed Monday to “break the shell of mutual distrust” with North Korea by meeting leader Kim Jong Un face-to-face and restoring diplomatic relations between the two historic foes.

People not get educated

Plastic bag use remains to become a habit

DENPASAR - The use of plastic bags remains to be a habit in the community. This happens because the community has not been well educated. As policy issuer, the government has not been seen working hard to educate the community.

“This is feared by retail entrepreneurs in Bali that are also part of the Balinese community, the people of Denpasar city themselves, and even becomes parts of employment providers and tax contributors reused by the government to build communities,” said I Made Abdi Negara, Director of Bali Business Network, after holding a workshop for business owners in Bali on retail (Jan. 19).

The regulations to stop the supply of plastic shopping bags at local or national retail outlets has an impact on the shift of consumers and the absence of shopping on the impulse goods that so far have covered the super-thinned margins of goods in the fast moving items category.

“The government is strict in taking action, but the role of government as a

facilitator should either participate in educating the community by placing volunteers directly in each of these outlets or through electronic and online media, for example,” he said.

Abdi told the situation faced by entrepreneurs in the field is quite complicated considering that not all retail shops in Bali apply these rules. “There are even consumers saying harsh words to cashier because they consider to have not been served well whereas they have already shopped a lot,” he explained.

Actually, the entrepreneurs through cashiers and salespeople have tried to provide alternatives for consumers such as cardboard boxes or other solutions. “However, after shopping consumers apparently has a habit to bring their goods with a plastic bag. The

target of education mostly untouched by the government is the middle low consumer. This must be resolved with a stronger and more accurate strategy,” he said.

According to him, the middle class should be focused as the target of education because the awareness and character formed for many years is deeply rooted. “Complaints from retail entrepreneurs are mostly about hard feedback against the policy given by the middle-low class,” he added.

Abdi suggested that in the future government will not only be diligent in issuing policies. However, it also keeps balance with the obligations that must be carried out after the policy is issued. “We are not antipathy with the policy, we support it. But do not let when wishing to protect one party, the policy even disrupts the other parties. We also environmentally conscious, we love the environment.

But it must also be realized that we need sales, we need income to pay employees who are in fact part of the community. Please always think about it,” he concluded. (kmb42)

KCNA VIA KNS / AFP

This January 8, 2019 picture released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 10 shows North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un (C) receiving a bouquet of flowers from a Chinese girl upon his arrival at the Beijing station in Beijing.

In a major policy speech to mark the opening of parliament, Shinzo Abe also vowed to push Sino-Japan ties “to a new stage” and pledged a record budget to improve crumbling infrastructure in the world’s third-biggest economy.

“I will act resolutely, never failing to seize every opportunity to break the shell of mutual distrust, and I myself will directly face Chairman Kim Jong Un... to resolve North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues, as well as the abductions issue,” Abe said.

Abe gave no timeframe for a potential meeting with the North Korean leader but the comments came as Kim has ordered preparation for a second summit with US President Donald Trump, likely towards the end of next month.

“I will aim at diplomatic normalisation by settling the unfortunate past,” Abe said, using a Japanese diplomatic euphemism referring to harm caused by Japan during its brutal colonisation of the Korean peninsula before and during World War II. The conciliatory message contrasted sharply from a year ago, when Abe used the same parliamentary address to set out a hardline approach, pledging to “compel North Korea to change its policies” and describing Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes as an “unprecedentedly grave and urgent threat”.

Abe has long sought to resolve an emotional row related to North Korean agents’ abduction of Japanese nationals during the Cold War era to train Pyongyang’s spies.

Pyongyang released what it said were the five survivors in 2002, and said eight others it admitted kidnapping had all died.

North Korean authorities have given no public indication of any willingness to meet Abe, while Pyongyang’s state media regularly excoriate Japan over its past history and Abe for ramping up defence spending.

A commentary by the official KCNA news agency earlier this month called Japan a “heinous criminal state against humanity” and an “immoral and impudent country”. (afp)

‘World’s loneliest duck’ Trevor dies on tiny Niue

SYDNEY - A lone duck named Trevor that lived on the tiny Pacific island nation of Niue has died, officials say, sparking an outpouring of grief from as far away as New Zealand.

The celebrity mallard found fame last year after a visiting journalist from New Zealand discovered that his makeshift home, near a puddle, was used for directions.

But his 15 seconds of fame were tragically cut short when he was “seen dead in the bush after being attacked by dogs” this weekend, a Facebook page dedicated to Trevor said. The chief executive of the Niue Chamber of Commerce, Rae Findlay, said it was a “sad time for Niue”.

“He captivated the locals, of which there are only 1,600 in

Niue, and the 9,000 visitors to Niue each year,” Findlay told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Sunday.

“He will definitely be missed, he captured many hearts and even the rooster, the chicken and the weka were looking a little forlorn today wandering around the near-dry puddle.”

Niue, a tiny speck of land, lies around 2,400 kilometres (1,500 miles) northeast of New Zealand.

One of the world’s biggest coral islands, Niue does not have natural ponds or wetlands, so when Trevor turned up a year ago he was believed to have blown in from New Zealand with a storm.

He quickly settled down in a large puddle near a road that the Niue fire service later topped up

with water, the ABC reported.

He became so famous locally that when the New Zealand Herald’s deputy political editor Claire Trevett visited the island nation, she found he had been incorporated into street directions.

“Someone said, ‘Turn right past the duck’ and then the whole story came out, the only duck on Niue,” she told the ABC. He was later dubbed the “world’s loneliest duck” for his solitary existence.

Trevor Mallard, the speaker of New Zealand’s House of Representatives after whom the late duck was named, offered his condolences.

“Deepest sympathy to the people of Niue from the Parliament of New Zealand,” Mallard wrote on the duck’s Facebook death notice. (afp)

Handout / Courtesy of Rae Finlay / AFP

This handout photo taken in 2018 and released courtesy of Rae Finlay, the chief executive of the Niue Chamber of Commerce, to AFP on January 28, 2019 shows Trevor the duck on the Pacific island of Niue.

12

International

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Bali News

International

BUSINESS

Ratu Brutuk Believed to Cure Diseases

Railroads say economy still growing at steady rate

OMAHA - The economy appears to be going strong for the major freight railroads that haul the products and raw materials companies rely on, but the lingering trade disputes could derail business.

Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads all sounded optimistic about the economy when they reported hauling 3 percent more carloads of freight in the fourth quarter.

“Our customers in discreet markets are in large part doing OK,” Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz said Thursday. Shipments of steel, construction products, intermodal containers and a few other categories look particularly strong. “We think there is still opportunity for modest growth in the United States.”

Edward Jones analyst Dan Sherman said the railroads’ results won’t add much to fears that the economy is slowing down.

“There hasn’t been any indication at all that the economy is slowing even slightly,” Sherman said.

Union Pacific said its fourth-quarter net income jumped 29 percent to $1.55 billion, or $2.12 per share, and topped Wall Street expectations. The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad benefited from strong demand and efforts effort to streamline its operations that began in October. It has already stored 1,200 locomotives as it works to haul freight more efficiently.

The ongoing trade disputes create some uncertainty about certain products, but Union Pacific still expects volume will continue growing at a low-single-digit rate.

Nearly all the major U.S. railroads are implementing some of the operating principles that have led to dramatic improvements in the profitability of rival CSX over the last two years. CSX reported $843 million

Tukad Cepung Waterfall, Comes with Blessings to Tembuku Village

AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File

In this July 31, 2018, file photo a Union Pacific train travels through Union, Neb. Union Pacific Corp. reports financial results Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. in net income, or $1.01 per share, last week and promised to continue working to reduce costs and find ways to deliver more freight with fewer locomotives.

The number of carloads railroads carry is considered an indicator of the health of the

overall economy because of the variety of goods rails deliver.

Norfolk Southern’s fourth-quarter profit surged 44 percent higher to $702 million, or $2.57 per share. The results topped the $2.30 per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks

Investment Research expected.

Norfolk Southern is also planning to reform its operations, but railroad officials didn’t discuss many details Thursday. Instead, investors will have to wait until next month to hear what changes the railroad plans. (ap)

Economy likely to pick up, though pain may linger for some

BALTIMORE - The U.S. economy will likely resume its steady growth now that the government has reopened, though economists say some scars — for the nation and for federal workers — will take time to heal.

Most analysts estimate that the 35-day partial shutdown shaved a few tenths of a percentage point from annual economic growth in the first three month of 2019. They say growth should pick up in the coming months, though some of the money federal workers and contractors didn’t spend in the past five weeks — on such items as movie tickets,

restaurants and travel — will never be made up. Having gone without two paychecks, many federal workers were forced to visit food banks or to borrow money. Federal workers will now receive backpay, though some contractors might not.

President Donald Trump agreed to reopen the government for three weeks after having forced the shutdown in hopes of compelling Democrats to approve billions for a wall on the Mexico border. Trump failed to secure any such money.

During the shutdown, a shortage of airport security and air traffic controllers disrupted travel at such

major hubs as LaGuardia Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

The pressure on Trump to reopen the government intensified Friday after a delay of about 3,000 flights by mid-afternoon because six of 13 air traffic controllers didn’t show up to work at a critical center in Virginia.

S&P Global Ratings estimates that the economy lost $6 billion because of the government closure — a sizable but relatively negligible sum in a $19 trillion-plus U.S. economy.

“If the shutdown had lasted much longer, the economic impacts would

have snowballed — travel problems, tax refunds, etc.,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities.

Still, the damage isn’t likely to lift immediately. And some federal employees had expressed anxiety during the shutdown about the stability and security of their jobs. The most skilled or talented among them may be likelier to leave government service, a potential problem for an economy already facing worker shortages in some areas.

Job searches by employees at multiple federal agencies jumped during the shutdown, according to

clicks tracked by the jobs site Indeed.

Employees who had gone unpaid at the Department of Homeland Security, Census Bureau, the IRS and the Transportation Safety Administration were much more likely to be hunting for a new job compared with the past two years of searches.

One lingering risk is if Trump chooses to shutter the government again after the three-week agreement lapses on Feb. 15. Should that occur, it would sabotage consumer confidence and hurt the economy, predicted Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.”It would wipe out confidence,” Zandi said. (ap)

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Tembuku is one of the villages being quite successful in exploring and managing the potential of natural tourism. One of them is Tukad Cepung waterfall. From the effort to manage the natural tourism potential, Tembuku village is able to generate hundreds of millions of income per month.

Headman of Tembuku, Ketut Mudiarsa, revealed that Tukad Cepung waterfall has been a tourist destination and always crowded with tourists. Daily average of visit reaches 300 people. On a holiday, the visit can reach thousands of people. “The visit is dominated by foreign tourists. Tukad Cepung waterfall is ranked third in tourism objects with the highest number of foreign tourist visits,” he said.

He said that before becoming an attractive tourist destination, formerly the Tukad Cepung waterfall was only a hidden river (tukad) whose condition was unregulated.

Since there was direction of the government to explore respective village potential, he then tried to move and explore the tourism potential owned by local village.

“We see the potential of Tukad Cepung as a tourist spot. Moreover, it has a spiritual place,” he said.

Departing from such condition, he tried to arrange it with young people from local village. At the beginning of the arrangement, young

people of Tembuku introduced it through social media. Unexpectedly, in the long run the visit to Tukad Cepung waterfall continues to increase.

Seeing the potential, the village then cooperated with the local customary village and agreed to seriously manage the waterfall.

Incoming visitors are subject to a levy of IDR 15,000 per person.

The management is also carried out professionally through the local village-owned enterprises (BUMDes).

Mudiarsa revealed that since it was managed in the past four months, the gross income generated by the Tukad Cepung waterfall is fairly good, reaching IDR 700 million. Each month, the average income earned amounts to IDR 110 million- IDR 120 million. “This income does not entirely go to the village, but is divided into some portions, allocated for customary village and maintenance of facilities. So, they have owned their allocation,” he said.

Considering the potential of Tukad Cepung waterfall is quite extraordinary to gain income, the customary village will make cooperation with administrative village.

He said the price of admission ticket to the Tukad Cepung waterfall will be increased. Certainly, it will be accompanied with the improvement in facilities, such as parking lot, the addition of gazebos and others. He revealed that so far the thing remaining to get complaint from tourists is the condition of the road to the local dam. The village cannot make improvement to the trail because the authority lies in the provincial government.

“Together with the subdistrict head, I had requested it can be granted to district government and then the district grants it to village so that it could be repaired. Until now, there has been no follow up.

We from the village government will not be able to repair it, even though tourists have frequently complain about it,” he added. (kmb)

Trunyan village in Kintamani Bangli, has some unique and attractive traditions that cannot be found in other ancient Balinese villages. One of the traditions is in the form of sacred dance called Ratu Brutuk. The dance sanctified by local community is specially performed every two years during the Ngusaba Lanang ritual at Pancering Jagat Temple, Trunyan.

In the Ngusaba Lanang ritual at Pancering Jagat Temple of Trunyan of this year, the Ratu Brutuk was performed twice namely on September 28 and 29.

The performance was very eagerly awaited by the residents of Trunyan village, including other people from outside the village.

It can be seen from the vivacity of local residents when watching the performance from the morning to evening.

A number of residents or pilgrims in attendance seemed to approach the Ratu Brutuk by bringing some offerings. Meanwhile, the Ratu Brutuk was dancing around the temple’s innermost courtyard while bringing a whip along 6-7 meters. If someone breaks and comes into the temple illegally, Ratu Brutuk dancer will release its whip. Conversely, if the pilgrims come politely and ask for permission, the Ratu Brutuk will bless them by touching the base of the whip carried on the pilgrim’s head.

Some people were also seen trying to approach and asking for permission to take Ratu Brutuk’s

5

hair to tuck in the earlobe. In accordance with the belief of local community, Ratu Brutuk’s hair is believed to be efficacious for treating diseases.

Chairman of the Ritual Committee, Ketut Jaksa, met amid the performance of Ratu Brutuk on Saturday (Sep. 29) stated the number of Ratu Brutuk performed every day is different. On Saturday, the Ratu Brutuk was danced by 21 people while previously was danced by 21 people.

He explained the dancers of Ratu Brutuk are carefully selected from girls and boys. Prior to dancing, they have to go through a series of purification procession with a 15-day pause at Pancering Jagat Temple. Any violation committed during the process will be subject to psychical punishments.

He added the mask of Ratu Brutuk performed has different shapes. The whip brought by Ratu Brutuk is made of sea hibiscus bark. According to local belief, anyone who is exposed to whiplash brought by the dancer will recover from illnesses.

“This dance symbolizes the encounter of purusha (male aspect) and pradana (female aspect) or the unification of the akhasa versus prthivi (heaven and earth) believed to have provided fertility and the welfare of the universe along with its contents. Similarly, this sacred dance symbolizes the meeting of Ida Ratu Sakti Pancering Jagat and Ida Ratu Ayu Dalem Dasar,” he explained. (kmb)

6

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Brazil mining giant Vale tarnished by dam disaster

RIO DE JANEIRO - Vale, the Brazilian company that owns the dam that burst at one of its mines killing dozens and leaving hundreds missing, is the world’s biggest iron-ore miner - and its reputation has taken a harsh blow with the disaster.

Brazilian authorities have frozen 11 billion reais -- around $3 billion -- in Vale assets in anticipation of compensation it will likely have to fork out.

The accident is the second involving Vale in the southeast Brazilian state of Minas Gerais within three years.

A tsunami of toxic mud broke through a dam at an iron-ore mine owned by Vale near the town of Brumadinho, in Minas Gerais, on January 25. The official toll from the disaster was 58 dead and 305 missing as of late Sunday.

In 2015 a dam at another mine jointly owned by the company ruptured, killing 19 and causing what was considered the worst environmental disaster Brazil had seen.

Vale and its partner BHP are still paying for that accident, with compensation and fines costing over $6 billion and lawsuits ongoing.

Vale’s shares lost eight percent in New York trading following news of the dam rupture.

The Sao Paulo stock market was closed Friday for a holiday, and trading in Vale shares there was expected to be intense Monday when it reopens.

The company is also mourning their personnel losses, as the overwhelming majority of the dead and missing were Vale employees.

Many of the victims had been eating lunch at the site when millions of tons of trailings -- muddy sludge that is a byproduct of mining -- burst through the dam and engulfed the administrative area they were in.

Emergency workers also found an company bus buried in the mud with bodies inside.

- Profitable company The dam that broke was built in 1976 and was in the process of being decommissioned. Vale said it had passed a structural safety inspection four months ago, which was confirmed by the German firm, Tuev Sued, that carried that out.

Vale, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, has a deep purse from which to pay fines, compensation and lawsuits resulting from the latest disaster.

In 2017, based on the last full-year results available, the company made $5.5 billion in profits, on revenue of $34 billion.

That net result was a 38 percent jump over the previous year, evidence of a bounceback after a sharp commodities slump in 2015 that forced the company into cost-cutting.

A mining specialist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Luiz Jardim Wanderley, told AFP that there was “a tendency for companies, in that period of commodity prices falling, to cut safety and maintenance budgets.”

He said that, of the 450 dams in Minas Gerais state, “we have a relatively high number of dams that are doubtful or in inappropriate conditions.” (afp)

Listen to Europe...

From page 1

Numerous MPs have put forward amendments for debate on Tuesday rejecting this “no deal” scenario, and calling variously for Brexit to be delayed, negotiations be reopened with the EU, or a second referendum.

Increasing numbers of ministers have also warned they will not accept the potentially catastrophic prospect of Britain leaving with no agreement.

May says the best way to avoid this is to agree to her deal, but says Brexit will happen on March 29 either way, and planning continues for every option.

The Sunday Times newspaper raised eyebrows by reporting that officials are looking at what powers they might need in the event of any

civil disorder, including imposing martial law.

Hancock confirmed the government was looking at “all the options in all circumstances”, but said martial law “isn’t the focus of our attention”.

Separately, May’s office said it was considering extending House of Commons hours and cancelling MPs’ week-long February holiday to make time to pass all the laws needed to prepare for Brexit.

These include bills relating to trade, fisheries and agriculture, immigration, the environment and healthcare, as well as a law to implement any divorce deal with the EU that MPs might yet agree to.(afp)

W

International

RLD

HO / Venezuelan Presidency / AFP

Maduro vs. Guaido: Who is backing whom?

CARACAS - Venezuela has been receiving massive attention from the international community since National Assembly chief Juan Guaido declared himself acting interim president of Venezuela.

- Maduro - Military: The Venezuela armed forces are considered the backbone of the government, and on Thursday senior military officers reaffirmed support for Maduro, claiming that there was an effective “coup” under way.

Of 32 cabinet ministers, nine are from the military and run portfolios such as Defense, Interior, Agriculture and the intelligence service, as well as state oil giant PDVSA, which contributes 96 percent of the country’s income.

They also control a television station, a bank and a vehicle assembly plant, among other companies.

But their support has come under some threat. The military attache of Venezuela in Washington, Colonel Jose Luis Silva, announced Saturday that he no longer recognizes Maduro as legitimate president, and urged his “military brothers” to back Guaido.

- International creditors and allies: China, Venezuela’s biggest creditor with some $20 billion dollars owed, said Thursday it opposed “external interference” after the United States and some allies recognized Guaido as interim leader.

Venezuela’s number two creditor, Russia, also backs it militarily: in December it sent two bombers and some 100 officers to Caracas for joint exercises. President Vladimir Putin called Maduro to express his “support.”

Countries such as Turkey, Cuba, Bolivia, Uruguay and Mexico -- as well as Iran and North Korea -- con-

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

INDONESIAN INDONESIAN

Handout picture released by the Venezuelan presidency showing Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro (C) speaking to a commander during military exercises at the Naval Base Agustin Armario in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo State, Venezuela, on January 27, 2019.

With socialist President Nicolas Maduro hanging on to power, these are their respective key supports, inside and outside the OPEC member:

International

tinue to recognize the 56 year-old Maduro.

- Justice: Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) supports the Maduro regime. Court justices were chosen by the pro-government National Assembly in December 2015, just days before the opposition took control of the legislature.

Since 2016 the top court has declared the opposition controlled legislature in contempt and voided all of its actions. The court on Thursday reiterated its support for Maduro regime. Venezuela’s top prosecutor, Attorney General Tarek William Saab, also is a Maduro loyalist.

- National Constituent Assembly: Maduro convened the staunchly pro-government assembly after four months of opposition protests that left about 125 dead in 2017. It has absolute powers, and serves as the de facto legislature. the opposition says it was created illegally.

- Electoral authority: The National Electoral Council (CNE), in charge of running elections, is chaired by the openly pro-government Tibisay Lucena. Under her management several opposition parties have been disqualified, and on Thursday it issued a statement endorsing Maduro.

Rulings by pro-government judges and the CNE thwarted opposition efforts to hold a referendum to revoke Maduro’s presidency in 2016, a vote allowed under the constitution.

Opposition parties refused participate in the last elections, including the May 2018 presidential vote in which Maduro was reelected, saying there were no guarantees of impartiality.

They say Maduro was elected through

fraud.

- Guaido - International support: The United States, along with several Latin America and European Union countries, refused to recognize Maduro’s reelection. When Guaido proclaimed himself acting interim president US President Donald Trump quickly recognized him. Other countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Australia, quickly followed. On Sunday Israel said it would recognize Guaido as president.

Six European countries -- Spain, France, Germany, Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands -- on Saturday demanded that either Venezuela call elections within eight days or they would recognize Guaido as interim leader.

Some European countries such as Greece still support Maduro.

The head of the Washington-based Organization of American States, Uruguayan Luis Almagro, also gave his support to Guaido.

- National Assembly: The opposition-controlled National Assembly was elected in 2015, when a coalition of opposition parties handed the leftist regime its biggest electoral defeat ever.

After taking office on January 5, Guaido, 35, began to press for a “transitional government” and new elections, calling on the military to break with the government in exchange for an amnesty.

- Justice in exile: A Venezuelan Supreme Court in exile, with members appointed by the National Assembly, on Wednesday welcomed Guaido’s “will” to take over as acting leader pending new elections. (afp)

11

ELECTION 2019

President Jokowi calls on NU women to maintain unity

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo has called on members of Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), to maintain unity of the nation.

“I invite all of you, especially the Muslim NU, to jointly maintain our unity, care for and maintain our brotherhood, our harmony, Islamic brotherhood, our nationhood brotherhood,” said President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) here on Sunday.

He voiced the message especially in the current political year, as the difference in political choices could cause of division.

The former Governor of DKI was concerned about the current conditions when differences in political choices could trigger people to insult each others.

“Don`t be like that, don`t reproach each other. Can you not reproach each other, insult each other, mock each other, spread hoaxes? We are brothers and sisters,” he said.

According to him, it is sunatullah or it has become Allah`s law that the Indonesian nation has diversity in many things, including ethnicity, customs, religion, traditions, culture, and local languages.

The President on that occasion greeted NU Muslimat members who were present from all over the country, including from West Java, Central Java, East Java, Lampung, Jakarta, Papua, West Papua, and Medan, in their local

languages.

The presence of NU Muslimat members symbolized Indonesia`s diversity as a big country, he said.

“Indonesia is a very large country, from Sabang to Merauke, from Miangas to Rote Island. Our population is now 260 million, 149 million live in Java, but there are still 17 thousand more islands that we have,” he said.

Besides, Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, he added.

Indonesia is also a pluralistic country with differences, various colorful, diversity, different tribes, different religions, different customs, different traditions, and different local languages.

“Therefore, as it was stated by the General Chairperson of Muslimat NU Mrs Khofifah, lets us safeguard values of mutual respect, mutual respect among different ethnic groups, among different religions that we have,” he said.

He also emphasized the moderation of Islam, notably Islam which is moderate, not radical, not extreme.

The President expressed his hope that in the 73rd anniversary of the NU Muslimat, the organization would become more prosperous, blessed, and Indonesia becomes prosperous.(ant)

Awaiting fair duel in Indonesia`s presidential debate

BOGOR - The first round of the Indonesian presidential and vice presidential candidates` official debate took place in Jakarta on Jan 17, but the two pairs were unable to showcase their best performances.

In the aftermath of the two pairs` performance in their first debate, several political analysts and community members criticized The General Election Commission (KPU) over the furnished list of questions, though it was aimed at ensuring a better quality debate.

The failure to show a convincing performance in the two pairs` first appearance may partly be contributed to the strict technical rules of the debate.

This situation might have made the two pairs unable to express their insightful views and perspectives more freely within the sufficient time provided.

The KPU decision to provide the

Joko Widodo (Jokowi)-Ma`ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pairs with a list of questions prior to the convening of the first round of the debate has also contributed to it.

Commenting on the debate, political analyst Rocky Gerung opined that it was not a political debate. Instead of being like a duel or sharp clash of arguments between the two pairs, it was “a way of memorizing questions and a way of predicting the answers.”

Speaking at the CNN Indonesia`s talk show program for commenting on the first round of the presidential debate, Gerung stated that watching the political debate was not like seeing a piano orchestra.

Instead, watching the political debate was like seeing a jazz performance during which there should be improvisation. Perhaps, there was a pause, but it was then closed with new tone, he noted.

In avoiding the recurrence of the first round`s experience, outspoken Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) Fahri Hamzah suggested that the two pairs should engage in a free and open debate.

“Let our presidential candidates have a `free fight`...!!” Hamzah said on his Twitter account https://twitter. com/fahrihamzah.

In response to the community members` expectation that the second round of the presidential debate should be more attractive, substantial, and full of open clash of arguments, the KPU has pledged not to give the pairs the list of questions in advance.

The national campaign team of the Jokowi- Amin pair has hinted at the readiness of the incumbent president and his running mate to face their contenders in an open presidential debate scheduled on Feb 17.

The team`s secretary, Hasto Kris-

tiyanto, stated that his camp will not file an objection if the KPU decided not to provide the two pairs with a list of questions in advance.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of his visit to the East Java city of Pasuruan on Saturday, Kristiyanto defended the Jokowi-Amin pair, saying that they had been accustomed to speaking about the people`s problems.

“Mr Jokowi and Amin are the figures who do not face any difficulty in speaking about the people`s problems, including during the presidential debate,” he remarked.

For the second round of the presidential debate, the two pairs will debate over the issues of energy, food, natural resources, environment, and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, during the first round of presidential debates, the two pairs debated over the issues of law, human rights, corruption, and terrorism.

As revealed in the first round, the rundown of the debates comprised six segments, including delivering each pair`s vision and mission.

The first segment was about the delivery of each pair`s vision and mission. The second and third segments contain responses to open questions, specifically the questions prepared by the panelists.

In the fourth and fifth segments, the two pairs of candidates will raise questions and respond to queries they received in a debate format. In the sixth segment, the KPU will ask each of the pairs to make a closing statement, KPU Chairman Arief Budiman explained.

The KPU has prepared five rounds of presidential debates ahead of the convening of the 2019 Presidential Election on April 17, which will be broadcast live by several TV channels.(ant)

10

Destination

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

International

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

International

Museum Gedong Kirtya

SINGARAJA - Gedong Kirtya is a manuscript museum in Singaraja, north Bali, which houses a vast collection of thousands of old Balinese manuscripts inscribed on lontar palm-leaves. These lontar books cover subjects of literature, mythology, history and religious works and are some of the oldest written works on the island.

The manuscripts record ancient knowledge and wisdom of older Balinese generations and are historical references of all Balinese daily activities, rituals and art.

Singaraja houses this only lontar museum in the world. Formerly it was referred to as the Liefrinck van der Tuuk library, named after its Dutch founders.

The lontar derives its name from the local word for the Asian Palmyra palm, or Borassus flabellifer, which grows in dry regions.

The leaves are further dried and used as pages upon which writings are carved into by the aid of a special sharp-tipped blade called a temutik. The pages are bound by woven strands between two pieces of wood into an order known collectively as a lontar book. These ‘books’ have long been used as references among the Balinese people for knowledge and local wisdom, encompassing religion, rites of passage, and traditional

shamanism or medicine. The forms of lontar are found throughout the islands of Indonesia, from Java, Lombok to other parts of Indonesia. Most of the lontar date back to the 13th century and are mainly written in the ‘Kawi’ script in old Balinese, old Javanese and Sanskrit. Gedong Kirtya was built in 1928 as a repository of these manuscripts with collections coming from various islands other than from Bali itself. The volumes are kept in special wooden boxes and sorted under different categories, from Vedic renditions and mantra hymns, religion, wariga or Balinese astronomy, itihasa or epic tales and poems, babad or Balinese genealogy, to tantri or folklore. Some are authentic and original pieces, sourced from the royal courts throughout Bali. Others are copies and even feature prasi art or accompanying illustrations.

Good to Know Gedong Kirtya was previously known as Stichting Liefrinck Van der Tuuk, a foundation that mainly focused on the preservation and storage of the lontar manuscripts.

This library was founded as a follow-up from a meeting known as the Pertemuan Kintamani held

by Dutch Indies scholars together with Balinese religious figures and

Rockets rally to win Paul’s return, Thunder cool off Bucks

Greg Wood / AFP

the royalties in 1928. F.A. Liefrinck was an official in the Dutch administration on Bali and Lombok who had great interest in Balinese culture and had written extensively about the islands. Dr. H.N Van der Tuuk, a Dutch historian provided the piece of land where the museum stands now. The building also once served as the storeroom

for scientific journals of research conducted on Bali, and has since sourced and documented lontar collections dispersed throughout public possession to be copied and catalogued. Up until 1987, Gedong Kirtya has reproduced and listed around 4,000 manuscripts covering various topics. The museum is located at the Sasana Budaya

complex in Singaraja, the once capital city of the Lesser Sunda Islands during the Dutch occupation, and which is an old royal palace situated on Jalan Veteran. Gedong Kirtya is open from Monday to Friday, and is closed on weekends.

Entrance fees apply, and donations for the maintenance of the library are welcome. (IBP/net)

Spain’s Rafael Nadal drinks between points against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during the men’s singles final on day 14 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 27, 2019.

Nadal takes positives out of Australian Open thrashing

MELBOURNE - Rafael Nadal said he took a lot of positives out of the Australian Open on his return from injury, despite being thrashed in the final Sunday by Novak Djokovic.

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The Spanish second seed had played an outstanding level of tennis at the tournament without dropping a set until he met his arch-rival on Rod Laver Arena.

And he had no answer to the world number one’s booming groundstrokes and precision serve to limp out of Melbourne Park 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.

Nadal said he still wasn’t at his best after his injury-plagued 2018.

“Was unbelievable the way that he played, no doubt about that. But at the same time it is true that probably physically I was not able (to compete at that level),” said Nadal.

“Five months without competing, having that big challenge in front of me, I needed something else. That something else probably today, I don’t have it yet.

“That’s my feeling, to compete at this super high level.”

Despite the rout, Nadal said he was content with being able to reach the final given the injury problems that prevented him playing any matches after the US Open until he got to Melbourne.

“I have been going through tough moments in the last year. (I have

played) only nine events and since the US Open I was not able to play until the first round here,” he said.

“Even if tonight was not my night it’s so important for me to be where I am coming back from injury.

“I really believe I played a great two weeks of tennis, there’s a good energy and good inspiration for what is coming.”

Nadal had not played a main tour event since a knee problem forced him to retire during his US Open semi-final against Juan Martin del Potro in September.

- ‘I need matches’ The 32-year-old had surgery on his ankle in November to remove a loose intra-articular body and only resumed training in December.

He played the opening round at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi to start his season, where he lost to South African Kevin Anderson, and withdraw from the warm-up Brisbane International.

“The only thing probably that I need is time and more matches,” he said of getting to a sufficient level to challenge Djokovic at his imperious

best.

“I need work, and I need more weeks like this one. That’s really the only thing that I hope -- to have the chance to keep practising well and to have the chance to keep playing and stay healthy.

“I need matches, but I can’t go crazy to play matches,” he added. “I have my age. I have my calendar. I have my priorities. My priority now is come back home, have some rest.”

He is targeting his next tournament at Acapulco at the end of February and then Indian Wells in early March.

“Then we see, depend how things go, I keep going or I take a rest before I play on clay,” he said.

Despite not being at his best in Melbourne Nadal nevertheless shattered the dreams of three of the hottest new stars -- 19-year-old Alex de Minaur, 21-year-old Frances Tiafoe, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20 -- en route to the final.

And the Spaniard, with 17 Grand Slam titles to his name, vowed there was more to come.

“I’m going to keep fighting hard to be a better player,” he said. (afp)

LOS ANGELES - Chris Paul returned from injury, but it was James Harden’s 40 points that fueled the Houston Rockets’ 103-98 comefrom-behind victory over the Orlando Magic in the NBA on Sunday.

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Harden extended his streak of games with at least 30 points to 23.

He chipped in 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots -- including one in the last 30 seconds to help the Rockets seal the win.

Paul, who missed 17 games with a left hamstring injury, finished with 12 points, six assists and five steals.

Houston trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter, never taking the lead until there were less than five minutes remaining.

Harden keyed their rally, scoring seven straight Rockets points in the final 2:12 of the contest starting with a basket that put Houston up 95-93.

“They kept digging it and digging it and finally we held them to 37 in the second half,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “That was awesome -- that was really good defense.”

Paul George led the way in Oklahoma City, scored 36 points and pulling down 13 rebounds in the Thunder’s 118-112 victory over the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks.

Russell Westbrook notched his 16th triple-double of the season with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Thunder put the brakes on Milwaukee’s Most Valuable Player candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo

to post a fifth straight win.

Oklahoma City led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter.

Milwaukee closed to within three with 1:09 left in the game, but George answered Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe’s three-pointer with his own from beyond the arc to push the Thunder’s lead back to 113-107 and contributed two of the free throws that Oklahoma City used to seal the game.

Antetokounmpo finished with 27 points and 18 rebounds and Khris Middleton added 22 points for the Bucks, who saw their six-game winning streak end.

In Dallas, Toronto star Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points and the Raptors withstood a triple-double from Dallas rookie Luka Doncic in a 123-120 victory over the Mavericks.

Pascal Siakam converted a threepoint play with 3:56 remaining to break a 108-108 tie as the Raptors erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Danny Green stretched Toronto’s lead to 116-112 with 1:34 to play, and after Dallas’ Harrison Barnes missed a pair of free throws Leonard scored on a driving layup.

Mavs prodigy Doncic, 19, scored 35 points with 12 rebounds and 10 assists to become the first to post two triple-doubles in the NBA while still a teenager.

However, it wasn’t enough to prevent Toronto from improving to 37-15 to pull into a virtual tie atop the East with the 35-13 Bucks. (afp)

Bill Baptist / NBAE / Getty Images / AFP

Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets handles the ball against the Orlando Magic on January 27, 2019 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

PSG cruise to victory as Neymar set to miss Man Utd clash

Edinson Cavani scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat Rennes 4-1 on Sunday, a victory overshadowed by coach Thomas Tuchel’s admission that Neymar is set to miss next month’s Champions League showdown with Manchester United.

Neymar was missing against Rennes after suffering a recurrence of a metatarsal injury in a French Cup win over Strasbourg in midweek.

Without him, Cavani scored twice either side of goals from Angel Di Maria and Kylian Mbappe as PSG stayed unbeaten in Ligue 1 this season and went 13 points clear again from second-placed Lille with two games in hand.

Neymar missed the last three months of last season after suffering a fracture in the same foot last February. Le Parisien reported on Sunday evening that he had now suffered another “hairline” fracture.

Tuchel said he could not confirm that, but accepted it would be “super difficult” for Neymar to be ready in time for the Champions League last-16, first leg at Old Trafford on February 12.

“It is still too early to talk about a return date because we need to wait and see how ‘Ney’ reacts to treatment to be more precise,” he said.

Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar is expected to visit the world’s most expensive player on Monday, with the Selecao thinking ahead to the Copa America, which they will host in June and July.

- Tite in crowd Brazil coach Tite and national team coordinator Edu were in at-

tendance at the Parc des Princes at the start of a European tour to check on the form of some of their key players, but it is unclear what they will have taken from PSG’s victory.

While Neymar was absent, his compatriots Marquinhos and Daniel Alves were played out of position in central midfield due to a lack of other options available to Tuchel.

PSG are hoping to complete a deal to sign the Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes from Zenit Saint Petersburg, and have also been linked with a move for Everton’s Idrissa Gueye before the January transfer window closes.

On the field, PSG won a game played in a rather flat atmosphere, with one end of the stadium partially closed as a punishment following incidents during a game late last year.

Cavani’s headed opener was cancelled out by Mbaye Niang just before the half-hour, and Rennes were arguably the better side in the first half.

However, Tuchel was raging after Niang escaped with a yellow card for a dangerous challenge on Thilo Kehrer. The referee upheld his decision even after a VAR review.

Nevertheless, PSG ran away with the game after the break, going back in front on the hour mark when Thiago Silva sent Di Maria through to clip a delightful finish over goalkeeper Tomas Koubek.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani celebrates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Stade Rennais FC, at the Parc des Princes stadium, in Paris, on January 27, 2019.

When Clement Grenier was caught in possession, Julian Draxler released Mbappe to score his 18th league goal of the campaign and make it 3-1.

PSG completed the scoring in the 71st minute when Mbappe squared for Cavani to grab his second of the evening and 16th league goal of the season, making it 15 goals in three home wins for Paris in nine days.

“We reacted well after a very difficult first half against a very brave side,” said Tuchel.

- Lyon consolidate third Earlier, Lyon strengthened their grip on a Champions League position after defender Jason Denayer’s headed goal handed them a 1-0 win at Amiens.

With their Champions League last-16 first leg against Barcelona looming on the horizon, Lyon remain third in Ligue 1, three points behind second-placed Lille.

Lille won 2-1 at Marseille on Friday, while struggling Monaco slumped to a 2-0 defeat at relegation rivals Dijon on Saturday in their first game since Thierry Henry was sacked as coach.

Henry lasted just three months in charge before being replaced by his predecessor Leonardo Jardim, who watched Saturday’s game in the stands in Dijon. Monaco remain three points from outright safety.(afp)

Solskjaer puts his United winning streak to Burnley test

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer aims to continue his impressive start as Manchester United manager at home to Burnley on Tuesday, with the case for him to be appointed permanently seemingly growing by the week.

The FA Cup fourth-round victory at Arsenal on Friday took the Norwegian caretaker manager’s record to eight successive wins since taking over from Jose Mourinho before Christmas -- a mark that surpasses even the great Matt Busby at the start of an Old Trafford managerial reign.

While it appears Tottenham Hotspur’s Mauricio Pochettino remains United’s preferred choice as long-term appointment, the strides Solskjaer is making on and off the pitch make an increasingly compelling case for the 45-year-old to win the job.

A fourth-placed finish, and Champions League football next season, were looking a distant dream in the latter days of Mourinho’s reign, but victory over Burnley would lift United level on points with Chelsea, for 24 hours at least.

And if results involving Chelsea and Arsenal were to fall in favour of former United striker Solskjaer -- whose side face a Burnley team looking to recover from a 5-0 FA Cup rout by Manchester City -- the Red Devils could even end the week eyeing a third place currently occupied by Pochettino’s Spurs.

- Shackles off Pogba It is all a far cry from the dismal period under Mourinho, with recent results saying much about Solskjaer’s man-management skills, as well as his tactics and philosophy.

In his two most impressive wins to date -- a league victory at Spurs and the 3-1 FA Cup defeat of Arsenal -- Solskjaer has opted for a 4-3-3 formation but it has been his choice of personnel that has looked particularly enlightened.

The use of Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera in midfield has allowed the third member of that group, French World Cup winner Paul Pogba, to take up a more advanced, attack-minded role.

The shackles which Mourinho applied have been removed and Pogba, so often in public dispute with the Portuguese, has arguably benefitted more than anyone from the change in leadership.

Romelu Lukaku, who looked tired and at a not particularly high level of fitness in the final games under Mourinho, also looks a revived figure since Solskjaer returned to Old Trafford.

Against Arsenal, Solskjaer handed the Belgian striker a role wide in the attacking trio, with Alexis Sanchez in the other wide position and Jesse Lingard taking up a central role.

Lukaku, who had been effective from a wide berth at Everton and with Belgium, proved an inspiration against the Gunners.

Meanwhile Sanchez, a major under-achiever since signing for United 12 months ago, turned in one of his best performances for the club, scoring for just the second time this season and the fifth time in total since leaving Arsenal.

In the Spurs victory, Solskjaer had selected the same formation but different personnel, with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial supporting Lingard from wide positions.

All of a sudden, a United attack that appeared plodding and onedimensional under Mourinho looks like one of the most potentially exciting group of forwards in the country, if not across Europe.

But Solskjaer’s biggest contribution to the spectacular upturn in fortunes has simply been a matter of philosophy and the attackfirst mood he has brought back to Old Trafford.(afp)

Ronaldo late winner pulls ‘worst’ Juventus 11 points clear

Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty to seal a hard-fought 2-1 win for Juventus against Lazio in Rome on Sunday to pull 11 points clear in Serie A. Juventus had trailed after an Emre Can own-goal after an hour before substitute Joao Cancelo pulled the champions level and then earned the penalty which Ronaldo slotted in with two minutes to go.

An eighth straight Serie A title beckons for Massimiliano Allegri’s side who soar clear of secondplaced Napoli who were held to a goalless draw at AC Milan on Saturday.

Inter Milan are 19 points behind the leaders after losing 1-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday.

Lazio drop to eighth place -- three points off the Champions League spots -- after their second defeat in a row after losing to Napoli by the same score last weekend.

“It must have been the kitman’s fault, giving us ten shirts of different colours because we couldn’t pass the ball to each other,” said Allegri.

“For sixty minutes it was the worst Juventus of the year,” continued captain Giorgio Chiellini.

“Paradoxically after the goal disadvantage we found the motivation to win it.

“We’ve got players who make the difference.

(Goalkeeper Wojciech) Szczesny kept us on our feet, we were lethal in the end.”

The champions had struggled for the first hour in the Stadio Olimpico as Lazio piled on the pressure.

Daniele Rugani pulled off a goal-line clearance, after Joaquin Correa dribbled past Can and Leonardo Bonucci, with Szczesny denying Luis Alberto and Marco Parolo.

German midfielder Can’s woes were compounded just before the hour mark when he ducked down and instead deflected the ball into his own net off a corner.

But Allegri’s side could count on the depth of their bench with second half substitutes Cancelo and Federico Bernardeschi proving pivotal.

A solo run by Bernardeschi down the left set up the equaliser which Cancelo fired in off a rebound after Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha had initially cleared a Paulo Dybala shot.

Ronaldo -- whose penalty was saved last week against Chievo -- finished off to score in his eighth consecutive away match to bring his league tally to 15 goals.

- Roma wasteful Inter Milan fell at Torino with defender Armando Izzo scoring the only goal, as Roma threw away a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 against Atalanta.

Roma could have overtaken AC Milan in fourth but Colombian forward Duvan Zapata continued his goal-scoring streak to snatch a point.

Roma had been three goals up following an Edin Dzeko brace, with Stephan El Shaarawy adding a third five minutes prior to the break, before the Romans faded under the driving rain in northern Italy.

Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco lamented:

“What drives me crazy is the lack of consistency from this team, even during the same match.

“It’s absurd to see a team with the same players put in such a different performance from one half to the next. “We were fortunate to get a draw.”

Dzeko broke through after just three minutes for his first goal in Serie A since October, adding a second half an hour later, with teenage compatriot Nicolo Zaniolo providing two assists.

Atalanta fought back with Zapata heading just wide before Roma doubled their lead against the run of play with Steven Nzonzi finding a way through for Dzeko to finish off.

Zaniolo set up El Shaarawy to make it 3-0 five minutes before the break but Timothy Castagne headed Atalanta back into the game before the interval.

Di Francesco’s men struggled after the break with former Roma defender Rafael Toloi nodding in Atalanta’s second just before the hour off a Papu Gomez cross.

Zapata missed a chance for a third ten minutes later sending a penalty kick over the bar.

But a minute later he fired in his 14th goal in the last eight league games, for a total of 15 this season.

Both sides also drew 3-3 when they met in Rome last August, a game in which the Romans had come from 3-1 down. Atalanta are now seventh, three points off the elite European places.(afp)

Juventus’ Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo runs with the ball during the italian Serie A football match Lazio Roma vs Juventus on January 27, 2019 at the Olympic stadium in Rome.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

PSG cruise to victory as Neymar set to miss Man Utd clash

Edinson Cavani scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat Rennes 4-1 on Sunday, a victory overshadowed by coach Thomas Tuchel’s admission that Neymar is set to miss next month’s Champions League showdown with Manchester United.

Neymar was missing against Rennes after suffering a recurrence of a metatarsal injury in a French Cup win over Strasbourg in midweek.

Without him, Cavani scored twice either side of goals from Angel Di Maria and Kylian Mbappe as PSG stayed unbeaten in Ligue 1 this season and went 13 points clear again from second-placed Lille with two games in hand.

Neymar missed the last three months of last season after suffering a fracture in the same foot last February. Le Parisien reported on Sunday evening that he had now suffered another “hairline” fracture.

Tuchel said he could not confirm that, but accepted it would be “super difficult” for Neymar to be ready in time for the Champions League last-16, first leg at Old Trafford on February 12.

“It is still too early to talk about a return date because we need to wait and see how ‘Ney’ reacts to treatment to be more precise,” he said.

Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar is expected to visit the world’s most expensive player on Monday, with the Selecao thinking ahead to the Copa America, which they will host in June and July.

- Tite in crowd Brazil coach Tite and national team coordinator Edu were in at-

tendance at the Parc des Princes at the start of a European tour to check on the form of some of their key players, but it is unclear what they will have taken from PSG’s victory.

While Neymar was absent, his compatriots Marquinhos and Daniel Alves were played out of position in central midfield due to a lack of other options available to Tuchel.

PSG are hoping to complete a deal to sign the Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes from Zenit Saint Petersburg, and have also been linked with a move for Everton’s Idrissa Gueye before the January transfer window closes.

On the field, PSG won a game played in a rather flat atmosphere, with one end of the stadium partially closed as a punishment following incidents during a game late last year.

Cavani’s headed opener was cancelled out by Mbaye Niang just before the half-hour, and Rennes were arguably the better side in the first half.

However, Tuchel was raging after Niang escaped with a yellow card for a dangerous challenge on Thilo Kehrer. The referee upheld his decision even after a VAR review.

Nevertheless, PSG ran away with the game after the break, going back in front on the hour mark when Thiago Silva sent Di Maria through to clip a delightful finish over goalkeeper Tomas Koubek.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani celebrates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Stade Rennais FC, at the Parc des Princes stadium, in Paris, on January 27, 2019.

When Clement Grenier was caught in possession, Julian Draxler released Mbappe to score his 18th league goal of the campaign and make it 3-1.

PSG completed the scoring in the 71st minute when Mbappe squared for Cavani to grab his second of the evening and 16th league goal of the season, making it 15 goals in three home wins for Paris in nine days.

“We reacted well after a very difficult first half against a very brave side,” said Tuchel.

- Lyon consolidate third Earlier, Lyon strengthened their grip on a Champions League position after defender Jason Denayer’s headed goal handed them a 1-0 win at Amiens.

With their Champions League last-16 first leg against Barcelona looming on the horizon, Lyon remain third in Ligue 1, three points behind second-placed Lille.

Lille won 2-1 at Marseille on Friday, while struggling Monaco slumped to a 2-0 defeat at relegation rivals Dijon on Saturday in their first game since Thierry Henry was sacked as coach.

Henry lasted just three months in charge before being replaced by his predecessor Leonardo Jardim, who watched Saturday’s game in the stands in Dijon. Monaco remain three points from outright safety.(afp)

Solskjaer puts his United winning streak to Burnley test

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer aims to continue his impressive start as Manchester United manager at home to Burnley on Tuesday, with the case for him to be appointed permanently seemingly growing by the week.

The FA Cup fourth-round victory at Arsenal on Friday took the Norwegian caretaker manager’s record to eight successive wins since taking over from Jose Mourinho before Christmas -- a mark that surpasses even the great Matt Busby at the start of an Old Trafford managerial reign.

While it appears Tottenham Hotspur’s Mauricio Pochettino remains United’s preferred choice as long-term appointment, the strides Solskjaer is making on and off the pitch make an increasingly compelling case for the 45-year-old to win the job.

A fourth-placed finish, and Champions League football next season, were looking a distant dream in the latter days of Mourinho’s reign, but victory over Burnley would lift United level on points with Chelsea, for 24 hours at least.

And if results involving Chelsea and Arsenal were to fall in favour of former United striker Solskjaer -- whose side face a Burnley team looking to recover from a 5-0 FA Cup rout by Manchester City -- the Red Devils could even end the week eyeing a third place currently occupied by Pochettino’s Spurs.

- Shackles off Pogba It is all a far cry from the dismal period under Mourinho, with recent results saying much about Solskjaer’s man-management skills, as well as his tactics and philosophy.

In his two most impressive wins to date -- a league victory at Spurs and the 3-1 FA Cup defeat of Arsenal -- Solskjaer has opted for a 4-3-3 formation but it has been his choice of personnel that has looked particularly enlightened.

The use of Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera in midfield has allowed the third member of that group, French World Cup winner Paul Pogba, to take up a more advanced, attack-minded role.

The shackles which Mourinho applied have been removed and Pogba, so often in public dispute with the Portuguese, has arguably benefitted more than anyone from the change in leadership.

Romelu Lukaku, who looked tired and at a not particularly high level of fitness in the final games under Mourinho, also looks a revived figure since Solskjaer returned to Old Trafford.

Against Arsenal, Solskjaer handed the Belgian striker a role wide in the attacking trio, with Alexis Sanchez in the other wide position and Jesse Lingard taking up a central role.

Lukaku, who had been effective from a wide berth at Everton and with Belgium, proved an inspiration against the Gunners.

Meanwhile Sanchez, a major under-achiever since signing for United 12 months ago, turned in one of his best performances for the club, scoring for just the second time this season and the fifth time in total since leaving Arsenal.

In the Spurs victory, Solskjaer had selected the same formation but different personnel, with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial supporting Lingard from wide positions.

All of a sudden, a United attack that appeared plodding and onedimensional under Mourinho looks like one of the most potentially exciting group of forwards in the country, if not across Europe.

But Solskjaer’s biggest contribution to the spectacular upturn in fortunes has simply been a matter of philosophy and the attackfirst mood he has brought back to Old Trafford.(afp)

Ronaldo late winner pulls ‘worst’ Juventus 11 points clear

Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty to seal a hard-fought 2-1 win for Juventus against Lazio in Rome on Sunday to pull 11 points clear in Serie A. Juventus had trailed after an Emre Can own-goal after an hour before substitute Joao Cancelo pulled the champions level and then earned the penalty which Ronaldo slotted in with two minutes to go.

An eighth straight Serie A title beckons for Massimiliano Allegri’s side who soar clear of secondplaced Napoli who were held to a goalless draw at AC Milan on Saturday.

Inter Milan are 19 points behind the leaders after losing 1-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday.

Lazio drop to eighth place -- three points off the Champions League spots -- after their second defeat in a row after losing to Napoli by the same score last weekend.

“It must have been the kitman’s fault, giving us ten shirts of different colours because we couldn’t pass the ball to each other,” said Allegri.

“For sixty minutes it was the worst Juventus of the year,” continued captain Giorgio Chiellini.

“Paradoxically after the goal disadvantage we found the motivation to win it.

“We’ve got players who make the difference.

(Goalkeeper Wojciech) Szczesny kept us on our feet, we were lethal in the end.”

The champions had struggled for the first hour in the Stadio Olimpico as Lazio piled on the pressure.

Daniele Rugani pulled off a goal-line clearance, after Joaquin Correa dribbled past Can and Leonardo Bonucci, with Szczesny denying Luis Alberto and Marco Parolo.

German midfielder Can’s woes were compounded just before the hour mark when he ducked down and instead deflected the ball into his own net off a corner.

But Allegri’s side could count on the depth of their bench with second half substitutes Cancelo and Federico Bernardeschi proving pivotal.

A solo run by Bernardeschi down the left set up the equaliser which Cancelo fired in off a rebound after Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha had initially cleared a Paulo Dybala shot.

Ronaldo -- whose penalty was saved last week against Chievo -- finished off to score in his eighth consecutive away match to bring his league tally to 15 goals.

- Roma wasteful Inter Milan fell at Torino with defender Armando Izzo scoring the only goal, as Roma threw away a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 against Atalanta.

Roma could have overtaken AC Milan in fourth but Colombian forward Duvan Zapata continued his goal-scoring streak to snatch a point.

Roma had been three goals up following an Edin Dzeko brace, with Stephan El Shaarawy adding a third five minutes prior to the break, before the Romans faded under the driving rain in northern Italy.

Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco lamented:

“What drives me crazy is the lack of consistency from this team, even during the same match.

“It’s absurd to see a team with the same players put in such a different performance from one half to the next. “We were fortunate to get a draw.”

Dzeko broke through after just three minutes for his first goal in Serie A since October, adding a second half an hour later, with teenage compatriot Nicolo Zaniolo providing two assists.

Atalanta fought back with Zapata heading just wide before Roma doubled their lead against the run of play with Steven Nzonzi finding a way through for Dzeko to finish off.

Zaniolo set up El Shaarawy to make it 3-0 five minutes before the break but Timothy Castagne headed Atalanta back into the game before the interval.

Di Francesco’s men struggled after the break with former Roma defender Rafael Toloi nodding in Atalanta’s second just before the hour off a Papu Gomez cross.

Zapata missed a chance for a third ten minutes later sending a penalty kick over the bar.

But a minute later he fired in his 14th goal in the last eight league games, for a total of 15 this season.

Both sides also drew 3-3 when they met in Rome last August, a game in which the Romans had come from 3-1 down. Atalanta are now seventh, three points off the elite European places.(afp)

Juventus’ Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo runs with the ball during the italian Serie A football match Lazio Roma vs Juventus on January 27, 2019 at the Olympic stadium in Rome.

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Destination

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

International

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

International

Museum Gedong Kirtya

SINGARAJA - Gedong Kirtya is a manuscript museum in Singaraja, north Bali, which houses a vast collection of thousands of old Balinese manuscripts inscribed on lontar palm-leaves. These lontar books cover subjects of literature, mythology, history and religious works and are some of the oldest written works on the island.

The manuscripts record ancient knowledge and wisdom of older Balinese generations and are historical references of all Balinese daily activities, rituals and art.

Singaraja houses this only lontar museum in the world. Formerly it was referred to as the Liefrinck van der Tuuk library, named after its Dutch founders.

The lontar derives its name from the local word for the Asian Palmyra palm, or Borassus flabellifer, which grows in dry regions.

The leaves are further dried and used as pages upon which writings are carved into by the aid of a special sharp-tipped blade called a temutik. The pages are bound by woven strands between two pieces of wood into an order known collectively as a lontar book. These ‘books’ have long been used as references among the Balinese people for knowledge and local wisdom, encompassing religion, rites of passage, and traditional

shamanism or medicine. The forms of lontar are found throughout the islands of Indonesia, from Java, Lombok to other parts of Indonesia. Most of the lontar date back to the 13th century and are mainly written in the ‘Kawi’ script in old Balinese, old Javanese and Sanskrit. Gedong Kirtya was built in 1928 as a repository of these manuscripts with collections coming from various islands other than from Bali itself. The volumes are kept in special wooden boxes and sorted under different categories, from Vedic renditions and mantra hymns, religion, wariga or Balinese astronomy, itihasa or epic tales and poems, babad or Balinese genealogy, to tantri or folklore. Some are authentic and original pieces, sourced from the royal courts throughout Bali. Others are copies and even feature prasi art or accompanying illustrations.

Good to Know Gedong Kirtya was previously known as Stichting Liefrinck Van der Tuuk, a foundation that mainly focused on the preservation and storage of the lontar manuscripts.

This library was founded as a follow-up from a meeting known as the Pertemuan Kintamani held

by Dutch Indies scholars together with Balinese religious figures and

Rockets rally to win Paul’s return, Thunder cool off Bucks

Greg Wood / AFP

the royalties in 1928. F.A. Liefrinck was an official in the Dutch administration on Bali and Lombok who had great interest in Balinese culture and had written extensively about the islands. Dr. H.N Van der Tuuk, a Dutch historian provided the piece of land where the museum stands now. The building also once served as the storeroom

for scientific journals of research conducted on Bali, and has since sourced and documented lontar collections dispersed throughout public possession to be copied and catalogued. Up until 1987, Gedong Kirtya has reproduced and listed around 4,000 manuscripts covering various topics. The museum is located at the Sasana Budaya

complex in Singaraja, the once capital city of the Lesser Sunda Islands during the Dutch occupation, and which is an old royal palace situated on Jalan Veteran. Gedong Kirtya is open from Monday to Friday, and is closed on weekends.

Entrance fees apply, and donations for the maintenance of the library are welcome. (IBP/net)

Spain’s Rafael Nadal drinks between points against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during the men’s singles final on day 14 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 27, 2019.

Nadal takes positives out of Australian Open thrashing

MELBOURNE - Rafael Nadal said he took a lot of positives out of the Australian Open on his return from injury, despite being thrashed in the final Sunday by Novak Djokovic.

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The Spanish second seed had played an outstanding level of tennis at the tournament without dropping a set until he met his arch-rival on Rod Laver Arena.

And he had no answer to the world number one’s booming groundstrokes and precision serve to limp out of Melbourne Park 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.

Nadal said he still wasn’t at his best after his injury-plagued 2018.

“Was unbelievable the way that he played, no doubt about that. But at the same time it is true that probably physically I was not able (to compete at that level),” said Nadal.

“Five months without competing, having that big challenge in front of me, I needed something else. That something else probably today, I don’t have it yet.

“That’s my feeling, to compete at this super high level.”

Despite the rout, Nadal said he was content with being able to reach the final given the injury problems that prevented him playing any matches after the US Open until he got to Melbourne.

“I have been going through tough moments in the last year. (I have

played) only nine events and since the US Open I was not able to play until the first round here,” he said.

“Even if tonight was not my night it’s so important for me to be where I am coming back from injury.

“I really believe I played a great two weeks of tennis, there’s a good energy and good inspiration for what is coming.”

Nadal had not played a main tour event since a knee problem forced him to retire during his US Open semi-final against Juan Martin del Potro in September.

- ‘I need matches’ The 32-year-old had surgery on his ankle in November to remove a loose intra-articular body and only resumed training in December.

He played the opening round at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi to start his season, where he lost to South African Kevin Anderson, and withdraw from the warm-up Brisbane International.

“The only thing probably that I need is time and more matches,” he said of getting to a sufficient level to challenge Djokovic at his imperious

best.

“I need work, and I need more weeks like this one. That’s really the only thing that I hope -- to have the chance to keep practising well and to have the chance to keep playing and stay healthy.

“I need matches, but I can’t go crazy to play matches,” he added. “I have my age. I have my calendar. I have my priorities. My priority now is come back home, have some rest.”

He is targeting his next tournament at Acapulco at the end of February and then Indian Wells in early March.

“Then we see, depend how things go, I keep going or I take a rest before I play on clay,” he said.

Despite not being at his best in Melbourne Nadal nevertheless shattered the dreams of three of the hottest new stars -- 19-year-old Alex de Minaur, 21-year-old Frances Tiafoe, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20 -- en route to the final.

And the Spaniard, with 17 Grand Slam titles to his name, vowed there was more to come.

“I’m going to keep fighting hard to be a better player,” he said. (afp)

LOS ANGELES - Chris Paul returned from injury, but it was James Harden’s 40 points that fueled the Houston Rockets’ 103-98 comefrom-behind victory over the Orlando Magic in the NBA on Sunday.

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Harden extended his streak of games with at least 30 points to 23.

He chipped in 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots -- including one in the last 30 seconds to help the Rockets seal the win.

Paul, who missed 17 games with a left hamstring injury, finished with 12 points, six assists and five steals.

Houston trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter, never taking the lead until there were less than five minutes remaining.

Harden keyed their rally, scoring seven straight Rockets points in the final 2:12 of the contest starting with a basket that put Houston up 95-93.

“They kept digging it and digging it and finally we held them to 37 in the second half,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “That was awesome -- that was really good defense.”

Paul George led the way in Oklahoma City, scored 36 points and pulling down 13 rebounds in the Thunder’s 118-112 victory over the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks.

Russell Westbrook notched his 16th triple-double of the season with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Thunder put the brakes on Milwaukee’s Most Valuable Player candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo

to post a fifth straight win.

Oklahoma City led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter.

Milwaukee closed to within three with 1:09 left in the game, but George answered Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe’s three-pointer with his own from beyond the arc to push the Thunder’s lead back to 113-107 and contributed two of the free throws that Oklahoma City used to seal the game.

Antetokounmpo finished with 27 points and 18 rebounds and Khris Middleton added 22 points for the Bucks, who saw their six-game winning streak end.

In Dallas, Toronto star Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points and the Raptors withstood a triple-double from Dallas rookie Luka Doncic in a 123-120 victory over the Mavericks.

Pascal Siakam converted a threepoint play with 3:56 remaining to break a 108-108 tie as the Raptors erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Danny Green stretched Toronto’s lead to 116-112 with 1:34 to play, and after Dallas’ Harrison Barnes missed a pair of free throws Leonard scored on a driving layup.

Mavs prodigy Doncic, 19, scored 35 points with 12 rebounds and 10 assists to become the first to post two triple-doubles in the NBA while still a teenager.

However, it wasn’t enough to prevent Toronto from improving to 37-15 to pull into a virtual tie atop the East with the 35-13 Bucks. (afp)

Bill Baptist / NBAE / Getty Images / AFP

Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets handles the ball against the Orlando Magic on January 27, 2019 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

6

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Brazil mining giant Vale tarnished by dam disaster

RIO DE JANEIRO - Vale, the Brazilian company that owns the dam that burst at one of its mines killing dozens and leaving hundreds missing, is the world’s biggest iron-ore miner - and its reputation has taken a harsh blow with the disaster.

Brazilian authorities have frozen 11 billion reais -- around $3 billion -- in Vale assets in anticipation of compensation it will likely have to fork out.

The accident is the second involving Vale in the southeast Brazilian state of Minas Gerais within three years.

A tsunami of toxic mud broke through a dam at an iron-ore mine owned by Vale near the town of Brumadinho, in Minas Gerais, on January 25. The official toll from the disaster was 58 dead and 305 missing as of late Sunday.

In 2015 a dam at another mine jointly owned by the company ruptured, killing 19 and causing what was considered the worst environmental disaster Brazil had seen.

Vale and its partner BHP are still paying for that accident, with compensation and fines costing over $6 billion and lawsuits ongoing.

Vale’s shares lost eight percent in New York trading following news of the dam rupture.

The Sao Paulo stock market was closed Friday for a holiday, and trading in Vale shares there was expected to be intense Monday when it reopens.

The company is also mourning their personnel losses, as the overwhelming majority of the dead and missing were Vale employees.

Many of the victims had been eating lunch at the site when millions of tons of trailings -- muddy sludge that is a byproduct of mining -- burst through the dam and engulfed the administrative area they were in.

Emergency workers also found an company bus buried in the mud with bodies inside.

- Profitable company The dam that broke was built in 1976 and was in the process of being decommissioned. Vale said it had passed a structural safety inspection four months ago, which was confirmed by the German firm, Tuev Sued, that carried that out.

Vale, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, has a deep purse from which to pay fines, compensation and lawsuits resulting from the latest disaster.

In 2017, based on the last full-year results available, the company made $5.5 billion in profits, on revenue of $34 billion.

That net result was a 38 percent jump over the previous year, evidence of a bounceback after a sharp commodities slump in 2015 that forced the company into cost-cutting.

A mining specialist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Luiz Jardim Wanderley, told AFP that there was “a tendency for companies, in that period of commodity prices falling, to cut safety and maintenance budgets.”

He said that, of the 450 dams in Minas Gerais state, “we have a relatively high number of dams that are doubtful or in inappropriate conditions.” (afp)

Listen to Europe...

From page 1

Numerous MPs have put forward amendments for debate on Tuesday rejecting this “no deal” scenario, and calling variously for Brexit to be delayed, negotiations be reopened with the EU, or a second referendum.

Increasing numbers of ministers have also warned they will not accept the potentially catastrophic prospect of Britain leaving with no agreement.

May says the best way to avoid this is to agree to her deal, but says Brexit will happen on March 29 either way, and planning continues for every option.

The Sunday Times newspaper raised eyebrows by reporting that officials are looking at what powers they might need in the event of any

civil disorder, including imposing martial law.

Hancock confirmed the government was looking at “all the options in all circumstances”, but said martial law “isn’t the focus of our attention”.

Separately, May’s office said it was considering extending House of Commons hours and cancelling MPs’ week-long February holiday to make time to pass all the laws needed to prepare for Brexit.

These include bills relating to trade, fisheries and agriculture, immigration, the environment and healthcare, as well as a law to implement any divorce deal with the EU that MPs might yet agree to.(afp)

W

International

RLD

HO / Venezuelan Presidency / AFP

Maduro vs. Guaido: Who is backing whom?

CARACAS - Venezuela has been receiving massive attention from the international community since National Assembly chief Juan Guaido declared himself acting interim president of Venezuela.

- Maduro - Military: The Venezuela armed forces are considered the backbone of the government, and on Thursday senior military officers reaffirmed support for Maduro, claiming that there was an effective “coup” under way.

Of 32 cabinet ministers, nine are from the military and run portfolios such as Defense, Interior, Agriculture and the intelligence service, as well as state oil giant PDVSA, which contributes 96 percent of the country’s income.

They also control a television station, a bank and a vehicle assembly plant, among other companies.

But their support has come under some threat. The military attache of Venezuela in Washington, Colonel Jose Luis Silva, announced Saturday that he no longer recognizes Maduro as legitimate president, and urged his “military brothers” to back Guaido.

- International creditors and allies: China, Venezuela’s biggest creditor with some $20 billion dollars owed, said Thursday it opposed “external interference” after the United States and some allies recognized Guaido as interim leader.

Venezuela’s number two creditor, Russia, also backs it militarily: in December it sent two bombers and some 100 officers to Caracas for joint exercises. President Vladimir Putin called Maduro to express his “support.”

Countries such as Turkey, Cuba, Bolivia, Uruguay and Mexico -- as well as Iran and North Korea -- con-

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

INDONESIAN INDONESIAN

Handout picture released by the Venezuelan presidency showing Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro (C) speaking to a commander during military exercises at the Naval Base Agustin Armario in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo State, Venezuela, on January 27, 2019.

With socialist President Nicolas Maduro hanging on to power, these are their respective key supports, inside and outside the OPEC member:

International

tinue to recognize the 56 year-old Maduro.

- Justice: Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) supports the Maduro regime. Court justices were chosen by the pro-government National Assembly in December 2015, just days before the opposition took control of the legislature.

Since 2016 the top court has declared the opposition controlled legislature in contempt and voided all of its actions. The court on Thursday reiterated its support for Maduro regime. Venezuela’s top prosecutor, Attorney General Tarek William Saab, also is a Maduro loyalist.

- National Constituent Assembly: Maduro convened the staunchly pro-government assembly after four months of opposition protests that left about 125 dead in 2017. It has absolute powers, and serves as the de facto legislature. the opposition says it was created illegally.

- Electoral authority: The National Electoral Council (CNE), in charge of running elections, is chaired by the openly pro-government Tibisay Lucena. Under her management several opposition parties have been disqualified, and on Thursday it issued a statement endorsing Maduro.

Rulings by pro-government judges and the CNE thwarted opposition efforts to hold a referendum to revoke Maduro’s presidency in 2016, a vote allowed under the constitution.

Opposition parties refused participate in the last elections, including the May 2018 presidential vote in which Maduro was reelected, saying there were no guarantees of impartiality.

They say Maduro was elected through

fraud.

- Guaido - International support: The United States, along with several Latin America and European Union countries, refused to recognize Maduro’s reelection. When Guaido proclaimed himself acting interim president US President Donald Trump quickly recognized him. Other countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Australia, quickly followed. On Sunday Israel said it would recognize Guaido as president.

Six European countries -- Spain, France, Germany, Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands -- on Saturday demanded that either Venezuela call elections within eight days or they would recognize Guaido as interim leader.

Some European countries such as Greece still support Maduro.

The head of the Washington-based Organization of American States, Uruguayan Luis Almagro, also gave his support to Guaido.

- National Assembly: The opposition-controlled National Assembly was elected in 2015, when a coalition of opposition parties handed the leftist regime its biggest electoral defeat ever.

After taking office on January 5, Guaido, 35, began to press for a “transitional government” and new elections, calling on the military to break with the government in exchange for an amnesty.

- Justice in exile: A Venezuelan Supreme Court in exile, with members appointed by the National Assembly, on Wednesday welcomed Guaido’s “will” to take over as acting leader pending new elections. (afp)

11

ELECTION 2019

President Jokowi calls on NU women to maintain unity

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo has called on members of Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), to maintain unity of the nation.

“I invite all of you, especially the Muslim NU, to jointly maintain our unity, care for and maintain our brotherhood, our harmony, Islamic brotherhood, our nationhood brotherhood,” said President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) here on Sunday.

He voiced the message especially in the current political year, as the difference in political choices could cause of division.

The former Governor of DKI was concerned about the current conditions when differences in political choices could trigger people to insult each others.

“Don`t be like that, don`t reproach each other. Can you not reproach each other, insult each other, mock each other, spread hoaxes? We are brothers and sisters,” he said.

According to him, it is sunatullah or it has become Allah`s law that the Indonesian nation has diversity in many things, including ethnicity, customs, religion, traditions, culture, and local languages.

The President on that occasion greeted NU Muslimat members who were present from all over the country, including from West Java, Central Java, East Java, Lampung, Jakarta, Papua, West Papua, and Medan, in their local

languages.

The presence of NU Muslimat members symbolized Indonesia`s diversity as a big country, he said.

“Indonesia is a very large country, from Sabang to Merauke, from Miangas to Rote Island. Our population is now 260 million, 149 million live in Java, but there are still 17 thousand more islands that we have,” he said.

Besides, Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, he added.

Indonesia is also a pluralistic country with differences, various colorful, diversity, different tribes, different religions, different customs, different traditions, and different local languages.

“Therefore, as it was stated by the General Chairperson of Muslimat NU Mrs Khofifah, lets us safeguard values of mutual respect, mutual respect among different ethnic groups, among different religions that we have,” he said.

He also emphasized the moderation of Islam, notably Islam which is moderate, not radical, not extreme.

The President expressed his hope that in the 73rd anniversary of the NU Muslimat, the organization would become more prosperous, blessed, and Indonesia becomes prosperous.(ant)

Awaiting fair duel in Indonesia`s presidential debate

BOGOR - The first round of the Indonesian presidential and vice presidential candidates` official debate took place in Jakarta on Jan 17, but the two pairs were unable to showcase their best performances.

In the aftermath of the two pairs` performance in their first debate, several political analysts and community members criticized The General Election Commission (KPU) over the furnished list of questions, though it was aimed at ensuring a better quality debate.

The failure to show a convincing performance in the two pairs` first appearance may partly be contributed to the strict technical rules of the debate.

This situation might have made the two pairs unable to express their insightful views and perspectives more freely within the sufficient time provided.

The KPU decision to provide the

Joko Widodo (Jokowi)-Ma`ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pairs with a list of questions prior to the convening of the first round of the debate has also contributed to it.

Commenting on the debate, political analyst Rocky Gerung opined that it was not a political debate. Instead of being like a duel or sharp clash of arguments between the two pairs, it was “a way of memorizing questions and a way of predicting the answers.”

Speaking at the CNN Indonesia`s talk show program for commenting on the first round of the presidential debate, Gerung stated that watching the political debate was not like seeing a piano orchestra.

Instead, watching the political debate was like seeing a jazz performance during which there should be improvisation. Perhaps, there was a pause, but it was then closed with new tone, he noted.

In avoiding the recurrence of the first round`s experience, outspoken Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) Fahri Hamzah suggested that the two pairs should engage in a free and open debate.

“Let our presidential candidates have a `free fight`...!!” Hamzah said on his Twitter account https://twitter. com/fahrihamzah.

In response to the community members` expectation that the second round of the presidential debate should be more attractive, substantial, and full of open clash of arguments, the KPU has pledged not to give the pairs the list of questions in advance.

The national campaign team of the Jokowi- Amin pair has hinted at the readiness of the incumbent president and his running mate to face their contenders in an open presidential debate scheduled on Feb 17.

The team`s secretary, Hasto Kris-

tiyanto, stated that his camp will not file an objection if the KPU decided not to provide the two pairs with a list of questions in advance.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of his visit to the East Java city of Pasuruan on Saturday, Kristiyanto defended the Jokowi-Amin pair, saying that they had been accustomed to speaking about the people`s problems.

“Mr Jokowi and Amin are the figures who do not face any difficulty in speaking about the people`s problems, including during the presidential debate,” he remarked.

For the second round of the presidential debate, the two pairs will debate over the issues of energy, food, natural resources, environment, and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, during the first round of presidential debates, the two pairs debated over the issues of law, human rights, corruption, and terrorism.

As revealed in the first round, the rundown of the debates comprised six segments, including delivering each pair`s vision and mission.

The first segment was about the delivery of each pair`s vision and mission. The second and third segments contain responses to open questions, specifically the questions prepared by the panelists.

In the fourth and fifth segments, the two pairs of candidates will raise questions and respond to queries they received in a debate format. In the sixth segment, the KPU will ask each of the pairs to make a closing statement, KPU Chairman Arief Budiman explained.

The KPU has prepared five rounds of presidential debates ahead of the convening of the 2019 Presidential Election on April 17, which will be broadcast live by several TV channels.(ant)

12

International

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Bali News

International

BUSINESS

Ratu Brutuk Believed to Cure Diseases

Railroads say economy still growing at steady rate

OMAHA - The economy appears to be going strong for the major freight railroads that haul the products and raw materials companies rely on, but the lingering trade disputes could derail business.

Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads all sounded optimistic about the economy when they reported hauling 3 percent more carloads of freight in the fourth quarter.

“Our customers in discreet markets are in large part doing OK,” Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz said Thursday. Shipments of steel, construction products, intermodal containers and a few other categories look particularly strong. “We think there is still opportunity for modest growth in the United States.”

Edward Jones analyst Dan Sherman said the railroads’ results won’t add much to fears that the economy is slowing down.

“There hasn’t been any indication at all that the economy is slowing even slightly,” Sherman said.

Union Pacific said its fourth-quarter net income jumped 29 percent to $1.55 billion, or $2.12 per share, and topped Wall Street expectations. The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad benefited from strong demand and efforts effort to streamline its operations that began in October. It has already stored 1,200 locomotives as it works to haul freight more efficiently.

The ongoing trade disputes create some uncertainty about certain products, but Union Pacific still expects volume will continue growing at a low-single-digit rate.

Nearly all the major U.S. railroads are implementing some of the operating principles that have led to dramatic improvements in the profitability of rival CSX over the last two years. CSX reported $843 million

Tukad Cepung Waterfall, Comes with Blessings to Tembuku Village

AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File

In this July 31, 2018, file photo a Union Pacific train travels through Union, Neb. Union Pacific Corp. reports financial results Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. in net income, or $1.01 per share, last week and promised to continue working to reduce costs and find ways to deliver more freight with fewer locomotives.

The number of carloads railroads carry is considered an indicator of the health of the

overall economy because of the variety of goods rails deliver.

Norfolk Southern’s fourth-quarter profit surged 44 percent higher to $702 million, or $2.57 per share. The results topped the $2.30 per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks

Investment Research expected.

Norfolk Southern is also planning to reform its operations, but railroad officials didn’t discuss many details Thursday. Instead, investors will have to wait until next month to hear what changes the railroad plans. (ap)

Economy likely to pick up, though pain may linger for some

BALTIMORE - The U.S. economy will likely resume its steady growth now that the government has reopened, though economists say some scars — for the nation and for federal workers — will take time to heal.

Most analysts estimate that the 35-day partial shutdown shaved a few tenths of a percentage point from annual economic growth in the first three month of 2019. They say growth should pick up in the coming months, though some of the money federal workers and contractors didn’t spend in the past five weeks — on such items as movie tickets,

restaurants and travel — will never be made up. Having gone without two paychecks, many federal workers were forced to visit food banks or to borrow money. Federal workers will now receive backpay, though some contractors might not.

President Donald Trump agreed to reopen the government for three weeks after having forced the shutdown in hopes of compelling Democrats to approve billions for a wall on the Mexico border. Trump failed to secure any such money.

During the shutdown, a shortage of airport security and air traffic controllers disrupted travel at such

major hubs as LaGuardia Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

The pressure on Trump to reopen the government intensified Friday after a delay of about 3,000 flights by mid-afternoon because six of 13 air traffic controllers didn’t show up to work at a critical center in Virginia.

S&P Global Ratings estimates that the economy lost $6 billion because of the government closure — a sizable but relatively negligible sum in a $19 trillion-plus U.S. economy.

“If the shutdown had lasted much longer, the economic impacts would

have snowballed — travel problems, tax refunds, etc.,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities.

Still, the damage isn’t likely to lift immediately. And some federal employees had expressed anxiety during the shutdown about the stability and security of their jobs. The most skilled or talented among them may be likelier to leave government service, a potential problem for an economy already facing worker shortages in some areas.

Job searches by employees at multiple federal agencies jumped during the shutdown, according to

clicks tracked by the jobs site Indeed.

Employees who had gone unpaid at the Department of Homeland Security, Census Bureau, the IRS and the Transportation Safety Administration were much more likely to be hunting for a new job compared with the past two years of searches.

One lingering risk is if Trump chooses to shutter the government again after the three-week agreement lapses on Feb. 15. Should that occur, it would sabotage consumer confidence and hurt the economy, predicted Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.”It would wipe out confidence,” Zandi said. (ap)

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Tembuku is one of the villages being quite successful in exploring and managing the potential of natural tourism. One of them is Tukad Cepung waterfall. From the effort to manage the natural tourism potential, Tembuku village is able to generate hundreds of millions of income per month.

Headman of Tembuku, Ketut Mudiarsa, revealed that Tukad Cepung waterfall has been a tourist destination and always crowded with tourists. Daily average of visit reaches 300 people. On a holiday, the visit can reach thousands of people. “The visit is dominated by foreign tourists. Tukad Cepung waterfall is ranked third in tourism objects with the highest number of foreign tourist visits,” he said.

He said that before becoming an attractive tourist destination, formerly the Tukad Cepung waterfall was only a hidden river (tukad) whose condition was unregulated.

Since there was direction of the government to explore respective village potential, he then tried to move and explore the tourism potential owned by local village.

“We see the potential of Tukad Cepung as a tourist spot. Moreover, it has a spiritual place,” he said.

Departing from such condition, he tried to arrange it with young people from local village. At the beginning of the arrangement, young

people of Tembuku introduced it through social media. Unexpectedly, in the long run the visit to Tukad Cepung waterfall continues to increase.

Seeing the potential, the village then cooperated with the local customary village and agreed to seriously manage the waterfall.

Incoming visitors are subject to a levy of IDR 15,000 per person.

The management is also carried out professionally through the local village-owned enterprises (BUMDes).

Mudiarsa revealed that since it was managed in the past four months, the gross income generated by the Tukad Cepung waterfall is fairly good, reaching IDR 700 million. Each month, the average income earned amounts to IDR 110 million- IDR 120 million. “This income does not entirely go to the village, but is divided into some portions, allocated for customary village and maintenance of facilities. So, they have owned their allocation,” he said.

Considering the potential of Tukad Cepung waterfall is quite extraordinary to gain income, the customary village will make cooperation with administrative village.

He said the price of admission ticket to the Tukad Cepung waterfall will be increased. Certainly, it will be accompanied with the improvement in facilities, such as parking lot, the addition of gazebos and others. He revealed that so far the thing remaining to get complaint from tourists is the condition of the road to the local dam. The village cannot make improvement to the trail because the authority lies in the provincial government.

“Together with the subdistrict head, I had requested it can be granted to district government and then the district grants it to village so that it could be repaired. Until now, there has been no follow up.

We from the village government will not be able to repair it, even though tourists have frequently complain about it,” he added. (kmb)

Trunyan village in Kintamani Bangli, has some unique and attractive traditions that cannot be found in other ancient Balinese villages. One of the traditions is in the form of sacred dance called Ratu Brutuk. The dance sanctified by local community is specially performed every two years during the Ngusaba Lanang ritual at Pancering Jagat Temple, Trunyan.

In the Ngusaba Lanang ritual at Pancering Jagat Temple of Trunyan of this year, the Ratu Brutuk was performed twice namely on September 28 and 29.

The performance was very eagerly awaited by the residents of Trunyan village, including other people from outside the village.

It can be seen from the vivacity of local residents when watching the performance from the morning to evening.

A number of residents or pilgrims in attendance seemed to approach the Ratu Brutuk by bringing some offerings. Meanwhile, the Ratu Brutuk was dancing around the temple’s innermost courtyard while bringing a whip along 6-7 meters. If someone breaks and comes into the temple illegally, Ratu Brutuk dancer will release its whip. Conversely, if the pilgrims come politely and ask for permission, the Ratu Brutuk will bless them by touching the base of the whip carried on the pilgrim’s head.

Some people were also seen trying to approach and asking for permission to take Ratu Brutuk’s

5

hair to tuck in the earlobe. In accordance with the belief of local community, Ratu Brutuk’s hair is believed to be efficacious for treating diseases.

Chairman of the Ritual Committee, Ketut Jaksa, met amid the performance of Ratu Brutuk on Saturday (Sep. 29) stated the number of Ratu Brutuk performed every day is different. On Saturday, the Ratu Brutuk was danced by 21 people while previously was danced by 21 people.

He explained the dancers of Ratu Brutuk are carefully selected from girls and boys. Prior to dancing, they have to go through a series of purification procession with a 15-day pause at Pancering Jagat Temple. Any violation committed during the process will be subject to psychical punishments.

He added the mask of Ratu Brutuk performed has different shapes. The whip brought by Ratu Brutuk is made of sea hibiscus bark. According to local belief, anyone who is exposed to whiplash brought by the dancer will recover from illnesses.

“This dance symbolizes the encounter of purusha (male aspect) and pradana (female aspect) or the unification of the akhasa versus prthivi (heaven and earth) believed to have provided fertility and the welfare of the universe along with its contents. Similarly, this sacred dance symbolizes the meeting of Ida Ratu Sakti Pancering Jagat and Ida Ratu Ayu Dalem Dasar,” he explained. (kmb)

4

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Bali News

International

Beware of Riley tropical cyclones up to next three days DENPASAR - The Riley tropical cyclone detected on Thursday (Jan. 24) in some parts of Indonesia still has the potential to occur for the next three days.

Although moving away from Indonesia’s territory, Bali is estimated to be affected.

It will be marked with medium to heavy intensity rain, and high sea waves with a height of 2.5 meters to 4 meters (South Java to Sumbawa waters, Bali Strait, Lombok Strait, Southern Alas Strait, South Sumba waters, Sawu Island’s waters to Rote Island - Kupang, Eastern Java Sea, Sumbawa Sea and Western Flores Sea). Meanwhile, in the southern Indian Ocean, East Java to NTT the wave height reaches 4-6 meters.

Forecaster of the National Weather Service (BMKG) for Region III Denpasar, Putu Agus Dedy Permana, said that based on the analysis issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center (TCWC) Jakarta on Saturday (Jan. 26) at 07:00 West Indonesia Time, position of the Riley tropical cyclone was at coordinates of 16.9 South latitude and 117.4 East longitude or about 860 km southwest of Sabu. It moved to the West at a speed of 2 knots or equivalent to 4 km / h going away from the territory of Indonesia.

Maximum speed of the wind reaches 60 knots (110 km / h).

Meanwhile, for the 24-hour forecast or Sunday (Jan. 27) at 07:00 West Indonesia Time, its position is located at 17.4 South latitude and 114.5 East longitude or around 1,100 km southwest of Sabu. The movement is to the West leaving the territory of Indonesia with a maximum wind speed of 60 knots (110 km / h) Then, 48-hour prediction or Monday (Jan. 28) at 07:00 West Indonesia Time, the position of this tropical cyclone is at the coordinates of 17.8 South latitude, 110.0 East longitudes with the movement to the West leaving the territory of Indonesia with maximum wind speed of 50 knots (95 km / hour).

In the meantime, the prediction of 72 hours or Tuesday (Jan. 29) at 07:00 West Indonesia Time, it has the position in the coordinate of 18.7 South latitude and 106.8 East longitude and moves Southwestward leaving the territory of Indonesia with a maximum wind speed of 45 knots (85 km / hour).

“In accordance with the data, within the next three days until January 29 the Riley tropical cyclone is still going on in Bali, but it moves further away from the Indonesian territory and with diminishing wind power,” said Putu Agus Dedy Permana, on Saturday (Jan. 26).

He urged the public to remain vigilant and alert to the impacts caused by high intensity rain accompanied by strong winds, such as fallen trees, high ocean waves, landslides, and flash floods, and always pay attention to BMKG’s information on extreme climate. “Avoid sheltering under trees or billboards. If possible, cut the too high trees and avoid activities on the beach and sea,” he advised. (win)

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

International

13

Abe vows Kim meeting to ‘break shell of mutual distrust’

TOKYO - Japan’s prime minister vowed Monday to “break the shell of mutual distrust” with North Korea by meeting leader Kim Jong Un face-to-face and restoring diplomatic relations between the two historic foes.

People not get educated

Plastic bag use remains to become a habit

DENPASAR - The use of plastic bags remains to be a habit in the community. This happens because the community has not been well educated. As policy issuer, the government has not been seen working hard to educate the community.

“This is feared by retail entrepreneurs in Bali that are also part of the Balinese community, the people of Denpasar city themselves, and even becomes parts of employment providers and tax contributors reused by the government to build communities,” said I Made Abdi Negara, Director of Bali Business Network, after holding a workshop for business owners in Bali on retail (Jan. 19).

The regulations to stop the supply of plastic shopping bags at local or national retail outlets has an impact on the shift of consumers and the absence of shopping on the impulse goods that so far have covered the super-thinned margins of goods in the fast moving items category.

“The government is strict in taking action, but the role of government as a

facilitator should either participate in educating the community by placing volunteers directly in each of these outlets or through electronic and online media, for example,” he said.

Abdi told the situation faced by entrepreneurs in the field is quite complicated considering that not all retail shops in Bali apply these rules. “There are even consumers saying harsh words to cashier because they consider to have not been served well whereas they have already shopped a lot,” he explained.

Actually, the entrepreneurs through cashiers and salespeople have tried to provide alternatives for consumers such as cardboard boxes or other solutions. “However, after shopping consumers apparently has a habit to bring their goods with a plastic bag. The

target of education mostly untouched by the government is the middle low consumer. This must be resolved with a stronger and more accurate strategy,” he said.

According to him, the middle class should be focused as the target of education because the awareness and character formed for many years is deeply rooted. “Complaints from retail entrepreneurs are mostly about hard feedback against the policy given by the middle-low class,” he added.

Abdi suggested that in the future government will not only be diligent in issuing policies. However, it also keeps balance with the obligations that must be carried out after the policy is issued. “We are not antipathy with the policy, we support it. But do not let when wishing to protect one party, the policy even disrupts the other parties. We also environmentally conscious, we love the environment.

But it must also be realized that we need sales, we need income to pay employees who are in fact part of the community. Please always think about it,” he concluded. (kmb42)

KCNA VIA KNS / AFP

This January 8, 2019 picture released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 10 shows North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un (C) receiving a bouquet of flowers from a Chinese girl upon his arrival at the Beijing station in Beijing.

In a major policy speech to mark the opening of parliament, Shinzo Abe also vowed to push Sino-Japan ties “to a new stage” and pledged a record budget to improve crumbling infrastructure in the world’s third-biggest economy.

“I will act resolutely, never failing to seize every opportunity to break the shell of mutual distrust, and I myself will directly face Chairman Kim Jong Un... to resolve North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues, as well as the abductions issue,” Abe said.

Abe gave no timeframe for a potential meeting with the North Korean leader but the comments came as Kim has ordered preparation for a second summit with US President Donald Trump, likely towards the end of next month.

“I will aim at diplomatic normalisation by settling the unfortunate past,” Abe said, using a Japanese diplomatic euphemism referring to harm caused by Japan during its brutal colonisation of the Korean peninsula before and during World War II. The conciliatory message contrasted sharply from a year ago, when Abe used the same parliamentary address to set out a hardline approach, pledging to “compel North Korea to change its policies” and describing Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes as an “unprecedentedly grave and urgent threat”.

Abe has long sought to resolve an emotional row related to North Korean agents’ abduction of Japanese nationals during the Cold War era to train Pyongyang’s spies.

Pyongyang released what it said were the five survivors in 2002, and said eight others it admitted kidnapping had all died.

North Korean authorities have given no public indication of any willingness to meet Abe, while Pyongyang’s state media regularly excoriate Japan over its past history and Abe for ramping up defence spending.

A commentary by the official KCNA news agency earlier this month called Japan a “heinous criminal state against humanity” and an “immoral and impudent country”. (afp)

‘World’s loneliest duck’ Trevor dies on tiny Niue

SYDNEY - A lone duck named Trevor that lived on the tiny Pacific island nation of Niue has died, officials say, sparking an outpouring of grief from as far away as New Zealand.

The celebrity mallard found fame last year after a visiting journalist from New Zealand discovered that his makeshift home, near a puddle, was used for directions.

But his 15 seconds of fame were tragically cut short when he was “seen dead in the bush after being attacked by dogs” this weekend, a Facebook page dedicated to Trevor said. The chief executive of the Niue Chamber of Commerce, Rae Findlay, said it was a “sad time for Niue”.

“He captivated the locals, of which there are only 1,600 in

Niue, and the 9,000 visitors to Niue each year,” Findlay told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Sunday.

“He will definitely be missed, he captured many hearts and even the rooster, the chicken and the weka were looking a little forlorn today wandering around the near-dry puddle.”

Niue, a tiny speck of land, lies around 2,400 kilometres (1,500 miles) northeast of New Zealand.

One of the world’s biggest coral islands, Niue does not have natural ponds or wetlands, so when Trevor turned up a year ago he was believed to have blown in from New Zealand with a storm.

He quickly settled down in a large puddle near a road that the Niue fire service later topped up

with water, the ABC reported.

He became so famous locally that when the New Zealand Herald’s deputy political editor Claire Trevett visited the island nation, she found he had been incorporated into street directions.

“Someone said, ‘Turn right past the duck’ and then the whole story came out, the only duck on Niue,” she told the ABC. He was later dubbed the “world’s loneliest duck” for his solitary existence.

Trevor Mallard, the speaker of New Zealand’s House of Representatives after whom the late duck was named, offered his condolences.

“Deepest sympathy to the people of Niue from the Parliament of New Zealand,” Mallard wrote on the duck’s Facebook death notice. (afp)

Handout / Courtesy of Rae Finlay / AFP

This handout photo taken in 2018 and released courtesy of Rae Finlay, the chief executive of the Niue Chamber of Commerce, to AFP on January 28, 2019 shows Trevor the duck on the Pacific island of Niue.

14

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Science

International

Bali News

International

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

3

Ray of light photography

To record dramatic stripes of lights

ON one occasion, you may get amazed to see the beauty of the sun bursting between the trees, fog, clouds and smoke or cave cracks. Sunlight forming a straight-line ray unit seems very soft and dramatic that reassures the feeling. Frequently, the lines of light also raise a magical and dreamy feel. Among photographers, these dramatic ray lines, known as ray of light (ROL) are ‘fabulous’ hunted objects, so it becomes a pity to miss. However, it is not easy to move the ROL effect into your photo frame. The following are practical tips that can be used as a guide for capturing the ROL effect so that it results in photos deserved to be appreciated!

IBP/net

Lack of sleep is tied to increases in two Alzheimer’s proteins

Tangles of tau protein (green) muck up a nerve cell from a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, as seen in this transmission electron micrograph.

WASHINGTON - A sleep-deprived brain is awash in excess amounts of not one but two proteins whose bad behavior is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease.

A new study finds excessive amounts of a protein called tau in the fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord of extremely sleepdeprived adults. Tau, which is tied to nerve cell death, tangles and spreads throughout the brain during Alzheimer’s. An earlier report on these sleepy adults found that the protein amyloid-beta — globs of which dot the brains of Alzheimer’s patients — also increased.

Samples of cerebrospinal fluid collected from eight adults, monitored during a night of normal sleep and over the course of 36 hours of sleep deprivation, revealed a 51.5 percent increase in tau in participants robbed of shut-eye. And sleep-deprived mice had twice the

amount of tau as well-rested mice, researchers report online January 24 in Science. Earlier work by these researchers had suggested that the quality of sleep might affect tau levels; this time, it’s been linked to duration of sleep.

With both A-beta and tau increasing with a lack of sleep, “it certainly argues that treating sleep disorders during mid-life as well as getting appropriate levels of sleep is likely to decrease risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” says coauthor David Holtzman, a neurologist and neuroscientist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

During sleep, the brain appears to flush out excess proteins and other debris, so perhaps less sleep means

that wash cycle is curtailed.

An estimated 5.7 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. A type of dementia, Alzheimer’s leads to problems with thinking, memory and behavior that eventually interfere with one’s ability to function day-to-day. Plaques of A-beta and twisted bits of tau litter the brains of those with the disease, producing damage that leads to Alzheimer’s symptoms.

In 2017, Holtzman and colleagues had reported that a night of poorquality sleep raised levels of A-beta in the cerebrospinal fluid, and if that night had been preceded by a week of less-than-sound snoozing, the amount of tau also increased. In that study, volunteers were monitored on a night of sound sleep and a night in which they got the same amount, but

GENEVA - Babies love to be rocked to sleep. It turns out that we never quite grow out of it.

Grown-ups tucked into a gently swaying bed for the night fell asleep faster and slept deeper, scientists report in the Feb. 4 Current Biology. What’s more, these rocked adults had sharper memories the next morning.

Aside from hinting at the next great sleep aid, the results offer clues about how the brain refreshes itself each night.

“We’ve been rocking our babies for thousands of years now. We know it helps them fall asleep,” says Robert Stickgold, a cognitive

neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School. So why not adults? “I’m putting my bed on a rocker tonight,” he says, calling the results “a lot of fun.”

Neuroscientist Laurence Bayer of the University of Geneva and her colleagues first got a hint that adults might benefit from rocking in 2011. The researchers found that adults napped better in a custom-built rocking bed — a contraption that gently sways back and forth every four seconds, moving 10½ centimeters each way. But it wasn’t clear whether rocking might improve sleep across an entire night.

So for the new study, Bayer and her colleagues invited 18 healthy young adults for several laboratory sleepovers, with one night spent on a rocking bed and one night spent on a stationary one. All the while, the researchers measured the people’s brain activity by electroencephalogram, or EEG, which can spot electrical signs of certain sleep stages.

The rhythmic motion affected people’s sleeping brains. Study participants fell asleep faster while being rocked, the researchers found. In a stationary bed, people took an average of 16.7 minutes to reach a light stage of

their deep sleep was disrupted.

Evidence suggests that when brain nerve cells are highly active — that is, busily firing away electrical messages to other neurons — they release more tau. Since being awake appears to result in more nerve cell activity, Holtzman says, “we wondered whether the release of tau from nerve cells might also be accelerated during wakefulness versus during sleep.” In fact, when mice were awake, tau levels were 90 percent higher in the fluid between neurons than when the animals were slumbering, the researchers found.

And sleep deprivation seems to impact tau more than A-beta. In the samples of cerebrospinal fluid from the sleep-starved adults, the increase in tau surpassed the 30 percent increase in A-beta. The excessive amounts of these two proteins in the fluid may set the stage for later

problems. The more A-beta released from cells, the more likely it is to clump up and accumulate over time, Holtzman says, while chronic increases of tau — driven by sleep deprivation or other means — may push the spread of its tangled, destructive form throughout the brain.

The findings show that just as the sleep-wake cycle regulates the release of A-beta from neurons, it also affects the amount of tau those cells release, says Bess Frost, a tau biologist at the University of Texas Health San Antonio, who was not involved in the study. “The two main pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease are both affected by sleep.”

Frost says that the effect of the sleep-wake cycle on tau is also important to know for other neurodegenerative diseases that feature tau tangles, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. (net)

non-REM sleep called N2. But when rocked, the young adults hit this sleep stage after an average of 10 minutes. Rocked people also spent more time in a deep nonREM stage of sleep called N3, and had fewer wake-ups. And rocking boosted the number of sleep spindles — fast bursts of brain activity that mark good sleep.

Before people fell asleep, they learned pairs of words, and then were given a memory test the next morning. After a night of rocking, people were better at remembering the words, an improvement that suggested higher quality sleep.

Mice, like people, also sleep

better while jiggled, a related study by many of the same researchers found. The vestibular system, which detects motion and helps coordinate balance, seems to be key to translating the rocking motion into sleep benefits. That study, also published in the Feb. 4 Current Biology, hints that rhythmic movement signals can help shape brain activity during sleep.

Rocking while asleep might be particularly helpful to people with insomnia, Bayer says. “If rocking can help this population to sleep better, it will be a nice alternative or a natural complement” to sleeping pills. (net)

Rocking puts adults to sleep faster and makes slumber deeper

The primary key to get photos with a strong and dramatic ROL effect is our carefulness to observe light well, be in the right position or location with the right camera settings. Usually, in the morning or a few moments after the sun rises is the right time to hunt ROL. You can choose a shooting location on a plateau with a composition of trees remaining to leave gaps that allow sunlight to enter. Another advantage, in highland areas, there

is usually a lot of fog floating quite low. When sunlight penetrates into the fog, it is the best moment because we will see the lines of light quite clearly. Another interesting location for hunting ROL is in a cave and a dark room but there are cracks or vents allowing sunlight to enter.

Refracting the light Afterward, look for a dark background. Backgrounds such

as cliff walls or lush trees will make the ROL increasingly clear because of the contrasting darkness. To strengthen the ROL effect, you can also create with smoke to refract light. The use of artificial smoke by burning garbage, lighting cigarettes and incense can also be applied when there is no fog.

Arrange in such a way so that the position of the smoke is right on the beam path.

Keep in mind, too bright sun-

light can outwit light calculations or camera metering. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to set the ISO and shutter speed manually in order to get the desired dark light. For openings, use relatively small openings such as f / 8 to f / 16 to limit light and increase sharpness. Meanwhile, the ISO and shutter speed settings adjust so that the resulting photo is not over or under exposure.

To take a picture of ROL, actually all types of lenses can be used and produce the effects can be recorded well. But the use of a wide-angle lens is highly recommended because the ambience of light is more pronounced. Make a photo shoot without facing the light. Usually, the ROL effect

will look very clear from the side or slightly sideways from the direction of light.

To create more dramatic photos, fill in the photo frames with various natural activities that look natural. So, the attraction of the photos is not just in the ROL effect. For example, you can include people riding a bicycle, children playing and so on. Of course, the added attraction of human activity is not always easily found when shooting. On that account, there is nothing wrong if you prepare yourself a number of models from the house to continue with the beauty of the ROL created at the shooting location. Have a nice creativity with ROL! (ian)

2

Bali News

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

International

International

Activities

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

15

Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center Won Several Categories on the 7th Bali Culinary Festive

Bali to build sugar cane factory

Continuity of raw materials needs to think about

DENPASAR - Bali will develop sugar cane farming in Buleleng. If the land area requirements are met, a sugar factory will be built in Bali. However, construction of the sugar factory needs to think about the continuity of raw material supply in order not to become a new problem for Bali.

Division Head of Plantation at the Bali Food, Plantation and Horticulture Agency, Lanang Aryawan, said he had just finished planting 1,200 hectares of sugarcane in 2018 in Singaraja. In 2019, 2,000 hectares will be cultivated. Thus, the total land area amounts to 3,200 hectares in 2019. If the land area meets the requirements, a sugar factory is planned to be built in Bali.

“As planned, the reconnaissance and feasibility study will be held in the middle of this year,” he said.

Meanwhile, sugar cane plants having been planted in 2018 are said to have grown well. If it does not grow, it must be replanted so as not to hollow.

Later on, the results will be taken to

the Asem Bagus Factory according to the cooperation agreement with the PTPN XI Surabaya.

In the process of planting sugarcane, in the past period he had difficulty in the procurement of sugarcane seedlings because of limited supply while the need in Java is very high.

So, the target for planting is delayed from the target of planting completion in August-September. “This year, we have anticipated so that last year’s problem will not happen again,” he said.

This year, he prepared 300-400 hectares of land for prospective seedlings in 2019. So, it is enough for the needs of Bali. “We have prepared

around 400 hectares of land for sugarcane seedlings. Actually, we just need 200 hectares for seedlings but have prepared 400 ha,” he added.

Chairperson of the Indonesia Farmers Association (HKTI), Prof.

Supartha, said the land in Bali is narrow, as having been cultivated for other plants such as rice, corn, soybeans, onions and chili. So, it is not possible to develop sugar cane fields for sugar industry. “The industry must be sufficient in terms of raw materials. This is the characteristic of industry. Don’t be playful if we’ve already known the spirit of the machine, the spirit of the industry. The industry is related to long process of

raw materials so that it must connect from A to B, B to C, C to D. On that account, the industrial principles must be understood,” he said.

In the sugar industry, regular raw materials are needed. So the land area must be a consideration of industrial development. “However, if raw materials are not enough, the land is not enough, don’t make new problems,” he joked.

Almost all lands in Bali are used for other crops. So, the presence of sugar cane will replace the other plants or shift other plants. “If there are more plants shifting them coming with better results, it is good. But if otherwise, how about it?” he said.

In addition, this program must have an appointment or agreement with the farmers. The agreement with farmers means that farmers are invited

to join in supporting the factory and the life of farmers are guaranteed by meeting their daily needs.

The government hoped with the construction of sugar cane factory, the price of sugar in Bali will be cheaper.

But according to him, the price of sugar is a national framework. So, with the area of sugar cane in Bali, it is less likely to affect the price of sugar cane to be cheaper. By lowering prices, it will pressure sugar cane producers.

If the price of sugar cane is cheap, the farmers will be affected. “Farmers will be definitely suppressed and the price is low bargained. As a result, farmers are depressed. If Bali follows such a concept, Bali farmers having been better than other regions will follow the lower income farmers,” he said. (kmb40)

Balingkang Kintamani Festival

3,000 Chinese tourists ensured to visit Kintamani

BANGLI - Approximately 3,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit Kintamani to watch the Balingkang Kintamani Festival next February.

The festival scheduled to be held at Batur village, Kintamani, will feature a parade of acculturation of Chinese and Balinese culture.

The plan to implement the Balingkang Kintamani Festival is revealed by Deputy Regent of Bangli, Sang Nyoman Sedana Arta, when attending the work meeting of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) of Bangli Chapter, in Kintamani on Friday (Jan. 25).

Sedana Arta said the Balingkang Kintamani Festival is held for the first time in Kintamani. In the festival, the culture to be displayed will bring up the love story of King Jayapangus and Princess from China, Kang Cing Wie, who is still legendary. He ensured that during the festival, Kintamani will be flooded with three thousand Chinese tourists. “So far, along the history of Bangli tourism, it has never been attended by thousands of Chinese tourists at once,” he said.

According to him, the event is a good opportunity for Bangli to pro-

mote tourism it has. On that account, the moment must be utilized as well as possible by all parties. Sedana Arta also hoped that all components, especially those engaged in tourism in Bangli district, will support and succeed in organizing the festival. “If this can be packaged and promoted properly, something big will happen.

More and more Chinese tourists will come to Bangli,” he explained.

Full support for the holding of the Balingkang Kintamani Festival is also conveyed by Chairperson of PHRI Bangli, Ketut Mardjana. According to him, the festival held by

the Bali provincial government is a very appropriate and effective effort to draw the interest of Chinese tourists to visit Bali having previously dropped. With the implementation of the festival, it is hoped to result in a tremendous impact on the level of Chinese tourist visits in the future.

“PHRI Bangli provides full support for the organization of the festival,” he explained.

Separately, the Head of the Bangli Tourism and Culture Office, Wayan Adnyana, said the Balingkang Kintamani Festival will be held on February 6 in front of the

Ulundanu Batur Temple, Kintamani.

It will be filled with a cultural parade and fragmentary show on Jayapangus-Kang Cing Wie’s romance for approximately two hours starting at 10:00 local time. In addition to enhancing the image of Bali tourism in the eyes of Chinese tourists, this festival is held to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

“So far, Kintamani is only known for the beautiful panorama of Mount Batur and its natural attractions.

More than that, Kintamani also has cultural and spiritual tourism,” added Adnyana. (kmb40)

 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

Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center is all about winning these days, after previous award for the highest iAudit score of Food & Beverage Service in November 2018, several winners on the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th of the cooking competition, the hotel has just won several categories on the 7th Bali Culinary Festive that being held on the 21st of January 2019.

“It’s certainly an extraordinary moment that we prove the quality of work by dispatched our Cook Helper – I Putu Santana Putra in cooking competition as the first winner in a creative & innovative Indonesian Cuisine category, and as the second runner up in a creative & innovative pasta dish category. The whole point of the competition is to lay as much technique, visual and flavor as possible into one dish. Usually, there’s a dozens of recipes in each component on the plate.” Said Komang Aryana – Executive Chef at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center on press conference at Quest San Hotel Denpasar last January 21st, 2019.

Furthermore, Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center also participated in a mocktail creation and creative & innovative mocktail competition and assigned its Mixologist – Ni Kadek Dwi Erawati. “She created Mango Dragon by mixing the main ingredients; fresh mango and dragon fruit in mandatory mocktail category, and came out as the runner up. Besides that, Era also created Sunset Dewata in creative & innovative mocktail category with the main ingredient was herb and mangosteen water, blimbing wuluh/ averrhoa bilimbi, bonny fruit, and honey. This category won as the second runner up.” Said Ady Suardi - Restaurant & Banquet Manager at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center after the event.

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

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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

‘A Star Is Born’ leads pack for Screen Actors Guild Awards

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

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

LOS ANGELES - Popular musical romance “A Star Is Born” --featuring the powerhouse duo of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga -- leads the field for Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, which are seen as a major predictor of Oscars success.

This year, the SAG Awards comes at a key point in the race to next month’s Academy Awards -- just after the Oscars nominations, and before the voting for the winners begins.

The Screen Actors Guild accounts for a major percentage of the 8,000-odd Oscar voters, so the SAG winners crowned Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles will earn a lot of awards season momentum.

“A Star Is Born,” the latest iteration of the classic Tinseltown story of an aging star and

the ingenue he discovers, earned four SAG nominations for Cooper, Gaga, Sam Elliott and best ensemble cast -- the top prize.

“BlacKkKlansman,” Spike Lee’s latest film, is just behind with three and could spark a surprise, pundits say, due to the great respect for the veteran US director among Hollywood’s actors.

And superhero juggernaut “Black Panther” could pull a major upset in the best ensemble category -- giving its star-studded cast the chance to give the signature “Wakanda Forever” salute from the stage.

One major absence at the 25th edition of the starry event is Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” -- the top Oscar nomination getter was left out of SAG contention. Longtime

Oscar watcher Sasha Stone sees the race as a major toss-up. “’A Star Is Born’ could win big, setting it up as once again the season’s frontrunner. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ could win -- yes, even still,” Stone wrote on her website, Awards Daily.

But she ultimately put her money on “BlacKkKlansman,” which is based on the true story of a black cop who successfully infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan with the help of his white partner, who acts as his surrogate.

She notes it’s the only film to earn nominations at all the major awards shows and in the key categories, while acknowledging: “We all must agree that it’s a weird year and stats don’t matter.” (afp) Tolga AKMEN / AFP

In this file photo taken on January 21, 2019 A pedestrian walks pas a placard reading “People’s Vote” as Brexit activits demonstrate outside of the Houses of Parliament in central London, whilst Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement to the House of Commons on changes to her Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Michael Jackson estate slams Leaving Neverland documentary with new abuse claims

CALIFORNIA - Michael Jackson’s estate has blasted a documentary featuring two men who accuse the late pop star of sexually molesting them when they were young boys.

Due to be aired on Channel 4 later this year, the film includes a string of new sexual abuse allegations against the singer, including claims of abuse made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck.

In the film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, it is alleged the Billie Jean

singer gave his young male victims jewellery in exchange for sexual favours.

Leaving Neverland - a reference to the singer’s California ranch - also alleges that the King of Pop even staged a mock wedding complete with vows and a diamond ring with one boy.

Jackson, who died in 2009 aged 50, denied all allegations that he was involved in abusing underage boys and was acquitted of molestation charges in 2005.

His estate described Mr Robson

and Mr Safechuck as “two perjurers” after they made sworn statements when Jackson was alive that he had not abused them.

It said the film was not a documentary but a “tabloid assassination” of Jackson that he had endured in life and now in death.

The estate accused the film of focusing too much on Mr Robson and Mr Safechuck while ignoring others who spent significant time with Jackson and “stated that he treated children with respect and did nothing hurtful to them”. (net)

‘Listen to Europe,’ Dublin tells UK MPs ahead of Brexit votes

British MPs seeking to pressure Prime Minister Theresa May this week to renegotiate her Brexit deal should heed EU warnings that it will not succeed, Ireland’s foreign minister warned Sunday.

IBP/net

It is alleged Jackson carried out sexual abuse at his Neverland Ranch in California.

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Simon Coveney said attempts

by Brexit supporters to remove or set a time-limit on a controversial “backstop” clause on the Irish border would never be accepted

by Brussels.

“Listen to what people are saying in Europe,” he told BBC television, saying May’s Brexit deal was “a balanced package that isn’t going to change”.

“The European Parliament will not ratify a withdrawal agreement that doesn’t have a backstop in it, it’s as simple as that,” he added.

He was speaking ahead of another showdown between May and the House of Commons over Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, which is scheduled for March 29.

MPs this month rejected the divorce agreement she struck with the bloc last year. One Tuesday night, in a series of votes on parliamentary amendments, they will set out what they want her to do next.

Some MPs want to delay Brexit or adopt a whole new strategy, but others are demanding changes to

May’s deal that they suggest could allow them to support it.

These focus on the backstop, an arrangement intended to keep open the border between the UK and Ireland by temporarily tying London to the EU’s trade rules.

May has already spent months trying to amend the backstop with no success, but has promised to return to Brussels if that is what her MPs want.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied Coveney’s comments meant she could not succeed, telling the same BBC programme that he was taking a “negotiating position”.

He said Dublin did not want Britain to leave the EU without a deal, which is the default position if

MPs cannot reach agreement.

The European Commission this week conceded that without a deal, controls would be reimposed on the Irish border, which all sides have warned could undermine the Northern Irish peace process.

“The idea the EU and the Irish government would drive this process to a no-deal exit in order to try to achieve something which is intended to avoid no-deal Brexit, that is not going to happen,” Hancock said.

Coveney repeated that Dublin would be open to amending an accompanying political declaration on future trading ties, to emphasise that the backstop may never be used.

- Scrap MPs’ holiday The rejection of May’s EU deal on January 15 left Britain hurtling towards the exit door with no plan.

If her efforts to salvage her deal fail, Britain runs the risk of severing ties with its closest trading partner overnight, with no new arrangements in place.

Continued to page 6

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