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SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2017 Adelle Chua, Editor

Opinion

Joyce Pangco Pañares, Issue Editor

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

O

POP GOES THE WORLD

A SHINING EXAMPLE

NE day in November, we woke up to the news that the mayor of a Leyte town had been gunned down inside his cell.

Members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Region VIII said Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. had tried to put up a fight while they were serving him a warrant. Another inmate, Raul Yap, was also killed.

We were incredulous that somebody already jailed to face drug charges slapped against him would have within his person weapons with which he could harm others, or at least defend himself.

But CIDG regional chief Superintendent Marvin Marcos and his team wore a smugness all throughout that period, even during the Senate investigation on the matter, and even when Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa tried to relieve him of his post.

Dela Rosa was later on overruled by “higher authority”—who turned out to be no less than President Rodrigo Duterte.

That Senate committee supported the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation that the killing of Espinosa had been premeditated.

The Justice Department had recommended the filing of murder charges for the 19 cops involved in the Espinosa slay—only to step back and downgrade the charges to homicide, instead.

The resolution said the DoJ “cannot speculate or even assume that there was evident premeditation as nothing in the records could prove the same.”

Given what we have heard so far, we do not know how there could

JENNY ORTUOSTE

BAY AREA BOOKFEST MAGIC

not be any premeditation in Espinosa’s killing. Then again, these are lawyers that can make arguments and offer evidence either way, depending on what suits the purposes of their clients.

But what are our purposes, really? We need to be assured that while this administration clamps down on the drug menace, it does so in a manner that is efficient but lawful.

Unfortunately, what keep resounding in our heads are the words of the President who committed to pardon policemen in the event they are found guilty of crimes committed in the name of the war against drugs.

We have not yet thoroughly addressed these concerns— it so happened that one problem kept emerging after another. While we do have to encourage our cops to do their best in protecting the people from the ills of illegal drugs, this latest message from the Justice Department and from the President himself just emboldens them the wrong way.

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WHEN THE STAKES ARE HIGH LONG STORY SHORT ADELLE CHUA

PART 1 ON JUNE 2, 42-year-old Jesse Carlos went to Resorts World Manila, set the casino tables on fire, tried to steal chips, and then went into a room and killed himself. Thirtyseven other people died of smoke inhalation. The incident dealt a black eye on the

Philippines’ reputation as a gaming/tourism destination. It is now being investigated by Congress, in an effort to address the lapses observed during the unfortunate incident.

The footage provided by Resorts World showed Carlos going on what seemed like a rampage. We saw him during his last mo-

ments. Watching him, we wondered: What was going on in his mind?

Eventually we learned that he was one of 398 “problem gamers” in the exclusion program of the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. Carlos’ name was put on the list at the behest of his family. He Turn to B2

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA—“Books are a uniquely portable magic,” said Stephen King, and I’ve been enchanted by stories ever since I was a toddler.

Among my favorite events are book festivals. When I moved to a Northern California suburb last year, I knew I would miss the big Manila bookfests crammed with publications from local and international publishers. So when I found about an annual book festival near our area, I made sure to go.

The Third Bay Area Book Festival was held the weekend of June 3 and 4 at Downtown Berkeley, and promised to host “200 authors, 100 lit sessions, and 10 films” as well as a free street fair with 200 exhibitors.

I went on the Saturday. I’d never been to Berkeley, and I had to make the trip alone. It turns out it was easy to get there via BART; I got off at the Downtown Berkeley station and emerged onto Shattuck Avenue, from where it was a short walk to the outdoor event grounds at the Civic Center Park.

The event was held on a sunny, breezy, spring day, perfect for strolling around in a t-shirt. The beautiful weather ensured a good turnout; I saw many families with young children enjoying the day. Unlike the Manila bookfair, which is indoors and hosts a massive array of books, goods, and people, the Bay Area Bookfest, housed in tents, had a community vibe.

The free (no admission fee) street fair showcased sellers of books, magazines, and craft items on the streets around the park. Lectures and talks, which required tickets, were held in the park and in other nearby venues.

The small, local presses and selfpublishers had the majority presence.

It was great to see them take the opportunity to distribute their books to a wider audience.

Books from the big publishers were available at the booths of area bookstores including Half-Price Books, Point Reyes Books, Green Apple Books, and Pegasus Books. I had hoped to see the Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Bookstore represented, but alas, they did not participate.

It was heartwarming to see quite a few children’s book publishers and authors there interacting with the youngsters who came up to their booths. One tent had a chalk art area where kids drew on the pavement, while another booth had storytelling. There was an area with actual (small) colorful carnival rides and booths where you try to hit something and win a prize.

Elsewhere at the fest there was a balloon man who twisted colored balloons into flower and hat shapes, and a talented jazz band that entertained passersby. For the hungry, there were food trucks (a big thing here in the Bay Area) hawking an international array of dishes: ice cream, sweet crepes, pupusas, Philly cheese steak sandwiches, potato knishes, shawarma, falafel. I ended up having sushi for supper at a nearby restaurant.

The Bay Area Bookfest also hosted a few vendors offering creative writing courses, and groups of writers looking for like-minded folk to join them: Mystery Writers of America NorCal, Sisters in Crime, Horror Writers Association, and the San Francisco Area of Romance Writers Association.

I made purchases at the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library booth, where discounts were heavy for pre-loved books. At another booth, I grabbed a copy of Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey,” about “the origins and functions of myth, the role of the artist, and the need for ritual to the ordeals of love and romance” (from the back cover). Because it’s all about story, it always has been.

I guess the moral of this piece is, “Just do it.” It was my first trip to Berkeley, and I made it alone, but it was worth it. Walking down unfamiliar streets, sharing the cool air with fellow booklovers, seeing books everywhere so appreciated, it was magic. I look forward to more precious, sunny days like this.

Dr. Ortuoste is a California-based writer. Follow her on Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram: @jensdecember, @artuoste

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WHEN...

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had been fired from his job at the Finance Department for issues with his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth. He had incurred P4 million in debt. He had separated from his wife.

Pagcor’s Code of Practice defines a problem gamer as an individual affected by gambling to the point of no longer having normal control or rational judgment, leading to problems in other areas of the gambler’s life.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V, the authority in mental health, has a stricter definition of what constitutes gambling addiction. It lays down the following behaviors: 1. Needs to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement.

2. Is restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling.

3. Has made repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop gambling.

4. Is often preoccupied with gambling (e.g., having persistent thoughts of reliving past gambling experiences, handicapping or planning the next venture, thinking of ways to get money with which to gamble).

5. Often gambles when feeling distressed (e.g., helpless, guilty, anxious, depressed).

6. After losing money gambling, often returns another day to get even (“chasing” one’s losses).

7. Lies to conceal the extent of involvement with gambling.

8. Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, or educational or career opportunity because of gambling.

9. Relies on others to provide money to relieve desperate financial situations caused by gambling.

It’s a mild condition when four or five criteria are met; moderate when six or seven are present; severe when there are eight or nine. *** What is not usually known is that because such a condition can be diagnosed, it can also be treated.

The husband-and-wife team of Ces and Junjun Gonzales has been helping run The One Algon Place in Barangay Mamatin, Cabuyao, Laguna since 2004. It was put up by Junjun’s father, Rudin, who unfortunately passed on at age 66 just a few weeks ago.

Algon Place enjoys two licenses—as a drug rehabilitation facility and as a psychiatric treatment center. Gambling addiction falls under the second category unless the gambler is also a drug dependent.

According to the Gonzaleses, the ideal treatment for a pathological gambler is anywhere between six months and one year in a facility. This usually begins with two full weeks of observation, where the patient’s history, family background, previous illnesses and medication, and the root of the addiction is discussed. This is usually the most difficult phase—patients are known to bang their heads on the walls or curse/threaten the staff. Beyond this, treatment is provided in four aspects: Biological, psychological, social and spiritual. There are sessions with counselors, group activities, various kinds of therapy like sports or the arts, and regular dialogue with family.

The role of the family cannot be overemphasized, according to Ces. These are the people who decide that their family member needs the intervention. Most likely, they have suffered the consequences of the gambling addiction. The gamblers squander family resources, refuse to provide for minors’ needs, and often even put at risk savings and investments that would otherwise secure their future.

Since it is the families who commit the individual to the facilities, it is they who also request that their family member be released. There was one instance when a patient manipulated her family into thinking that she was already treated after just a few weeks. When she got out, she went back to her ways—including stealing from her parents just to sustain her gambling.

This cycle went on until she stayed long enough to be treated properly—and just this year, she was among the passers in one of the most difficult licensure examinations in the country.

Gambling presupposes a difficulty in controlling one’s impulses. Again, Ces emphasizes the role that families play. Children between the ages of 11 and 13 must have their values in place already, because after that, they will be exposed to all kinds of temptations outside the security of their homes. If they are raised without the proper guidance, they can become unable to control their urges and fall into a life of crime.

Tragically, even senior citizens can gamble their life’s work away if they are not able to keep themselves in check. Junjun talks about an elderly man who has pawned off the family home to support his vice. Fortunately for him, his enlightened children— one of them the entrepreneur behind a popular clothing line—work together to intervene and prevent him from throwing away all that he has toiled for.

Another couple in the US discovered gambling later on in life, just prior to their retirement. The problem is that they were not able to control their impulses such that they lost every asset they produced during their active years. They even sold off the property they left behind here in the Philippines. They died paupers.

Continued next week

LET THE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND HOW SCIENCE WORKS

By Pecier Decierdo LATELY, there has been a crisis in confidence in experts. To scientists’ dismay, a surprisingly large number of people today don’t believe that climate change is real and that human activity is causing it, that genetically modified foods are safe, that vaccinating children is advisable, that drug dependence is most effectively dealt with as a health issue rather than a criminal issue, and so on.

I understand how scientists and other experts feel. I experienced this dismay more than once. However, my experience with this lack of trust in scientific findings suggests the following antidote to the public misunderstanding of science— treating members of the public as indispensable partners in the process of science. More specifically, this can be done by explaining to the public how science actually works.

One time, after a planetarium show I was hosting ended, a member of the audience came up with what felt were leading questions that suggest he was hostile to the idea— the conspiracy, as he viewed it—that the Earth was round.

I gently explained to him, and the rest of the audience, that the best if not the only reasonable explanation

for what we see when we look up into the night sky is that we’re looking out from a round planet. I even used the planetarium to virtually fly us to different parts of the world, to show how the sky looked from there.

He seemed to have been satisfied and convinced by my answer. He thanked me afterwards for my comprehensible explanation.

However, when I checked social media later, I discovered to my dismay that the man’s initially wrong opinion about the shape of the world is a fast-growing anomaly in the Philippines—there is an increasing number of so-called “flat Earthers”— people who think the Earth is in fact flat, in our country.

Why did that man initially doubt the reality that the Earth is round?

Part of the explanation is that people like him lost their trust of the experts—the geologists, astronomers, astronauts, and others—who are all saying that the Earth is round.

This conspiratorial view of expertise seems to be on the rise.

For example, many British people who voted in favor of the United Kingdom exiting the European Union, what came to be known as Brexit, did so despite many experts warning them that such a decision is against their best interest.

During the debate over Brexit,

former British Justice Secretary Michael Gove was quoted as saying that British people have “had enough of experts.” What he wanted to say was that they “had enough of experts from organizations with acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong,” but he was picked up mid-sentence by his interviewer, and his partial statement was held up to criticism by many people. Surprisingly, the said partial statement earned the support of many who felt that indeed, they had enough of experts.

Similarly, Donald Trump, with the support of many, including a lot of the Americans who voted for him, has decided to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement despite the strong advice of scientists, economists, politicians, and business leaders urging him against it. In other words, the President of the United States and his many supporters disagreed with the consensus of scientists and other experts—that climate change is a big problem, and that the Paris Agreement is a good start in tackling it.

How do scientists help members of the public distinguish between true experts and charlatans? And how will these experts regain the trust of the public? This circles back to my answer at the start of the piece—make the public understand

how science works.

In other words, make the public understand that scientists are just people. They have biases and can make mistakes. However, because scientists are always skeptical of each other’s claims, especially if those claims are novel and radical, they always try to poke holes in each other’s ideas.

In this dog-eat-dog world of ideas, the only ones that survive are the ones supported enough by the evidence, at least so far, that a majority of people who have dedicated their lives and careers to studying were convinced.

Experts, scientists especially, sometimes risk their careers and professional reputation for the sake of their ideas. Many of their ideas turn out wrong. The very few that ends up convincing many other scientists are therefore the best we can do, at least so far.

The more the public understands the stringent requirements that an idea must pass in order to be considered a respectable scientific fact and the professional risks experts take in making public those ideas, the more they will appreciate experts and their ideas.

Pecier Decierdo is resident physicist and astronomer of The Mind Museum.

MISSING FROM COMEY’S FIREWORKS: TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION

By Leonid Bershidsky JAMES Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee centered on his interactions with President Donald Trump. But, in case anyone has forgotten, the underlying issue being investigated is the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election campaign and the possibility of collusion between the Trump campaign and “the Russians.”

Though Comey wasn’t asked too many questions about it, and wasn’t willing to discuss the investigation itself in a public hearing, his remarks provided a useful, if somewhat disappointing, insight into the US intelligence community’s thinking on these matters.

Comey left no doubt he believed that Russia had meddled with the election: The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did it with purpose. They did it with sophistication.

They did it with overwhelming technical efforts. And it was an active measures campaign driven from the top of that government. There is no fuzz on that.

Quizzed by Senator Richard Burr, Comey said he believed the Russian government was behind the cyber intrusions into the Democratic Party’s networks, the subsequent publication of the stolen data and the hacking of electronic voter rolls, revealed by a recent National Security Agency leak.

He claimed Russia had conducted “a massive effort to target government and nongovernmental, near governmental agencies like nonprofits”—up to 1,000, or at any rate hundreds, of them. That, he said, was “a long-term practice” of Russian spies, only “stepped up a notch in a significant way in ‘16.”

At the same time, asked whether he was sure no votes cast in the election were altered, Comey said, “I’m confident.”

Comey confirmed that the FBI didn’t independently collect any evidence to connect Russia to the Democratic Party breaches. “We got relevant forensic information from a private party, a high-class entity, that had done the work,” he said, almost certainly referring to Crowdstrike, the cybersecurity company the Democratic National Committee had hired. That firm’s reports about the cyberattack, and other efforts to pin hacks on Russian intelligence services, haven’t always been convincing.

The senators didn’t choose to question that slippery bit of testimony or to ask Comey how he knew about the Russian targeting of hundreds of US organizations during the election. Some of them—above all, Democrats—appear to have decided to accept a Russian intelligence role in the hacks and leaks as fact.

While Burr, a Republican and chairman of the committee, referred to “possible” Russian interference, vice chairman Mark Warner, a Democrat, spoke as if that part of the investigation was already over: “We are here because a foreign adversary attacked us right here at home, plain and simple. Not by guns or missiles, but by foreign operatives seeking to hijack our most important democratic process, our presidential election. Russian spies engaged in a series of online cyber raids, and a broad campaign of disinformation, all ultimately aimed at sowing chaos to undermine public faith in our process, in our leadership, and ultimately in ourselves.”

Perhaps Democratic senators are

satisfied with the classified evidence he’s been given, we just don’t know yet. In any case, they’re making no effort to educate the American public about precisely how Russia’s alleged interference occurred. That has been left to the media and their anonymous sources.

With that out of the way, all that remains for the investigation to establish is whether the Trump team colluded with the Russian government or its agents. On this point, Comey’s testimony held some unpleasant surprises for those who are already convinced that collusion occurred.

The ex-FBI chief made it clear he didn’t consider Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to be an intelligence officer—a claim that has been made about him by unnamed US officials quoted by various media outlets.

Comey said it was not improper for an incoming national security adviser to be in touch with a foreign diplomat.

He also said, twice, that a story in a February issue of The New York Times, headlined “Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence” and quoting unnamed officials, was gravely flawed. And he stated that closing the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s contacts with Kislyak wouldn’t be likely to impede the overall investigation into Russian interference; the two investigations, he added, were “touching but separate.”

All of these statements, strewn throughout the testimony, paint an intriguing picture. At least while Comey was still the FBI director, investigators apparently didn’t see Flynn as a key figure in any putative Trump-Russia plot. Nor did they have much evidence

of communications between Trump surrogates and Russian intelligence, otherwise Comey wouldn’t have denied a newspaper report that specifically talked about such communications. He has proved reluctant to discuss other newspaper reports.

Combined with Comey’s confirmation that, during his tenure, Trump himself wasn’t the subject of a counterintelligence investigation, this means the collusion part of the inquiry hasn’t turned up much of interest so far. Comey also revealed in his written testimony that Trump had told him he’d welcome any findings about members of his team, another indication that he’s confident that this particular line of investigation doesn’t lead back to him.

The lack of substance in the collusion narrative must be why the Comey hearing was so overwhelmingly centered on Trump’s alleged attempts to ensure the FBI chief’s loyalty and a respite for Flynn. The senators are happily looking under the spotlight of Comey’s memos about his meetings with Trump because it’s easier than digging around in the dark of the disappointing collusion inquiry.

As I feared, the investigation—at least the part of it that’s run by the Senate Intelligence Committee— appears to be losing its focus on the fundamental issue of whether Trump accepted Kremlin help in winning power. No matter how damning Comey’s testimony seems, the nature of the questions he was asked should be reassuring to Trump. If his enemies try to get him for anything less than cooperation with Russian spies, it will always look like just another polarizing, partisan attack rather than a serious effort to protect US national security against a hostile power. Bloomberg

THERESA MAY’S DISASTROUS FAILURE Bloomberg Editorial Board UK PRIME Minister Theresa May’s election gamble has failed disastrously. The consequences are dire for her party and government, and could be equally bad for her country’s relationship with Europe.

May had hoped to increase her Conservative majority in Parliament, and instead has seen it wiped out. The Tories are the largest party in the House of Commons and with the support of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionists intend to form a government.

Directing policy and passing legislation, however, will be vastly harder than before.

This would be a serious problem under any circumstances, as

With Brexit talks looming, the UK is without a fully functioning government.

Britain’s previous experience with hung Parliaments suggests. But these aren’t just any circumstances.

Brexit talks were due to start in 10 days. May’s effort to prepare for that challenge has left her plans, such as they were, in shreds.

The immediate prospect is great political disorder and maximum economic uncertainty.

Such is the humiliation of this setback that May might

soon choose—or be forced—to resign. This offers no relief. The task of finding a new leader would only add to the chaos, and there’s no obvious successor capable of uniting the party. But if she hangs on, the question of if and when she goes will linger.

Her authority is irretrievably diminished.

It’s possible, in some alternative universe, to see a way forward.

With power in the Commons more evenly divided, the need for crossparty consensus increases. On the biggest and most urgent issue, Brexit, cooperation between the Tories and the Labor opposition shouldn’t be unthinkable: Both parties agree that Brexit should go forward, and neither wants to revisit

the decision. There’d be some hope of uniting the country around the goal of a friendlier separation from Europe.

Unfortunately, the Labor Party of 2017 is not the centrist party built

by Tony Blair in the 1990s. It is a hard-left party whose organizing principle is militant opposition to Tory rule—and the antipathy is mutual. At the moment, the willing cooperation vital to rescuing Britain from this impasse is all but impossible to imagine.

It will take some time for Britain to absorb the implications of this extraordinary, and in many ways bewildering, election. Another vote, perish the thought, may be the only way to dispel the descending paralysis.

World BODIES FOUND AS MYANMAR SCOURS SITE OF CRASH DAWEI, Myanmar—Myanmar navy ships battled high winds on Saturday as they scoured the storm-whipped Andaman sea for wreckage from a military plane crash, bringing another body to shore as scores remained missing.

The Chinese-made Shaanxi Y8 aircraft was carrying 122 people, including children and other relatives of servicemen, when it disappeared while flying along Myanmar’s southern coast on Wednesday.

Navy vessels and local fishing trawlers have fought fierce monsoon weather as they search for bodies and traces of the plane.

A military vessel pulled another corpse from the waves on Saturday morning, bringing the number of retrieved dead to 33 as the search effort stretched into a fourth day.

“A military ship retrieved a new dead body,” the army chief’s office said in a statement.

One man’s remains were also found late Friday while most of the other bodies were brought to shore on Thursday before severe monsoon weather set in, hampering search efforts.

Hundreds of distraught relatives have flocked to Dawei for mass cremation ceremonies, with desperate families waiting for news of those still unaccounted for, as hopes fade of finding survivors. AFP

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SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

CHINA CONDEMNS EU FOR NEW STEEL DUTIES B

EIJING—China has condemned the European Commission for imposing new antidumping duties on its steel products, accusing the EU’s executive of making China an industrial scapegoat.

The 28-nation bloc said on Friday that it would levy duties of up to 35.9 percent on Chinese hot-rolled flat steel in an attempt to create a level playing field with China as it broadens its campaign to protect Europe’s struggling steel manufacturers.

The EU alleged China, which makes more than half the world’s steel, has flooded global markets in violation of international trade

agreements.

According to the EC, Chinese producers benefit from preferential lending, tax rebates and other financial help that allow exports to the EU at artificiallylow prices.

But China said the bloc’s action stemmed from a misunderstanding of China’s financial loan system and trade trends.

“The European Commission

ignores the fact that China’s steel exports to Europe clearly declined in 2016, using China’s steel overcapacity as an excuse to claim that China’s hot-rolled flat steel products threaten to damage industry in the EU when that is mere speculation with little bearing on reality,” Chinese commerce ministry official Wang Hejun said in a statement Friday.

“China strongly questions the legitimacy and legality of the European Commission’s ruling.”

The EU has had a series of trade disputes with China, its secondlargest trading partner, but is also seeking to resolve the stand-off over steel with Beijing through the OECD, the Paris-based group

of developed economies.

In January, the Commission imposed anti-dumping duties on China’s stainless steel tube and pipe butt-welding fittings.

Like hot-rolled flat steel, the products are commonly used in shipbuilding as well as energy and construction.

Wang noted that China has not only refrained from subsidising steel exports, but also adopted several measures to control them.

“It is biased and unfair for Europe to blame China for its own industrial issues,” he said.

“Unjustified accusations and reckless trade rescue measures will not help to solve the problem.” AFP

DUTCH ARREST ‘RADICAL’ FILMING OUTSIDE STADIUM MUSIC CONCERT THE HAGUE, Netherlands—A Dutch man was arrested filming outside one of the country’s largest stadiums during a concert, police said Saturday, adding he was known to authorities as being possibly radicalized.

The 29-year-old was arrested late Friday outside the Philips Stadium in southern Eindhoven where popular Dutch pop singer Guus Meeuwis was performing.

It comes just a few weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 people on May 22 at the end of a concert in Manchester by US singer Ariana Grande.

“Officers saw the man late Friday, behaving suspiciously at one of the stadium’s entrances,” Dutch police said in a statement.

“He was filming and had no reasonable explanation for what he was doing, and also had no ticket to the concert,” Eindhoven police added.

The man, from Amsterdam, was also “known to police due to possible radicalization... so it was decided to detain him.” AFP

POLANSKI RAPE VICTIM ASKS JUDGE TO CLOSE CASE FROM 1977 LOS ANGELES—An American woman raped by filmmaker Roman Polanski as a teenager four decades ago pleaded with a California judge on Friday to end the case so she could move on with her life.

Samantha Geimer, who was 13 at the time of the assault in 1977, said she has been serving a 40-year sentence that has kept a cloud over her and her family.

“I would implore you to consider taking action which would finally bring this matter to a close as an act of mercy for myself and my family,” the 54-year-old told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon, reading from a statement.

“I do not want to have to explain to my granddaughter why she can’t go outside or answer the phone, or why there are cameras outside the home and eventually what happened to her nana in 1977,” she said.

Geimer’s testimony marked the first time she has appeared in court in the drawn-out case involving the 83-yearold Oscar-winning filmmaker, who fled to his native France in 1978 and has been engaged in a legal battle to avoid further jail time if he returns to the United States.

Geimer, who now lives in Hawaii and was accompanied to Friday’s hearing by her husband of nearly 30 years, told the judge he could explore various avenues to settle the matter, including dismissing it, sentencing Polanski to time served or recalling an international arrest warrant against the director. AFP

SWINGING IT. A Chinese woman rides a lighted swing during a party in Beijing on Friday. AFP

JAPAN’S MAEZAWA NEW GODFATHER OF ART

TRAPPED. A Yemeni man looks at the rubble of houses destroyed in a suspected Saudi-led coalition air strike in Sanaa on Friday. Four civilians, including two teenagers, died “in a strike by the coalition that targeted a civilian house behind the presidential palace in the south of the capital,” a medical source said. AFP

TOKYO—With a single post on Instagram, Yusaku Maezawa announced not only his purchase of an $110.5 million Basquiat masterpiece, and his place in auction history, but arguably signalled a new era for art in Japan.

The price, a record for the artist, is reminiscent of 1980s Japan when corporate big-spenders splashed out on Impressionist art – along with foreign property and businesses – in an asset-buying spree.

But billionaire Maezawa insists he is just an “ordinary collector” – despite his extraordinary bank balance. His purchases are born out of love and driven by gut instinct, rather than the instructions of any art advisor.

“I buy simply because they are beautiful. That’s all. I enjoy classics together with the history and stories behind them, but possessing classics is not the purpose of my purchase,” he told AFP. Rather than squirrel away his latest purchase – Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 “Untitled”, a skull-like head in oil-stick, acrylic and spray paint on a giant canvas – he plans to loan it out to galleries worldwide.

“I hope it brings as much joy to others as it does to me, and that this masterpiece by the 21-year-old

Basquiat inspires our future generations,” he said after the New York sale last month.

The 41-year-old’s style is a step change from the corporate image of Japan’s traditional art collectors who possess paintings as investment tools or to cement their social status.

Paper tycoon Ryoei Saito, who bought Vincent Van Gogh’s “Portrait of Dr. Gachet” in 1990 for $82.5 million, then a record, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “Bal du Moulin de la Galette” for $78.1 million, famously triggered outrage when he said he would have the canvases put in his coffin and cremated with him when he died. He later recanted.

“Many Japanese rushed to buy paintings for investment during the bubble economy,” said Shinji Hasada, an official at Shinwa Art Auction, of the 1980s and 1990s boom period.

Customs figures showed works of art valued at $246 million were imported in 1985, but the figure shot up to $3.4 billion in 1990.

But many of the bubble-era masterpieces were sold off in a fire sale when the Japanese economy collapsed. Today Japan’s art collection market has shrunk to around one20th of its peak, Hasada explained.

AFP

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SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2017 Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor / Jimbo Gulle, Issue Editor

World

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TRUMP SAYS ‘100% READY’ TO TESTIFY UNDER OATH

‘CRACKPOTS.’ A television presenter stands outside 10 Downing Street in London on Saturday holding a copy of The Daily Mirror newspaper with the headline “Coalition of Crackpots” the day after the general election resulted in a hung parliament and British Prime Minister Theresa May forming a minority government. AFP

POST-ELECTION TEST FOR EMBATTLED MAY

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ONDON—British Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to hold her first cabinet meeting on Saturday in an early test of her hopes of forming a stable government after a crushing election setback.

Facing demands to quit after her electoral gamble failed, May on Friday scheduled an early weekend meeting of her governing circle in an apparent bid to reassert authority and project stability.

But the firestorm of criticism continued unabated early Saturday after May announced she would keep her ministerial team unchanged and planned to stay in power with the aid of a small Northern Irish party.

Media commentators agreed she had been badly damaged, and some predicted she and her strategy for Brexit could struggle to survive.

“May fights to remain PM,” the Daily Telegraph headlined. “Tories turn on Theresa,” said the proconservative Daily Mail. The Times wrote: “May stares into the abyss.”

The tabloid Sun said succinctly: “She’s had her chips.”

May was interior minister for six

years before rising to premier in the political chaos that following last June’s Brexit referendum.

She has vowed to steer Britain unerringly out of the European Union, unwinding a complex economic and institutional relationship that has developed over 44 years.

After inheriting a 17-seat overall majority in the House of Commons, May in April announced a snap election three years ahead of time, declaring she needed a stronger hand in the Brexit haggle.

That move, by a vicar’s daughter who styled herself as pragmatic and risk-averse, stunned the country.

May was initially forecast to be on course for a landslide.

But cracks in her campaign-trail performance began to show, and

widened with a bad tactical misstep she made on health care for the elderly.

Those flaws were skilfully exploited by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a veteran grassroots activist who hammered away at May as cold and uncaring.

Polling day on Thursday delivered a slap to May, leaving her eight seats short of the 326-seat mark for an overall majority.

Forced into minority government, May is reaching out to Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which won 10 seats, in the hope of forging a working majority.

But any deal between the two parties has yet to be announced, and details of how they may cooperate remain sketchy. AFP

MERKEL URGES SPEEDY BREXIT TALKS AFTER UK VOTE MEXICO CITY—German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Britain Friday to quickly launch Brexit talks with the European Union after Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a harsh election setback.

“We are ready for the negotiations. We want to do it quickly, respecting the calendar,” Merkel said during a visit to Mexico.

She said talks with Britain on its withdrawal from what will now be the 27-member EU would start “in the coming days.”

“We were waiting for the election in Britain, but in the next few days these talks will begin. We will defend the interests of the 27 member states, and Britain will defend its own interests,” she told a press conference.

“At the same time, we say that we want to remain a good partner to Britain. Britain is part of Europe, even if it will no longer be part of the European Union.”

May, who became prime minister after Britain’s June 2016 referendum on leaving the EU, called the election three years early in a bid to strengthen her hand in the looming Brexit negotiations.

But in a catastrophic setback, the bet failed and she lost her overall majority.

May’s pitch to the eurosceptic rightwing of the Conservative Party has nudged Britain closer to a “hard Brexit,” in which it may cut ties with Brussels at the cost of damaging itself economically by losing access to the lucrative single European market, say analysts.

European Council President Donald Tusk also warned there was “no time to lose” in starting the negotiations.

“We don’t know when Brexit talks start. We know when they must end. Do your best to avoid a ‘no deal’ as result of ‘no negotiations’.”

EU budget commissioner Guenther Oettinger, meanwhile, warned that May was now likely to be a “weak” negotiating partner, which could also be bad for Europe. AFP

ALBUM LAUNCH. Katy Perry, with singer Sia, hosts ‘Katy Perry: Witness World Wide’ exclusively on You Tube in support of Witness album launch on Friday in Los Angeles, California. AFP

WASHINGTON—United States President Donald Trump punched back Friday against James Comey, accusing the ousted FBI director of lying about their private conversations -- and saying he is “100 percent” willing to testify under oath.

Comey delivered scathing testimony a day earlier in a highly anticipated Senate hearing, saying Trump sought to derail a probe into one-time national security advisor Michael Flynn -- at best, a political miscalculation, and at worst a criminal obstruction of justice.

Trump was addressing reporters at the White House for the first time since Comey’s explosive appearance, in which he branded the president a liar and said he believed he was fired over his handling of the FBI probe into Russian election meddling.

“Yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction,” Trump said in reference to the twin controversies dogging his administration -- accusations his aides colluded with the Russian effort to tilt the vote, and that he sought to block

BRAZIL’S TEMER STILL IN POWER— FOR NOW BRASÍLIA, Brazil—Brazilian President Michel Temer defied predictions of his imminent political demise when a court acquitted him on charges of having won election thanks to dirty money.

And after Friday’s vote in the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), he promptly went on the offensive in his battle to survive additional corruption accusations.

Despite being branded by opponents a political “zombie” and likened to characters from “The Walking Dead” television series, the scandal-plagued president’s acquittal in the TSE showed he still has plenty of political life.

The TSE judges voted 4-3 against stripping Temer of his mandate on the grounds that the 2014 presidential election was contaminated by undeclared campaign donations and bribes.

That clears him to serve out the rest of his term to the end of 2018.

Dissenting judges painted a grim picture of the way Brazilian corporations seek to buy politicians in Latin America’s biggest country. AFP

‘ANGELS’ FIGHT GAY HATRED 1 YEAR AFTER SHOOTING ORLANDO—Shocked by the slaughter at Florida’s Pulse nightclub one year ago, Jen Vargas joined an organization called the Angel Force and was soon wearing wings made of sheets to help shield the LGBT community from anti-gay hatred.

A gunman named Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 others when he opened fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, on June 12, 2016.

Police shot and killed Mateen – who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group before the carnage – after a three-hour standoff.

The bloodbath was top news around the world for days.

“Right after Pulse happened, it hit me incredibly hard,” Vargas, 39, said as she strapped on wings of white fabric attached to her body with PVC tubing at a recent memorial event.

“It was offensive, it was maddening, it made me very sad.” AFP