Police to question Ruhut’s first ‘wife’

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 07/18/2011 1:32 PM

On Monday, the National Police will question Anna Rudhiantiana Legawati as a witness in a marital status dispute with Democratic Party legislator Ruhut Sitompul.

Earlier, Anna filed charges against Ruhut who allegedly married another woman, Diana Leovita, while he was still legally married to Anna.

Anna declined to comment to the press upon her arrival at the National Police Headquarters.

She said she had not communicated with Ruhut since she filed the charges against him.

“There has been no [communication],” she said, as reported by kompas.com.

Anna has filed charges of document forgery, erasing marital status and adultery against Ruhut. She also alleges Ruhut disowned their son, Christian.

Killing of adviser another blow to Afghan leader

Rahim Faiez, Associated Press, Kabul, Afghanista | Mon, 07/18/2011 10:53 AM

Gunmen strapped with explosives killed a close adviser to President Hamid Karzai and a member of parliament on Sunday in another insurgent strike against the Afghan leader's inner circle.

Jan Mohammed Khan was an adviser to Karzai on tribal issues and was close to the president, a fellow Pashtun.

His killing, which the Taliban claimed responsibility for, came less than a week after the assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president's half brother and one of the most powerful men in southern Afghanistan.

Two men wearing suicide bomb vests and armed with guns attacked Khan's home in the westrn Kabul district of Karti Char, said Defense Ministry official Gen. Zahir Wardak. Khan, who was governor of the Pashtun-dominated Uruzgan province in the south from 2002 until March 2006, was shot along with Uruzgan lawmaker Mohammed Ashim Watanwal, the official said.

Police said they killed one of the atackers before he could detonate his explosives, while the other one blew himself up shortly after dawn after barricading himself in the house for much of the night and exchanging fire with police. A member of the police's anti-terrorism unit was also killed, authorities said.

The assassination came as inernational military forces handed over security for Bamiyan province to Afghan security forces, part of a transition process in which seven areas are to be handed over to Karzai's government this month. It also came one day before Gen. David Petraeus, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, hands over responsiblity for the military campaign in Afghanistan to his replacement, Lt. Gen. John Allen.

It was unclear how influential Khan was with Karzai, but he was thought to wield considerable influence in Uruzgan.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the insurgent group.

Mujahid said the Taliban killed Khan because he was assisting coalition forces in carrying out night raids against Afghans. The controversial raids carried out by NATO forces have been highly effective in capturing or killing hundreds of Taliban fighters and midlevel commanders. Karzai has complain the raids anger many Afghans who are mistakenly targeted.

"He was cooperating and helping the American forces," Mujahid said in an emailed statement.

The Taliban had also claimed responsibility for Tuesday's killing of Karzai's half brother, who was shot dead by a close associate. Wali Karzai's deth left the president without an influential ally to balance the interests of the southern region's tribal and political leaders, drug runners, insurgents and militias.

Sunday's violence marred the handover of control of a peaceful province in the center of the country to Afghan police, another step in a transition that will allow foreign troops to withdraw in full by the end of 2014.

Bamiyan province is one of seven areas going to Afghan security control this month in a first round of the transition. Another, Panjshir province in the east, began being transferred earlier this month. Both places have seen little to no fighting since the overthrow of the Taliban nearly 10 years ago and barely had any coalition troop presence.

The transition to Afghan control will allow international military forces to slowly start withdrawing from Afghanistan until all combat troops are gone in just over three years.

Bamiyan only had a small foreign troop contingent from New Zealand. Bamiyan and Panjshir are the only two provinces that will be handed over in their entirety during this month's transition phase.

Other areas to be handed over are the provincial capitals of Lashkar Gah in southern Afghanistan, Herat in the west, Mazer-e-Sharif in the north and Mehterlam in the east. Afghan forces will also take control of all of Kabul province except for the restive Surobi district.

In other violence Sunday, Afghan and NATO troops fought an overnight gunbattle with Taliban insurgents and called in an airstrike on the building where the fighters were holed up. At least 13 Taliban were killed.

Also Sunday, NATO said three of its service members died. One was killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan and two were killed by a similar device in the south. It did not release their nationalities or any further details. The deaths bring the total number of coalition forces killed this month to 34.

New Zealand inflation hits 21-year hig

Associated Press, Wellington, New Zeland | Mon, 07/18/2011 9:17 AM

Inflation in New Zealand has hit a 21-year high of 5.3 percent.

Prices for food, airfares and housing were all up in the second quarter, according to the government agency Statistics New Zealand. The cost of vegetables, which are in short supply thanks to flooding in Australia's Queensland state, rose by nearly 7 percent in three months.

Part of the rise can be attributed to a 2.5 percent tax increase on all goods and services enacted by the New Zealand government last year.

The news Monday pushed the kiwi dollar higher and close to a 26-year high of just over 85 cents to the U.S. dollar. Investors see an increasing likelihood that New Zealand's central bank will raise its lending rate from 2.5 percent in an effort to counteract inflation.

Surprising Venezuela reaches Copa semifinals

Diego Graglia, Associated Press, San Juan, Argentina | Mon, 07/18/2011 8:37 AM

Venezuela reached the Copa America semifinals for the first time as Oswaldo Vizcarrondo and Gabriel Cichero scored either side of halftime to beat Chile 2-1 on Sunday.

Humberto Suazo equalized briefly for Chile in the second half.

Venezuela is unbeaten in four games at the Copa America and has been the surprise team in a surprising tournament.

Venezuela will face Paraguay on Wednesday, while Peru plays Uruguay in Tuesday's other semifinal.

"We played when we had to play, and suffered when we had to suffer," Venezuela coach Cesar Farias said. "And we had luck when we needed to have luck."

Throughout the tournament Farias has been pleading for respect, trying to cast aside the image of a country far better known for its baseball talent. Venezuela is the only country of the 10 in the South American confederation that has never played in the World Cup.

"We beat a rival who was in the World Cup," Farias said of Chile, which reached the second round last year in South Africa. "Chile's players were the revelation of last year's World Cup qualifying, and they confirmed it at the World Cup."

Tournament favorites Brazil and Argentina were knocked out in the quarterfinals. Paraguay defeated defending champion Brazil on penalties Sunday, and Argentina lost to Uruguay on Saturday, also in a shootout.

Cichero scored the winner in the 81st minute after Chile had almost all the play in the second half and seemed headed for a late victory. Cichero found the net after Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo failed to control a free kick and let the rebound fall free in front of the goal.

Venezuela took a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute with Vizcarrondo's header. Vizcarrondo cut across the area and headed in a cross from Juan Arango from a free kick. The shot beat Bravo just inside the post to his left.

Chile leveled the match in the 70th minute when Suazo drove in a shot off the underside of the crossbar following a pass from Alexis Sanchez.

Chile, which had the best record in the group stage with seven points from nine, goes the way of Brazil and Argentina and leaves the tournament with Uruguay as the slight favorite. Uruguay has won the title 14 times, the same as Argentina.

"I am leaving sad," said Chile coach Claudio Borghi, who replaced Marcelo Bielsa after the World Cup. "But I don't feel cheated. Unfortunately, we were not able to meet all the expectations people had."

Chile had several chances in the second half.

In the 54th, Alexis Sanchez's header was cleared off the line by a Chile defender. Seconds later, Suazo hit the post. Chile pressed on with Jorge Valdivia hitting the post in the 58th. Ten minutes later, Gary Medel's short-range header was stopped by keeper Renny Vega.

Both teams finished with 10 players. Chile's Medel was sent off for his second yellow ard in the 83rd, and Tomas Rincon was shown a red card in second-half injury time.

Nazaruddin bounty increases to Rp 150m

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 07/18/2011 10:08 AM

The bounty offered for the capture of runaway graft suspect M. Nazaruddin has been increased to Rp 150 million (US$17,550), an increase of more than 50 percent above the original offer, an NGO says.

Former Democratic Party treasurer Nazaruddin has been accused by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of bribery in a government project involving the construction of an athlete's village for the 2011 SEA Games.

However, Nazaruddin fled the country before being named suspect and before local authorities imposed a travel ban on him. In the subsequent manhunt, Interpol has also placed him on its wanted list.

According to the People’s Information Center (LIRA), the NGO organizing the has organized the manhunt, the increase to the bounty will apply as of Monday.

“Starting Monday, the prize for [the capture of] Nazaruddin will go up,” LIRA chief Yusuf Rizal said Sunday.

He added that the amount offered was being increased to motivate more people to take part.

“We will increase the amount each week,” Yusuf added, as reported by tempointeraktif.com.

He further added that LIRA had promoted its offer to people in various regions.

“The people are really enthusiastic about it, especially in Jember [regency] which was [Nazaruddin’s] constituency,” Yusuf said.

Andi Nurpati arrives at National Police HQ for questioning

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 07/18/2011 12:26 PM

A former General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner Andi Nurpati arrived at the National Police Headquarters on Monday for questioning in relation to an alleged document forgery linked to the 2009 general election.

"I bring documents related to my field during my tenure as commissioner, and relating to the first KPU recapitulation result, its revisions, election result dispute [PHPU] documents and other documents," Andi said.

Andi arrived at the police headquarters at around 10:30 a.m. and was accompanied by her lawyer.

She said she was ready to be confronted with former Constitutional Court judge Arsyad Sanusi, who was also being questioned over an alleged election document forgery.

"I am ready, if the questioning mechanism requires me to do so, not only with Arsyad, but also other related people," she said.

Andi is alleged to have been involved in the falsification of a document issued by the Constitutional Court to settle a dispute between election candidates from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) and the Greater Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra), over a House of Representatives seat for South Sulawesi electoral district I. (rpt)

Korean culture spreads across globe

Veramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Seoul/Jakarta | Mon, 07/18/2011 9:29 PM

Some people call it a “virus”, others an “addiction”. The media frequently portrays it as an unprecedented phenomenon that started in Asia and spread rapidly from continent to continent, even to remote places people had never imagined.

This phenomenon is Hallyu or the Korean Wave.
Frontlines: Famous Korean boyband SHINee performs at the Korea-Indonesia Friendship Concert at Tennis Indoor Senayan in Jakarta. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

The term Korean Wave was coined by a Chinese journalist in 1999 to describe the growing popularity of Korea’s pop culture in East and Southeast Asia. It has now captured the hearts and minds of millions of people across the globe.

Many have the mistaken impression that the Korean Wave consists of only two elements: Korean films and K-Pop, which takes its name from Japanese pop or J-Pop.

But, there is more to Korean Wave than that. It is a multifaceted giant differing from country to country. For example, pop music and TV dramas, which earned Korea the moniker the Hollywood of the East, were the main foundations of the Korean Wave in communist China and capitalist Taiwan. In Hong Kong, Korean films are at the core of the “wave” there.

In Japan, it was romantic soap opera Winter Sonata that triggered the Korean Wave. In Southeast Asia, it was a mix of it all that made Korean culture popular.

Now, the Korean Wave is not just confined to TV dramas, films and music, but is assertively expanding to things like dance, sculpture, painting, cuisine, computer games, fashion, plastic surgery, cosmetics, cell phones, electronics, tourism and language, to name a few.

“Hallyu is a quite complex phenomenon, with multiple local trajectories and transforming tendencies,” Park Jung-sun, an associate professor from California State University, wrote in Insight into Korea.

It also has had a domino effect. TV dramas, films and music attract tourists, who in turn bring billions of dollars into the country. According to one estimate, the Korean Wave could generate around US$4 billion in sales this year. And, every year it grows.

Right now Korea is enjoying a double boom in the economic and cultural fields thanks to continuous economic reforms, Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s green growth concept and the Korean Wave.

Like Indonesia, Korea was severely affected by the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and became a patient of the IMF. Korea recovered fast and is enjoying an unprecedented economic boom, with 6.2 percent economic growth in 2010 and more than $305 billion in forex reserves.

Yet during past difficult times, Korean artists and filmmakers worked hard to create a cultural renaissance.
Indonesian talent: Ciacia dancers from Indonesia perform during the Hi Seoul Festival at the Yeouido Hangang Park. JP/Veeramalla Anjaiah

“Korean artists put a lot of energy in creating attractive and qua-lity cultural products. They tried so many times. But in the end they succeeded. You see the Korean Wave, which is spreading all over the world,” Korean Tourism Organization president Charm Lee told The Jakarta Post recently in Seoul.

The signs of a cultural boom within Korea can be seen in most towns and cities. Many cultural events — both international and local — have taken place in recent years.

“It’s a new trend in Korea. In six years Korea has changed a lot in the cultural field. Maybe we are economically well off. That’s why we are now able to show interest in cultural aspects,” Ray Han, marketing manager of the famous Nanta theater, told the Post.

Attempting to capitalize on the growing popularity of Korean culture, the Korean government has organized more than 35 different festivals throughout the year. Among them was the Hi Seoul Festival, which featured 47 teams from 11 countries, including Indonesia. Indonesia’s Ciacia people from Southeast Sulawesi performed a traditional dance at the festival in May.

“There is no shortage of performances in Seoul. We have daily shows of Nanta and Miso [musical dance-dramas] and so many others in Seoul,” said Jongkil Lee, a manager of the International Exchange Promotion Association.
Duty: Members of the Gyeongbokgung guard participate in the changing of the guard in Seoul. The royal palace is a major tourist attraction in Seoul. JP/Veeramalla Anjaiah

This cultural renaissance is reaping enormous economic benefits for Korea. Its exports to several countries, including Indonesia, have been growing in the double digits. Last year alone, Korea exported more than $10 billion worth of goods just to Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In several Southeast Asian countries, the growth rate of exports was more than 100 percent. In 2010, Korean exports to Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia, reached $7.7 billion, a huge increase from $4.74 billion in 2009.

Main players — film artists and singers — in the Korean Wave are now the highest paid artists in Asia.

“They are like gods. It is very difficult to meet them,” Jongkil said.

Two recent events encapsulated the magic of the Korean Wave. The first was in Paris on May 1. More than 300 French teenagers staged a demonstration in front of the Louvre demanding a second show in Paris of SM Town Live, a K-Pop concert with famous Korean singers from groups like TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee and Girls’ Generation.

All 6,000 tickets for the June 10 show were sold out in 15 minutes on April 26.

“For a moment, I was going to cry because I saw that it was full,” a protester told MBC TV.

The popularity of Korean singers has raised the eyebrows of many, even in Korea.

“This is really amazing and surprising. I never imagined that our singers were that popular in Europe,” ASEAN-Korea Center secretary-general Ambassador Young Jai-cho told the Post recently in Seoul.

The organizers bowed to popular demand and agreed to have another show on June 11. Again, the tickets sold out, but this time in 10 minutes through online sales.

Why are some French youth crazy about this distant culture from Asia?
Feline: Korea’s all-female percussion group, Drum Cat, participate in the opening of the Korean Tourism Organization’s office in Jakarta on June 22. JP/Veeramalla Anjaiah

“K-Pop singers are complete artists and entertainers. They can sing, they can dance and they look very trendy. This is the main difference with French singers who mainly prefer to focus on the lyrics and almost never dance. Many of them… don’t really care about their looks,” Maxime Paquet, president of a French fan club called Korean Connection, told Korea magazine last month.

The second event was in India’s remote province of Manipur. It is so remote even many Indians do not know much about Manipur and its culture. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the French news agency Agence France-Presse recently reported that the Korean Wave had struck the region. Street vendors sell DVDs of Korean soap operas and films and CDs of K-Pop stars. Hair salons offer “Korean-style” cuts. Manipur’s capital, Imphal, and other towns are even connected to Korean global TV channels Arirang TV and KBS World.

2 teens dead in Bogor school fire

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 07/18/2011 11:28 AM

Two teenagers died in a fire that destroyed Ibnu Tarwiyah Islamic Boarding School in Sukaharja village near Bogor, West Java, on Sunday evening.

Bogor Police criminal investigation unit chief Adj.Comr. Imron Ernawan said the fire started at around 6 p.m. on Sunday and took at least two hours to put out.

“Police officers finished their investigation at the scene of the fire at around 1 a.m. on Monday. They discovered the remains of two people who had been trapped in their room,” Imron said Monday as quoted by Antara state news wire.

According to Imron, the two victims were Nurfahmiyah,19, who is a student and Yulisiticariwyah, 18, who is an administrative staff member.

Imron said police would continue an investigation into the cause of the blaze, as reported by Antara news service.

"We will search the scene of the fire and ask for help from the National Police forensics laboratory today,” Imron said, adding that police had questioned four witness in relation to the fire.

SBY discusses world oil prices with Cabinet

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 07/18/2011 12:12 PM

The President discussed two pressing issues with Cabinet members at a meeting on Monday morning: essential goods for the upcoming fasting month and increasing world oil prices.

The meeting, led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was attended by at least 10 ministers and coordinating ministers, and was held at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta.

Yudhoyono said uncertainties in Japan following the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown were one of the causes of a shift in world oil prices. He added that the government planned to reduce oil subsidies by reducing the volume of subsidized fuel used.

“Efficiency [programs] in electricity and fuel use has had good results,” Yudhoyono said, as reported by tempointeraktif.com.

Later, the President is scheduled to fly to Bali to open the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and ASEAN Regional Forum.

Those present at the morning meeting included Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu and Religioius Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali.

Yusril to challenge AGO travel ban in court on Monday

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 07/18/2011 10:36 AM

The Jakarta State Administrative High Court will begin proceedings on the lawsuit of former Law and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra against the Attorney General’s Office, which had extended a travel ban on him.

Yusril said he would read out his lawsuit against the AGO and that he had prepared legal arguments on the travel ban, which according to him, was based on laws that have been revoked.

“I simply request that the court annul a travel ban against me issued on June 24, 2011,” he said, as reported by tribunnews.com.

Yusril added that the court had held two preliminary hearings and that today’s session would be open to the public.

Earlier, the AGO had extended a travel ban on Yusril because it had not completed an investigation into a corruption case surrounding the procurement of an online registration system (Sisminbakum) for the ministry during Yusril’s tenure.