Last catwalk

Last catwalk: Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen (center), celebrates with models Caroline Ribeiro (left) and Fernanda Tavares (right) at the end of the show from the Colcci Summer collection at Sao Paulo Fashion Week in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday. Bundchen, the Brazilian supermodel who has lit up catwalks around the world for 20 years, is retiring from the runway. (AP/Andre Penner)

US Supreme Court extends same-sex marriage nationwide

US Supreme Court extends same-sex marriage nationwide

The Supreme Court declared Friday that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States.

Gay and lesbian couples already can marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The court's 5-4 ruling means the remaining 14 states, in the South and Midwest, will have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.

The outcome is the culmination of two decades of Supreme Court litigation over marriage, and gay rights generally.

"No union is more profound than marriage," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy, joined by the court's four more liberal justices.

The ruling will not take effect immediately because the court gives the losing side roughly three weeks to ask for reconsideration. But some state officials and county clerks might decide there is little risk in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The cases before the court involved laws from several states that define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Those states have not allowed same-sex couples to marry within their borders and they also have refused to recognize valid marriages from elsewhere.

Just two years ago, the Supreme Court struck down part of the federal anti-gay marriage law that denied a range of government benefits to legally married same-sex couples.

The decision in United States v. Windsor did not address the validity of state marriage bans, but courts across the country, with few exceptions, said its logic compelled them to invalidate state laws that prohibited gay and lesbian couples from marrying.

The number of states allowing same-sex marriage has grown rapidly. As recently as October, just over one-third of the states permitted same-sex marriage.

There are an estimated 390,000 married same-sex couples in the United States, according to Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, which tracks the demographics of gay and lesbian Americans. Another 70,000 couples living in states that do not currently permit them to wed would get married in the next three years, the institute says. Roughly 1 million same-sex couples, married and unmarried, live together in the United States, the institute says.

The Obama administration backed the right of same-sex couples to marry. The Justice Department's decision to stop defending the federal anti-marriage law in 2011 was an important moment for gay rights and President Barack Obama declared his support for same-sex marriage in 2012. (ren)(+++)

Pakistan heatwave death toll passes 1,000

Pakistan heatwave death toll passes 1,000

The death toll from Pakistan's killer heatwave rose past 1,000 on Thursday, with more fatalities expected, as cloud cover and lower temperatures brought some relief to the worst-hit city Karachi.

Mortuaries and gravediggers in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and economic hub, have struggled to keep up with the flow of bodies since the scorching temperatures began last weekend.

Hospitals have been on a crisis footing and dedicated heatstroke treatment centers have been set up around the city to treat the tens of thousands affected by heatstroke and dehydration.

"The death toll is more than 1,000 and it may reach up to 1,500," Anwar Kazmi, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation, Pakistan's largest welfare charity and a leading provider of emergency medical care in Karachi, told AFP.

According to figures collected by AFP from hospitals around the city, a total of 1,079 people have died, though the pace of the deaths has slowed as the weather has cooled in the last two days.

Karachi hospitals have treated nearly 80,000 people for the effects of heatstroke and dehydration, according to medical officials.

After days of temperatures hovering at highs in the mid-40s Celsius (around 110 Fahrenheit), sea breezes and cloud cover have brought some respite to the port city in the last two days.

The Met Office forecast temperatures of around 34 degrees Celsius on Thursday, with 75 percent cloud cover.

"We are now getting fewer and fewer patients and hope the situation will become better with the passage of time," doctor Seemin Jamali from Jinnah Post Graduate Medical College told AFP.

Victims' families have also faced challenges in burying their dead, as some unscrupulous grave-diggers were demanding 50,000 rupees (US$500) for a grave -- nearly 10 times the official rate.

City authorities have dug more than 300 graves in two cemeteries to ease the problem, charging relatives the usual 5,800 rupee fee.

Temperatures of 45 C and higher are not uncommon in parts of inland Pakistan, but Karachi normally remains cooler thanks to its coastal location.

This week, however, the cooling breeze that usually blows in off the Arabian Sea was absent.

The city of 20 million inhabitants is a sprawling metropolis with few green areas, poorly adapted to manage intensely hot weather.

Vast areas of concrete absorb heat during the day and radiate it back at night in what climatologists call the "urban heat island" effect.

This year's heatwave has also coincided with the start of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadhan, during which millions of devout Pakistanis abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset.

Under Pakistani law, it is illegal for Muslims to eat or drink in public during daylight hours in Ramadan, though the crisis prompted some clerics to advise people they should stop fasting if their health is at risk.

The majority of the deaths in Karachi have been among the elderly, the poor and outdoor manual laborers, many of whom are paid by the day and may be reluctant to stop work as it would mean losing income.

Doctor Qaiser Sajjad of the Pakistan Medical Association in Karachi said that a lack of understanding of heatstroke among the public -- how to spot symptoms and treat them -- had contributed to the deaths.

"This high mortality in the past five days came mainly because of our failure to educate people," he told AFP.

"We see a blitz of TV advertisements after each and every ball delivered in cricket, similarly we should publicize the need for hydration and other safety measures."

The situation has not been helped by power cuts -- a regular feature of life in Pakistan -- which have stopped fans and air conditioners from working and interrupted Karachi's water supply.

The crisis comes a month after neighboring India suffered its own deadly heatwave which killed more than 2,000 people. (iik)(++++

The participants of the action Indosiar 2015

The participants of the action Indosiar 2015

the participants of the action was tense Indosiar that ultimately gets the highest sms mumuy his nyangka ga cute little longer, while the wise person that comes out rich fathers, a game like that will continue until the final get caught who comes out as the winner and will be dai Indonesia if I am the hope really that will come out of the mumuy if ga si robi people bogor and sijamilah yes it depends on the decision of a jury of his nentuin kaga mao pass what is important for the best

Raditya Dika bares his soul, sharing his personal take on Ramadhan 

Writer and filmmaker Raditya Dika has launched a new video series on Youtube titled "Surat untuk Ramadhan" (Letters for Ramadhan) as a personal project during the fasting month.

But be warned, it's not necessarily in the comedy genre like Raditya's most famous work, Malam Minggu Miko (Miko's Saturday Night), which is both a movie and a Youtube video series.

"The videos are my personal letters. I made them without any attempt to be humorous. Just me being truthful," Raditya told the Jakarta Post on Thursday.

He said that the videos talked about his thoughts, feelings and experiences relating to Ramadhan, including how the month led him to reunite with old friends and reminded him of a road where he used to play with firecrackers during his childhood.

The first video, which takes an essay-like form, was uploaded on Wednesday and is titled Apa Kabar? (How are you?). In it, he welcomes and discusses the arrival Ramadhan. On Thursday, it already had 36,138 views.

Raditya said that he planned to upload three videos a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and that he had finished filming the next two videos of the series.

He also hoped to inspire more people to follow his move.

"With these videos, I would like to inspire people to create their own version of “Letters for Ramadhan”; their own personal takes on it," he said.

Even though Raditya said that he had not yet planned all of the videos that he would create, he was sure about the theme for one of the final videos, at the end of the fasting month.

"I want to make one about the loneliness of Jakarta when all of the people leave the city for their hometowns, as I myself don't go to my hometown," he explained. (fsu/dmr)

Asia's Next Top Model winner Ayu Gani struggles with pressure after victory 

The Indonesian winner of season three of modeling contest show Asia's Next Top Model Ayu Gani has said that she has struggled with the pressure of the hype surrounding her victory as her departure to London approaches.

As the winner of the contest, Gani is entitled to a contract with one of the largest modeling agencies in London, Storm Model Management.

"I want to make it there. I don't want the hype to be this big, and then it turns out that I fail to score a job there," she said during a round table interview at Fox Channel's office in South Jakarta, on Monday.

Gani said that she had been reading UK fashion magazines such as Vogue UK and Elle UK, to find out what was considered trendy and favorable in the country's fashion scene. The 23-year-old girl, who is slated to fly to London on June 29, will stay in the country for three months.

She said that she aimed to show everyone that she deserved the title.

"I just made the target to book one of the jobs and pass the casting for either photoshoots or the catwalks," Gani said.

Though she had once struggled with her confidence as a model because of her unusually tall height of 1.73 meters, she said that she had started to recognize her strengths.

"People have said I have a 'fashion' face and that models who are taller than me don't necessarily have the kind of face I have. So I will highlight my face more," she stated.

The Indonesian model secured the top spot after she beat Marlene Monika Sta Maria from the Philippines and Aimee Rose Cheng-Bradshaw from Singapore in the final round of season three of Asia’s Next Top Model, which was aired on Wednesday on Star World.

Pertamina ‘ready for Mahakam’

Pertamina ‘ready for Mahakam’



State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, the new operator of Mahakam, the country’s largest oil and gas block, is technically and financially ready to operate the oil and gas block after the existing contract ends in 2017, the company’s top executive has said.

“We have no problem in getting financing to support the operation. In the initial stage, for instance, we can access funds from banks and repay the loans in the same year using the revenues we obtain from the block,” Pertamina president director Dwi Soetjipto said on Friday.

He dismissed doubts that have been raised about Pertamina’s ability to operate the country’s largest oil and gas block given the high production targets and sizable operational costs.

The block, located offshore East Kalimantan, is the major supplier for one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, the nearby Bontang plant. 

At present it generates around 1.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfpd) of gas, or nearly 25 percent of the total national gas output, in addition to 62,000 barrels of oil per day. To keep annual production of the gas block at the current level, Pertamina will have to spend up to US$2.5 billion each year, according to Dwi.

He also welcomed the government’s decision to give existing operators French oil giant Total SA and its partner Japanese oil company Inpex Corp. a 30 percent stake after the block is formally handed over to Pertamina in 2018.

Dwi said that the involvement of Total and Inpex in the future operation of the Mahakam block would ensure the continuity of the production activities. 

Total, along with Inpex, has been operating Mahakam since 1967 and both oil giants now control a 50 percent participating interest each in the current contract.

In addition, existing workers in Mahakam Block would also be transferred to Pertamina, therefore human resources would not be an issue, Dwi added.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said officially announced on Friday that Pertamina and local governments would have a 70 percent interest in the Mahakam block under the new contract, which would take effect in early 2018, while existing operators Total and Inpex would have the remaining 30 percent. The exact proportion of the stakes to be given to the provincial and regency administrations in East Kalimantan have not yet been fully disclosed. 

After years of uncertainty, the government named Pertamina in March this year as the operator of the Mahakam gas block when the current contract ends. Due to the huge size of the block, Pertamina asked Total and Inpex to stay on in Mahakam as partners.

According to Sudirman, the government had asked the three companies to discuss openly the transition process that needed to take place before Pertamina took over the operation of the Mahakam block in January 2018. 

The minister had earlier said that the decision on the percentage of ownership that must be given to Total and Inpex had to be decided by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo because Pertamina and the other two companies could not decide among themselves. 

The appointment of Pertamina as the operator of the Mahakam block illustrates Indonesia’s aspiration to take a firmer grip on the country’s abundant natural resources amid mounting calls by elements across the nation for greater state control of national resources.

Total declined to make any comment on the decision. “We still have no response on the issue. We’re still discussing it,” Total E&P Indonesie spokesman Kristanto Hartadi told The Jakarta Post.

Energy think tank ReforMiner Institute deputy chairman Komaidi Notonegoro said that while the decision would be unlikely to affect the block’s production target, it would almost certainly make a substantial contribution to state revenues.

“As a state-owned firm, Pertamina will have to pay higher dividends to the state thanks to its income from the block,” he said

Police in manhunt for killer on nine in South Caroline church

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, CHArLESTON -- Police in Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday were searching for a white gunman who killed nine people in a historic African-American church in an attack that police and the city's mayor described as a hate crime.

The shooter, a 21-year-old white man with sandy blond hair, sat with hurchgoers inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church for about an hour on Wednesday before opening fire, Police Chief Gregory Mullen said.

The gunman, who is considered extremely dangerous, had yet to be caught, Mullen said, and police did not have a sense of where he might be.

"This is an unfathomable and unspeakable act by somebody filled with hate and with a deranged mind," Charleston Mayor Joe Riley told reporters.

Six females and three males died in the attack, Mullen said.

The shooting recalled the 1963 bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four girls and galvanized the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

The Charleston church is one of the largest and oldest black congregations in the South, according to its website. It has its roots in the early 19th century, and was founded in part by a freed slave who was later executed for organizing a revolt, according to the U.S. National Park Service.

"This tragedy that we are addressing right now is indescribable," Mullen said. "We are committed to do whatever is necessary to bring this individual to justice."

The attack follows the April shooting of an unarmed black man in neighboring North Charleston by a white police officer. The officer has been charged with murder in that case, one of a number of deaths of unarmed black men in encounters with police that have raised racial tensions in the United States.