The Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage said in an interview aired Friday that he didn’t talk about his British citizenship before because he didn’t want to get deported.

The Grammy-nominated artist, whose given name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested Feb. 3. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement called it a targeted operation. He was released from immigration custody Wednesday on a $100,000 bond.

Abraham-Joseph, now 26, told ABC’s Good Morning America he had no idea what a visa was when his mother brought him to the U.S. at 7 years old. His visa expired in 2006.

“I knew I wasn’t born here,” he said. “But I didn’t know like, what that meant as far as when I transitioned into an adult, how it was going to affect my life.”

The rapper said he wasn’t hiding the fact that he isn’t a U.S. citizen, but “I didn’t want to get deported so I’m not going to just come out and say, ‘Hey by the way, I wasn’t born here.”‘

His lawyers have said he applied for a new visa in 2017, and his case remains pending. One of his lawyers, Charles Kuck, said earlier this week that if the case follows the normal trajectory, it could take two to three years.

Abraham-Joseph said he believes the way immigration policy is enforced is broken, that he doesn’t think people “should be arrested and put in a place where a murderer would be for just being in the country for too long.”

Attorney Alex Spiro said on Good Morning America that he believes Abraham-Joseph was targeted “because he’s both a celebrity and they can use this as a way to send a message and also, perhaps, because of his music.”

He said he hopes the attention can help others held in immigration detention.

“There’s people that are just totally forgotten that exist in these detention centers,” Spiro said, later adding, “I’m hoping people like 21 Savage will bring light to these issues and help the people that are forgotten.”

ICE spokesman Bryan Cox said shortly after Abraham-Joseph was taken into custody that he was arrested in a targeted operation that had been planned weeks to months in advance.

Drug charges

Cox said at the time that Abraham-Joseph had overstayed his visa and also was convicted on felony drug charges in Fulton County, Georgia, in October 2014.

Abraham-Joseph’s lawyers have disputed that he has a felony conviction on his record.

“He has a singular offense for marijuana when he was a college-age person,” Spiro said in the television interview. “That’s vacated, sealed. There’s no issue.”

Fulton County prosecutors have said they can’t comment on the case, which they say was handled under the state’s first offender law and is sealed.

An Atlanta police report from August 2014 says Abraham-Joseph was riding in a car driven by another man when officers stopped the car after an illegal U-turn in four lanes of traffic. During a search of the car with a police dog, officers found a jar containing 22.6 grams (0.8 ounces) of marijuana, 89 hydrocodone pills, a scale in plain view, two loaded guns and $1,775 in cash, the report says.

Both men were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of hydrocodone with intent to distribute, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, the report says.

A notice of seizure and forfeiture, filed in Fulton County Superior Court in October 2014, says the $1,775 seized during the arrest is to be forfeited. It says the violation of law alleged is that Abraham-Joseph and the other man possessed marijuana.

Grammy nominations

Abraham-Joseph was nominated for two awards at the Grammys, including record of the year for “Rockstar” alongside Post Malone. His second solo album “I Am > I Was,” released in December, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
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So, Regina King walked into a 99-cent store. And what’d she get? A prophecy on her life.

No joke. King was shopping around — “sometimes people will say, ‘You at the 99-cent store?’ I like a bargain too” — when a woman walked up to her with something of a prediction.

“She said, ‘You don’t know it but you’re going to run for president.’ And I was like, ‘President of a company?’ She was like, ‘No… of the United States,’” King recalled, adding that she thought the woman was a clairvoyant.

“She said, ‘Close your eyes. You are. I see it,’” King continued. “I was like, ’Girl, I appreciate that but no— that’s not happening. I like my life too much. I like my family too much. I like my friends too much.”

The idea of King, 48, running for presidency isn’t too far-fetched. Rather, it’s not a stretch for people to jokingly ask her to: The seasoned actress is one of the most likable and genial celebrities in the industry, and one fans and peers are constantly rooting for. Remember Taraji P. Henson happily screaming at the top of her lungs when King won her first Emmy in 2015?

King has picked up two more Emmys since — earning acclaim and praise for her riveting roles in John Ridley’s anthology “American Crime” and Netflix’s “Seven Seconds,” where King stunned on-screen as the mother of a son killed by police.

Now King is hitting new heights with her first big screen role since 2010: Her portrayal of a devoted mother in Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” already won her honors at the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards. She’s up for best supporting actress at the Academy Awards, pitting her against Oscar winners Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz; Amy Adams, a six-time Oscar nominee; and first-time Marina de Tavira, who co-starred in “Roma.”

″(Regina) has been stalwart in this industry for so long. For a long time, she was doing the work to do the work and I think the industry sort of catches up to wonderful artists like Regina. She shows up and does the work, whether it be in front or behind the camera, and the industry is taking notice,” said Colman Domingo, who plays King’s husband in “Beale Street.” ″I think it’s not only an Oscar nomination for ‘If Beale Street Could Talk,’ I think it’s also for her body of work.”

King called the nomination “extra-special” since it’s her first; the film also is also competing for best adapted screenplay and best original score at the Oscars on Feb. 24.

King has shined on-screen since she appeared on NBC’s “227” in 1985. Her credits include films like “Jerry Maguire,” ″Friday,” ″Ray,” ″Boyz n the Hood,” ″Enemy of the State” and “Miss Congeniality 2.”

But King traded movie roles for TV ones so she could easily raise her son — her regular date at awards show — in Los Angeles: “I wasn’t interested in homeschooling my son.”

“I had the conversation with my team,” she said, “and they felt like TV was going to be the best space for me to live in.”

She landed a starring role in TNT’s “Southland” in 2009, playing Detective Lydia Adams — a part originally not written for a black woman.

“Everyone at the agency had been put on notice, ‘Do not treat Regina King like a black actor. She is an actor,‘” King said. “I hadn’t even quite seen it that way, but that’s what they felt. It kind of started with ‘Legally Blonde 2.’ That was the reach out, like, ‘You know what, why don’t you guys consider Regina King?’”

More TV roles came to her, including “The Big Bang Theory,” ″Shameless,” ″American Crime,” ″The Leftovers” and “Seven Seconds” — all while film stars turned to TV and found success, from Nicole Kidman to Matthew McConaughey to Viola Davis. Even Meryl Streep is heading to the so-called “small screen.”

“I think of myself as a trailblazer for film actors going to television,” King said.

But no matter the screen, King always comes through. She’s known for digging deep into her roles, giving a dramatic, stirring performance that leaves audiences wanting more.

“I’m doing my research. I’m talking to real life people who’ve had these horrific experiences,” King said.

One of the real people was Marion Gray-Hopkins, whose son was killed by police officers. King spoke extensively with Gray-Hopkins as she prepped for “Seven Seconds,” which also earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

While King is usually able to leave the drama on the set, she said it was hard to escape the madness of the TV series.

“I called my son so much (for) just like random things. He couldn’t watch all of ‘Seven Seconds.’ He saw the first episode, and he tried to watch the second. He was like, ‘I can’t.’ He said, ‘It feels like that’s me,’” King said. “And he was like, ’Now I get why you were calling me with just like weird stuff, like, ‘Did you remember to put the clothes in the dryer? I’m like, yeah mom. I put the cleaning towels in the dryer. Did you feed the dog?’ I just wanted to hear his voice.”

King’s son, Ian Alexander Jr., will be by her side at the Academy Awards on Feb. 24 to cheer her on — just like so many others.

“I feel the love,” she said. “I can just be anywhere, from the grocery store to wherever. Sometimes, it’ll be the sweetest thing, I’ll get a woman that’s just like 70, 80-years-old say, ‘Just thank you. Thank you for just representing us.’”

“I’m just living my life and trying to remain a good person and give what I get and remain open so that what I get is good, so that’s what I can put back out. But you’re not thinking about how your walk always effects people that you don’t know,” she added.

But still, she’s not running for president.

“When you make the choice to be in the public’s eye, you are letting go of anonymity. You’re letting go of some things that you want to hold dear and protect. … For a president, that’s on level 9 million,” she said. “I am all here for sacrifices, but not that one.”
…

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Members of Kenya’s LGBT community are looking forward to a High Court ruling that might decriminalize gay sex. The impending ruling is raising hopes among LGBT persons across the region.

South of Nairobi, in a remote town, models are in training in a safe house tucked in a quiet neighborhood. These are not just any models. These are LGBT refugees from Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Most fled persecution from their home countries because of their sexual orientation.

Lubega Musa, 27, fled to Kenya in 2015. He, together with other LGBT refugees, started an economic empowerment program called Lunco Haute Cotoure, whose activities focus on fashion, design and music.

“There are things we would love to do as Lunco Houte Cotoure for the gay community openly, but we cannot do them because of the law,” Musa said. “So, if there is change in the law, if same-sex becomes legal in Kenya, we as artists, we work with the gay community. The situation will be much better for us to exhibit our talent, and you know the LGBT community is one that is most talented in the arts.”

 

WATCH: Kenya High Court Ruling on Decriminalizing Gay Sex Awaited 

High Court ruling

Kenya’s High Court will rule this month on whether to repeal Section 162 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes gay sex.

In Kenya, one can be sentenced to up to 14 years for violating the law.

Activists say the case is a milestone in the fight for LGBT rights in the region.

“This is an opportunity for LGBTI people to claim their spaces,” said Brian Macharia, a gay rights activist. “Whether we win this case or not, there is visibility that is coming by the fact that we managed to get this far at the courts, that we got a lot of Kenyans thinking and talking about this.”

Homophobic attacks are common in Kenya, as a majority of the population objects to homosexuality.

​Too soon, some say

Charles Kanjama, the lead lawyer representing the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum in the case, says Kenya is not ready to accept homosexuality.

“We think that it is in the interest of our country, as do most other Africans in this continent in which we live, to outlaw homosexuality. That is gay sex in particular, and any manifestations as promotion or propagandizing in favor of gay sex, so that we can try as much as possible to encourage and promote healthy sexual behavior,” he said.

Activists in Africa and elsewhere are campaigning against penal codes that criminalize gay sex, most of which date from the colonial period.

The laws in many countries are being overturned. India scrapped them last year. Angola in January.

Kenya might do it in a matter of weeks.

However the High Court rules, both sides are likely to appeal to the Supreme Court if they lose.
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Boxers, wire fox terriers, dachshunds and 200 other breeds strutted their stuff at the 143rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York this week. But before the strutting and the posing, comes the snipping and the primping, as Asli Pelit reports.
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Melania Trump gave some love to her new city during a Valentine’s Day arts-and-crafts session with pediatric patients Thursday.

At a station where the children wrote their “favorite things” on construction paper hearts, the first lady went with “My favorite city is Washington.” She signed the heart with her name and stuck it on a board on a wall in the middle of several other hearts.

During the visit to The Children’s Inn on the campus of the National Institutes of Health outside Washington, she also helped make candy boxes — and assisted a line of children in filling them up with a variety of sugary treats — and snow globes.

Amani, a 13-year-old boy from Mombasa, Kenya, was responsible for showing her how to turn a wooden clothespin into a colorful clip.

“This is a big project,” Trump said during the tutorial. Amani has sickle cell disease and is preparing for a bone marrow transplant with marrow donated by his sister, the White House said. The first lady told Amani that she will pray for him. He presented her with a red heart-shaped box that held a silver necklace with “Hope & Faith” inscribed on a silver circle.

He also gave the first lady a bouquet of white roses.

The Children’s Inn is a private, nonprofit residence for children and families participating in pediatric research at NIH. The first lady was at the inn on Valentine’s Day last year when she was informed by her staff of a shooting at a south Florida high school that killed 17 people.

She was greeted Thursday by Amber, 9, of San Jose, California. Amber, who participates in a gene therapy trial, was among the children with whom Mrs. Trump spent time during last year’s visit.

Trump is focusing her work as first lady on the well-being of children.
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Uganda’s junior minister for tourism this month sparked controversy by suggesting that curvy women could be promoted as a tourist attraction. Uganda earns billions of dollars off of wildlife tourism but, the idea of adding women to that list has generated heated debate about objectifying women.

Ann Mungoma was a judge at two pageants that showed that being slim should not be equated with beauty  — Ms. Curvy Africa 2016 and Ms. Curvy Nigeria 2017.

 

“So, here we are giving a chance to the ladies and telling them, please, you’re most welcome,” she said. “God created you that way, bless him for the way you are shaped, your size, come, we are giving you a platform to show the world that this is how we are. This is how Ugandan ladies are designed.”

 

But Mungoma’s plan to bring the well-rounded contest to Uganda this year has — well — hit a curve.

 

Godfrey Kiwanda, Uganda’s junior minister for tourism, sparked debate at the pageant’s launch. He said curvy women should be counted among the country’s tourist attractions — such as wildlife.

Kiwanda said Uganda’s tourism industry is facing stiff competition and should diversify.

 

“Tourism is not just about animals, it’s about our food, the way we walk, the way we were created, our curves,” he said.

Uganda’s women’s rights activists called Kiwanda’s objectifying women’s bodies a gross insult.

 

Some called for the Ms. Curvy Uganda beauty pageant to be cancelled.

 

Rita Aciro, the executive director of the Uganda Women’s Network, has been fighting for women and girl’s rights for the last 18 years.

 

She demanded the junior tourism minister apologize.

 

“He should stop using women’s bodies as sex objects. We are not. Not Ugandan women, not any African woman, not any woman in the world,” she said. “Our bodies are not sex objects. We have equal brains, we have equal abilities, we just need equal opportunities.”

 

In the media and on the streets of Kampala, Ugandans had mixed views on the controversy and if the curvy contest should continue.

 

Some insulted women who would take part in the beauty pageant while others defended them.

 

University student Georgia Nakyonza said she would join the contest if she qualified. 

 

“It’s not bad, it doesn’t mean that if you go for Miss curvy you are a protest, you are selling off your body. Actually, the way they put on is just the way models put on,” she said.

 

Uganda’s Tourism Board has distanced itself from the Ms. Curvy pageant, saying it will concentrate instead on promoting the country’s current attractions.
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Uganda’s junior minister for tourism this month sparked controversy by suggesting that curvy women could be promoted as a tourist attraction. Uganda earns billions of dollars off of wildlife tourism but, the idea of adding women to that list has generated heated debate about objectifying women.

Ann Mungoma was a judge at two pageants that showed that being slim should not be equated with beauty  — Ms. Curvy Africa 2016 and Ms. Curvy Nigeria 2017.

 

“So, here we are giving a chance to the ladies and telling them, please, you’re most welcome,” she said. “God created you that way, bless him for the way you are shaped, your size, come, we are giving you a platform to show the world that this is how we are. This is how Ugandan ladies are designed.”

 

But Mungoma’s plan to bring the well-rounded contest to Uganda this year has — well — hit a curve.

 

Godfrey Kiwanda, Uganda’s junior minister for tourism, sparked debate at the pageant’s launch. He said curvy women should be counted among the country’s tourist attractions — such as wildlife.

Kiwanda said Uganda’s tourism industry is facing stiff competition and should diversify.

 

“Tourism is not just about animals, it’s about our food, the way we walk, the way we were created, our curves,” he said.

Uganda’s women’s rights activists called Kiwanda’s objectifying women’s bodies a gross insult.

 

Some called for the Ms. Curvy Uganda beauty pageant to be cancelled.

 

Rita Aciro, the executive director of the Uganda Women’s Network, has been fighting for women and girl’s rights for the last 18 years.

 

She demanded the junior tourism minister apologize.

 

“He should stop using women’s bodies as sex objects. We are not. Not Ugandan women, not any African woman, not any woman in the world,” she said. “Our bodies are not sex objects. We have equal brains, we have equal abilities, we just need equal opportunities.”

 

In the media and on the streets of Kampala, Ugandans had mixed views on the controversy and if the curvy contest should continue.

 

Some insulted women who would take part in the beauty pageant while others defended them.

 

University student Georgia Nakyonza said she would join the contest if she qualified. 

 

“It’s not bad, it doesn’t mean that if you go for Miss curvy you are a protest, you are selling off your body. Actually, the way they put on is just the way models put on,” she said.

 

Uganda’s Tourism Board has distanced itself from the Ms. Curvy pageant, saying it will concentrate instead on promoting the country’s current attractions.
…

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Coming off a big night at the Grammys, Donald Glover and his alter-ego Childish Gambino have been nominated for five NAACP Image Awards.

Glover is nominated for his acting and directing on “Atlanta,” and Childish Gambino got three nominations on the music side. Glover won four Grammy Awards including record and song of the year on Sunday night.

The nominees were announced Wednesday at the Television Critics Association winter meeting in Pasadena, Calif.

“Black Panther” was nominated for 14 awards, with star Chadwick Boseman and director Ryan Coogler nominated for entertainer of the year along with Beyonce, LeBron James and Regina King.

The 50th NAACP Image Awards honoring entertainers and writers of color will be held March 30 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and aired live on TV One.
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Coming off a big night at the Grammys, Donald Glover and his alter-ego Childish Gambino have been nominated for five NAACP Image Awards.

Glover is nominated for his acting and directing on “Atlanta,” and Childish Gambino got three nominations on the music side. Glover won four Grammy Awards including record and song of the year on Sunday night.

The nominees were announced Wednesday at the Television Critics Association winter meeting in Pasadena, Calif.

“Black Panther” was nominated for 14 awards, with star Chadwick Boseman and director Ryan Coogler nominated for entertainer of the year along with Beyonce, LeBron James and Regina King.

The 50th NAACP Image Awards honoring entertainers and writers of color will be held March 30 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and aired live on TV One.
…

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It appears Michelle Obama received a reality check from her mom following her appearance at the Grammys.

The former first lady took to Instagram Wednesday to share a text exchange with mom Marian Robinson. Obama had received a standing ovation opening Sunday’s awards show with Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Robinson wrote: “I guess you were a hit at the Grammys.” Her daughter asked mom if she had watched. Mom replied she saw it and then asked if her daughter had met “any of the real stars.”

Mother and daughter then quibbled over whether Obama had told her she would be on.

Obama ended the exchange by writing “And I AM A real star…by the way…”

Her mother replied, “Yeah.”
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It appears Michelle Obama received a reality check from her mom following her appearance at the Grammys.

The former first lady took to Instagram Wednesday to share a text exchange with mom Marian Robinson. Obama had received a standing ovation opening Sunday’s awards show with Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Robinson wrote: “I guess you were a hit at the Grammys.” Her daughter asked mom if she had watched. Mom replied she saw it and then asked if her daughter had met “any of the real stars.”

Mother and daughter then quibbled over whether Obama had told her she would be on.

Obama ended the exchange by writing “And I AM A real star…by the way…”

Her mother replied, “Yeah.”
…

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More than 200 Indonesian musicians have started a movement against a draft bill on music law (RUU Permusikan) being considered in the legislature that they say could limit freedom of expression.

Mondo Gascaro, a composer and music producer, and one of the people who initiated the National Coalition against the Draft Bill on Music, says most of the articles in the bill are problematic.

“These articles don’t address the problem about the welfare of people in the music industry. The government’s regulations should ensure a good ecosystem for music (industry), and instead the articles in the bill can potentially limit musicians’ freedom of expression,” he said at a press conference in Jakarta on February 6.

Gascaro believes the bill is also problematic because it is unclear what are the issues that the government wants to regulate because the bill only focuses on the musicians.

“They said this is about governance of the music industry, but there are terminologies that are missing from the bill when you talk about the industry, there’s production, creation, distribution, artists,” he continued.

The coalition is calling for the bill to be discarded. Arian Arifin, a vocalist of the Indonesian heavy metal band Seringai, said it is pointless to revise the bill because he said more than 80 percent of the articles are disorganized. 

Bill not yet finalized

Although the draft bill on music law has been included in the 2019 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas), which means it is one of the priority bills that can be passed this year, Representative Inosentius Samsul, a backer of the measure, said it is not final. 

“It can still be revised and reviewed,” the lawmaker said at a press conference on February 4.

“We make the framework and the main stakeholders (musicians) only need to fill it. If there are things that need improvement, we will be open to discuss it and revise the script,” he explained. 

The coalition is not convinced, however, because the bill is already in the Prolegnas, and revising a script with articles can be problematic. 

“Why bother revising, you might as well create a new one. Start from the beginning with transparency and credible sources,” Arifin said. 

One of the sources cited in the draft bill is a Blogspot page that was written by a student from a high school in Central Kalimantan. Rara Sekar Larasati, a singer and a researcher on Cultural Anthropology, questioned the sources that were used as a basis of the bill’s script. 

“The sources for the articles are irrelevant. How can you cite a Blogspot that was made by a high school student?” she told VOA.

Potential criminalization

Larasati said a major concern for artists is the possibility for musicians to be prosecuted and jailed under the draft bill.

“We see there’s Article 5 that can potentially be a ‘rubber law,’ ” she said, referring to the term used in Indonesia for a law with ambiguous wording that is open for broad interpretation. “This is like a pattern for the state to censor and control its citizens.”

The article states that musicians are not allowed to encourage the public to commit violence, make pornographic content, provoke dispute, commit blasphemy, bring the negative influence of a foreign culture, and demean people’s dignity.

Asfinawati, director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), said Article 50, at the end of the script, states anyone who violates Article 5 can be punished with imprisonment or fines. 

“But the wordings are problematic, must not encourage the public to commit acts against the law. In law, the word encourage is ambiguous. For example, a musician can sing on stage, but in one corner there are people gambling. The authority can say the performance encourage gambling, or be connected to a violent act in the same place,” she explained. 

In addition, the bill mentions the negative influence of foreign culture. Asfinawati is unsure whether it refers only to the negative things that may be adopted from another culture or deems all foreign cultures negative.

“When we talk about foreign (culture), the problem is there is not a single country in the world that is authentic. We have been influenced by other cultures. Should we muzzle all of it? And musicians must not demean one’s dignity? What if they wrote a song about rape or domestic abuse. They may need to portray the act of demeaning another person to highlight the social issue,” she said.

Moreover, Article 32 states that to be acknowledged in the profession, musicians must take a competency test.

Gede Robi, a member of an Indie band Navicula, believes this can be used to silence independent musicians who are critical of the government. 

“They may not find negative elements in the songs, but it’s possible we can simply be dismissed from the profession, and no longer acknowledged as a musician,” he added. 

Robi said that a poorly drafted bill will hurt the music industry in Indonesia, especially the smaller independent bands. “We want the state to make our lives easier by not diminishing our efforts,” he said. 
…

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More than 200 Indonesian musicians have started a movement against a draft bill on music law (RUU Permusikan) being considered in the legislature that they say could limit freedom of expression.

Mondo Gascaro, a composer and music producer, and one of the people who initiated the National Coalition against the Draft Bill on Music, says most of the articles in the bill are problematic.

“These articles don’t address the problem about the welfare of people in the music industry. The government’s regulations should ensure a good ecosystem for music (industry), and instead the articles in the bill can potentially limit musicians’ freedom of expression,” he said at a press conference in Jakarta on February 6.

Gascaro believes the bill is also problematic because it is unclear what are the issues that the government wants to regulate because the bill only focuses on the musicians.

“They said this is about governance of the music industry, but there are terminologies that are missing from the bill when you talk about the industry, there’s production, creation, distribution, artists,” he continued.

The coalition is calling for the bill to be discarded. Arian Arifin, a vocalist of the Indonesian heavy metal band Seringai, said it is pointless to revise the bill because he said more than 80 percent of the articles are disorganized. 

Bill not yet finalized

Although the draft bill on music law has been included in the 2019 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas), which means it is one of the priority bills that can be passed this year, Representative Inosentius Samsul, a backer of the measure, said it is not final. 

“It can still be revised and reviewed,” the lawmaker said at a press conference on February 4.

“We make the framework and the main stakeholders (musicians) only need to fill it. If there are things that need improvement, we will be open to discuss it and revise the script,” he explained. 

The coalition is not convinced, however, because the bill is already in the Prolegnas, and revising a script with articles can be problematic. 

“Why bother revising, you might as well create a new one. Start from the beginning with transparency and credible sources,” Arifin said. 

One of the sources cited in the draft bill is a Blogspot page that was written by a student from a high school in Central Kalimantan. Rara Sekar Larasati, a singer and a researcher on Cultural Anthropology, questioned the sources that were used as a basis of the bill’s script. 

“The sources for the articles are irrelevant. How can you cite a Blogspot that was made by a high school student?” she told VOA.

Potential criminalization

Larasati said a major concern for artists is the possibility for musicians to be prosecuted and jailed under the draft bill.

“We see there’s Article 5 that can potentially be a ‘rubber law,’ ” she said, referring to the term used in Indonesia for a law with ambiguous wording that is open for broad interpretation. “This is like a pattern for the state to censor and control its citizens.”

The article states that musicians are not allowed to encourage the public to commit violence, make pornographic content, provoke dispute, commit blasphemy, bring the negative influence of a foreign culture, and demean people’s dignity.

Asfinawati, director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), said Article 50, at the end of the script, states anyone who violates Article 5 can be punished with imprisonment or fines. 

“But the wordings are problematic, must not encourage the public to commit acts against the law. In law, the word encourage is ambiguous. For example, a musician can sing on stage, but in one corner there are people gambling. The authority can say the performance encourage gambling, or be connected to a violent act in the same place,” she explained. 

In addition, the bill mentions the negative influence of foreign culture. Asfinawati is unsure whether it refers only to the negative things that may be adopted from another culture or deems all foreign cultures negative.

“When we talk about foreign (culture), the problem is there is not a single country in the world that is authentic. We have been influenced by other cultures. Should we muzzle all of it? And musicians must not demean one’s dignity? What if they wrote a song about rape or domestic abuse. They may need to portray the act of demeaning another person to highlight the social issue,” she said.

Moreover, Article 32 states that to be acknowledged in the profession, musicians must take a competency test.

Gede Robi, a member of an Indie band Navicula, believes this can be used to silence independent musicians who are critical of the government. 

“They may not find negative elements in the songs, but it’s possible we can simply be dismissed from the profession, and no longer acknowledged as a musician,” he added. 

Robi said that a poorly drafted bill will hurt the music industry in Indonesia, especially the smaller independent bands. “We want the state to make our lives easier by not diminishing our efforts,” he said. 
…

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Five months after fire gutted Brazil’s 200-year-old National Museum, the site that once held some of the nation’s greatest treasures remains a ruin of scorched walls, twisted metal and piles of ash.

 

Museum director Alexander Kellner said Tuesday that plans to rebuild the structure have just gotten underway, starting with a contract to restore the facade. Financial help is being provided by the Brazilian government as well as U.N. cultural agency, which is helping with restoration efforts and building repairs.

 

“We are very excited about the great prospect of reconstruction,” Kellner said outside the museum.

But the scale of the task was evident as authorities gave journalists a tour through the ruins.

 

Teams of volunteers are still using large sieves to sort through ash and other debris to hunt for fragments that might have survived the Sept. 2 blaze, working in summer heat with the roof burned away to leave just the sky.

Researchers said in December that they had recovered more than 1,500 surviving pieces, including indigenous arrows, a Peruvian vase and a pre-Colombian funeral urn.

 

In October, researchers recovered skull fragments and a part of the femur belonging to “Luzia,” the name that scientists gave to a woman who lived 11,500 years ago.

But those are just a tiny fraction of the more than 20 million pieces, including irreplaceable historical documents, that were in the museum when the fire ravaged the building. A large meteorite sits almost intact in the otherwise bare lobby.
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Five months after fire gutted Brazil’s 200-year-old National Museum, the site that once held some of the nation’s greatest treasures remains a ruin of scorched walls, twisted metal and piles of ash.

 

Museum director Alexander Kellner said Tuesday that plans to rebuild the structure have just gotten underway, starting with a contract to restore the facade. Financial help is being provided by the Brazilian government as well as U.N. cultural agency, which is helping with restoration efforts and building repairs.

 

“We are very excited about the great prospect of reconstruction,” Kellner said outside the museum.

But the scale of the task was evident as authorities gave journalists a tour through the ruins.

 

Teams of volunteers are still using large sieves to sort through ash and other debris to hunt for fragments that might have survived the Sept. 2 blaze, working in summer heat with the roof burned away to leave just the sky.

Researchers said in December that they had recovered more than 1,500 surviving pieces, including indigenous arrows, a Peruvian vase and a pre-Colombian funeral urn.

 

In October, researchers recovered skull fragments and a part of the femur belonging to “Luzia,” the name that scientists gave to a woman who lived 11,500 years ago.

But those are just a tiny fraction of the more than 20 million pieces, including irreplaceable historical documents, that were in the museum when the fire ravaged the building. A large meteorite sits almost intact in the otherwise bare lobby.
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A movie premiering in Berlin tells the true story of a young boy from a famine-stricken village in Malawi who studies books about energy then builds a wind turbine that enables farmers to irrigate their land.

Directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” tells the story of William, an engineering enthusiast who resorts to secretly using the school library to learn when he is expelled from school because his father – a poor farmer – cannot afford to pay the fees.

The farm land around the village gets flooded, ruining the crops, and then later dries out, leaving people with hardly any food. Desperate villagers steal food from William’s family and they end up with just enough for one meal per day.

Less educated villagers doubt William’s turbine idea will work and his father initially refuses to give him the bike – one of the family’s few possessions – that he needs to make it, telling him to start helping on the farm instead of studying.

The father later gives in and William uses the bike, some wood and junk that he finds in a scrapyard to build the towering construction that powers a water pump. At the end of the movie, he climbs the turbine to see green plants shooting out of what was previously dry, cracked and barren land.

“I was struck and continue to be struck by just what an extraordinary achievement it was,” Ejiofor said. “What his story represents is really living in the solution, not living in the problems.”

The film is based on an autobiographical book with the same title written by the real-life William Kamkwamba. Kamkwamba said he hoped people who had not read the book would see the movie and learn about his story, adding: “They might get inspired by my work that I did, so I’m very excited.”

Maxwell Simba, who plays William, said he was struck by William’s determination to fight for what he believes in despite his difficult relationship with his father and despite being expelled from school.

“If you are really determined to go get what you want, then the universe has its own way of working out for you to achieve at the end of the day what you wanted to achieve,” he said.
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A movie premiering in Berlin tells the true story of a young boy from a famine-stricken village in Malawi who studies books about energy then builds a wind turbine that enables farmers to irrigate their land.

Directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” tells the story of William, an engineering enthusiast who resorts to secretly using the school library to learn when he is expelled from school because his father – a poor farmer – cannot afford to pay the fees.

The farm land around the village gets flooded, ruining the crops, and then later dries out, leaving people with hardly any food. Desperate villagers steal food from William’s family and they end up with just enough for one meal per day.

Less educated villagers doubt William’s turbine idea will work and his father initially refuses to give him the bike – one of the family’s few possessions – that he needs to make it, telling him to start helping on the farm instead of studying.

The father later gives in and William uses the bike, some wood and junk that he finds in a scrapyard to build the towering construction that powers a water pump. At the end of the movie, he climbs the turbine to see green plants shooting out of what was previously dry, cracked and barren land.

“I was struck and continue to be struck by just what an extraordinary achievement it was,” Ejiofor said. “What his story represents is really living in the solution, not living in the problems.”

The film is based on an autobiographical book with the same title written by the real-life William Kamkwamba. Kamkwamba said he hoped people who had not read the book would see the movie and learn about his story, adding: “They might get inspired by my work that I did, so I’m very excited.”

Maxwell Simba, who plays William, said he was struck by William’s determination to fight for what he believes in despite his difficult relationship with his father and despite being expelled from school.

“If you are really determined to go get what you want, then the universe has its own way of working out for you to achieve at the end of the day what you wanted to achieve,” he said.
…

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Tolerance and non-judgemental understanding may be the best way to try to save radicalized young Europeans who want to go and join militant Islamists in Middle Eastern conflicts, veteran French actress Catherine Deneuve said on Tuesday.

“Farewell to the Night,” which premiered on Tuesday at the Berlin Film Festival, tells the story of Muriel, played by Deneuve, and her attempt to stop her grandson from joining Islamic State in Syria.

“The character in the film is certainly an intelligent woman, but she is also very tolerant, she is somebody who doesn’t judge, who tries to understand,” Deneuve told a news conference.

Muriel’s quiet life on a horse-breeding farm in rural France is interrupted by a visit from her grandson Alex whom she raised after his mother’s death in an accident.

He has stopped by the farm to say goodbye to her before supposedly leaving to take up a job in Canada. During his short stay, Muriel finds out that her grandson has been converted to Islam through his girlfriend Lila.

Muriel, herself born in Algeria, accepts her grandson’s new religion and tries to understand him. But she later learns that Alex plans to leave for Syria to join Islamic State and she becomes torn between trying to dissuade him from going and having the authorities intervene.

Crossing to the Other Side

“The whole point of the film for me was about how this down- to-earth woman…  how all of a sudden, she can find her way to help her grandson when she realises that he’s crossed over to the other side,” director Andre Techine said.

Techine said he wanted the audience to ask themselves what they would do if they found themselves in that situation.

Muriel turns for help to an ex-jihadist who returned to France after trying to live in Syria for a while.

The film portrays Alex as having little understanding of Islam or of the political situation in Syria. The internet is his primary source of information about his religion and, for him and Lila, life after death is the only one worth living.

Much of the characters’ dialogue in the film is drawn from interviews with de-radicalized jihadists, Techine said.

“These are actually their own words … I wanted those words to be heard by the audience,” he said.

Out of more than 5,000 Europeans – mostly from Britain, France, Germany and Belgium – known to have joined the ranks of Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq, some 1,500 have returned, Europe’s police agency said last year.
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Tolerance and non-judgemental understanding may be the best way to try to save radicalized young Europeans who want to go and join militant Islamists in Middle Eastern conflicts, veteran French actress Catherine Deneuve said on Tuesday.

“Farewell to the Night,” which premiered on Tuesday at the Berlin Film Festival, tells the story of Muriel, played by Deneuve, and her attempt to stop her grandson from joining Islamic State in Syria.

“The character in the film is certainly an intelligent woman, but she is also very tolerant, she is somebody who doesn’t judge, who tries to understand,” Deneuve told a news conference.

Muriel’s quiet life on a horse-breeding farm in rural France is interrupted by a visit from her grandson Alex whom she raised after his mother’s death in an accident.

He has stopped by the farm to say goodbye to her before supposedly leaving to take up a job in Canada. During his short stay, Muriel finds out that her grandson has been converted to Islam through his girlfriend Lila.

Muriel, herself born in Algeria, accepts her grandson’s new religion and tries to understand him. But she later learns that Alex plans to leave for Syria to join Islamic State and she becomes torn between trying to dissuade him from going and having the authorities intervene.

Crossing to the Other Side

“The whole point of the film for me was about how this down- to-earth woman…  how all of a sudden, she can find her way to help her grandson when she realises that he’s crossed over to the other side,” director Andre Techine said.

Techine said he wanted the audience to ask themselves what they would do if they found themselves in that situation.

Muriel turns for help to an ex-jihadist who returned to France after trying to live in Syria for a while.

The film portrays Alex as having little understanding of Islam or of the political situation in Syria. The internet is his primary source of information about his religion and, for him and Lila, life after death is the only one worth living.

Much of the characters’ dialogue in the film is drawn from interviews with de-radicalized jihadists, Techine said.

“These are actually their own words … I wanted those words to be heard by the audience,” he said.

Out of more than 5,000 Europeans – mostly from Britain, France, Germany and Belgium – known to have joined the ranks of Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq, some 1,500 have returned, Europe’s police agency said last year.
…

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The governing body for chess launched a campaign on Tuesday for the game to be included at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) called for faster formats of traditional chess, called rapid and blitz, to be included on the Olympic program.

FIDE said in a statement that the game of chess has a “genuine global appeal” and that it has 189 national federations and 600 million people who practice chess globally.

The International Olympic Committee recognized chess as a sport in 1999 and a year later it was an exhibition event at the Sydney Olympics.

A bid by chess officials to be included in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics failed.
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The governing body for chess launched a campaign on Tuesday for the game to be included at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) called for faster formats of traditional chess, called rapid and blitz, to be included on the Olympic program.

FIDE said in a statement that the game of chess has a “genuine global appeal” and that it has 189 national federations and 600 million people who practice chess globally.

The International Olympic Committee recognized chess as a sport in 1999 and a year later it was an exhibition event at the Sydney Olympics.

A bid by chess officials to be included in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics failed.
…

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“Piranhas,” a film about children wrapped up in the violence of the Neapolitan drugs trade, was inspired by crime journalist Roberto Saviano’s desire to understand the emotional lives of teenagers who knew they were heading for violent early deaths.

The film, based on his novel of the same name, is one of 16 in the running for the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear award, and shows the naive beginnings and breakneck escalation of the criminal career of a young boy named Nicola.

“For the first time in international criminal history young kids have got to the highest levels of a criminal group,” said Saviano, author of the best-selling account of organized crime “Gomorrah,” ahead of the film’s premiere on Tuesday evening.

“There have always been children in these organizations but never as bosses. This is a unique case in history and that is what got me to work on it,” added the author, who lives under 24-hour guard because of his organized crime reporting.

Set in Rione Sanita, a deprived area near the center of Naples, the film startles the viewer with each sudden escalation in Nicola’s level of criminality.

The use of amateur actors recruited in the neighborhood itself lends authenticity to the drama, directed by Claudio Giovannesi.

Nicola (Francesco Di Napoli), first sells weed for the local gang so he can ask them to stop demanding protection money from his mother’s laundry shop. Before long, he is torching cars and murdering rivals, even while pursuing a quintessentially teenage romance with neighborhood waitress Letizia (Viviana Aprea).

“What does a 12-year-old or a 15-year-old feel when they make millions of euros, above all when they know they are heading for their death,” asked Saviano. “People are dying at 19 or 20, thinking they have lived a full life.”

Di Napoli said children like the one he portrayed were driven by a sense of having no alternative.

“If you come from an extremely poor family and have nothing at all, you have a hunger within you,” said Artem Tkachuk, who plays another gang member. “The alternative is to have a dream, to be able to fight for something they love.”

Saviano was critical of Italy’s political class for having “given up” trying to offer something for children, leaving them to take their fate into their own hands.
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