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Cara termudah untuk melupakan sesuatu, adalah dengan mengingat sesuatu . . . #jakarta #jakartahits #jktinfo #jakartapost #jakartaphotography #jakartaescape #jktourism https://www.instagram.com/p/B4HF7cyF0tC/?igshid=xx4wq7p1w3jz

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Tragedi Berdarah Papua di Penghujung 2018

Kabar duka di penghujung tahun 2018 datang dari Bumi Cenderawasih, Papua. Tepatnya dari Distrik Yigi, Kabupaten Nduga, Papua Barat, Sabtu (1/12). Dari 23 orang pekerja PT Istaka Karya yang tengah mengerjakan proyek jembatan di Kali Yigi-Kali Aurak, 19 diantaranya dibunuh oleh Kelompok Kriminal Bersenjata (KKB). Mereka digiring dengan tangan terikat dan berjalan jongkok menuju lokasi pembantaian tersebut. Sedangkan untuk korban selamat pembunuhan di papua berjumlah 13 orang. Mereka yang berhasil selamat karena berpura-pura mati untuk mengelabui kelompok bersenjata.

Tidak hanya itu, Pos TNI Mbua di Kabupaten Nduga, Papua Barat juga diserang keesokan harinya, Minggu (2/12) sekitar jam 18.30 WIT. Di pos itu diperkirakan ada 21 anggota TNI. Sempat terjadi baku tembak yang menyebabkan satu anggota TNI dari Yonif 755 Kostrad, Sertu Handoko gugur. Total, 20 orang tewas akibat penyerangan kelompok ini.

Aksi penyerangan kelompok separatis ini ternyata tak berhenti sampai di situ. Pada Rabu (5/12), penyerangan kembali dilakukan terhadap tim gabungan yang tengah mengevakuasi jenazah Sertu Handoko. Dalam penyerangan ini, Bharatu Wahyu, anggota Brimob Kelapa Dua Jakarta, tertembak saat kontak senjata pasukan gabungan Polri dan TNI dengan kelompok kriminal separatis bersenjata (KKSB) di Yigi, Distrik Yall, Kabupaten Nduga. Beruntung nyawanya masih bisa diselamatkan.

Dugaan awal, pemicu kejadian pembunuhan tersebut karena para pekerja diduga merekam dan menyaksikan kelompok separatis bersenjata sedang memperingati Hari Ulang Tahun Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) yang jatuh pada 1 Desember. Dugaan lain, kelompok separatis ini kesal lantaran para pekerja berupaya membangun infrastruktur di Papua. Sebab, pesatnya pembangunan di Papua akan menghambat gerakan mereka.

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Dari penyerangan ini, muncul nama Egianus Kogoya. Dia diduga sebagai pimpinan gerakan separatis Papua. Selama ini serangkaian teror kelompok Egianus Kogoya sangat meresahkan. Egianus juga aktor di balik penculikan 15 guru dan sejumlah tenaga kesehatan di Mapenduma. Mereka disandera selama 14 hari mulai 3 Oktober hingga 17 Oktober 2018. Egianus bagian dari pemimpin separatis senior dan komandan dari sayap militer Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM), Kelly Kwalik. Di tahun 2009, Egianus membentuk kelompoknya usai Kelly tewas dalam serangan polisi.

"Iya betul, kita indentifikasi itu (Egianus Kogoya). Dia yang melakukan penganiayaan di Mapenduma," ucap Aidi di Jakarta, Selasa (4/12).

Distrik Yigi semula merupakan zona aman. Namun situasi berubah. Distrik ini menjadi masuk dalam zona merah setelah kelompok kriminal bersenjata (KKB) pimpinan Egianus Kogoya menghuni distrik tersebut. Egianus dan kelompoknya pindah ke Distrik Yigi karena terdesak kejaran TNI-Polri dari Distrik Kenyam, Nduga. Sejak saat itu, Distrik Yigi masuk dalam kategori zona merah dari sisi keamanan.

Kabar penyerangan ini juga langsung sampai ke telinga Presiden Jokowi. Kepala Negara langsung memerintahkan Panglima TNI Marsekal Hadi Tjahjanto dan Kapolri Jenderal Tito Karnavian untuk mengejar dan menangkap para pelaku. Tidak ada tempat bagi kelompok-kelompok kriminal senjata di tanah Papua maupun seluruh pelosok Tanah Air. Jokowi juga menekankan, insiden penembakan tidak membuat pemerintah takut dan berhenti membangun Papua.

"Saya telah memerintahkan kepada Panglima TNI dan Kapolri untuk mengejar dan menangkap seluruh pelaku tindakan biadab tersebut. Ini membuat tekad kita membara untuk melanjutkan tugas besar kita membangun tanah Papua," kata Jokowi saat memberikan keterangan pers di Istana Merdeka, Jakarta, Rabu (5/12).

Menko Polhukam Wiranto ikut geram. Dia mengutuk aksi penyerangan ini. Apalagi penyerangan dilakukan kepada warga sipil yang tengah membangun infrastruktur untuk kesejahteraan masyarakat Papua. Wiranto tak habis pikir dengan penyerangan itu. Apalagi korbannya adalah orang-orang yang berjasa memajukan wilayah Timur Indonesia.

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Mantan Panglima ABRI ini telah bicara dengan Kapolri Jenderal Tito Karnavian dan Panglima TNI Marsekal Hadi Tjahjanto untuk mengejar kelompok separatis ini. Pasukan TNI dan Polri langsung terjun memburu kelompok ini. Di bawah komando Pangdam XVII/Cendrawasih Mayjen TNI Yosua Pandit Sembiring dan Kapolda Papua Irjen Pol. Martuani Sormin Siregar, pasukan bergerak mencari pemberontak yang diperkirakan berjumlah 30 sampai 50 orang. Mereka selalu bergerilya, masuk ke dalam hutan.

"Jadi tadi saya sudah bicara dengan Kapolri, Panglima TNI untuk segera dilakukan pengejaran yang habis-habisan. Supaya apa? Supaya tak terulang lagi. Ya habis-habisan, sampai ketemu," tegas Wiranto.

Kelompok separatis di Papua memang selalu ingin menunjukkan eksistensinya setiap 1 Desember. Bagi mereka, 1 Desember merupakan hari penting sejak Belanda memberikan kemerdekaan bagi kelompok ini. Mereka juga dilengkapi dengan senjata. Kapolri Jenderal Tito Karnavian memaparkan cara kelompok pemberontak di Papua mendapatkan senjata. Pertama, kawanan pemberontak mendapatkan senjata dari hasil rampasan anggota TNI-Polri. Mereka juga mendapatkan senjata dari sisa-sisa konflik Ambon.

"Jadi kita ada mereka mendapatkannya dengan merampas dari anggota, beberapa kali kami membongkar, dari konflik Ambon mereka cari, yang kita tangkap buktinya ada," kata Tito di Istana Negara, Jakarta, Rabu (5/12).

Para pemberontak juga mendapatkan senjata dari jaringan ilegal di perbatasan Papua Nugini. Temuan-temuan itu, kata Tito, didapat melalui keterangan pemberontak yang tertangkap.

Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat (TPNPB) di bawah komando Egianus Kogoya mengakui sebagai kelompok penyerangan yang melakukan pembunuhan terhadap satu orang anggota TNI dan 19 orang pekerja proyek jembatan di Kabupaten Nduga. "Kami tidak suka Pemerintah Indonesia membangun proyek di Papua karena itu sebagai bentuk penjajahan," kata juru bicara TPNPB Sebby Sambom kepada Tabloid Merdeka.

Menurut mereka, pembangunan di berbagai sektor ekonomi, bisnis dan lain-lain sebagai bagian dari penjajahan Indonesia terhadap Papua. Berbagai aksi teror yang mereka lakukan itu sebagai peringatan agar pemerintah Indonesia menyetop pembangunan di Papua. Bahkan, mereka menuding proyek infratsruktur banyak dikerjakan TNI.

"Mereka itu militer Indonesia. TPN identifikasi, mayoritas pekerja adalah intelijen dan anggota TNI berpakaian preman. Mereka diback up oleh pos TNI di Mbua. Trans Papua itu dibangun TNI, sudah bukan rahasia. Seluruh orang Papua tahu itu. Jangan salahkan TPNPB, salahkan TNI siapa suruh kau laksanakan proyek."

Kendati terus diburu TNI dan Polri, kelompok ini mengaku tidak bakal menyerah. Mereka akan terus bergerilya untuk memperjuangkan kemerdekaan. Keinginan kelompok ini hanya satu, kemerdekaan bagi Papua.

"Indonesia menjajah kami sejak tahun 1963 sampai sekarang, kami tidak pernah menyerah. Selama 55 tahun kami berjuang terus. Yang tua meninggal, yang muda melanjutkan. Karena semua orang Papua mau merdeka."

Tudingan itu langsung dibantah Kepala Penerangan Kodam (Kapendam) XVII/Cenderawasih Kolonel Inf M Aidi. Dia menantang Sebbu Sambom untuk melihat langsung bahwa korban adalah sipil. Bukan Tentara.

"Kalau memang dia menuding bahwa korban yang dibantai itu anggota TNI, maka saya undang yang bersangkutan datang ke Timika, agar dia bisa membuktikan bahwa pernyataanya itu benar atau salah, silakan cek," ucapnya menegaskan.

TNI juga tidak terima dengan pernyataan kelompok separatis terkait alasan penyerangan karena jalan dan jembatan trans-Papua di Nduga dibangun tentara. Sehingga ini dijadikan dalil untuk menyerang pekerja.

"Jika TNI bangun jalan apakah pantas dibantai? Ini logikanya, pola pikir secara moral. TNI hadir untuk membangun Papua, kesejahteraan rakyat Papua, kok harus dibantai, dibunuh? Ini logika kedua," tuturnya.

Peristiwa ini juga menyita perhatian Komisi Tinggi Hak Asasi Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa (OHCHR). Juru bicara OHCHR Ravina Shamdasani mengatakan kekerasan yang terjadi di Papua itu tidak dapat dibenarkan. Menurutnya, akar masalah di Papua selama ini tidak dipahami dan ditangani dengan baik oleh pemerintah Indonesia.

"Ada banyak keluhan, dan ini juga banyak terjadi di belahan dunia lain, ketika keluhan tidak ditanggapi atau ada tekanan turun temurun maka orang main hakim sendiri sebab suara mereka tidak didengar. Inilah yang saat ini terjadi di lapisan masyarakat bawah di Papua," kata dia.

Menanggapi itu, Wakil Presiden Jusuf Kalla menegaskan bahwa pemerintah sudah berupaya meredam konflik di Papua. Berbagai permintaan sudah dilakukan dan diberikan. Mulai dari hak politik hingga ekonomi. JK menjelaskan semua pihak sudah maksimal meredam konflik di Papua. Sudah berkali-kali pemerintah mengupayakan. Namun masih banyak pihak yang belum bisa memahami hal tersebut.

Menurutnya, banyak pihak yang salah paham terkait kebijakan pemerintah. Salah satunya pembangunan jalan raya Trans Papua, dan pembangunan infrastruktur lainnya dapat membuka akses bagi Papua.

"Sekarang sebenarnya, opsi dialog itu juga pertanyaannya apanya lagi yang bisa didialogkan. Semua sudah dikasih ke daerah terkecuali kemerdekaan. Dana itu sudah jauh lebih besar daripada sebelumnya," kata JK di Istana Wakil Presiden.

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Perburuan terhadap kelompok ini terus dilakukan. Baku tembak tak terhindarkan. Kontak tembak terjadi sekitar pukul 06.20 WIT, Selasa (11/12). Dua anggota TNI dilaporkan terluka saat aparat gabungan TNI-Polri kontak tembak dengan kelompok separatis bersenjata di Yigi, Kabupaten Nduga, Provinsi Papua. Pratu Budi dan Praka Aswad tertembak namun keduanya dalam kondisi stabil.

Dalam pengejaran ini, aparat juga menemukan tiga jenazah anggota kelompok separatis di pegunungan. Ketiga jenazah teridentifikasi sebagai ML yang ditemukan 300 meter di atas lokasi penyerangan, NI ditemukan 400 meter di atas lokasi penyerangan, dan NW yang ditemukan di atas lokasi penyerangan dengan kondisi tubuh terbakar. SOP dari KKB, apabila anggota mereka ada yang mati karena ditembak harus dibakar untuk menghilangkan jejak. Polisi mengklaim, kekuatan KKB yang tersisa saat ini di Kabupaten Nduga hanya sekitar 25 orang

Kini, Polisi dan TNI sudah berhasil menguasai Kabupaten Nduga. Kondisinya pun sudah kondusif. Presiden juga sudah berulang kali menegaskan bahwa proyek pembangunan Trans Papua harus tetap berjalan. Dalam hal ini, negara tidak boleh kalah dari siapapun.

Presiden Jokowi menyebut para korban sebagai pahlawan. Bukan tanpa alasan, para pekerja bertaruh nyawa demi terwujudnya pembangunan infrastruktur Trans Papua. Demi kesejahteraan dan pemerataan pembangunan. Karena itu, meski ada insiden penembakan, Jokowi tidak gentar untuk menghentikan proyek pembangunan di pulau paling ujung Timur Indonesia.

"Yang bekerja di sana betul-betul bertaruh nyawa. Dan sekali lagi ingin saya sampaikan bahwa pembangunan Trans Papua tetap terus dijalankan diteruskan. Tidak akan berhenti," tegas Jokowi.

Sejalan dengan itu, upaya perburuan terus dilakukan. Kapolri Tito Karnavian punya cara sendiri dalam melakukan pengejaran. Dengan operasi penegakan hukum terbatas. Bukan tanpa alasan. Sebab, kelompok ini memainkan isu propaganda agar menarik simpati dunia internasional.

"Intinya tetap dilakukan pengejaran tapi tidak terlalu banyak diekspos. Ditangkap ya sudah saja. Jangan (media) yang disampaikan pas lagi polisi mukul begini, maka digoreng lagi sama mereka (KKSB). Ini genderang propaganda mereka yang teman-teman bisa masuk tanpa sadar," kata Tito.

Aksi brutal dalam bentuk pembantaian dilakukan agar terjadi dialog dengan pemerintah dalam upaya melepas Papua dari Indonesia.

"Kemudian memancing aksi eksesif akibat aksi balasan dari pemerintah. Nanti aksi ini bisa buat isu baru, pelanggaran HAM berat pemerintah," kata Tito.

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Wash Avocados to avoid Food Poisoning: FDA

While most of us may not be used to washing an avocado before cutting it open, recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) findings could be a reason to change that habit. (Shutterstock/Nataliya Arzamasova) 

While most of us may not be used to washing an avocado before cutting it open, recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) findings may provide reason to change that habit.

Newsweek recently reported that the FDA had collected more than a 1,000 avocado samples between 2014 and 2016 to be tested, as a way to prevent consumers from eating contaminated food.

The FDA conducted the test to find out the pervasiveness of potentially infectious bacteria, namely salmonella and listeria monocytogenes. The two types of bacteria are said to likely transfer from the peel to the flesh when the fruit is cut open.

A test result showed that around 12 of 1,615 sampled avocados contained salmonella on the skin. The fruits are of Hass variety and domestically grown in the US.

Another 361 avocados were tested, and 64 of them are found to contain listeria on the skin. Thirty-three of them were domestic fruits and the rest were imported. Listeria was also found on the flesh of three fruits out of another 1,254 imported avocados tested.

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The reports, however, did not detail the concentration of the bacteria in the samples. Although low listeria exposure does not tend to cause serious illness for most healthy adults, it could harm pregnant women, newborns, adults aged 65 and older, and those with weakened immune systems, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

CDC also informed that listeriosis, an infection caused by listeria, affects around 1,600 people every year in the US. The infection, marked by various symptoms including headache, confusion, stiff neck, loss of balance, convulsions, fever and muscle aches can also cause death (around 260 out of 1,600 cases).

Regardless of no listeria outbreaks associated to avocados reported in the US, FDA’s research indicates that the strains are “highly related” to those found in contaminated people.

Salmonella, the other bacteria found on avocados, is the culprit behind 1.2 million illnesses that lead to about 450 deaths every year in the US, according to CDC data. The infection symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps, but most people can recover without having to receive medical treatment.

It is safest, however, to wash avocado skin thoroughly with water before consumption. Better yet, use a clean produce brush to scrub avocado skin, to prevent any dirt and bacteria from transferring from the knife to the flesh of the fruit.

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Indonesia could go 'Extinct' if I lose Election: Prabowo

Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto greets a girl during a 212 rally on Jl. MH Thamrin on Sunday. (tim media prabowo sandi official) (Courtesy of Prabowo-Sandiaga Media Team)

In a speech made at the Gerindra Party National Conference in Bogor, West Java, on Monday, Gerindra chairman and presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto told thousands of his party members that Indonesia could go “extinct” if he did not prevail over President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the upcoming election.

“We must not lose. If we lose, this country could go extinct,” he said. “Because the Indonesian elites are always disappointing, always failing to carry out the mandate given by the Indonesian people.”

He said the country had been heading in the wrong direction for decades.

“If the same system is continued, Indonesia will become weak. Indonesia will become even poorer, even more helpless and could even go extinct,” he said.

The statement was met with criticism and derision from Prabowo’s political opponents, who said that the former general’s speech was exaggerated and overly negative.

“Pak Prabowo never repents. He’s always trying to scare the people,” Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) secretary-general and Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin campaign team spokesman Raja Juli Antoni told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. "What can be expected from a presidential candidate that can only spread fear and pessimism?”

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He added that he did not see a correlation between Prabowo losing and the dissolution of Indonesia.

“Indonesia will be just fine or even better if Prabowo loses,” he said.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said the public should not be alarmed by Prabowo’s statement.

“If after the election, Prabowo loses and Indonesia remains intact and not extinct, then [Prabowo’s] Hambalang house should be given to me,” he said jokingly on Tuesday. “If, on the other hand, Indonesia becomes extinct, then my house will be given to Prabowo, because if everything goes extinct, than what would we need houses for?”

Jokowi's running mate Ma’ruf Amin gave a similarly lighthearted take on Prabowo’s speech.

“Indonesia will not go extinct, it’s not an ancient animal,” he said on Tuesday as quoted by tempo.co.

This is not the first time Prabowo has expressed a gloomy outlook for the country. In March, he said that Indonesia could fall apart by 2030.

“Brothers and sisters! We are still holding flag ceremonies, we are still singing patriotic songs, we are still using national symbols and the pictures of our founding fathers are still here,” he said at the time. “But in other countries, they have conducted studies that say that the Republic of Indonesia will no longer exist by 2030.”

Prabowo later admitted that he was referring to techno-thriller novel Ghost Fleet, which was written in 2015 by American political scientist PW Singer.

Prabowo-Sandiaga Uno campaign team spokesperson Dahnil Aznar Simanjuntak said Prabowo’s statement was referring to the overconcentration of resources in the hands of a few.

“Prabowo-Sandi wants to develop Indonesia, not just develop in Indonesia,” Dahnil told the Post on Tuesday. “The country’s sovereignty is being eroded because everything is being controlled by a few large capital owners. This makes the government unable to maintain political, economic and cultural sovereignty. If these conditions continue, that means the country could go extinct.”

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Indonesians find Guilty Pleasure in Internet fights

Ratna Sarumpaet, a former member of the campaign team for presidential election pair Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno, is ushered by police officers at the Jakarta Police headquarters for questioning on Thursday evening. Jakarta Police arrested her at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang over her alleged role in spreading false information to the public. (Warta Kota/Alex Suban)

The internet, in recent years, has started to replace television soap operas for drama-hungry Indonesians. Especially in 2018, when unnecessary fights have been started by the myriad of people both famous and not famous for the sake of provocation and a sense of dominance in the online equivalent of bar fights. The attention that these figures received showed that there is significant demand for fights and drama. Probably the most prominent internet controversy in Indonesia that took place in 2018 was the saga surrounding actress-cum-activist Ratna Sarumpaet in October, where she falsely claimed that she had been assaulted by several people in Bandung. Ratna has served as a propaganda megaphone in favor of everything related to 2019 presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and was part of his campaign team. It turned out that the widely circulated photograph of her swollen face was just a temporary side effect of plastic surgery that she tried to spin in her favor. “There was no assault. That was just a delusion inspired by Satan,” Ratna told the media hours after the police held a conference questioning her claims. She was promptly arrested before she boarded a plane heading to Chile for what she said was a women’s rights conference. Prabowo’s camp has since distanced itself from her as a political precaution. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); It was not the only internet controversy that surrounded politicians in this volatile pre-election year that will feature President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo versus Prabowo. Some politicians still retained their consistency in picking fights with all kinds of people for the sake of their credibility. Even going toward the pop culture spectrum. For one, this year also saw the intense but still unnecessary debate surrounding the release of two films; Putrama Tuta’s biopic A Man Called Ahok and the Manoj Punjabi production Hanum and Rangga: Faith In The City. These two films came out at roughly the same time, but both carried staunch political undertones behind the screen, partly because Hanum and Rangga is about the son of anti-Jokowi politician Amien Rais’ daughter Hanum whileAhok is about former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who has always been one of the president’s closest compadres. Hanum got substantial ire on the internet for allegedly instructing members of her father’s party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), to go and fill seats at the cinema, while there were similar accusations from the Ahok film camp of giving away free tickets to fill seats. Hanum herself launched her defense by posting a positive online review by one of the filmgoers as proof that the film is worth watching. A more recent controversy came from the depths of Indonesia’s myriad YouTube stars. Gaming YouTuber Qorygore entered the Aokigahara Forest, known as a popular suicide spot in Japan, and gleefully filmed his encounters with the bodies found in the forest. In his video, now taken down, he proclaimed that “this is Logan Paul 2.0”, referring to American YouTube star Logan Paul who did the exact same thing in January. Despite the backlash that Paul received over the video, which included the suspension of his ad revenue, Qorygore seemed to forgo all common sense and recreated the stunt for the sake of viewer numbers. He later clarified his actions in a video saying that he had a permit to film inside the forest and suggested that he did not get close to the bodies “out of respect”. Aside from these major controversies taking place on the internet, in reality there are hundreds of others that took place on both a small and large scale. It would be impossible to list them all and correctly determine which ones are truly public controversies. From the laughable political debacle regarding the claim by Prabowo’s spokesperson Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak about running mate Sandiaga Uno being the equivalent of Indonesian founding vice president Mohammad Hatta — which was fiercely rejected by Hatta’s outspoken granddaughter Gustika Jusuf Hatta — to celebrity beefs such as the ones surrounding bombshell Nikita Marzani, model Luna Maya, pop diva Syahrini and Vicky Prasetyo’s unlawful stalking of his ex-wife Angel Lelga, there was just too much to bear for Indonesians to consume.   But at least some noble Twitter accounts such as @Lambe_Turah and@InfoTwitwor are willing to take one for the team and document almost every single feud that happened on the Indonesian internet. Bless their souls for doing something none of us really want to do to quench our thirst for drama.

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Angelina Jolie hints at move into Politics

Angelina Jolie hinted on Friday, Dec. 28, she could one day enter politics, as she urged global leaders to do more to help refugees and women in conflict.

Asked whether she was moving towards a political career, the Hollywood star, an envoy for the UN refugee agency who has also campaigned on sexual violence against women, said she would "go where I'm needed".

"If you asked me 20 years ago, I would've laughed," she said in an interview with British broadcaster the BBC. "I don't know if I'm fit for politics, but then I've also joked that I don't know if I have a skeleton left in my closet."

Jolie said her work with the United Nations and other organizations enabled her to "get a lot done without a title", but did not rule out a future switch.

"I honestly will do whatever I think can really make change and right now, I am able to work with a UN agency... to do a lot of work directly with the people in need," she said.

"I'm also able to work with governments and I'm also able to work with militaries. And so I sit in a very interesting place of being able to get a lot done without a title and without it being about myself or my policies. So for now I'll sit quiet."

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The Oscar-winning actor has in recent years visited refugee camps to highlight the plight of those uprooted by war, and broadened her international efforts to protect women, working with Nato and governments to help stop the use of rape as a weapon of war.

With 68.5 million people uprooted globally, she said more needed to be done to support refugees and host communities in developing countries.

"The focus should be what is happening to these people? Why is this happening? How do we have this many people uprooted and what are the causes?" Jolie said.

UN members earlier this month adopted a deal aimed at improving the way world copes with rising migration.

The non-binding pact, meant to foster cooperation on migration, was agreed in July by all 193 UN members except the United States, but only 164 formally signed it at the meeting.

"This should not be seen as a headache for people. This is how we need our leaders to be thinking about balancing our world," she added.

Voice for women

Jolie, a mother of six who last year released her film First They Killed My Fatherabout Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime, launched the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative in 2012 with Britain's former foreign minister William Hague.

Nato agreed in January to help report on sexual violence in war to help bring perpetrators to justice and challenge the idea that rape is an unavoidable aspect of conflict.

But there have been questions over the effectiveness of the initiative, especially in light of the mass rape of Rohingya women in Myanmar during a crackdown that forced 720,000 refugees to flee to Bangladesh.

Interviewed on BBC Radio's Today programme, which she guest edited, Jolie said the campaign had made a difference.

"I have met victims who finally got reparations when they didn't have them before," she said. "When there are prosecutions and when there is accountability, we will see a real change."

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Historic library weaves 'Harry Potter'-style tourist magic in Rio

From the outside, it looks like another historic edifice in Rio's rundown city center.

Inside, however, is a multi-tiered library so spectacular, so ornate, that stunned visitors feel like they've walked into a movie fantasy set.

"In 'Harry Potter' we've seen libraries like this!" exclaimed Didier Margouet, a 57-year-old French tourist, looking around at the shelves of leather bound books climbing the walls under an octagonal skylight of red, white and blue stained glass.

"Yes, like in the movies," agreed his partner, Laeticia Rau, 50.

The Royal Portuguese Reading Room -- the Real Gabinete Portugues de Leitura in Portuguese -- was built in the late 19th century under the stewardship of an association of Portuguese migrants that still cares for the institution.

Its Gothic-Renaissance architecture and plethora of carvings, tiles and sculptures celebrate the glory of the Portuguese discoveries era in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Holding some 350,000 books, some of them very rare, the library today is more a tourist attraction and selfie backdrop than a reading room, though for a few it remains an indispensable haven for the largest collection of Portuguese-language books outside of Portugal.

- Loyal reader -

One such loyal reader is Carlos Francisco Moura, an 86-year-old who writes about the history of Portugal.

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He arrived in Brazil from Portugal aged four with his parents, and from childhood became a regular visitor. Now retired from his profession as architect, Moura spends his time leafing through the tomes, copying information for his own books.

"This is the alma mater of the Portuguese in Brazil -- the reading room is that, and a lot more," Moura told AFP, sitting at one of the dark wooden desks.

The library is a valuable resource, he explained, because since the 1930s it has become a repository of every book published in Portugal.

Brazil's historic connection with its former colonial ruler runs deep. In 1808, Portugal's king and his government made Rio de Janeiro the capital of the Portuguese Empire.

Later, the king's son declared independence and made himself the emperor of Brazil. Portuguese remained the country's principal language, and with it a two-way literary culture between the two countries. Today, the Portuguese and Brazilian flags both fly on the library's exterior.

- Custodian -

Orlando Inacio, 67, manages the place. He too came from Portugal as a boy -- and has never returned.

"It's a real point of pride to know that this library created by Portuguese is one of the most beautiful in the world," he said.

Giving a bit of its history, he traced the library's roots back to an association of Portuguese immigrants started in 1837.

"The aim was to help the immigrants, who in general were little educated, to improve their knowledge, their education," he said.

The association continues to fund the library, its members paying a monthly amount that helps cover part of its overheads. The rest of the income comes from other buildings owned by the association that are rented out.

Inacio acknowledged that the internet has brought changes, reducing the need for researchers and bookworms to frequent the place except for consulting rare books that are otherwise unavailable.

But his delight in his everyday office is evident. He is, after all, custodian of a temple of literature steeped in history, connecting Portugal and Brazil in a bond of language. 

[mohrezap]

UT becomes increasingly popular among high school graduates

The Open University of Indonesia (UT) is becoming increasingly popular among high school graduates as evidenced by the increasing number enrolling in the open and distant learning education institution over the last few years.

Phiww! Jarang - jarang UT masuk portal berita. Seems the Open University its more popular than before