Baidu Sells Unit to Alibaba's Startup

Baidu Inc. sold control of its unprofitable food delivery business to startup backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as the search engine cuts back on cash burning ventures to focus on artificial intelligence.
Baidu will become a shareholder in Ele.me after the Alibaba backed firm completes its purchase of the Waimai business, the companies said on Thursday. No price was released and it does not include the group buying business Nuomi.
The companies were in talks for a deal at a steep discount to the US$2.5 billion Waimai was valued at in its last round of fundraising, a person familiar with the matter said last month.
Quitting its own standalone business represents a retreat for Baidu founder Robin Li, who told investors in 2015 that online to offline services like food delivery would come to define the company.
He pledged to invest 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) over three years to make it a profitable multibillion dollar business that used artificial intelligence to cut frosts, boost service levels and dominate its rival.
Instead, Baidu's arch rivals used their deeper pockets and aggressive discounting to win customers, turning the search giant's food delivery and group buying platforms into loss making also rans.
Ele.me, which is 23 percent owned by Alibaba, had 28 million monthly active users as of May and complements the e commerce operator's own on demand services affiliate Koubei.
Together they are vying for supremacy with Tencent backed startup Meituan Dianping.
Waimai is the latest example of Baidu finding itself on the wrong side of costly startup battles.
It backed Huber Technologies Inc. in China through years of subsidy wars before the United States ride sharing giant surrendered to local rival Didi Chuxing. In 2016 profit growth fell for the first time since the company listed.

Blomberg/ Beijing/ Hong Kong

Spice And All Things Rice: Lagos Pays Homage To Jollof

In Nigeria, jollof rice isn't just a tasty West African dish - it's a national obsession.
Dozens of top chefs gathered on the weekend for Lagos' inaugural jollof festival, showcasing their personal twists on the tangy tomatoey rice to a crowd of hundreds of hungry hipsters.
Imoteda Aladekomo, a 31 year old chef who has been making jollof for four years, has led the way in reinventing the national staple, creating several pioneering variants through her company Eko Street Eats.
"It's so popular because it's easy to customize," she said while preparing take away boxes at the jollof fair, staged at former railway yard complete with disused train tracks, blaring Nigerian music and a giant version of Scrabble.
"Rice is really easy to get here whereas other ingredients aren't. Every party has to have jollof rice and every Sunday people will have it, having looked forward to it all week," she added, her plastic gloves caked in rice.
"Jollof rice will always reign supreme - even compared to McDonald's or whatever, your jollof rice captures people's childhoods."
Her flagship version, deep fried in breadcrumbs and served with plantain sauce and a fiery red pepper coulis, drew a steady stream of jollof aficionados.

Literally Obsessed
More Alatise, a self taught chef, also drew a crowd with her distinctive fusion style jollof offerings.
"We try to do a mix of really local recipes, but I imagine it with things from other countries - like very traditional gnocchi from Italy with jollof," the 30 year old told AFP.
"Or a rice bowl from Asia - but instead of white rice, I made it with jollof," she said, wearing oversized sunglasses and a hat decorated with a feather.
"I've been to Italy and I read and researched a lot. It's literally our staple, we're so proud it's the nation's favorite dish. We're literally obsessed."
The origins of the distinctive, deceptively simple dish are hotly contested.
The word jollof is related to "Will of," a language spoken in Senegal where the dish is also popular. As well as Nigeria and Senegal, variants of the recipe are enjoyed across West Africa.
"There's this big battle about where it came from. I've tried jollof from Senegal and it wasn't great. I think ours is best - but I'm a little biased," said Alatise.
But the divisions were set aside in 2014 when British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver adapted the local favorite with alien ingredients including parsley and lemon - inspiring Ozoz Sokoh, a Lagos food blogger, to set up the festival this year.

You Cannot Colonize Our Plates
"There was this whole brouhaha when Jamie Oliver made it and it didn't look like jollof," said Sokoh, a 42 year old geologist and author of the Kitchen Butterfly blog.
"Despite the jollof wars between Ghana and Nigeria they came together to say: 'You cannot colonize our plates'."
The "jollof wars" reached fever pitch last year when Ghanaian singer Sister Deborah released a song called "Ghana Jollof" that accused the Nigerian recipe of "tasting funny."
Controversies aside, Sokoh said the universal affection for the dish helps to unite the Nigerian diaspora and people with West African roots around the world.
"It brings many countries together - it's not just West Afeica, but countries where the slaves went, like the American south and parts of Mexico," she said.
And while food delivery services offering international favorites like sushi and pizza are expanding rapidly in Nigeria's big cities, jollof has retained a special place in the hearts of the country's huge youth population.
"Most of us young people forget about our traditional food," said Jane Ibitola, a 32 year old financial adviser from southern oil city of Port Harcourt.
"But whenever you move away from it, you cherish it again."

Gregory Walton
Agence France Presse/ Lagos, Nigeria

An Inconvenient Sequel presents Truth To Power

More than a decade after An Inconvenient Truth put the climate crisis on the map, its sequel comes delivering a more hopeful message.
When An Inconvenient Truth was released in 2006, the documentary, which centers on former United States vice president All Gore's campaign to educate the public on global warming, sent shockwaves around the world with its warnings of imminent environmental catastrophe brought by climate change.
Gore followed his gut and his heart, putting everything he had into an issue that had long lit a fire within him - confronting the increasingly alarming prospect of a global climate crisis that could literally signal the end of human civilization.
At that time, the climate crisis itself was at a crossroads, with scientific consensus coalescing around the costs to mankind, the global economy and the planet If zero efforts were made to cut down a man made greenhouse gas emissions, which cause climate change. Then, the scope of the threat was just breaking through to the public and the fossil fuel industry was putting up strong resistance.
The inspiring film, directed by Davis Guggenheim, won two Oscars and contributed to taking the issue of climate change into popular culture, propelling Gore to being named a co winner of the Nobel Peace Prize alongside the United Nation's panel of climate scientists in 2007.
Its sequel, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, which hits theaters here on Aug. 25, shows how far the battle to reverse the effects of climate change has come in 10 years. It serves as the next chapter of the story as people see not just accelerating change, but also the emergence of new battles. Simply put, if the first movie was the wakeup call, millions of people are now wide awake.
Directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, the sequel sets off in a new direction. It follows Gore as he continues his tireless fight, traveling around the world training an army of climate leaders while influencing international climate policy.
The award winning directors (The Island President; Audrie & Daisy) offer a fresh perspective and sense of warmth to the sequel, bringing in their skilled eyes for cinematography to make the story, which may not be easy to tell, entertaining.
Cameras follow Gore behind the scenes in a direct cinema style, connecting the audience to the subject while revealing the complexity of human relations in a manner as electrifying and dramatic as fiction.
The sequel reveals both private and public moments as well as funny, poignant and unscrioted , off the cuff moments, as Gore explains that, while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.
Cameras also shadow Gore on his journey across Greenland, India, Europe, Asia and the US, navigating through corridors of power as well as "in the trenches" with survivors, scientists, unlikely leaders and ordinary people moved to take extraordinary actions.
Unexpected scenes intimately show Gore's day to day efforts - he peels off his soggy socks after wading through ocean flooded Miami; he escapes traffic by taking a crowded Paris subway; he engages in power brokering roles with top officials such as New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Climate Chief Christiana Figures; and he listens to heart wrenching stories from typhoon survivors in Tacloban, Philipplines.
The film also allows viewers to "be there" with Gore as he visits the Swiss Camp research station in Greenland that monitors the movement of ice sheets. There, he learns the station itself has collapsed several tines over the last decade because the ice on which it is anchored is melting so precipitously.
One moving scene at Russell Glacier in Greenland shows Gore standing, his face in awe, while taking in what he sees - ice cracks off into a river that leads to the ocean, then says he can see that the glacier is in worse condition compared to the last time he visited.
The film shows image of the climate change impacts splashed in the media - in the US alone, Louisianans in their cars are saved from drowning in a flood; ocean fish swim in Florida streets; and sci fi like "rain bombs" deluge Arizona. In India, a woman falls into a melting road. These scenes show that the urgency to solve the climate crisis is as great as ever.
Throughout the film, there is a sense of urgency and optimism, as well as a sense of connection with Gore's passion, courage, resilience, heart and, most of all, his unique ability to inspire others.
While the first film may have caused deep concern, the sequel, while still pointing to extreme droughts, record breaking downpours, melting Arctic ice and worrying scientific facts as evidence of climate change, has a more hopeful message in the world's ability to solve the crisis.
Heart warming scenes show, in the past 10 years, a low carbon economy is emerging at an unprecedented pace, driven by innovative technologies and growing economic upsides. In fact, the year 2016 marked an all time high in investments in renewable energy across the globe.
The sequel points out some huge climate success stories, including cities around the world achieving the goal of using 100 percent renewable electricity generation now exceed fossil fuels with markets increasingly turning away from them.
The film's message is clear. There is hope that, together, we can solve the climate crisis. While economics alone do not paint the entire picture, the trends put the writing on the wall: the future belongs to renewables.
Just like the first film, the sequel delivers a powerful message for the world to hear. As Gore says: "The next generation, if they live in a world to hear. As Gore says: "The next generation, if they live in a world of floods and storms and rising seas and droughts and refugees by the millions escaping unlivable conditions, destabilizing countries around the world, they would be well justified in looking back and asking, 'What were you thinking?"

Steve Emilia
The Jakarta Post/ Jakarta

American Made Puts Tom Cruise Back in The Pilot Seat

Tom Cruise returns to Top Gun territory in the new comedy thriller American Made, but with a lot more cocaine, guns and money put into the picture.
One of the Hollywood's most painstakingly constructed actors, Tom Cruise revisits his ace flyboy role as an American commercial pilot, who ends up working for the CIA while simultaneously smuggling drugs between Latin America and the United States.
Based on a true story, it chronicles historical accounts of Barry Seal, an infamous US pilot who became a drug smuggler. The movie has the Iran Contra scandal of the 1980s as its background, but history takes the back seat behind the fictionalized depiction of real life events.
To execute the complicated story in a timely manner, the plot is narrated from the perspective of Barry Seal (Tom Cruise).
The story begins with the recruitment of Barry by CIA operative Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson) for his exceptional flying skills. His job is simple. He is asked to fly a spy plane over Central America to photograph communist insurgents.
While in service with the CIA, he goes about his work not purely out of a patriotic sense of duty, as he begins running cocaine for a mammoth drug cartel. His drug smuggling operations expands as he makes US$2000 for every kilogram of cocaine delivered to US soil. The high demand for drugs in North America eventually earns him millions of dollars.
Driven by the lure of money and lacking any moral compass, he has no qualms meddling in a country's politics and engaging in the drug trade.
The film makes a bold statement about America's place in the world during the presidential administrations of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and their fight against the international drug epidemic.
The complex plot is not the easiest to follow, especially because the movie spends a lot of the time picturing Barry's missions in the air. To keep viewers on the same page, the movie features video diary flashback clips made by Barry, as he documents his experiences on a handheld camera.
The awkward narration does a poor job in accurately explaining the timeline of the story and rather complicates things further. In fact, it is only toward the end of the movie that the flashback narration seems to fall in place with the plot.
With its grainy texture and comic book reportage, the whole movie feels like a throwback to the 70s and 80s.
Tom Cruise does a good job in fully deploying a charming bravado with a self destructive level of arrogance. His great performance steers the audience to take a dive into a wild chain of dark events and transgressions that unfold throughout the plot.
The movie tries to highlight Barry's character so much that every frame of the film is packed with his presence. Supporting characters in the movie have lifeless qualities and only serve as devices for exposition.
American Made is Cruise's second collaboration with director Doug Liman, after Edge of Tomorrow. Liman, famous for Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity, and screen writer Gary Spinelli have taken a creative license with the plot.
The movie is full of suspense that feels almost unpredictable. It is an adrenaline journey that puts the audience at the edge of their seats knowing that the story is not completely fictional.

Yun Kyung Kim
The Jakarta Post/ Jakarta

Meet Lulu Hashimoto, The 'Living Doll' Fashion Model

Meet Lulu Hashimoto, a "living doll" and the latest trend in Tokyo's fashion modeling scene.
Lulu - a full body doll suit consisting of a wig, a mask and stockings patterned with doll like joints - was born from one woman's desire to become cute.
"I have always really liked dolls and for me, the epitome of cuteness is dolls," said the 23 year old fashion designer Hitomi Komaki, who created Lulu.
Dressing up as a mascot, called kigurumi in Japanese, is a popular art form in Japan. Komaki has take it to a new level by creating a body suit that looks like a doll and let's you move like a human.
"Many people call my project a fetish, but for me it's not a fetish but fashion," she said. "It's like wearing nice clothes or putting on false eyelashes to become cuter."
There is only one Lulu body suit, Komaki said, but dancers, designers and models are among those who have worn the costume.
The identity of exactly who is inside is secret, she added.
The stockings worn by Lulu were created by fellow fashion designer Koh Ueno, who airbrushes doll like joints onto the material.
"I want to see women wear these stockings and transform," said 29 year old Ueno.
"I want them to experience the extraordinary - to become otherworldly, artificial, or like a doll," he said.
While popular among fans of Japanese subculture, Lulu is now turning heads at the annual Miss I'd beauty pageant where she is among the 134 semifinalists chosen from around 4,000 entrants.
The pageant, which includes "non human" characters generated by artificial intelligence and three dimensional computer graphics for the first time, will announce a winner in November.
Lulu's ability to blur the line between reality and fiction has mesmerized fans on social media, where the Lulu Twitter and Instagram accounts have drawn tens of thousands of followers.
"I find it miraculous that dolls and humans - two things that exist in different planes - are standing in the same space," said Erika Kati, 24, who met Lulu for the first time at a recent fan event.
The possibility of wearing a suit and becoming Lulu also appealed to fans like 22 year old Miu Shimoda.
I'd like to be a beautiful girl like Lulu at least once in my life," she said.

Minami Funakoshi
Reuters/ Tokyo

Japan's Richest Village Can't Find Workers For Its Factory

Sarufutsu village in the far north of Japan's northernmost island is the nation's richest village, thanks to a bounty of scallops pulled from the Sea of Okhotsk.
The village - which is closer to the Russian island of Sakhalin than Tokyo - boasts some of the highest average incomes of any town in Japan, thanks to the earnings of some of the fishermen.
But the new scallop factory is not running a full capacity because it shows that some industries may not survive as the population ages and shrinks, even if they are profitable.
The scallops from the nearby waters are dried and then mostly exported to Hong Kong and elsewhere as premium ingredient in Chinese food. By value, scallops are the biggest international export from Hokkaido.
But the workers in the factory are mostly older women, and in about seven or eight years, there won't be any more Japanese working there, according to Koichi Kimura, an executive of the fishing cooperative that runs the facility.
"If we wanted to we could run 24 hours a day and triple production," says Kimura. "But we would need more than 100 new people for that."
The village's population is not shrinking. But it's flat, and while the factory employs 19 Chinese trainees among its 90 staff, it can't legally increase their numbers without adding more Japanese employees. So the village authorities are trying to encourage people to move to the town.
For the past three years the village has run tours to bring people from other parts of Japan to check it out as a possible place to live, and also appointed the chef of a Tokyo restaurant that uses their scallops as a tourism ambassador.
But it is a hard sell given that work in the factory is seasonal and wages are low.
While the 250 or so fishing cooperative members who work the boots earn good money, pushing up the average, those employed in the factory earn minimum wages, and it's only open for seven months a year. The factory is closed during the winter, when temperatures in the area go below minus 20 degrees Celcius.
Without better pay and conditions, it will be hard to attract people to live in the area, but the cooperative doesn't think it can dramatically increase wages.
"Young Japanese people aren't interested if we just raised pay a little," says Kimura. "If we were to double or triple wages, we could attract workers, but we wouldn't be able to make ends meet."
While economist and the Bank of Japan point to the shrinking population as an opportunity for companies to increase automation and productivity, not all jobs can be done by machines. The 2.4 billion yen (US$22 million) new factory was opened in April 2016 with new machinery, but it still requires workers.they might have to consider moving the factory, according to Hokkaido University Professor At sushi Miyawaki, who studies government policy.
"Even with the cost of capital falling so low, there just isn't new investment," he said. "In a few places, the economic story the BOJ tells may work, but it's impossible here in Hokkaido."

Masahiro hid aka
Blomberg/ Tokyo

Holder Real Draws Dortmund, Spurs in Champions League

Holder Real Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League group stage while five time winner Barcelona was drawn with last season's runner up Juventus on Thursday.
Zinedine Zidane's side is chasing a third successive European title and fourth in five seasons after demolishing Italian champion Juventus 4-1 in Cardiff in June.
The record 12 time European champions also take on APOEL of Cyprus in a testing Group H that will see Gareth Bale face Spurs for the first time since leaving for Real in a then world record deal in 2013.
"We are the holders so there is always an extra motivation for the teams you face. It won't be easy at all, we'll need to play well and find our best form," said Real spokesman and former striker Emilio Butragueno.
"We've played a lot of times against Borussia Dortmund recently and know how good they are. Tottenham have shown in the Premier League they are a very strong team."
Tottenham forward Harry Kane said he was excited to line up against the defending champions.
"You want to test yourself against the best and Real Madrid are the best at the moment," said Kane.
Barcelona beat Juventus 3-1 in the 2015 final but the Spanish club has endured a difficult month with Neymar departing for Paris Saint Germain in a mammoth £222 million (US$261 million) deal.
They will also come up against Greek champions Olympiakos and Sporting Lisbon in a competitive Group D.
"It is a high level group with four historic teams. We will be fighting against a well known rival in Juventus and the games against them will condition our chances in the group," said Barca general manager Pep Segura.
Juventus director general Beppe Marotta said Barca was weaker following the record breaking sale of Neymar.
"Missing a player like Neymar weighs heavily. We'll have to see how they intend to replace him. But Barcelona remain a top quality side with great individual players," Marotta told Italia 1.
Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti will return to Paris in a Group B that also features Celtic and Anderlecht.
"It's an exciting group with some great teams and Paris at the top," said the Italian. "It's a nice story for me to meet my former club again. As everybody knows, Celtic gets incredible support from from their fans. And Anderlecht can not be underestimated as Belgian champion."
PSG coach Unai Emery, looking to mastermind a much deeper run after last year's spectacular collapse against Barca, expects his side to Join Bayern in the last 16.
"Bayern Munich are a very strong side. We will be the two favorites," said Emery.
Chelsea, one of a record five English teams to qualify for the group phase, will meet Atletico Madrid in Group C as well as Roma and Qarabag, the first side from Azerbaijan to reach this stage of the competition.
Jose Mourinho will visit his native Portugal with Manchester United after they were placed in Group A with Benfica, CSKA Moscow and Basel.
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City is in Group F alongside Shaktar Donetsk, Napoli and Feyenoord while Liverpool will play Spartak Moscow, Sevilla and Maribor in Group E.
"We want to be a football club where we are always there in the quarterfinals, semifinals and getting to finals," said City director of football Txiki Begiristain.
"We have refreshed the team and we are hoping that we can remember what we did two years ago when we got to the semifinals and why not even more?"
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp was pleased to have avoided Europe's heavyweights.
"There are groups with Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus and Real Madrid, and not to get them is of course more good than bad," said Klopp.
French champions Monaco, who reached last season's semi finals, face Porto, Besiktas and debutants RB Leipzig in Group G.
The opening round of matches will be played Sept. 12-13.

Agence France Presse/ Monaco

Mou Aims To End Week on a High

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho will hope to cap a successful week, on and off the field, by making it three wins in as many games when Leicester visit Old Trafford on Saturday.
United have won their opening two league games, each by 4-0 scorelines, at home to West Ham and at Swansea, while Mourinho has been boosted by seeing key squad members return from long term injuries.
As if that was not encouraging enough for Mourinho, Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has rejoined on a one year contract and should be available before the end of the year after recovering from knee surgery.
Defenders Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo are also regaining fitness, along with winger Ashley Young.
Shaw and Young, who both came through an under 23 fixture this week, could find themselves on the bench again Leicester.
With Ibrahimovic still months away from a return to first team action, Mourinho will be hoping Romelo Lukaku, the man signed to replace the 28 goals scored by the Swede last season, can continue in his current form.
The Belgian international scored three goals in his first two league games - four in three games, including his goal in the European Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid.
And Ibrahimovic believes that, despite losing club captain Wayne Rooney this summer, United's attacking corps is far stronger thanks to the development of Marcus Rashford and the arrival of Lukaku.

AFP

Valencia Tested by Relentless Real

A reborn Valencia make the most daunting trip in European soccer at the moment to face Real Madrid on Sunday enthused with a swagger and confidence lost over two disastrous seasons.
Still one of Spain's biggest club based on budget and support, Valencia have finished 12th in the past two campaigns as Singaporean owner Peter Lim's tenure has been littered with a series of sacked coaches and expensive mistakes in the transfer market.
However, with former Villarreal boss Marcelino Garcia Total now in charge, Lim has finally followed the advice of fans to hire an experienced La Liga coach with an impressive track record.
Valencia opened its La Liga campaign with a 1-0 win over Las Palmas last weekend and will be stronger for the trip to the Santiago Bernabeu with Gabriel Paulista, Jeison Murillo and Geoffrey Kondogbia set to make their debuts.
Following a clear change in policy by Lim all three have excelled in La Liga before and show a desire from Marcelino to recreate his success at Villarreal by building from the back.
Gabriel, who previously worked with Marcelinho at Villareal has joined on permanent deal, whilst Murillo and Kondogbia have arrived on a season long loan from Inter Milan.
"We have signed two central defenders that come from Arsenal and Inter, speak Spanish and know La Liga," said Marcelino.
"They are important factors. One of them I know very well and Murillo is a great player. They will bring us a competitive edge."

AFP/ Madrid

Marquez Hungry for Silverstone Revenge

World championship leader Marc Marquez is out for revenge at the British motorcycling Grand Prix on Sunday after losing out on the last bend to Andrea Doviozo two weeks ago in Austria.
Marquez came second to Ducati's Dovioso at the Spielberg track with his Honda team mate and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa third.
But the three time world champion is not expecting things to go all his own way at Silverstone. He admits he faces a "challenging" weekend on a tough track that demands skill and caution but rewards raw speed.
Marquez has won twice before at Silverstone, the last time in 2014. He has also claimed three pole positions, proving along the way that he can master all conditions including wet weather that has dogged the British world championship round in the past.
He said that his goal is "always to be there at the front and be very consistent at all tracks and in all conditions."
"Of course we'll try for the same at Silverstone, a circuit that I like, though we know it will be a challenging round as our opponents are usually very strong there."
Dovioso, second behind Marquez in the world championship standings, finished third in 2015 and second in 2011 at Sikberstone, both results achieved in rainy conditions.
The leading contenders will not be ruling out a challenge from Yamaha's Maverick Vinales, who claimed his first ever MotoGP win here last year and stands third in the rankings.

Agence France Presse/ Silverstone

EPL Clubs Smash Own Transfer Record

Premier League clubs have broken their own spending record for the transfer window, a sports analyst group said on Wednesday, with more deals expected before business closes next Thursday.
Southampton's £15 million (US$19.19 million) purchase of Lazio centre back Wesley Hoedt brought the overall spend by England's 20 elite clubs to £1.184 billion, the respected website Sporting intelligence said.
The figure exceeded the £1.18 billion the clubs spent in last summer's window.
Across the 20 clubs, net spending stands at £565 million, with £619.9 million received. The figures do not include add sons or agent fees.
Although the biggest deal of the window WS done by French club Paris Saint Germain, which paid Barcelona £222 million ($261.5 million) for Neymar, English clubs have rivaled them for overall spend with Manchester City (£221.5 million) leading the way, ahead of Manchester United (£145.8 million) and Everton (£139.9 million).
Barcelona could yet emerge as the biggest spending club, however, with British and Spanish media reporting they are about to table a £138 million bid, including add one, for Liverpool's Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho.
The Spanish Club has ready paid China's Guangzhou Evergrande £40 million for Paulinho and been heavily linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele.
Should the Coutinho deal go through, it would trigger a chain reaction with Liverpool reported to be interested in signing Southampton centre back Virgil Van Dijk and Arsenal's Alex Oxlade Chamberlain in deals that would exceed £100 million.

Reuters/ London

Last of The Street Fighters, Rooney Departs an England Great

While Wayne Rooney will never silence the cynics who carp about his lack of silverware in an England shirt, the astonishing array of records set by the striker ensure his place as one of his country's all time greats.
Rooney's announcement of his retirement from the international stage on Wednesday brought the curtain down on an England career that began in a blaze of hyperbole and ended with the Everton star rejecting Gareth Southgate's offer of a return to the fold.
The 31 year old's 13 year England era featured glorious highs and shattering lows and left him as one of his country's most polarizing figures.
From the boy who grew up on the rough Liverpool streets of Croxteth to the man who won five Premier League titles and the Champions League with Manchester United, Rooney's rise remains almost too perfect to be true and the England chapter of his tale is well worth reliving.
Rooney is England's all time leading soccer with 53 goals, more than Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and jimmy Greaves could muster, while his 119 appearances make him his country's most capped out field player ahead of the likes of Bobby Moore and David Beckham.
The only blemish is his failure to transform England into a global force, but even Barcelona icon Lionel Messi has found replicating his sublime club form on the international scene harder than he might have imagined.
Forever etched in the memory as the teak tough street fighter who would crunch into a tackle with as much relish as he took from scoring with a 30 yard rocket, Rooney burst onto the England scene as a 17 year old in 2003.
His debut came in a 3-1 defeat against Australia at Upton Park and a first international goal followed against Macedonia.
The sight of Rooney tormenting the Switzerland and Croatia defences in Euro 2004 promised a golden future for the player and his country, but foreshadowing the angst to come a broke bone in his foot proved fatal to Sven Goran Eriksson's team as they lost to Portugal in the quarterfinals.
Rooney went on to play in three World Cup and two further European Championships, showing boundless commitment to the England cause, even his performances never hit the heights.
At times that enthusiasm was to his detriment when he came back from injuries too quickly.
He famously announced before the 2006 World Cup that "the big man is back" when he joined up with his England teammates - only to flop as he played at less than 100 percent before being sent off for stamping on Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho as Eriksson's men suffered one of a series of agonizing quarterfinal exits.
The 2010 World Cup in South Africa was supposed to be Rooney's tournament after a fine campaign with United, but his most memorable contribution came at the end of a 0-0 draw against Algeria when he turned to the camera and critized England supporters for booing their own side.
England was dismal at the 2014 World Cup and his last tournament ended in misery when Roy Hodgson's team was humiliated by Iceland at Euro 2016.
Of Rooney's seven goals at major tournament's only one came at a World Cup, while four were when he was just 18.
Captaining England 29 times, Rooney's last appearance came in a win against Scotland in November.
The great irony of Rooney's decision to retire is it came at the moment when he looked capable of one last flourish after an impressive start for Everton following his close season move back to his boyhood club.
Southgate was convinced enough to offer him another chance.
But Rooney, marching to his own drum until the end, preferred to focus on leading Everton to silverware instead.
Few would deny that England's loss is Everton's gain.

Steven Griffith's
Agence France Presse/ London

Klopp Hopes Euro Progress Yields Transfer Lift

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp voiced hope that guiding his team back into the Champions League will strengthen his hand in transfer talks over the last week of the trading window.
Liverpool secured a place in the group stage for only the second time since 2010 after a 4-2 home win over Hoffenheim on Wednesday completed a 6-3 aggregate victory in the play off round.
Klopp has only managed to bring in Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Dominic Solanke in the transfer window so far and he suggested that number might increase now Liverpool is back among the elite.
"It's a big influence on the transfer market, especially if you do it more often," Klopp told reporters at Anfield.
"If you talk to a player, especially the players we talk to - because we don't talk to players that are not better than our players - they say, 'If you played in the Champions League it would be really interesting because the club is great, the manager's not too bad' - all this stuff.
"Or even when you try to extend a contract with a player in the squad. They say, 'Yeah, I want to play Champions league.'
"I always think, 'WTF? It's you job to do it with us together! Don't ask for us to do the job so you can play Champions League. Do it with us together.'
"And that's what this team did. That's why I'm so happy about it. Fourteen month's hard work. And we did it. Nice."
Appointed in October 2015, Klopp was unable to steer Liverpool into the Champions League in his first season as they finished eighth in the Premier League, but a fourth place finish last term opened the door to a return.
They will discover their group stage opponents in Thursday's draw in Monaco and Klopp could not contain his excitement at the thought of the Champions League music booming out over An field again.
"It's so exciting to be part of it," said the German, who led former club Borussia Dortmund to the competition final in 2013.
"For me personally, it's two or three years ago (since his last involvement). I love it always.
"I still love it, the player love it, the crowded loves it. We will have a few fantastic European nights at Anfield. So all good in the moment and nothing to moan about."
Leading 2-1 from the first leg, Liverpool flew out of the blocks, scoring three times in the opening 21 minutes through an Emre Can brace and a Salah effort.
"The start of the game was like a thunderstorm," Klopp said.
Klopp hailed Can for overcoming the effects of illness to play and reserved special praise for Roberto Firmino, who created Can's second goal and scored Liverpool's fourth against his former club.
"Roberto Firmino!" Klopp exclaimed in his post match press conference. "What a game he had today."
Klopp said he had "nothing to say" about Philippe Coutinho, who continues to be courted by Barcelona and was absent against Hoffenheim due to illness and a back problem. Liverpool insists he will not be sold.
Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann, who is only 30, delivered a critical assessment of his team's display, saying they had played like "headless chickens."
Hoffenheim are playing in Europe for the first time in their history and will now drop into the Europa League.

Tom Williams
Absence France Pressed/ Liverpool

Mercedes Benz Secures Numerous Awards at GIIAS 2017

Premium car brand Mercedes Benz grabbed the spotlight during the recent GAIKINDO Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) 2017 for winning second place in the premium car booth category, as well as ranking third in the favorite passenger car contest for its Mercedes AMG GT R.
The exhibition itself was conducted from Aug. 10 to 20 by the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) at the ICE hall in Bum I Seeping Damai, Tangerang, Banten. The awards were based on votes by exhibition visitors.
For the exhibition, Mercedes Benz constructed a modern booth occupying a space of 1,554 square meters, fully furnished with a cafe, a lounge and a financing partners sections to keep visitors busy.
During the opening of the exhibition and on its second day, the brand's booth was visited by numerous VVIP guests, such as Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

The Jakarta Post

Samsung Aims To Connect All Home Appliances by 2020

Ramping up efforts to establish a complete smart home environment, Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it would add connectivity to all of its home appliance products by 2020 and provide a control platform.
The announcement was made about a week before the South Korean electronics maker is to unveil its major smart home services at the IFA 2017 in Berlin.
To increase connectivity, the company has decided to add smart functions based on Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to all household appliances made by Samsung by 2020.
Current smart appliances, such as the artificial intelligence based, voice activated Family Hub 2.0 refrigerator, will have enhanced connections with other devices, serving as the hub of a smart home designed by Samsung.
Under this system, a user would be able to speak to the fridge to activate a vacuum machine to clean the kitchen or start a laundry machine.
Starting from next year, new products will be equipped with IoT technologies certified by the Open Connectivity Foundation, a global alliance of major tech companies seeking standardization of IoT specifications.
The organization set the world's first standardized IoT specifications, called OCF 1.0, in late June.
Samsung's smart TV, Family Hub refrigerator and air conditioner products were certified by the OCF. The company plans to have its washing machine, oven range, robot cleaner and air purifier certified within the year.
"Samsung's aggressive efforts to get OCF certification will encourage others to join the group, expanding the use of the tech standardizations, which will help connect products made by different manufacturers," the company said in a statement.
Along with efforts to enhance individual products with IoT technologies, Samsung is also spurring efforts to expand the use of Samsung Connect on smartphones, the company's IoT platform worldwide. Currently, the platform is able to connect and operate about 130 devices.
"Artificial intelligence, voice recognition, cloud and all other IoT technologies will evolve much faster than we expect," said Koo Swing ki, vice president of the home appliances division at Samsung.
"Samsung will try to reinforce the smart home environment by providing meaningful changer to user's daily life."

Song Su hyun
Korea Herald/ANN/Seoul

Klopp Feels Heat As Liverpool Eyes Group Phase

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp concedes his side is already feeling the pressure this season ahead of the return leg od its Champions League play off against Hoffenheim on Wednesday.
Liverpool looked to have planted one foot in the group phase after going 2-0 up in last week's first leg in Germany, only for Mark Uth's 87th minute reply to bring Hofffenheim right back into the tie.
The five time European champion needed a late Sadio Mane goal to see off Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday and Klopp anticipates another knife edge occasion at Anfield in mid week. "We all have pressure and it's a quick start always," said Klopp, who reached the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund in 2013. "You need to be there immediately, deliver and all that stuff. The difference this year is that it's really hard.
"We all know a draw (against Palace), two points instead of four or six, it doesn't feel good, but you can sort it.
"You can't do this in a Chmpions League qualifier. This intensity is really hard, for both teams."
Klopp made five changes to his starting XI for the 1-0 victory over Palace, with debutant Andy Robertson, Ragnar Klavan, Joe Gomez, James Milner and Daniel Sturridge coming into the side.
Having started on the bench, Dejan Lovren, Emre Can and star signing Mohamed Salah are all expected to return to the starting line up against Julian Nagelsmann's Hoffenheim.
Young right back Trent Alexander Arnold could also return, having been rested against Palace after setting Liverpool en route to victory in Sinsheim with a memorable 25 yard free kick.
Liverpool is likely to still be without Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho, the subject of three unsuccessful bids from Barcelona, who continues to nurse a back problem.
But Robertson believes the fire power on show against Palace demonstrated the strength in depth in Liverpool's attacking unit.
"It's brilliant when you get the ball and you look up and you've got Sadio, Roberto (Firmino), Studge (Sturridge) in the first half and Mo (Salah) came on with big Dom (Solanke)," said the former Dundee United left back.
"It's great to have the options. We're not fully up to speed yet, but we're getting there and when we are, we'll be a threat."
Liverpool is sbidding to reach the Champions League group phase for only the second time since 2010.
Its last participation in 2014-15 having come to an end in the group stage, it is now over eight years since Anfield last hosted a knockout phase match in the competition.
Elimination at the hands of European debutants Hoffenheim would represent a monumental setback for Klopp, who was hired partly on the strength of his fine continental record with Dortmund.
But Liverpool's fans will draw encouragement from the fact that in 14 previous European home games against German teams, its team has never been beaten.
Hoffenheim geared up for the trip to Liverpool with a 1-0 win at home to Werder Bremen on Saturday, courtesy of a deflected shot from substitute Andrej Kramaric in the 84th minute.
"I wouldn't say no if a few deflected goals fly in on Wednesday," said head coach Nagelsmann, who led Hoffenheim to a best ever fourth place finish in the Bundesliga last season.
"A 2-0 win is the big plan. A 3-0 would be nicer."
Nagelsmann rested six of the team who started against Liverpool last week, including burly striker Sandro Wagner and Germany winger Serge Gnabry.
Kramaric, who squandered an early penalty in the first leg, only came on for the last 25 minutes, but in a potential good omen for Wednesday, he managed to make his presence count.

Agence France Presse/ London

'Blue Roon' - Rooney's Renaissance Has Media Purring

Wayne Rooney labeled his 200th Premier League goal in Everton's 1-1 draw with Manchester City a "sweet moment" and had the British media purring and suggesting Tuesday he be recalled to the England squad.
"Blue Roon" was the Daily Mirror's headline while the Sun went with "Long May He Wayne" after Rooney joined former England and Newcastle great Alan Shearer as the only players to have reached the Premier League landmark.
"Plenty of life left in old dog Roo" said the Sun who complimented Everton manager Ronald Koeman on his punt in signing the 31 year old from Manchester United.
Rooney sparkled against City showing a hunger, zest and alertness for the club that nurtured his formidable talent as a teenager in stark contrast to his displays under Jose Mourinho at United last season.
"His last season at Old Trafford suggested this war a player well into decline and Everton were making a romantic gesture that could backfire," the Sun said.
"Two games into the new season he has scored the winner in one and last night very nearly grabbed another (...) perhaps that dream of bowing out next summer in the World Cup is not just that," it added.
The Mirror said Rooney, whose 35th minute goal went through City's keeper Ederson's legs before Raheem Sterling's equalized after the break, looked like he could inspire Everton to better things.
"This was all about Rooney's renaissance (...) at 31, Rooney was an eye catching signing, something of a risk.
"But the energy is still there.
"And it will propel Everton forward."
The Daily Telegraph said Rooney had an England recall "in his sights."
The paper says Rooney's impeccable first touch and passing master class as well as his positional sense could serve his talented but inconsistent teammate Ross Barkley well.
"If the absent Ross Barkley (he is injured) had just an ounce of Rooney's football intelligence he would be world beater," it remarked.
However, on his chances of an England recall it said Southgate faced a dilemma.
"He (Southgate) must calculate if there are really 22 English players who can contribute more in a World Cup year.
"Would the recall of Rooney truly be considered a retrograde step, or can he be redefined at international level to be a guiding influence on and off the field?"
Whatever the answer to that conundrum, the Telegraph said that given Rooney's rejuvenated form Southgate has to make a decision soon.
The Daily Mail went big on irony, recalling that Rooney was written off last season.
"He's finished, you know. He doesn't contribute," observed the newspaper dryly.
"He should have just packed it in, or gone to China or the United States, for the money.
"He has nothing left to give to Premier League football.
"Yet somehow, here Wayne Rooney is.
"Two games, two goals."
The Guardian said with Liverpool's Adam Lallana out injured it opened up a spot for Rooney to be recalled and win his 120th cap.
"He (Southgate ) must surely be impressed at how Rooney is knocking on the door to be recalled," the paper said.
"Rooney may burn bright then fade as the season ages.
"But here he was the goal scorer for the second consecutive time in a league supposedly the continent's toughest.
"There is not much more he can do."

Pirate Irwin
A hence France Presse/ London

It Is Hard Work Being Video Referee, Says Italy's VAR chief

The introduction of video assistant referees (VARs) is irreversible and their job much harder than it looks, the official responsible for implementing the use of video replays at Series A matches said Monday.
VARs are being trialled in various competitions around the world and made their Italian league debut at the weekend.
"It is an irreversible process that needs to be improved in times and procedures," said Roberto Rossetti, himself a former referee.
"After a friendly match in front of 80,000 people, a VAR told me that he had never been so tired in his life. It is another concept, a different assessment structure and it takes time and patience to do things the right way."
Rossetti said VAR had intervened in six of the 10 games at the weekend and twice helped the main match official correct his original decision.
The first intervention was to award Cagliari a penalty against Juventus on Saturday after the referee originally waved play on, although the Sardinian team wasted the chance as Diego Farias saw his spot kick saved.
The second was to send off Crotone's Federico Ceccherini in the fourth minute after he gave away a penalty in Sunday's game at home to AC Milan. The referee, having awarded the penalty, had originally booked Ceccherini.
"The technical decision was right but there was a clear error on the disciplinary side," said Rosetti.
He said that the VAR at the Inter Milan Fiorentina match has avoided a potential controversy by confirming the referee's original decision to turn down a penalty appeal after Fiorentina's Giovanni Simeone went down in the area.
"The VAR controlled a situation where it could have been assumed that there was a serious mistake," he said.
Rosetti also commented on the decision to disallow a goal scored by Alex Berenguer for Torino at Bologna, for offside against his team mate Andrea Belotti.
The referee had stopped the game before Berenguer scored and was therefore unable to award the goal even after the video review had shown it to be legitimate.
"When the referee blows his whistle, the game stops and from that moment the VAR should not intervene," said Rosetti.
"We know that every change needs a phase of adaption, the procedures have to optimize and the time taken needs to be limited and improved."
He had the impression that the players were "more restrained and accepting refereeing decisions very weel."

Reuters/ Milan

Street Joints and Empires in Noodle Crazed Hong Kong

From decades old holes in the wall to multi million dollar businesses, Hong Kong's noodle scene is a moneys pinner in a city that runs on quick and affordable comfort food.
Steaming bowl are served up 24 hours a day, often in clear richly flavoured broths and topped with fish balls, beef tendon or pork knuckle.
Other favourites come with Spam and fried eggs, an echo of the city's British colonial past.
Lau Fat cheong is one of the last traditional noodle makers in Hong Kong, preparing them fresh each day for customers at his three Lau Sum Kee restaurants in the bustling working class neighbourhood of Sham Shi Po and Cheung share Wan.
In an old method rarely used now, he sits at the end of a 1.5 meter long bamboo pole, nimbly bouncing on it to pound balls of dough on a workbench underneath.
Lean wiry, in his mid 40s, Lau started working for the family noodle businesses at the age of 11.
His grandfather founded it in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in the 1940s before Lau's father work it on, moving to Hong Kong and selling shrimp dumplings and noodles from a street cart.
"We've been doing this for all these years and have developed an emotional connection to it," said Lau, explaining why he adheres to traditional methods.
"There's a satisfaction in the work."
Customers across his restaurants slurp more than 500 bowls of fresh egg noodles at around HK$30 to HK$40 (US$4.5) each day.
The best selling dishes come with wonton -  shrimp and pork dumplings - or tossed liberally with dried shrimp roe, harking back to Hong Kong's origins as a fishing village.
"It's fresh, you feel it's much better than anywhere else," said student Gavin Lee, 17, who prefers Lau's creations over food from Hong Kong's noodle mega chains.
But despite the steady stream of loyal visitors, Lau said rising tents and wage levels are a challenge.
He fears the next generation will not take up the mantle, admitting the work can be "hard and tedious."
There is also pressure from Hong Kong's lucrative noodle empires with branches all over the city.
Popular Tam's Yunnan Rice Noodles chain, known for its variety of spicy broth bases and customisable toppings, was recently sold to Japanese restaurant operator Toridoll for HK$1 billion.
Tsui Wah, which started as a small cafe in 1967, has also grown into a multi million dollar mega chain, serving Hong Kong staples alongside more modern alternatives.
But food writer Janice Leung Hayes said independent businesses like Lau's still survive because of a sense of nostalgia and classic flavours.
"They have never gone out of fashion, so I do feel like even though there are big chains trying to dominate, the small ones still have as chance," said Leung.
Hong Kong's noodle culture reflects its history as a city of migrants from all over China as well as its colonial history which has led to Western style noddle toppings from cheese to canned tomatoes and luncheon meat, first imported in the 1950s post war era.
A quick, filling bowl also appeals to Hong Kong's fast pace, with office workers often grabbing one on their breaks, a cheap option in a city where the cost of living his sky high.
"Hong Kong people love things that are efficient," says Leung.
Ho Shun kan's shop, Kan Lee Noodles, perched on a sloping street in the heart of Central district, is a linchpin of the city's noodle scene and has been serving customers for 70 years.
Stacked with cabinets of noodles made to Ho's family recipes, the store supplies 200 restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau as well as selling to individual customers.
Buyers pick from a variety of flavours including spinach and abalone, preferring them to the mass produced brands ubiquitous in supermarkets.
"You can no longer taste the shrimp roe in the (big brands) - and you can't get these traditional flavours elsewhere," said customer Ami Wong.
Ho inherited the shop from his father and has worked there since he was 18, when the store supplied neighbours, local eateries and even a church in the community.
"We have preserved all the measurements (for the recipes)," said Ho, as he compressed sheets of dough with a machine at the back of his store, alongside his son who is in his thirties.
The gentrification of Hong Kong's traditional neighbourhoods has raised concerns that small businesses like Ho's will be pushed out.
He has outsourced the production of noodles that require baking to a factory in the city after he was told the oven in his store could be hazardous to a luxury apartment complex to be built nearby.
Ho hopes the next generation, like his son, will keep the old techniques alive.
"If you want to stay in this businesses, you can't do it without the younger ones taking over," he said.

Elaine You
Agence France Pressed/ Hong Kong

Charming Southeast Maluku Attracts More Tourists

The charming Kei islands in Southeast Maluku regency are gaining fame thanks to intense promotion from the Tourism Ministry, as well as a rapid development in hotel accommodation  and transportation infrastructure.
The Kei Islands are located amid the Serum, Banda and Arafuru seas. Two of the largest islands are Kei Besar and Kei Kecil.
Kei Kecil island is known as a hidden paradise due to its pristine environment.
An ideal destination for nature lovers, the best time of year to visit is April and May, and from October to December, when the sea is calm enough to allow visitors to properly explore the island and its surroundings, according to local elders.
When the Jakarta Post toured Southeast Maluku at the end of July, the island was barraged by rain and strong winds on a daily basis, making it difficult to explore its beauty.
The quickest and easiest way to reach the Kei islands is by air.
From the Pattimura Airport in Am on, visitors will need to take another plane for a one and a half hour flight to the Karel Satsuitubun Airport in Langgur, the capital of Southeast Maluku. This airport has replaced Dumatubun in Tual, which is now an Air Force base.
From Langgur, the wonders of this east Indonesian islands group can be further explored. In fact, Southeast Maluku offers numerous charms in more remote locations.
There are boys flip dive into the sea at a port in Debut village, Manyew regency.
The island's unique landscape is a feast for the eyes with its clear waters and beautiful lagoons.
Hawang cave in Letvuan village is located 15 kilometers from the city of Langgur. The reflection of sun rays on the water creates a sparkling blue glow throughout the cave.
There is a resident sweeps up  leaves at Ngurbloat beach, the name of which means "long sands" and which it is located in Ngilngof village.
A local dries seaweed on Host Island, which only has a handful of residents.
Many tourists compare the beauty of Blair island to Papua's famous Raja Ampat.

P.J. Leo
The Jakarta Post/ Kei, Southeast Maluku

Agate Studio Story of Perseverance, Dreamers

Indonesian game developer Agate Studio's journey begins with the dream of 18 game addicts to develop the Indonesian game industry.
Aditia Dwiperdana, 29, has loved playing games since he was in elementary school.
His mother sometimes scolded him for playing so much and forgetting to study or sleep.
However, he always had millions of reasons to defend his hobby.
"It teaches me to not easily give up. If we play a game and lose, we will try again until we win. Gamers are always optimistic," Aditia, who graduated from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), said.
Dreaming of developing the game industry, he and 17 of his friends, mostly from ITB, often joined game making competitions from 2007 to 2008, but they never won. Failure could not stop them. They set up game developer Agate Studio on April 1, 2009, in Bandung, West Java.
Currently employing 110 people, Agate has produced over 200 games and grabbed at least 19 awards, including the People Choice Mochi's Award during Flash Gaming Summit in San Fransisco, United States.
"Our first game, a zombie shooting game English Defender, sold for US$500," recalled Aditia.
On Sunday in Jakarta, he introduced a new game, cooking simulation game Dungeon Chef, during Bekraf Game Prime 2017, an annual event for game developers and game industry practitioners in ASEAN.
Agate has produced games for Android devices since 2013. It first developed Flash powered Facebook games and began creating iOS games following the rising popularity of video game franchise Angry Birds in 2010.
He said the complexity of a game influenced the production process, which could take more than a year.
Living in a big and rich country, Agate rarely meets with challenges when it comes to searching for inspiration, according to Aditia, who says his games are inspired by everyday events.
Having been downloaded over 500,000 times in Play Store, Juragan Terminal (Terminal's Owner), for example, was inspired by the crowded and hectic terminal premises with limited facilities in cities in the country.
Another example is web based soccer simulation game Football Saga, which Aditia said was inspired by the conflict between the Indonesian Premier League (LPI) and the Indonesian Super League (ISL) in 2012.
"Because half of the people working in Agate love soccer, we thought about what we could do to make the conditions better," he said. "Rather than being confused about which league we should support, let's play soccer together through this game."
Echoing the motto Live the Fun Way, Agate wants its games to color the world to make it a happier place for all to live in.
With games, people can do something that they maybe cannot do in real life.
"In a game, you can climb Mount Everest or you can be a racing driver who races in Formula One, for example," he said.
"Playing games will also boost your creativity," he said.
However, people, especially children, should play games in accordance with their age, he adds.
When Aditia was little, the games that he played were so simple that he could distinguish what was real and what was not.
Today, modern games have made fictional things, including violent scenes like striking and kicking, look real. Therefore, age restrictions are necessary to help parents monitor the games their children are playing.
"Playing games has positive and negative sides, but I focus on the positive ones," he said.
To penetrate the global market, Agate has teamed up with foreign game publishers and developers.
In 2013, it released slingshot puzzle game Up in Flames with UK based game publisher Chillingo, known for popular titles such as Angry Birds and physics puzzler Cut the Rope.
Agate also cooperated with Japanese video game developer Square Enix, known for its role playing video game franchises Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Due to their collaboration, in 2013, Indonesian gamers could enjoy popular web based warfare simulation game Sengoku IXA, which 1.1 million players in Japan have played.
Knowing that the game industry in the country remains young, Aditia is excited about local game developers that have grown not only in number but also in quality.
According to his observations, the Indonesian game industry started to flourish in 2010, particularly after mobile phone producer Nokia provided training sessions for everyone who wanted to be game developers through a game competition called Mobile Game Developed War.
For Aditia, Indonesian games are not being left behind if compared to those from other countries in Southeast Asia.
"But there's still a lot of work to do to make our games better and better," he said.

Kurniawan Young
Contributor/ Jakarta

Barca Honors Terror Attack Victims in Betis Win

Barcelona got its La Liga season off to a winning start on Sunday, beating Real Betis 2-0 at an emotional Camp Noun following a pair of terrorist attacks in Catalonia.
Twin vehicle attacks on Thursday killed 14 people and wounded around 120 in Barcelona's bustling Las Ramblas boulevard and the nearby seaside resort of Cambrils.
A minute's silence was held before kick off, whilst Barcelona players wore black armbands and shirts with "Barcelona" replacing individual names on the back.
"What happened was terrible, we hope this stops now because we are not afraid," Barca winger Gerard Deulofeu, who set up both goals, told BeIN Sports Spain. "This victory is for those affected."
The decision for the match to go ahead with increased security measures put in place was part of a desire to "recover normality" in the words of Catalonia's president Charles Puigsemont.
A defiant attitude was on show in the stands, although in common with many matches against weaker opposition, the 99,000 capacity Camp Noun was far from full.
After the attack some fans, especially tourists, returned their tickets, the club said without giving figures.
"Their money was refunded to everyone, the circumstances are special and understandable," a club spokesman said.
Fans in the Barca singing section borrowed a line from the club's anthem in a banner that read: "No one can ever break us," while chants of "we are not afraid" rang out after the minute's silence.
"We can't live with fear, which is exactly the mentality that these situations normally cause and people don't want to leave the house," said Vanessa Hano, 28, an American Barcelona resident.
"I thought there would be like a collective hysteria but I see everything is normal," added Sandra Lorenzo, 41, as she sold drinks next to the stadium.
"I have worked here for 25 years at every match. They are not going to make me stay at home."
Prior to the attacks, Barca had endured a difficult start to the season on the field as shorn of Neymar following his world record £222 million (US$261 million) move to Paris Saint Germain, the Catalans were swept aside 5-1 on aggregate by Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.
Coach Ernesto Valverde admitted on Saturday events in the past few days had put the club's problems into perspective.
However, despite also missing the injured Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta, Barca rose to the challenge of raising the city's spirits with a dominant display.
"In the end you always have to move forward," said Valverde. "Our idea was to be able to dedicate this victory to those affected."
With the mayor of Cambrils Cami Mendoza and chiefs of Catalonia's regional police force among those watching on, captain Lionel Messiah led by example with Deolofeu and Paco Alcacer struggling to fill Suarez and Neymar's shoes up front.
Messiah smashed an early free kick off the post and his presence was enough to pressure Alin Tosca to turn Deulofeu's low cross into his own net for the opener nine minutes before half time.
Deulofeu was the provider once more when Barca doubled its advantage three minutes later as Sergi Roberto slotted home from close range.
Messiah also posed the biggest thread of a low key second half as he struck the woodwork twice more with rasping shots from outside the area.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid's winning streak shows no signs of abating as the European champion began its Liga defense with a comfortable 3-0 win at Deportivo La Coruna.
Gareth Bale, Casemiro and Toni Kroos were on target for the visitors, but Madrid's night at La Riazor ended on a sour note when captain Sergio Ramos was shown the 23rd red card of his Real career.
"Clearly I am not happy with what happened with Sergio," said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane. "I don't like seeing my players get sent off, but we can't change it now."
Ramos could have been dismissed earlier in the second half when he only received a yellow card for a slap on Deportivo defender Fabian Schar.
However, he tied a record for 18 red cards in La Liga with a second booking for an elbow on Borja Valle in the dying embers of the match.
"In general we can be happy with our performance," added Zidane. "It isn't an easy place to come and they had chances to score."

Agence France Presse
Barcelona/ Madrid

Inter, Milan Match Juve With Winning Starts

Inter captain Mauro Icardi hit a brace and Ivorian Franck Kessie opened his AC Milan account as the northern giants matched Juventus' winning start to the Serie A season with respective 3-0 victories on Sunday.
Left in the shade by Juventus for the past six seasons, both Inter and Milan are hoping to turn the tables and challenge for the "scudetto" on their way to claiming one of four champions League places.
And neither of the San Siro giants disappointed on their way to going joint top of the table with Juventus, Napoli, Chievo, Sampdoria and Roma also sitting on three points following opening day victories.
Icardi bore the brunt of the blame for much of Winter's disastrous campaign last season, which left them in seventh and out of Europe.
But at a packed San Spiro and under the watchful eyes of new Inter coach Luciano Spalletti, the Argentina international made amends with a confident first half brace that included a sixth minute penalty after he was caught by Fiorentina defender Davide Astoria on the edge of the area.
Icardi doubled Inter's lead when he glanced a header past keeper Marco Sportiello on the quarter hour as the host took command.
"They gave it everything for each other and really went out to win this game," said Spalletti, who was awed by the sight of 50,000 fans having spent two seasons at a sparsely attended Stadio Olimpico with Roma.
"Even when we arrived on the team bus it was packed. This is a strong signal (from the fans), and one of the players have to assimilate."
What was already a daunting task for Fiorentina coach Stefano Pioli, unceremoniously sacked by Inter with three games to play last season, looked now impossible.
Fiorentina emerged revived for what proved to be a tighter second half, notably coming close with Khouma Babacar on the hour then Jordan Veretout, who hit the post in the 78th minute.
But Inter put the match beyond reach when Ivan Periodic dived to meet Joao Mario's cross to head past Sportiello.
AC Milan also enjoyed a 3-0 win over Crotone who maintained top flight survival by a hair's breadth last season.
Federico Ceccherini saw red for bringing down Milan youngster Patrick Cutrone and Jessie, who signed from Atalanta in the summer, stepped up to hit his maiden Rossoneri goal from the penalty spot on six minutes.
Teenager striker Cutrone, who has been linked with a loan move to Crotone, doubled the visitor's lead 18 minutes with a glancing header from Suso's incisive cross that beat Alex Cordaz at his near post.
Cutrone repaid the favor by setting up Suso for a third on 23 minutes.
Juventus, the six time consecutive champions, had led the way on Saturday firing three unanswered goals past Cagliari in Turin. Napoli, which won 3-1 at Verona also on Saturday, sits fourth.

Justin Davis
Agence France Presse/ Milan

Conte Happy for Chelsea to Play The Hunter

Antonio Conte said he would be happy for Chelsea to creep up on the rails in the Premier League title race following its clinical 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
Chelsea was stunned 3-2 by Burnley in the opening game of its title defense, but weathered heavy pressure to ruin Tottenham's Wembley house warming party on Sunday thanks to left wing back Marcos Alonso's brace.
Chelsea also started last season unsteadly; losing two of its first six matches, only for a 13 game winning run to set it on the path to glory, and Conte sees no reason why the same formula should not work again.
"It's not important if we are not favorites in this league," said the Chelsea manager, whose preparations for the season were hampered by his club's failure to significantly strengthen its squad.
"It was the same last season. We know we are trying to improve our team, our squad, and the club is trying to do its best in the transfer market.
"But I'm very happy when I see this type of game. I'm not speaking about football, but this spirit, this heart, this desire.
"I must be satisfied because my players gave me everything today. They did the same last season."
With Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas suspended, Eden Hazard injured and Diego Costa still angling for an exit, Conte was obliged to innovate.
He opted for a new look 3-5-1-1 system that featured David Luis in midfield alongside new signings Tiemoue Bakayoko, who was pressed into action earlier than scheduled after overcoming a knee injury.
Conte described both player's performances as "amazing" and said Chelsea's ability to withstand Spurs' pressure had been a display of "champions."
Alonso swept Chelsea ahead with a magnificent 24th minute free kick and then netted the winner two minutes from time after substitute Michy Batshuayi's own goal appeared to have rescued as point for Spurs.
A crowd of 73,587 made for an occasionally deafening atmosphere and Conte suggested the fervour of the fans had benefited his team.
"In this fantastic stadium, to feel this atmosphere is amazing," he said. "Our fans tried to push the same, despite 70,000 Tottenham supporters. But honestly, I think to see this atmosphere is great also for the opponents."
Spurs' defeat ended their run of 14 successive home league wins and means they have now lost eight of the last 10 games they have played at Wembley, their home this season while White Hart Lane is rebuilt.
But manager Mauricio Pochettino once again rubbished talk of a "Wembley curse", asserting that his team had been "much better" than Chelsea and saying he was "very happy" with its performance.
"I think the 'Wembley effect' is not the reason we lost the game," said Pochettino, who has had a pitch at Spurs' north London training ground enlarged to Wembley's dimensions to help his players adapt. "The team played really well. It's not fair to blame Wembley. For me, Wembley is one of the best places in the world to play football.
"We need to stop. I think today it was clear: if you love football, and want to watch football, and want to watch the game again, you will see that Wembley was not the problem.
"We have to accept they were more clinical than us in front of goal. The opportunities we created, we didn't score."

Tom Williams
Absence France Presse/ London

Once Bitten Guardiola Wary of Everton Threat

The Premier League title credentials of Pep Guardiola's new look Manchester City faces an early season examination on Monday when Ronald Koeman's ambitious Everton visits the Etihad Stadium.
With around £150 million (US$193.1 million) of new players on show, City made an assured start to the campaign by winning 2-0 at promoted Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend.
But Everton is also stronger, taking its spending past £130 million this week with a club record £45 million move for Gylfi Sigurdsson, and it trounced City 4-0 when the teams last met in January.
"They are a top squad and they have important players," said Guardiola, the City manager. "They lost an important player, (Romelo) Lukaku, but they have a good group of players - midfield players and strikers. They are one of the best teams in the Premier League, I am pretty sure of that.
"I expect they will play the same way and attack our defense.
"Sandro Ramirez and Wayne Rooney are used to playing in that way. They have a strong defense. They have great players and are dangerous on the counter attack."
City's 4-0 defeat at Goodison Park in January was the low point of Guardiola's maiden campaign in England, which ended with his side 15 points adrift of champions Chelsea in third place.
The visitors had 71 percent of possession and registered 13 attempts on goal to Everton's six, but they were wasteful in attack and alarmingly porous in defence.
Of the goalkeeper and four defenders who started at Goodison, only center backs Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones are expected to be involved on Monday.
Guardiola has used a three man defense in pre season and at Brighton, with captain Vincent Kompany bringing much needed authority at the back and new boss Kyle Walker and Danilo supplying thrust on the flanks.
City's third new full back, Benjamin Mendy, is not yet ready to make his debut due to a thigh injury.
But he is back in training, along with long term injury victim Ilkay Gundogan, and both players are expected to return to acting soon.
While Guardiola prioritised signing full backs over the close season, his former Barcelona team mate Koeman has apparently been on a mission to cram as many number 10s into his squad as possible.
Sigurdsson and his fellow new signings Davy Klaassen and Wayne Rooney all tend to play in central attacking roles and Ross Barkley also remains on Everton's books for the time being.
Rooney and Klaassen played in support of Sandro Ramirez, another new signing, as Everton won 1-0 at home to Stoke City last weekend through Rooney's first half header.
Room must now also be found for Sigurdsson following his switch from Swansea City, but Koeman says it is a pleasant headache for a manager to have.
"You need competition in your team," said the Dutchman. "It is not about 11 players."
For his part, Sigurdsson says he will wear his hefty price tag lightly.
"It's not up to me how much clubs pay for me," said the 27 year old Iceland international, who supplied nine goals and 13 assist for Swansea in the league last season.
"I put the pressure on myself to play well for the team and create or score goals. I think that is all I need and that's the only thing I focus on."
Koeman has said that Sigurdsson will be involved on Monday, although the player himself says he only feels fit enough to play for 45 minutes.
Barkley is sidelined by a hamstring injury, but Ramirez could return after sitting out Thursday's 2-0 Europa League win over Hajduk Split due to a heel complaint.

Tom Williams
Agence France Pressed/ London

Why You Should Buy the World's Rarest Ford

Driving a Ford GT40 isn't pleasant. It's a cramped, loud, and violent experience. After all, the "40" is a reference to the car's height - in inches. It also hits 200 miles per hour.
"You have to get over your claustrophobia," said Michael Prichinello, whose Classic Car Club of Manhattan owns a custom built replica of the 1960s racer. "You have to shim yourself into the car (...) you're basically lying on your back." There are, however, other adjective that apply to the experience. Among them are thrilling, fast, and - most critically - historic. Prichinello says it's his favorite machine.
Ford made only 133 GT40s. One of that group is for sale this week in Monterey, Calif. Anyone with several million dollars to spare will be able to drive this unpleasant time machine whenever he or she likes.
The lore of the GT40 is, by now, one of the car world's great creation stories - a sort of Goliath meets Goliath. In the mid 1960s, Henry Ford II, angry over a scuppered deal to buy Ferrari, opened wide his corporate coffers and ordered engineers to build a rig to beat the Italian stallion at Le Mans, the Super Bowl of Motorsport where Ferrari dominated.
Two years later, the GT40 did just that. It swept the podium in 1966 and kept winning for the next three years. It was the first model to four peat the 24 hour competition. It's point made, Ford scrapped the GT40 in 1969 and didn't built another car like it for 34 years.
This particular GT40 - chassis No. 108, or GT/108 - is one of 12 prototypes. As such, it has a few quirks that weren't manifest in the racing machines - most notably, its steel chassis, lack of a root, and smaller tires than later iterations.
The engine, with its eight cylinders and four carburetors, sits right behind the driver. The body is fiberglass. The speedometer is in front of the passenger seat, the driver's seat is bolted to the floor, and the pedals don't adjust. Too short? Get a pillow. Too tall? Tough. All told, the GT40 looks like a cross between a NASA scramjet and a child's toy, albeit one that belches fire.
Of the beta cars, GT/108 remains the only one unmolested by collectors looking to improve it (most added a roof). It's said to be the rarest GT40 on the planet and allegedly the only one that its father, Henry Ford II, ever rode in.
The last time this particular GT40 changed hands, in 2014, it fetched a humble US$6.9 million. Sure, that would cover a swanky beach house, but it remains a relatively pedestrian sum among car collectors. One of a kind Ferraris from the same era regularly command tens of millions.
In short, this car could have something in common with the Ford Escort: food value for the money.
What's more, the GT40 is still accelerating on auction blocks. The backstory, at this point, is fully chronicled, thanks in part to Go Like Hell, a 2009 book by AJ Baime, and The 24 Hour War, a 2016 documentary directed by Adam Carolla. Meanwhile, Ford just made an updated version. In 2015, its unveiled its latest "GT," as wedge of carbon fiber priced around $400,000. The following year, fittingly, the whip won its class at Left Mans.
Not surprisingly, the car world's GT40 fever, which has been running low grade for 50 years, is spiking a bit. Meanwhile, the classic car market overall is tapping the brakes, presenting a good buying opportunity for value investors (or car nuts).
Prichinello is still kicking himself for selling a 2005 version of the Ford GT. What the GT/108 prototype could fetch this time around, he reckons, is anybody's guess.
"It tells so many stories of American design and engineering and racing and bravery," he said. "And it's just getting more and more rare, as more people who were involved with the original aren't around anymore."

Kyle Stock
Bloomberg/ New York

Hunger Games' Theme Park To Open In Jeju Island, Korea

Tributes prepare! A Hunger Games movie attraction and theme park will be opening in 2019 at Korea's famous Jeju Island.
The Lionsgate Movie World will be the first international theme park to rise in Korea. Its theme will center around famous Lions gate movies like The Hunger Games, Now You See Me, the upcoming 2018 Robin Hood movie, and Twilight. The park will span approximately 122,000 square meters.
Lionsgate will partner with Landing Jeju Development Co., Ltd. to create the Lionsgate Movie World theme park within the JejuShinwa World resort. Landing Jeju Development is a subsidiary of Landing International Development Limited and the operator developer of JejuShinwa World.
The theme park will be the centerpiece of JejuShinwa World, which integrates various vacation resorts around Jejuisland.
The park will have different zones where streets and towns from the aforementioned movies will be recreated. They will also have themed cafes, restarurants, souvenir shops and performances.
Construction for the Lions gate Movie World is scheduled to begin in 2018. Gates are expected to open to the public in 2019.
Incidentally, the announcement on a Hunger Games theme park attraction coincided with the birthday of the film's star Jennifer Lawrence yesterday, Aug. 15. The actress, who played KatnissEverdeen in the movie, turned 27.

Alfred Bayle/ANN/The Philippine Daily Inquirer

Live That McLaren Life for $2,500 a Month

A brand that was relatively unknown in the United States a decade ago doubled its sales over the course of one year after introducing cars at lower price points - and offering competitive leases to get cars on the road.
When Pietro Frigerio set up his McLaren dealership in 2011 in Newport Beach, Calif., the brand was not well known beyond open wheel racing fans. So he put it on the corner where Rustin Avenue meets the Pacific Coast Highway to act as a billboard of sorts to 40,000 passing cars each week in a bustling shopping area.
Six years later, awareness of the brand is increasing across North America, new models are sold out before they reach retailers, and Frigerio is starting to outgrow his location's service facilities.
With last year's introduction of the McLaren 570S, which starts around US$200.000, about where the top Porsche models leave off - US sales more than doubled. And, according to registration data analyzed by IHS Market, the biggest group of buyers are people who already own Porsches.
"What's the next step after I own in my life four 911s? Something a little more exclusive," Frigerio said, explaining his customers' thinking. "They want something more special, they need something a bit unique, but they need something which is easy to live with."
Of course, his customers are in Southern California, that magical land of wealth and perfect weather, where according to Frigerio, a Porsche 911 is kind of a "normal car."
At the top of the McLaren line is its Ultimate Series, cars built for the track. With seven digit prices and Le Mans inspired technology, these cars are all about going fast at any price. The McLaren P1 GTR, a $3 million supercar with a name that echoes the F1 GTR that won 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours race, is available only to owners of the $1.15 million P1.
In the middle is the SuperSeries , cars that may be street legal but are typically kept at a private track, where drivers needn't worry about potholes or police. McLaren's 720s is its newest model, replacing the raw and roaring, 666 horse power 675LT and the 650S. With prices ranging from about $280,000 to the low $400,000s, these cars are significantly more attainable, but without wasting much weight or space on creature comforts. (The 720S does include two small cupholders and small vanity mirrors).
At the entry level is the Sports Series, with prices typically in the low $200,000 range. The bodies of the 570S and 570GT in his line resemble the track cars, but the suspension is less rigid - comfortable on city streets and even capable of navigating over a grocery store speed bump.
While offering more "practical" cars, such as this year's 570 Spider convertible, put the brand within reach of a larger customer base, its expansion last year - when sales in North America more than doubled - was spurred by the offering of leases through Ally Financial Inc. Whereas a 650S would lease for maybe $3,500 a month, you can drive a 570S for more like $2,500 a month. That's not peanuts, but it's a pretty reasonable way to get into a brand that until recently was known only for world class race cars.
The closely held company's growth has made it an attractive target for investors - but it looks like they will have to wait a while.
Conversations with Apple Inc. last year didn't go anywhere, and McLaren Automotive Chief Executive Officer Mike Flewitt told the Sunday Times that the "better route" is probably an initial public offering in three to five years.
While McLaren may still be little known among American consumers, it has a long history in racing, dating back to the legendary New Zealand driver and engineer Bruce McLaren, whose life and untimely death is the subject of a documentary film being released this month. McLaren cars won three Indianapolis 500 races in the 1970s. Then, under longtime boss Ron Dennis, who joined the team in September 1980, McLaren won 17 Formula 1 World Championships and the Le Mans 24 Hours race.
Bruce McLaren was a legendary race car driver and engineer, who died on test run at age 32. Courtesy of Gunpowder & Sky.
"When we started to do this business adventure, McLaren was unknown," recalled the dealer, Frigerio, who also has a Lamborghini outlet in Newport Beach. "Me, as an Italian, I watch Formula 1 - my grandmother knows what McLaren was. Here on the West Coast, it's a bit different."
McLaren is also intimately involved in the Formula E electric car racing series, having supplied motors and other electronic components for competitors through its McLaren Applied Technologies unit, which has also done work ranging from electronic sensors and manufacturing consulting to obesity research.
In June, the racing team, the consulting unit, and the carmaking businesses were all combined into one entity, the McLaren group, and Dennis, 70, sold his stakes in the businesses. He had already been displaced last year as chief executive officer of the technology group, which was the umbrella for the racing businesses and basically everything but auto manufacturing and distribution.
Unifying all the businesses under the McLaren Group should improve coordination among the various enterprises, the company said. It also simplifies the structure should an IPO eventually be pursued.
Ownership control remains with its long term majority shareholders, the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Co., which is a sovereign wealth fun, and TAG Group SA, the holding company with aviation interests that previously owned the Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer. Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa - adviser to the crown prince of Bahrain - serves as executive chairman and TAG CEO Man sour Ojjeh is executive committee principal. Other leaders remain in previous positions, the company said, including Flewitt as CEO of the automaking business.
As fas as the racing team goes, it has been a bumpy year, amid disappointments with engine supplier Honda Motor Co. a new Honda engine is boosting hopes from admittedly low levels: When the reorganization was announced, Ojjeh lamented that the team "is not currently achieving the on track success in Formula 1 that we know it is capable of."
But racetrack setbacks haven't derailed the company's consumer vehicle momentum.
"As a retailer and from a consumer point of view, we've seen nothing" disrupting operations, said Frigerio. "The company has been slowly, but surely, constantly more solid and growing in volumes and quality and services."
McLaren North America President Tony Joseph is building out the dealer network, which now totals 18 in the US and two in Canada, with plans to add stores in Montreal and Denver this year. He said he aims to limit the outlets to about 30, as opposed to about 40 for other exotic brands.

Jamie Butters
Bloombers/ New York

Bumi Langit (R)evolusi - Bringing Back Local Superheroes

Indonesia has over 500 superhero characters you might never have heard of.
If you spent your childhood in the 1990s, you might be familiar with soap opera series Si Buta dari Goa Hantu (The Blind Man from the Ghost Cave), which was about a blind martial artist Barda Mandrawata, who travels with a monkey on his shoulder to quell crime and violence as well as to avenge the death of his father, fiance and colleagues.
Adapted from writer Ganes TH's comic book series of the same name, the series was a hit at that time.
Si Bits, however, is not alone in the universe of Indonesian superheroes because the country has had over 500 superhero characters in the last 60 years.
Discovering that many young people have never heard of Indonesian superheroes, entertainment company Bumilangit launched a restoration project titled Bumi Langit (R)evolusi recently. In this project, 21 writers and illustrators teamed up to work on a remake of legendary comic books.
Bumilangit recorded that over 60 years there were 50 comic titles about 200 warrior characters and 110 comic titles about 300 superhero characters, including Sri Asih, Indonesia's first female superhero who made her first appearance in 1954. Although the creation of Sri Asih was inspired by Wonder Woman, her wardrobe strongly represented Javanese tradition.
Out of the 500 characters, eight characters have been chosen by Bumilangit for Bumilangit (R)evolusi. They are Sri Asih created by RA Kosasih, So But a by Games TH, Mandala by Mansyur Damian, Virgo by Jan Mintaraga, Gundala and Maza by Harya Suraminata and Godam and Aquanus by Wide NS.
Bumilangit assigned the remake version of the Si Buta story to writer Oyasujiwo, who won the Komikasia Award 2005 and Kosasih Award 2007, and illustrator Iwan Nazif, who had a hand in DreamWorks' comic series How to Train Your Dragon.
"This December marks the 50th anniversary of So Buta Dari Goa Hantu, which debuted in 1967," Oyasujiwo said during the recent Popcorn Asia 2017 event in Jakarta.
Bumilangit have recreated the original comics with changes that were adapted to present day conditions because they want to attract young readers.
"In the original comic, Mazda is a painter. But, in the remake version, he is an urban artist who has the power to manipulate dreams," Oyasujiwo said.
"Gundala is still a scientist. But, in the new comic, he has a YouTube channel about science."
Oyasujiwo said that changes also occurred in the storytelling and visualization of character illustration.
For the changes, Bumilangit has received permission from the original writers of their children, such as Ginardi Santosa, the son of Games, who passed away in 1995, and Fajar Sunging Pramodito, the son of Wide NS, who died in 2003.
The remake of So Buta Dari Goa Hantu, which took six months to complete, has hit bookstores. Meanwhile, the remakes of seven other superheroes are still being processed.
Bumikangit's comic series are also posted on its Facebook account to accommodate readers who want to read them online for free.
Before being published in the printed version, the remake of Si Buta dari Goa Hantu received mixed responses from its readers on Facebook, which has over 54,000 followers.
Oyasujiwo recalled that he was praised by new readers for changes and improvisations that he made, but he was critized by some of loyal reader of Ganges' works.
"It is so challenging to bridge we readers and old readers. I cannot satisfy all parties," the 42 year old said.
Oyasujiwo, who has published more than 30 chidren's books since he was 15, also deepened stories and characterizations in the remake of Si Buta Dari Goa Hantu. Barda's emotions, for example, are revealed after he loses his fiance and father.
"I also explain how his enemy, Si Mata Malaikat (The Angel Eye), becomes evil and lights the spark. You will not find that part in the original comic," he said.
According to Oyasujiwo, the popularity of Indonesian comic books began to decline with the emergence of translated comic books in 1989s, such as Petualangan Tint in (The Adventures of Tintin) by Indira publishing company and Superman by Cypress publishing company.
Local comic writers lost more readers when translated Japanese comic books, such as Doraemon, Kungfu Boy and Dragon Ball, circulated in the 1990s.
In 1995, he added, comic writer Ahmad Toriq published superhero comic Caroq, which tells of taxi driver Ongko who becomes a superhero armed with two long magical sickles. However, it failed to survive in the market because it was overshadowed by translated American and Japanese comic books.
Oyasujiwo observed that Indonesian comic lovers began to be interested in local superheroes after the success of comic strip Benny Rachmadi and Muhammad Misrad, which first appeared in the Sunday edition of the Kompas newspaper in 2003.
Bumilangit, which believes that everybody needs a hero that they can be proud of, is on cloud nine today because local comic writers already have die hard fans thanks to social media sites where they can introduce and promote their work in digital format.
"(Social media) widens our access so that our comics can be accessed by millions of people. Now, we have appeared on the surface," he said.

A. Kurniawan Ulung
Contributor/ Jakarta

Lenovo Posts Quarterly Loss

Lenovo Group Ltd. posted a surprise quarterly loss after losing its grip on the global personal computer market as its smartphone unit continues to bleed money.
The net loss of US$72 million in the three months ended June was its first in six quarters and compares with the prediction for $9.9 billion.
Lenovo has lost its position as the world's biggest PC maker as HP Inc. and Dell Inc. win back customers with new models.
The company's smartphone and server businesses, which were bulked up with multibillion dollar acquisitions, have struggled to make money with rising costs and aggressive pricing strategies from competitors.
"Since PC is the only profitable segment, these headwinds will hurt profitability," Kai Qian and Liping Zhao, analyst at China International Capital Corp., wrote in a report ahead of the earnings.
Chairman Yang Yuanqing is exploring ways to rejuvenate Lenovo's core PC business, including a potential tie up with Fujitsu Ltd. that he said last month is still under negotiation.
The company has reenlisted former mobile unit head Lieu Jun to oversee its China business and has joined with e commerce site JD.com in a bid to push its annual online revenue to 80 billion yuan ($12 billion) within three years.
While the 2005 acquisition of International Business Machines Corp.'s PC division paid off by lifting Lenovo closer to the top of the market, the 2014 purchases of IBM's low end server unit and Motorola Mobility haven't gone as smoothly.

Bloomberg/ Beijing

PSG's Neymar Set For Home Bow

After dazzling on his first appearance in a Paris Saint Germain shirt, Neymar is in line to make his home debut for his new club against Toulouse on Sunday.
The world's most expensive player scored one goal and set up another in a starring performance as PSG beat Guingamp 3-0 away in Brittany last weekend to maintain their perfect start to the new French season.
The £222 million (US$261 million) signing from Barcelona has already taken to the pitch at PSG's Parc des Princes for an unveiling before their 2-0 win over Amiens there on the opening day of the campaign.
But he was not registered in time to play in that match so PSG's hone support are eager to watch the 25 year old run out against Toulouse. In contrast, the opposition coach is rather more apprehensive.
"We are going to Paris to defend first of all - that is for sure. We will park the Bus," said Pascal Dupraz, whose team did beat PSG at home and drew away last season en route to a mid table finish.
"I believe in the possibility of getting a result in Paris. That is the beauty of football too. If I didn't believe then I'd be as well to do something else."
Dupraz, who hast this week brought in Ivory Coast winger Max Alain Gradel on loan from Bournemouth, added: "We will need luck and to have God on our side because clearly this PSG side is incredible.
"But be careful not to call this game Toulouse against Neymar! Paris will win the league, I think, and will once again go far in Europe."
PSG has been busy trying to reduce its wage bill following the Neymar signing, and has loaned unwanted Spanish forward Jese to Stoke City while agreeing to sell France midfielder Blaise Matuidi to Juventus for £20 million.

AFP/ Paris