Lee books finals rematch against Chen in Jakarta

JAKARTA, Aug 16, 2015:

Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia cruised into his fourth straight men's singles final at the world championships on Saturday, but must overcome Chinese top seed Chen Long to win his elusive gold.

Lee, a three-time runner up at badminton's most prestigious event, advanced to yet another title match after swatting aside second seed Jan O. Jorgensen of Denmark 21-7, 21-19.

The former world number one is unseeded for the first time in years at this world championships, having just returned from an eight-month ban for doping.

But he has staged a ferocious comeback and looked dangerous as ever in Jakarta, dismissing four seeded opponents in his relentless march towards a maiden world crown.

But to end his gold medal drought the Malaysian superstar must beat world number one Chen, who defeated him in last year's world championship final and has already won four titles this season.

"Last year and this year are very different," said 32-year-old Lee.

"This is my chance, and maybe my last opportunity."

Jorgensen, who will take home bronze after his impressive win over Chinese legend Lin Dan in the quarter finals, was caught completely off guard as Lee unleashed his full potential.

"You could say that I forgot how it is to play Lee Chong Wei," the Dane said.

"Nobody else in the world has that speed. I think he will win."

Chen smashed Kento Momota of Japan 21-9, 21-15 to advance to his second straight final, but acknowledged defending his world title this year would be no easy task.

– Indonesians stage upset –

Meanwhile world number one Carolina Marin, who almost didn't make the world championships due to injury, staged a gripping comeback against South Korea's Sung Ji-Hyun to book a second-straight finals appearance.

The Spanish top seed and defending champion screamed in triumph as she emerged victorious after a 90-minute battle over Sung 21-17, 15-21, 21-16.

Marin will face second seed Saina Nehwal after she brushed off local favourite Lindaweni Fanetri 21-17, 21-17.

Marin claimed the first game against Sung comfortably but lost her composure in the second, becoming increasingly frustrated as her unforced errors mounted and her lead slipped away.

She trailed Sung in the third game 13-8 before rallying, taking 10 unanswered points in a fiery comeback that left her Korean opponent spinning.

"Today I was nervous and sometimes I was angry with myself because I wasn't thinking about what I had to do, I was thinking about the score," the 22-year-old European champion told reporters.

Sung said she was struggling with stamina and cramps after enduring an 82-minute quarter-final marathon against Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu.

There was a major upset in the men's doubles as Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan upstaged the top-ranked South Korean pair Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong 21-17, 21-19.

The third-seeded local pair were roared into the finals by a thundering home crowd, and are tipped to win Indonesia's only gold medal of the tournament when they meet China's ninth-seeded duo Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan on Sunday.

Danish pair Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl have a chance to make history when they face China's Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei in the women's doubles finals.

If the fourth-seeded Danes prevail over their fifth-seeded counterparts it will be the first time in 12 years a non-Chinese pair have won the event.

For a second year in a row it will be an all-Chinese affair in the finals of the mixed doubles.

Top-ranked pair Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei defeated resilient Indonesian duo Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir, while fourth seeded Chinese pair Liu Cheng and Bao Yixin beat their second seeded compatriots Xu Chen and Ma Jin.

Source: Lee books finals rematch against Chen in Jakarta

Lone Star College Honors College students to study in Jakarta

Ten Lone Star College Honors College students have been chosen to study at LSC-Jakarta during the fall 2015 semester.

The students were selected by their honors directors for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to earn credit hours while learning about a different culture.

"These Lone Star College Honors College students will get the chance to study alongside the Indonesian students and interact, opening up a new world experience," said Dr. Katharine Caruso, LSC Honors College executive director.

The Honors College at LSC offers a wide range of opportunities for high-achieving students who are looking to graduate with honors distinction as well as for students interested in earning individual honors course credit.

LSC and Universitas Siswa Bangsa Internasional have established the first accredited U.S. associate degree program offered in Indonesia. The LSC/USBI dual enrollment International Educational Pathway Program is the only one of its kind in Indonesia. Indonesian students who participate in the Pathway program will receive a U.S. associate degree after completing the two years of the LSC international academic program curriculum at the USBI campus.

LSC Honors College students will spend 12 weeks studying in Jakarta, which is being funded by scholarships from the Putera Sampoerna Foundation. The students will be staying in an apartment facility near the campus and will be completing an honor-level research project during their stay.

"Students will also be able to explore the region with their Indonesian peers on excursions to the mountainous Bogor, the historical city and traditional art center of Jogjakarta, and Bali. This experience will help to provide Lone Star College Honors students a worldwide perspective that will enhance their education and allow them to better understand a different culture," said Caruso.

The classes are taught in English and will be used to complete coursework for degrees. In addition, the Honors students will be conducting a service learning project, teaching English at outlying schools.

LSC-CyFair professor Sandra Grebe will be the resident faculty and lead chaperone for this group of students.

Lone Star College has been opening doors to a better community for more than 40 years. Founded in 1973, LSC remains steadfast in its commitment to student success and credential completion. Today, with almost 83,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 95,000, Lone Star College is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the nation. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., is the chancellor of LSC, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, seven centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.

Source: Lone Star College Honors College students to study in Jakarta

Indonesia navy nabs cargo ship loaded with slave-caught fish

Margie Mason, Associated Press

Updated 2:56 pm, Thursday, August 13, 2015

Photo: AP

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FILE - In this July 14, 2015 satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe, two fishing trawlers load slave-caught fish onto the Silver Sea 2, center, a refrigerated cargo ship belonging to the Thai-owned Silver Sea Fishery Co., off the coast of Papua New Guinea. The Indonesian fisheries minister said Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015, the massive refrigerated cargo ship, Silver Sea 2, believed to be loaded with slave-caught fish has been seized by the navy and brought to shore after an Associated Press report alerted authorities about its presence in the country's waters. (DigitalGlobe via AP, File)

Photo: AP

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FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2014 file photo, two refrigerated cargo ships, the Silver Sea 2, background, and the Silver Sea Line, foreground, are docked at Thajeen Port in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. Both are owned by Thailand-based Silver Sea Fishery Co., named in an Associated Press investigation into slavery in Southeast Asia's seafood industry. The Indonesian fisheries minister said Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015, the massive refrigerated cargo ship, Silver Sea 2, believed to be loaded with slave-caught fish has been seized by the navy and brought to shore after an Associated Press report alerted authorities about its presence in the country's waters.

Photo: Wong Maye-E, AP

FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2014 file photo, two refrigerated cargo...

Indonesia navy nabs cargo ship loaded with slave-caught fish

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A massive refrigerated cargo ship believed to be loaded with slave-caught fish has been seized by Indonesia's navy and brought to shore after an Associated Press report alerted authorities about its presence in the country's waters, officials said Thursday.

The Thai-owned Silver Sea 2 was located late Wednesday and escorted about 80 miles (130 kilometers) to a naval base in Sabang on the Indonesian archipelago's northwestern tip, said Col. Sujatmiko, the regional naval chief.

The AP used a satellite beacon signal to trace its path from Papua New Guinea waters, where it was also being sought, into neighboring Indonesia. The navy then spent a week trying to catch it.

"I'm so overwhelmed with happiness," said Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti. "It was almost impossible, but we did it."

It is the same 2,285-ton vessel captured in a high-resolution satellite photo last month in Papua New Guinea showing its hold open and two fishing trawlers tethered to each side, loading fish. The smaller wooden vessels were identified as the ones that fled a remote Indonesian island earlier this year, crewed by enslaved men from poor Southeast Asian countries who are routinely beaten and forced to work nearly nonstop with little or no pay.

An AP investigation revealed that their catch reaches the supply chains of some of the biggest grocery stores and food companies in the United States.

Pudjiastuti freed hundreds of men earlier this year after the AP exposed they were trapped — including some locked in a cage — on the island village of Benjina. But 34 boats loaded with slaves escaped before authorities arrived. They remain missing.

Pudjiastuti, who put a moratorium on all foreign fishing last year, said the Silver Sea 2 captain will be questioned, and an investigation will be launched into suspected human trafficking, offloading at sea and transport of illegal fish.

Workers who recently returned home to Myanmar after being enslaved on one of the trawlers that fled to Papua New Guinea said they regularly loaded fish onto Silver Sea cargo ships, which ferry the catch back to Thailand, where it was processed and fed into the country's $7 billion annual seafood export business.

The industry runs off the backs of poor people from its own country and migrants from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos who are often sold, kidnapped and tricked onto trawlers.

In addition, Burmese slaves rescued from Benjina, who were among hundreds interviewed by AP in person or in writing, said they were trafficked in Thailand and brought to fish in Indonesia aboard the Silver Sea 2 with no way to return home.

Silver Sea Reefer Co., which owns at least nine refrigerated cargo ships in Thailand, has said it is not involved with the fishermen.

____

Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini contributed to this report.

____

Follow Margie Mason on Twitter at twitter.com/MargieMasonAP

Source: Indonesia navy nabs cargo ship loaded with slave-caught fish

China Yuan Move Worsens Policy Bind for Asia’s Central Banks

Just as Asia's central banks were bracing for an expected increase in U.S. interest rates, China has given them another headache to deal with.

The decision by the People's Bank of China to let its yuan weaken by the most in two decades is creating a bind for policy makers grappling with slowing growth and sluggish exports. If they let their currencies follow to stay competitive, they risk reviving inflation and a rush of money exiting to the U.S. dollar.

"Devaluation is a beggar-thy-neighbor policy," said Chua Hak Bin, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Singapore. "Domestic demand is very weak in most economies in Asia. This could be a race to the bottom."

First to follow -- the State Bank of Vietnam, which widened the dong's trading band on Wednesday, citing the "negative impact" on its economy of China's devaluation. The move marked an official confirmation of the fallout across Asia's currencies, which had their biggest two-day selloff since 1998, during the region's financial crisis.

Malaysia's ringgit weakened beyond 4 to the dollar for the first time since 1998 on Wednesday. Indonesia's rupiah slid the most since Dec. 15. Bank Indonesia views the rupiah's recent declines as excessive, causing the currency to trade far below its fundamental value, Governor Agus Martowardojo said in a statement, adding the authority will remain in the market to stabilize the exchange rate.

Perfect Storm

Central banks from Indonesia to Singapore have already eased monetary policy this year to support growth. A currency war gives them even less room to maneuver.

Asia has been "hit by a perfect storm" of tighter fiscal policy, moderating credit growth, increased exposure to China and lower commodity prices, said Michael Wan, a Singapore-based economist at Credit Suisse Group AG. "Expect growth around the region to be quite lackluster."

The region is in the midst of a deep "trade recession" that is likely to endure, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said in a note Wednesday. The bank cut its growth forecasts for India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.

"Asia's ability to consume will be diminished along with weaker currencies in the short term," said Wai Ho Leong, an economist at Barclays Plc in Singapore. "We don't know how much demand is destroyed by this currency move, how much producer confidence is lost."

Weak Demand

Even currency weakening may not help these economies when shipments have been faltering all year due to slower demand in key markets such as Europe.

"In an environment of weak final demand, competitive devaluations are unlikely to have the effect that policy makers would expect them to have," said Glenn Maguire, a Singapore-based economist at ANZ.

Taiwan is trying to find a middle path, quietly easing monetary conditions to spur growth and prevent capital flight as its currency plunges. The island's central bank, which has kept benchmark borrowing costs unchanged since 2011, cut the rate on overnight certificates of deposit for a second day on Wednesday and said it will pay less on 14-day debt at a sale scheduled Friday.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said late Wednesday it "stands ready to curb excessive volatility" in its dollar, even as the currency remains within the policy band set by the central bank. MAS said its policy stance of a modest and gradual appreciation announced in April remains appropriate.

Wait-and-See

While the International Monetary Fund said China's yuan changes are a welcome step as they should allow market forces to have a greater role in determining the exchange rate, Asia-Pacific policy makers are bracing for volatility and uncertainty.

Philippine policy makers are in "wait-and-see" mode as the yuan may depreciate further and become more volatile, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo told reporters Wednesday.

China's yuan devaluation has caused the U.S. dollar to strengthen against other currencies, which may prompt the Federal Reserve to rethink the timing of rate increases, Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told reporters in Jakarta.

"China's moved quickly," Australia Trade Minister Andrew Robb said to reporters in Canberra Wednesday about his nation's largest trading partner. "The exchange-rate issue is an attempt to restore some competitive position. I don't know what will happen next, I don't think anyone does."

No Panic

Still, a fresh round of currency wars is unlikely to sweep across Asia, according to Daniel Martin, senior Asia economist at Capital Economics Ltd.

"There is no need for Asian policy makers to panic," Martin wrote in a note Wednesday. "So far, the drop in the renminbi has not been large enough to make much difference to export competitiveness, and we do not think the PBoC is looking to implement a series of competitive devaluations."

South Korea's Finance Minister Choi Kyung Hwan described China's yuan weakening as a bid to support exports and said that his government is closely watching how currency markets respond. Any boost in Chinese shipments may ultimately help Korea given it sells mainly intermediary goods to China, Choi told reporters in Seoul.

Implications for Australia partly depend on what is driving the move, Reserve Bank of Australia Deputy Governor Philip Lowe said Wednesday.

"We know that movements in exchange rates often set off a chain reaction of events which can be difficult to predict, so I think we've all got to watch what's going on very carefully, particularly in Asia," he said.

"The PBoC's move has added a new headache to central banks in the region," said Le Xia, chief economist for Asia at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA in Hong Kong. "If they want to maintain their competitiveness of exports, they need to pursue sharper depreciation," even as doing so carries risks of higher inflation and capital outflows, he said.

Source: China Yuan Move Worsens Policy Bind for Asia's Central Banks

Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan rivalry flares up at Jakarta

© AFP Adek BerryChina's Lin Dan in action against US rival Sattawat Pongnairat (not in picture) at the World Championships in Jakarta, on August 11, 2015

Jakarta (AFP) - The old rivalry between superstars Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan roared back into life at the world championships on Tuesday, with both players inviting the prospect of a semi-final showdown in Jakarta.

Lee, a former world number one who only returned to badminton in May after being slapped with an eight-month ban for doping, looked dangerous as he swept aside Lithuania's Kestutis Navickas 21-9, 21-13 in his opening match.

His archrival Lin, a two-time Olympic champion, began his campaign for a sixth world crown in similar fashion, demolishing American Sattawat Pongnairat 21-8, 21-11. 

The pair are long-running foes, with China's Lin denying Malaysia's Lee gold in two world championships and back to back Olympics in 2008 and 2012, and badminton fans are savouring the possibility the veterans could clash in a semi-final sizzler in Jakarta.

"I am aware a great many people are waiting for us to duel on the court. Certainly I will give my best performance if this occurs," Lee, 32, told reporters.

"This could be our last game, because maybe next year we will retire."

Lin said Lee's strong return to the badminton circuit -- the Malaysian has won back to back US and Canada Open titles this season -- would make the competition "increasingly fierce" and invited the opportunity for a rematch.

"Especially if you consider our age, we've had few opportunities to play," Lin, 31, told reporters.

"I would love if we could play again."

Lin is expected to cruise through his next match but Lee -- who is unseeded at the world championships for the first time in years -- must navigate his way past 12th seed German shuttler Marc Zwiebler.

- Early nerves -

Top seed in the women's competition Carolina Marin, who nearly pulled out of the tournament due to injury, had a scare as she embarked on her defence of her world title. 

The world number one lost her first set against Malaysia's Tee Jing Yi, before finding her feet and delivering some blistering smashes to convincingly claim the match 19-21, 21-14, 21-13.

"At the beginning I was a little bit nervous," the Spaniard said.

Others couldn't control the jitters, with ninth women's seed Nozomi Okuhara going down a third-straight time to unseeded Thai shuttler Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, while Taiwan's Pai Yu Po knocked out Indonesia's Maria Febe Kusumastuti.

Third seed Li Xuerui breezed into the third round with a 21-10, 21-11 drubbing of Bulgaria's Petya Nedelcheva.

The Olympic champion, who was upstaged by a gutsy Marin, declined to say whether she was out for revenge. 

"You will have to wait and see," she told reporters via a translator.

Second seed Jan O. Jorgensen - who has arguably the hardest draw in the men's singles - eased past Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana, while fellow Dane Hans-Kristian Vittinghus and South Korea's Son Wan Ho were among the other top shuttlers to book a spot in the round of 32.

Elsewhere, Israeli athlete Misha Zilberman, who was only granted a visa by Indonesia at the 11th hour to compete in the world championships, blamed the immigration saga for his early departure from the tournament.

Zilberman was only granted a visa after the head of the Badminton World Federation intervened directly on his behalf, but the shuttler said the disruption to his training caused his 21-14, 21-14 drubbing.

Men's world number one Chen Long, who is seeking to defend his crown and add to the four titles he's already bagged this season, will play his first match on Wednesday after being given a first round bye.

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Source: Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan rivalry flares up at Jakarta