The men, clad in elaborate black and yellow traditional costumes, sat in neat rows, clapping their hands on their shoulders and laps and moving in an increasingly fast-paced rhythm to a traditional song.

The saman, or “the dance of a thousand hands”, is one of the country’s most popular. In 2011 it was included in the UNESCO list of items of intangible cultural heritage.

The event was aimed at attracting more visitors to the province, the head of the local tourism agency, Syafruddin, told AFP.

The men, mostly from the ethnic Gayo community, made occasional wave-like movements without breaking formation.

Their song focused on the importance of protecting the province’s Mount Leuser National Park, home to rare Sumatran tigers and elephants, which is threatened by rampant poaching and rainforest destruction due to the expansion of palmoil plantations.

Thousands of spectators flocked to an open field tucked amid lush green hills in Gayo Lues district to watch the performance.

The Indonesian Museum of Record certified it as breaking a national record with 10,001 participants — beating last year’s record of 6,600.

The dance is usually accompanied by a song performed in unison. It emphasises teamwork, a symbol of unity.

“In the old days the lyrics were usually about spreading Islamic teachings. These days we can adjust the lyrics to deliver any message we wish to convey to the audience,” Syafruddin said.

Aceh’s international image has been tarnished by its public punishments under Sharia law, such as caning for homosexuality.

“I am very impressed with the performance, the dancers synchronised very well and it makes me proud as an Indonesian. It was incredible,” Sarah, a visitor from Jakarta, told AFP.//AFP

Bolt received the baton with Jamaica in third, but halfway down the finishing straight the towering sprinter pulled up clutching his left thigh, eventually doing a forward somersault to the ground, to gasps from the 60,000 sell out London Stadium.

The British quartet of Chijindu Ujah, Adam Gemili, Daniel Talbot and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake claimed gold in 37.47 seconds, with the Justin Gatlin-led US four taking silver at 0.05sec and Japan a surprise bronze (38.04).

Jamaican team doctor Dr Kevin Jones said Bolt had suffered from “cramp in his left hamstring.”

“But a lot of pain is from disappointment from losing the race,” Jones said.

Medical staff attends to Jamaica’s Usain Bolt after injuring himself during the final of the men’s 4x100m relay athletics event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium in London on August 12, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Antonin THUILLIER

“The last three weeks have been hard for him, you know. We hope for the best for him.”

Second leg runner Julian Forte added: “He didn’t tell us exactly what happened but from what I saw, it looked like a strain or a cramp of some sort.

“He kept apologizing to us but we told him there was no need to apologize — injuries are part of the sport.”

Newly-crowned 110m hurdles champion Omar McLeod, Jamaica’s lead-off runner, added: “Everybody was jelly, everybody was pumped. (Bolt’s injury) just happened. Usain Bolt’s name will always live on.”

Bolt missed out on his bid to retain his 100m title earlier in the week, losing out to Gatlin and silver medalist Christian Coleman, who ran relay anchor for the Americans on Saturday.

But hopes were high for Bolt’s final competitive race, with Jamaica also boasting McLeod, Forte and 2011 world champion Yohan Blake in their line-up.

Jamaica were afforded a rousing welcome from the crowd, a relaxed-looking Bolt applauding the stands, with pictures of him constantly shown on the stadium’s big screens.

Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, and the US team also including another convicted doping cheat, Mike Rodgers, and Jaylen Bacon were booed when introduced although the jeering was less pronounced than for the individual 100m event.

A close first three legs saw Britain, the United States and Jamaica, seeking a fifth consecutive world title, level-pegged for the final leg.

High drama

But there was to be high drama as a visibly swearing Bolt pulled up in obvious pain, allowing the Japanese quartet to edge in for third.

The result means Bolt, 100 and 200m world record holder, finishes his career with 14 world career medals, one behind American Allyson Felix, to go with eight Olympic golds.

Amid wild home celebrations, Bolt was attended to by medics, but refused a ride in a wheelchair off the track, instead finally getting up and limping alongside his teammates through to the finish line and then off into the bowels of the stadium for treatment.

It was a sad exit for an athlete who has lit up the track when the sport has been dragged through its worst-ever crisis, racked by doping and corruption scandals that went to the very heart of athletics’ governing body.

And what a gaping hole his absence will leave, no matter how brave a face the IAAF try to put on it.

Since confirming his sprinting dominance with triple gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bolt spent nine seasons amassing 19 global golds, 13 of which have come in individual events.

Allied with a charismatic personality, it has guaranteed Bolt recognition as one of the world’s most successful sportsmen. Last year alone he earned $34.2 million, according to Forbes.//AFP

The quake hit at a depth of 35 kilometres (22 miles) at 10:08 am (0308 GMT) 73 kilometres west of Bengkulu, according to the United States Geological Survey.

“The earthquake was quite strong and shallow, it was felt all the way to Padang, West Sumatra, but there was no threat of a tsunami,” Mochammad Riyadi, an official at Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency told AFP.

He said officials were checking if there were any casualties or damage.

Bengkulu resident Neng Hasnah said the quake felt very strong for a few seconds, forcing her and her family members to flee her house.

“I was carrying my seven-month old granddaughter and I had to run, all the neighbours also ran outside their homes,” Hasnah told AFP.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

An earthquake struck Indonesia’s western Aceh province in December 2016, killing more than 100 people, injuring many more and leaving tens of thousands homeless.//AFP

Sa Kaew Immigration Bureau superintendent Pol Col Benjaphol Rotsawad said some Lao tourists had mentioned their worries during border crossing inspections in Aranyaprathet district.

It was reported on Friday that the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, had threatened to mobilise the armed forces against Lao troops on the two countries’ border in Cambodia’s Steung Treng province.

This followed claims that Laos had sent troops into Cambodia.

Benjaphol said that Thai officials had had discussions with the Cambodian Immigration Bureau at Poipet, and the Cambodians had made assurances that citizens would not be affected by any conflict.

“Cambodian Immigration assured us that the tourists in Cambodia will be safe,” he said. “The leaders of the two countries have already negotiated an end to the conflict, and Lao troops have withdrawn from the Cambodian border.”

Given this assurance, the Lao tourists felt relieved and decided to continue their journey into Cambodia.

Meanwhile, a large number of Thai tourists had also crossed the border at Aranyaprathet, Benjaphol said.

As Pyongyang’s deadline drew closer, the archbishop of the predominately Catholic US territory urged priests to pray for peace at Sunday mass and prepared for a peace rally in the capital Hagatna.

But on the streets the outward appearance remained calm, with the main concern being the approach of the typhoon season.

“To be honest, I’m more worried about the projectiles from the typhoons when we get strong winds than whatever projectiles Kim Jong Un says he will launch on Guam,” Janice Furukawa, a 58-year-old mother, said as she prepared her typhoon emergency kit at her home in the western village of Piti.

North Korea, angered by US President Donald Trump’s threat of “fire and fury”, has promised to have plans ready in a matter of days to launch an “enveloping fire” of missiles at Guam, which houses two large US military bases and is home to more than 6,000 US military personnel.

Trump has vowed to protect the western Pacific island and in a call to Guam Governor Eddie Calvo on Saturday “reassured” him that “United States forces stand ready to ensure the safety and security of the people of Guam, along with the rest of America”.

Roman Catholic archbishop Michael Byrnes asked priests in a statement to “offer prayers for peace between our nations, just resolution of differences”.

Rolando Zepeda, 57, a teacher at Saint Anthony’s School, said he was not making any emergency plans ahead of a North Korean attack.

“But I am always quick to shutter up whenever we get typhoon advisories or tsunami warnings,” he said.

“Kim Jung Un is as crazy as typhoons but I am more scared of typhoons because they are real threats.”

‘We always survive’

North Korea previously threatened to attack Guam back in 2013, leading Calvo to play down the latest potential crisis and instead remind the 162,000 residents they should prepare for the inevitable typhoon.

“You know typhoons can strike anytime… so that means, families are making family emergency plans and kits together,” he said.

“With that, everybody should conduct their lives like business as usual. It’s the weekend. Go out, have a good time.”

If North Korea does launch a missile strike there is a public warning system in place and a 14-minute window to react, Homeland Security said.

On Friday it posted guidelines on its website about what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.

“Expect to stay inside for at least 24 hours unless otherwise told by authorities,” the advisory warned. “If caught outside, do not look at the flash or fireball — It can blind you. Take cover behind anything that might offer protection. Lie flat on the ground and cover your head.”

Resident Furukawa, who lived through Typhoon Paka which left 5,000 homeless and more than 30 percent of public buildings seriously damaged in 1997, said people in Guam were resilient.

“We always survive. It’s the recovery period that is hard. But survival is part of our culture,” she said.

Guam’s modern building code demands houses and buildings be able to withstand winds of up to 160 miles per hour (260 km/h).

“Based on what we have in this community, we have been able to withstand a category 5 hurricane,” Calvo said, adding that school buildings were designated as public shelters and could cope with major disasters.

“A category 2 or 3 typhoon would cause major damage in many communities around the world but not in Guam,” he said.

Some 30 Laos soldiers have been stationed in Cambodia’s northern Stung Treng province since April to halt the construction of a road, according to Cambodian PM Hun Sen.

The spat escalated on Friday when Hun Sen started sending military vehicles up to the area, giving Laos an ultimatum to retreat in six days or face military action.

But on Saturday Hun Sen flew to Vientiane for an urgent meeting with his Laos counterpart.

After the talks the pair announced the issue had been resolved in a joint press conference, broadcast live on Hun Sen’s Facebook.

The neighbours said they would ask border officials to work on demarcating the disputed patch of their 540-kilometre (335-mile) land border, where terriorital squabbles are fairly common.

“I have ordered relevant authorities to pull back troops by tomorrow morning,” Laos’ premier Thongloun Sisoulith said through a translator.

Hun Sen hailed the agreement as a “big success for both nations” and ordered his soldiers to turn around.

Following Hun Sen’s orders on Friday, a convoy of Cambodian troops and multiple rocket launchers rolled through the capital Phom Penh on their way north, eliciting cheers from onlookers.

The swell of nationalist fervour comes as Hun Sen readies for a political battle in next year’s general election.

The 65-year-old, a shrewd political operator who has held office for 32 years, often draws on heavily nationalist rhetoric to drum up support, especially ahead of election season.

He likes to portray himself as the saviour of country that was ravaged by decades of civil war and foreign invasions.

But he will face a tough challenge from an opposition that has tapped into growing frustration over the corruption and inequality that have flourished during his rule.

Border issues are often highly politicised in Cambodia, with Hun Sen especially vulnerable to criticism of being too lenient in territorial agreements with Vietnam.

Xi made the plea in a phone call hours after Trump ramped up his warnings to Pyongyang, saying the Stalinist regime would “truly regret” taking hostile action against the United States.

The White House said in a statement that the two leaders “agreed North Korea must stop provocative and escalatory behaviour” and that they are both committed to the denuclearisation of the peninsula.

But the Chinese foreign ministry said Xi urged Trump to avoid “words and deeds” that would “exacerbate” the already-tense situation, exercise restraint and seek a political settlement.

Trump has been engaged all week in verbal sparring with the North over its weapons and missile programmes, as US media reported Pyongyang has successfully miniaturised a nuclear warhead.

The Republican billionaire has progressively ramped up the tone throughout the week and on Friday declared that the US military is “locked and loaded.”

In a call with Guam Governor Eddie Calvo on Friday, Trump said the US military is prepared to “ensure the safety and security of the people of Guam” in response to Pyongyang’s plans to launch missiles towards the Pacific territory.

Japanese media said Tokyo was deploying its Patriot missile defence system following Pyongyang’s threat to fire ballistic missiles over the country towards Guam.

‘Fire and fury’

In another move that could further fan the flames, satellite photos posted by defence expert Joseph Bermudez suggested that North Korea could be preparing for fresh submarine-based ballistic missile tests.

Trump had earlier brandished a threat of unleashing “fire and fury” on Pyongyang, then noted Thursday maybe that statement “wasn’t tough enough.”

China, North Korea’s biggest ally and trade partner, has been voicing concern at the mounting exchanges and a state-run newspaper suggested that Beijing should stay neutral if Pyongyang struck the US first.

Previously accused by Trump of not doing enough to rein in the authoritarian regime, China voted in favour of a series of wide-sweeping UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea last weekend.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Trump told Xi over the phone that he “fully understands China’s role in the nuclear issue in the Korean Peninsula.” Trump is expected to visit China later this year.

The North’s official KCNA news service in an editorial blamed Trump for “driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war,” calling the US “the heinous nuclear war fanatic.”

The sabre-rattling has sparked worldwide concerns that a miscalculation by either side could trigger a catastrophic conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

Russia and Germany have also urged both sides to tone down the rhetoric.

“Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!” Trump wrote Friday from his golf club retreat in New Jersey, where he is on a working vacation.

Moscow ‘alarmed’

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was “very alarmed” at Trump’s tough talk, and said Washington should take the first step toward cooling tensions.

“When a fight has nearly broken out, the first step away from the dangerous threshold should be taken by the side that is stronger and smarter,” Lavrov said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said diplomacy was the answer.

“Germany will very intensively take part in the options for resolution that are not military but I consider a verbal escalation to be the wrong response,” she said.

Nearly a week ago, the UN Security Council unanimously passed fresh sanctions against Pyongyang over its weapons programme, including export bans, a new punishment that could cost North Korea $1 billion a year.

“This is clearly a time for all the parties to focus on how to de-escalate and lower the tensions,” said the spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Tensions on the peninsula tend to increase when Seoul and Washington launch major military joint exercises, and the next, Ulchi Freedom Guardian, is set to kick off around August 21.

‘Tragedy of war’

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis appeared intent Thursday on easing the tension, describing the prospect of war as “catastrophic” and saying diplomacy remained the priority.

Asked Friday if Mattis was aware of Trump’s latest tweet, spokesman Colonel Rob Manning simply said the Pentagon chief was “in close and constant contact with the president.”

A White House official noted: “There are military plans for just about any crisis we may face in the world. (…) This isn’t anything new.”

Relations between Washington and Pyongyang have been tense for months, in the wake of the North’s repeated missile tests, including two successful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test launches in July that are believed to have brought much of the US mainland within range.

North Korea raised hackles in the United States when it announced a detailed plan to send four missiles over Japan and towards Guam, an island territory of some 165,000 people, where some 6,000 US soldiers are based.

Rakhine has been gripped by violence since October last year when militants attacked police posts, sparking a bloody military crackdown that the UN believes may amount to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority Rohingya.

More than 70,000 Rohingya villagers fled across the border to Bangladesh, carrying with them stories of systematic rape, murder and arson at the hands of soldiers.

The major part of the military campaign ended several months ago, but fear continues to stalk the region amid sporadic bouts of violence.

Officers said Saturday that the government had deployed a fresh batch of troops after a recent spate of murders.

They said soldiers have been sent to a mountainous area where a band of militants is actively training.

“Many battalions with hundreds of soldiers from central Myanmar were deployed to the Mayu moutain range,” a military officer told AFP, requesting anonymity.

A senior border guard said the deployment was ordered to protect other ethnic groups in the remote area.

The government has accused insurgents of murdering and abducting dozens of villagers and perceived collaborators with the state.

“Muslim militants are training in the forest… They have killed those who are cooperating with authorities,” the border guard told AFP.

State media also reported that the government had imposed new curfews, to be set “in necessary areas” as the army beefs up its “clearance operations”.

A Rohingya villager told AFP his community feared a repeat of last year’s crackdown.

“Some Muslim villages in Rathidaung dare not to go outside,” said Hasumyar, who only gave his first name and lives in a township that has been placed under curfew.

The insurgents, known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, were little known until they claimed the October raids on police posts that left nine dead.

The group says it is fighting to advance the rights of the Rohingya and has denied killing civilians in statements issued through an unverified Twitter account.

Reports of an army battalion being flown into Rakhine to boost security were met with criticism on Friday by UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee, who warned the development was “a cause for major concern”.

The UN has accused the military of committing grave abuses against the Rohingya during its counterinsurgency campaign.

But Myanmar has dismissed the allegations and vowed to block a UN probe into the violence.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long faced criticism for its treatment of the more than one million Rohingya, who are denied citizenship and struggle to access basic services.

The minority group are widely reviled as illegal migrants from Bangladesh, despite having lived in the area for generations.

Reacting to reports that an army battalion was flown into Rakhine Thursday to help local authorities boost security in the region, UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee warned the development was “a cause for major concern.”

“The government must ensure that security forces exercise restraint in all circumstances and respect human rights in addressing the security situation in Rakhine State,” she said in a statement.

“I am particularly reminded of the allegations of serious human rights violations which followed security force operations in the aftermath of attacks against three border guard police facilities in Maungdaw and Rathedaung in October and further clashes in November,” she added.

Lee’s comments came after a government-appointed commission on Sunday dismissed UN allegations of widespread abuses during the crackdowns, clearing Myanmar security forces of systematic rape, murder and arson against Rohingya Muslims.

The commission examined the deadly violence which began in Rakhine last year after attacks by Rohingya militants on police posts near the Bangladesh border.

The government is refusing to allow a UN fact-finding team to conduct its own probe into whether the security response amounted to “ethnic cleansing” of the stateless Rohingya minority.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long faced criticism for its treatment of the more than one million Rohingya who live in Rakhine, who are seen as interlopers from Bangladesh, denied citizenship and access to basic rights.

Lee said she had taken note of the report from the government commission, pointing out that it had “admitted it was not able to verify many of these alleged violations or crimes including torture, rape and arson” and she asked that “these be properly addressed by the relevant authorities.”

“There have been increasing reports of incidents affecting the local population, including the killings of six Mro villagers on August 3,” she pointed out.

Lee said she shared the government’s security concerns, and understood the state’s responsibility to provide security and protect people from attacks by extremists.

But she stressed that the authorities needed to offer equal protection to all residents.

“Any measures security forces take or any operations they undertake to secure the areas concerned must be carried out in line with international human rights norms and standards,” she said.