While the original stations were conceived as “palaces for the people”, the new designs are less formal with light boxes for seats and laser-printed glass patterns.

In a major break with tradition, the Moscow city government has allowed outside architects to submit designs for several new stations in competitions that included a public vote on a phone app.

It has paved the way for “truly interesting and original stations that are outside any tradition,” says architecture journalist Nina Frolova.

    The first of these to open is in the high-rise suburb of Solntsevo, once notorious for its local mafia.

Moscow’s Nefa Architects won with a design inspired by the sun, the Russian word for which forms the root of the suburb’s name.

“We wanted to let the sun inside,” said Nefa’s lead architect Dmitry Ovcharov, surveying the newly opened station on a recent afternoon.

They punched holes in the walls of the station entrances to “create light and shadow”, he said.

Down on the platform, cylindrical white light boxes serve as seats that Ovcharov promises are sturdy enough to withstand passengers’ weight.

This year the transport system, which dates back to 1935, opened 16 new stations and carried around two billion passengers.

– ‘A battle for quality’ –

Frolova, editorial director at the Archi.ru architecture website, said Solntsevo is a bright example of new metro trends.

“There’s a concept that any passenger can see. It feels pleasant being in the station.”

But she said another design competition for the Novoperedelkino station ended less happily, with “significant changes” to the design.

It featured dramatic patterned glass ceilings that ended broken up with ugly seams and “turned out much less interesting than was planned”, she said.

Architect Ovcharov has grumbled about Solntsevo too, pointing out incorrectly printed panels and overhead lights that do not work.

“It was a really unrelenting battle for quality, to get the design decisions complied with,” he said.

Yet he adds that he’s now considering taking part in another metro design competition.

Another architect with a winning station design, Tatiana Leontyeva of Moscow’s Blank Architects, said the prestige of the commission was a draw.

She was part of a team who designed a station called Rzhevskaya, which will have an “archway” theme in a nod to its location near a mainline railway station.

The brief was to create a station for “the new times”, she said, using Russian materials and “without excessive decoration.”

“There was a large number of applications and (the competition) had a big impact, not just on the Russian architectural scene but abroad too because, of course, a lot of people wanted to get their hands on a site like the Moscow metro.”

The historic Moscow metro was a monumental construction in the 1930s, built as an example of quality and solidity, symbolising the grandeur of Stalin and the young Soviet Union. The country’s history was told in the mosaics that adorned the stations’ walls and the metro could serve as a bunker if needed.

– Metro expertise –

Previously the state company Metrogiprotrans had a monopoly on the transport system’s architecture, and it still designs the majority of new stations.

One of its architects recently argued that the company was the only one with the expertise to design the facilities.

“There’s a popular opinion that you can just come along to the metro and draw a picture of a station,” Alexander Orlov said at a recent presentation.

“Even if a drawing of something seems beautiful, it can be incompatible with all the metro technology.”

But Metrogiprotrans is also modernising.

The company’s latest station interiors feature laser-printed designs on glass or glossy aluminium panels, a simple approach that critic Frolova says also works.

“I think they kept a good balance with not many details and some simple, modern forms.”

– ‘Deprived of art’ –

The company is also behind more elaborate stations such as Fonvizinskaya, which depicts characters from the work of a playwright by the same name in ceiling-high 3-D panels.

“I’d never dreamed I’d do the metro,” digital artist Konstantin Khudyakov said.

“That’s monumental art,” said the designer, who explained his work is usually much smaller in scale.

Khudyakov’s stereoscopic panels use the same technology as novelty rulers or pens where figures appear to move — but using many more high-resolution images.

“It’s the first time in the world that this has been done” in the metro, Khudyakov said.

Public reaction to the decor at the station has been mixed.

School teacher Lyudmila told AFP she didn’t much care for the “gloomy” pictures, but was glad the metro system had been linked up to her neighbourhood.

But designer Alexandra, travelling on a weekday afternoon, said she liked the images “purely visually — they’re cool”.

Either way, Khudyakov believes the metro should still be a showcase for decorative art in a city with relatively few galleries.

“There’s not enough art. People are deprived of art… Let there be art at least in the metro.”

    The LA Times said Saturday that the attack, which was first assumed to have been a server outage, hit a computer network at Tribune Publishing which is connected to the production and printing process of multiple newspapers around the country.

As a result, the delivery of the Saturday editions of the LA Times and San Diego Union Tribune were delayed.

It also hit the distribution of the West Coast editions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, which are printed at the LA Times’ printing plant.

    The report said it could not provide firm numbers on how many subscribers were impacted but a majority of LA Times customers received their papers Saturday morning, albeit several hours late.

“We believe the intention of the attack was to disable infrastructure, more specifically servers, as opposed to looking to steal information,” the LA Times quoted a source with knowledge of the situation as saying.

The paper cited officials as saying it was too soon to know whether it was carried out by state or non-state actors.

“We are aware of reports of a potential cyber incident effecting several news outlets, and are working with our government and industry partners to better understand the situation,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

Wisma Putra said bomb explosions and shootings had been reported in different parts of Narathiwat and Songkhla.

No Malaysians were affected by the incidents, it said in a statement on Sunday (Dec 30).

Wisma Putra said Malaysians are encouraged to register themselves with the Embassy of Malaysia in Bangkok or the Consulate General of Malaysia in Songkhla while they are in Thailand.

The registration can be done with the Embassy of Malaysia, Bangkok, 33-35, South Sathorn Road, Tungmahamek, Sathorn, Bangkok 10120, Thailand, via telephone +66-2-629 6800 / +66-87-028 4659 (after working hours), fax +66-2-679 2208 or email mwbangkok@kln.gov.my.

Registration can also be done with the Consulate General of Malaysia, No. 4, Sukhum Road, Muang District, Songkhla 90000, Thailand, via telephone +66-7-431 1062 / +66-7-431 6274 / +66-81-990-1930 (WhatsApp), fax +66-7-432 4004 or email mwsongkhla@kln.gov.my.

It was reported that two bombs exploded at 10 pm (11 pm Malaysian time) on Wednesday (Dec 26) at Samila Beach, Songkhla, which is popular among the local residents and foreign tourists including Malaysians.

On Thursday, six more bombs exploded in several districts in the Songkhla province close to the Malaysian-Thai border. These bombings toppled several electric poles, but did not result in injuries.

“Indeed, we see a diversity here, in which there are a lot of differences in society. However, this is not the cause of dissension but the source of our strength as a nation,” he said in a speech during the national Christmas celebration in Medan on Saturday evening.

Jokowi said that during the Christmas celebrations, all elements of society must rejoice over the gifts that God has given to the Indonesian people. He said God the Almighty had given a high sense of brotherhood and loving affection as the strongest assets of the nation.

“The strongest assets of the nation are unity, harmony and brotherhood,” the President said.

Jokowi said Indonesia was blessed by an extraordinary diversity, in which the country’s population was 260 million people who live on 17,000 islands in 34 provinces and 514 regencies and cities. Hence, all parts of society must maintain the unity of the nation so it will not be easily defeated by any parties, said the President who later conveyed his Christmas and new year greetings to the participants of the event and all Christians in the country.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly, who chaired the 2018 National Christmas Celebration’s organizing committee, said he appreciated the support provided by all elements of society, including the security authorities, to ensure the safe and smooth implementation of the event.

Eighty musicians from four provinces, namely Jakarta, North Sumatra, West Java and Yogyakarta, performed a musical collaboration in this year’s celebration. Thousands of Christians attending the event were also entertained by a spectacular performance by a giant choir, which comprised 1,000 singers who represented various churches and ethnic groups from across North Sumatra.

A 100-member children’s choir from Pematang Siantar-Simalungun also performed in the celebration. All choir members wore traditional outfits from across Indonesia.

“Maybe this is the biggest choir we have ever seen throughout the history of Christmas celebrations in Indonesia. This also symbolizes the unity of our nation,” said Yasonna.

An ash column that spewed from Mt. Agung’s crater during the eruption could not be monitored as thick fog shrouded the peak. The eruption caused ash to fall onto several areas around the mountain.

“The eruption occurred at 4:09 a.m. local time but the height of the ash column could not be measured because of the heavy fog. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 millimeters and a duration of three minutes and eight seconds,” the observatory said in its report on Sunday morning.

The Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) announced that the alert for Mt.Agung was being maintained at the third level while the danger zone was still within a radius of 4 kilometers from the peak.

The center warned all people, including tourists, to stay away from the danger zone, where no activity is allowed.  Authorities have forbidden climbing on Mt. Agung since its volcanic activity increased in 2017.

“Volcanic activities in the danger zone are dynamic and can change at any time, according to the condition of the mountain,” the observatory said.

People living along rivers at the foot of Mt. Agung have also been warned to remain vigilant for possible cold lava flows, which can occur during rain.

In line with the announcement, the government plans to approve an ordinance on the adoption of a new era name at a Cabinet meeting, the sources said. The current Emperor will then sign and promulgate the ordinance.

As both the public and private sectors require time to update their systems ahead of the start of a new era, the government will announce the new name beforehand.

“[The government] will take into account the influence on people’s lives,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. The government could reveal the date of the announcement as early as the beginning of the new year.

Even if the current Emperor signs and promulgates the government ordinance in mid-April, it will come into effect on May 1 when the crown prince ascends to the throne and becomes emperor, marking the start of the new era.

Within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and other entities, conservatives who place importance on the system through which era names coincide with the reigns of emperors have claimed the new emperor should sign and promulgate the ordinance.

If events unfold as desired by conservatives, the signing and promulgation of the ordinance would be conducted on May 1. In this scenario, the ordinance would be promulgated several weeks after being approved by the Cabinet.

However, government ordinances are generally promulgated within a few days after Cabinet approval. The Cabinet Legislation Bureau has concluded that it is “not appropriate” to postpone promulgation of the ordinance as advocated by conservatives. Postponing promulgation until the ordinance is signed by the new emperor could violate the Constitution’s ban on imperial involvement in politics, as it would mean consideration is shown toward the new emperor for procedures related to the change in the era.

When the Showa era gave way to the Heisei era, the current Emperor promulgated the government ordinance on Jan. 7, 1989 — the day of his enthronement — with the Heisei era officially beginning on Jan. 8. If this precedent is followed, the new era would begin on May 2 if the ordinance is promulgated on May 1, which means the Heisei era would encompass May 1.

According to sources, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already expressed such concerns to those involved in the matter.

Thus far, the government has prepared for the change in eras on the assumption that the new name will be announced about a month before the enthronement on May 1.

Yet in consideration of conservatives, a government source said, “It is best for the announcement to be made as close as possible [to the day of enthronement].”

The government plans to examine to what extent the announcement date can be postponed without disrupting people’s lives.

​​​​​The incident turns on prefectural traffic regulations, which prohibit driving in clothing that could affect safe driving. However, many monks drive in their robes on a daily basis.

The monk who was given the ticket has refused to pay the penalty, saying such regulations would stop him from carrying out his memorial services.

According to the Fukui prefectural police and the monk, who is in his 40s, he was stopped by a police officer while he was driving a light vehicle on a prefectural road in Fukui shortly after 10 a.m. on Sept. 16. The officer reportedly told him, “You can’t drive in that kimono” and gave him a traffic violation ticket.

The violation written on the ticket was “driving in kimono that could affect safe driving.” The monk was ordered to pay a fine of ¥6,000.

The monk was on his way to a Buddhist memorial service, and was clad in a monastic robe that falls below the knees. He said he had driven in such attire for 20 years, but he had never been given a traffic ticket.

The prefectural government’s detailed enforcement regulations of the Road Traffic Law prohibit driving a vehicle in clothes that may affect safe driving.

The police officer is believed to have judged that the sleeves and length of what the monk was wearing would affect his driving.

However, an official of the prefectural police’s traffic enforcement division said, “Not all Buddhist monk robes are subject to the violation,” leaving the criteria vague.

The monk wears a simple robe when he drives. After arriving at a house where a service is being held, he puts on a big robe with long sleeves for the ceremony over the simple one.

He often visits a number of parishioners during a single day. However, in the local area where he is based, public transport is scarce, so he needs a car to get around.

He has consulted with the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha sect based at Nishi Hongwanji temple, to which he belongs, regarding the matter, as well as a lawyer. He has not paid the fine or responded to a subsequent demand.

If he does not pay the penalty, police will send papers on him to public prosecutors for allegedly violating the Road Traffic Law, and it could possibly unfold as a formal trial.

“I’d like to clearly state at a trial that I can drive safely in a monastic robe,” the man said.

The sect also said the regulation is a challenge to monks’ activities, and thus it is unacceptable.

A government document listing upcoming movie projects shows a new film in the works titled “Peppa Pig celebrates Chinese New Year” to be released in February 2019 during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The film includes Chinese New Year customs such as a dragon parade and fireworks, state-run China Daily reported.

Co-developed by  Alibaba Pictures and  Canadian media company Entertainment One — which currently produces Peppa Pig — the film includes the entire “Peppa Pig” cast and two new characters named Dumpling and Glutinous Rice Ball, two popular Chinese new year delicacies.

    The series, introduced in the mid-2000s in China, has become extremely popular through episodes dubbed into Mandarin.

This fervour intensified at the end of 2017 among a young adult audience. Many internet users including stars sported temporary “Peppa Pig” tattoos in selfies, and cups, watches and clothes appeared bearing the image of the heroine Peppa.

A Chinese internet platform in May gave “Peppa Pig” the chop as state media lamented the series had become a “subversive” icon for slackers and anti-social young people.

At least 30,000 clips of the British cartoon were removed from the popular Douyin video-sharing platform, while the #PeppaPig hashtag was banned from the site.

People who upload videos of Peppa Pig tattoos and merchandise and make Peppa-related jokes “run counter to the mainstream value and are usually poorly educated with no stable job,” state-run Global Times said after the ban.

“They are unruly slackers roaming around and the antithesis of the young generation the [Communist] party tries to cultivate.”

    President Donald Trump’s plan to slash the number of US soldiers in Afghanistan before negotiators have struck a peace deal with the Taliban has crushed hopes among many Afghans for an end to the 17-year conflict.

The news, which the White House has not confirmed, capped an annus horribilis for the war-weary country which by some estimates has overtaken Syria as the world’s deadliest conflict zone this year.

Ordinary Afghans, who have long borne the brunt of the relentless fighting, told AFP they felt increasingly despondent about the future as the Taliban and the Islamic State group adapt to ramped up security to carry out almost daily attacks on civilians and security forces.

    “It is getting worse every day,” said electrical engineering student Mohammad Hussain in Kabul, one of the deadliest places in the country for civilians.

“The security we had four or five years back was better than now. Even when we don’t have attacks in Kabul, we are waiting for something to happen.”

Zabihullah Shirzad, who owns a garbage collecting company in the Afghan capital, said he could not remember a bloodier year than 2018 and predicted 2019 would be even deadlier.

“We will see more killing and bloodshed,” the 42 year old said.

“I am not optimistic about the peace talks.”

Their gloomy comments reflect the findings of a Gallup poll published in October, which showed an unprecedented level of pessimism among Afghans.

And an Asia Foundation study in December suggested more than 60 percent of Afghans thought the country was moving in the wrong direction — unchanged from a year earlier.

– ‘Very bad year’ –

Several key indicators show Afghan security locked in a downward spiral, underscoring their negativity.

Civilian deaths hit a record high in the first half of the year, while the Taliban are slaughtering Afghan forces in greater numbers than ever before.

This year was also marked by some of the deadliest suicide attacks since the start of the war in 2001, including an ambulance bomb blast that targeted a crowded street in Kabul in January, killing more than 100 people and wounding hundreds more.

The bloodshed was exacerbated by Trump’s more aggressive strategy for Afghanistan, which he reluctantly announced in August 2017, putting thousands more US boots on the ground and giving its air units greater leeway to go after the Taliban and IS.

One estimate puts the number of conflict-related deaths at more than 40,000 this year — almost equal to the combined total for Syria and Yemen — according to data compiled by the US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

Afghanistan also took the unenviable title of deadliest country in the world for journalists, with 15 media workers killed, including AFP chief photographer Shah Marai and AFP driver Mohammad Akhtar.

Adding to the misery was the worst drought in recent history, which forced more than 250,000 people to abandon their homes, overwhelming humanitarian agencies as they struggled to provide enough food and shelter.

Thousands of displaced families have set up makeshift tents on the edge of cities, and some are even selling their young daughters into marriage to repay debt or buy food.

“It was a very bad year — the situation has not improved at all,” said Thomas Ruttig, co-director of Afghanistan Analysts Network.

– Pain of war –

Some observers saw positive signs that, if the circumstances are right, could translate into good news in 2019.

An unprecedented three-day ceasefire in June was widely celebrated by Afghans taking selfies and sharing ice cream with Taliban fighters, seemingly underscoring the desire for peace on both sides.

And the insurgents’ apparent willingness to meet with US officials as part of a push for peace talks in recent months could bode well for a deal, said Lotfullah Najafizada, director of Afghanistan’s largest private broadcaster Tolo News.

“I think Afghanistan will pass 2019 with some success. I hope it will be a historic year,” Najafizada said.

But slashing US troop numbers — which many fear would be a harbinger for a full withdrawal — before any deal is struck could trigger a civil war “with a regional dimension”, warned Davood Moradian, director general of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies.

Ruttig said Washington should put Afghanistan’s need for peace ahead of its own desire to pull out troops and save money.

“They are as much a part of the problem as they could be the solution,” he said, describing US policy in Afghanistan as “dysfunctional”.

Another spoiler in 2019 could be Afghanistan’s presidential election, originally scheduled for April 20 but now likely to be pushed back to the summer.

The vote, which President Ashraf Ghani plans to contest, could unleash a similar wave of violence that marred October’s shambolic and bloody parliamentary election.

But after so many years of war, Afghans are “more resilient” and the country would survive, Moradian said.

“Many Afghans have learned to live with the chronic pain of war,” he said.

“That pain does not stop them pursuing a normal life.”