Tens of university students from 12 countries took part in a three-day Beautiful Malino flower parade in Malino, Gowa District, South Sulawesi Province.

"We know that Gowa has an annual tourism event, namely Beautiful Malino, hence we as participants of a student exchange program under the Indonesia cultural and art scholarship (BSBI), want to enjoy it," Kazaki, leader of the BSBI program in South Sulawesi, said here on Sunday.

The students are from Azerbaijan, Solomon Island, Africa, Japan, Malaysia and Spain, among others.

Local flowers are beautiful and Malino inhabitants are friendly, he said, adding that Gowa is pretty and rich of culture and history.

The BSBI program is organized by the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry to introduce Indonesian arts and culture to foreign students.

Haruna Ono, a Japanese student, said this is his first visit to Indonesia and he is impressed with the scenery of Malino.

"Malino is amazing. Its nature is very beautiful and its food such as 'tenteng' is delicious," Ono said.

District Head of Gowa Adnan Purichta Ichsan said Beautiful Malino flower parade is organized annually to attract domestic and foreign tourists to visit the region.

"The presence of these foreign students here is expected to help promote Malino in their respective countries," he remarked.

Malino is located on a plateau and it offers mountain panorama such as pine forest scenery and beautiful limestone range.

There are many waterfalls in Malino, such as One thousand stairs waterfall and Takapala Waterfall. In addition to, tourists could also enjoy a tea garden, blue valleys and Japanese bunkers heritage in Malino. (ANTARA)

An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter Scale shook North Maluku, on Sunday at 6:28 p.m. local time, forcing local inhabitants to rush out of their homes in panic. The tremor did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami.

The quake's epicenter was located at 0.59-degree southern latitude and 128.06-degree eastern longitude, some 62 km northeast of Labuha, North Maluku, and at a depth of 10 km below sea level, according to information on the website of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) on Sunday.

Inhabitants of Labuha coastal area, the capital of South Halmahera District, rushed towards higher grounds when the tremor occurred as they feared a tsunami.

Muslim Pora, a local resident of Labuha, said he felt the earthquake strongly, and his home's windows shuttered.

Kustoro, head of the Ternate meteorology, climatology, and geophysics office, said that the earthquake did not have the potential to trigger a consequent tsunami.

The tremor was felt by Labuha's inhabitants at IV-V MMI (modified mercalli intensity). The earthquake was also felt by residents of Ternate, Tidore Islands, Central Halmahera, Ambon in Maluku Province, and even Bitung, North Sulawesi. (ANTARA)

A collaboration contemporary dance entitled "Mahabagini" by  dancers from the ten ASEAN member states will be shown during Jifolk, one of the series from the Sindoro-Sumbing Festival.

Mahabagini is a word of Sanskrit  language which means brotherhood. The dance will highlight the friendship values of ASEAN member countries.

Director of the Cultural Diplomacy Heritage Nadjamuddin Ramly in Yogyakarta on Sunday said the dance performance would be held in Temanggung at night.

"This is the first time for Indonesia to organize the ASEAN Contemporary Dance Festival. After they performed in Yogyakarta, they will continue to perform in Temanggung," Nadjamuddin Ramly said.

He said the event was expected to be able to strengthen brotherhood among the ASEAN nations.

"Through the dance, there will be an inner bond between ASEAN countries," Nadjamuddin Ramly said.

JiFolk (Java International Folklore), is the main event of the Sindoro Sumbing Festival, which features folklore in the form of arts. 

The show was attended by artists from 11 cities and 10 countries. A total of 500 artists will perform on stage in Temanggung Square.

The event has been held since July 12 and will end on July 14, 2019.

During JiFolk, local artists  have chances to display arts that they have been preserving. (ANTARA)

Prabowo Subianto, the number 2 candidate for President  in  the last elections  finally met with the elected President, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the MRT Station, Senayan, Central Jakarta, Saturday (07/13/2019). On that occasion, Prabowo also apologized if he often criticized the running of the government because according to him this was part of  democracy. Prabowo also congratulated Jokowi on being elected president for  2019-2024 period.

“So, ‘congratulations’. Being president is serving, the problem that the president  has is  enormous, we are ready to help, if deemed necessary, for the benefit of the people,” Prabowo said.

Meanwhile, President Jokowi previously said that this meeting was a meeting between  friends. Prabowo himself stated that  they were indeed friends. Only, when participating in the 2019 Presidential Election contest, both of them took opposite positions.\ (AHM/PUTRI)