Word: java
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...First created during the Mataram kingdom in the 17th century, batik has been historically appreciated throughout the Indonesian archipelago, but especially by the people of central and eastern Java, where the technique of wax-resist dyeing originated. In recent decades, though, batik has gone into crisis: handworked cloth simply cannot compete in price with mass-produced printed textiles. Changes in the manufacture of batik - with several assembly-line workers now robotically completing individual stages that were once handled by a single highly skilled artisan - have also diminished the cloth's allure. Government support has become essential to the industry...
...early June, the Indonesian authorities made a stunning capture. After pursuing a suspected militant to a safe house in central Java, police say they shot him in the leg as he tried to flee. The target was Abu Dujana, the alleged head of the military wing of the extremist group Jemaah Islamiah (J.I.). That same day, the police made more busts. A squad of Indonesian commandos stormed into a home in Yogyakarta, nabbing Zarkasih, whom the authorities say is a veteran jihadist and J.I.'s overall leader. And just a few months earlier, the police uncovered an arsenal of deadly...
...According to Deddy Kusuma, owner of one of Indonesia's largest collections, some works by the group have appreciated by 10 times in the past year alone. Established painters are also benefiting from the surging interest. Nasirun, a well-known but reclusive 42-year-old painter in Bantul, Central Java, is currently selling paintings to overseas collectors sight unseen-such is the demand for his work...
...raised cheaply and sold when extra income is needed. It's not unusual for Indonesians to sleep with their birds to protect them from thieves. "We keep chickens not just for money but to reduce stress," says Hadiat, a farmer in the village of Kaseman in West Java. "But now with the flu, they stress...
...have seen the Chinese trade vacuum out one region after another - Burma, Vietnam, Borneo, Java, then Sumatra," says van Dijk. Typically, the trade follows a three- to five-year boom and bust cycle, van Dijk says, adding that 75% of Asia's 90 species of tortoise and freshwater turtles now are threatened. Worldwide about 40% of long-lived, slow to mature species are at immediate risk of extinction, according to CI. Now, conservationists fear the Chinese turtle trade has the U.S. in its sights...