Spanish actor’s son jailed for life for grisly Thai island murder

Southeast Asia

August 29, 2024

KOH SAMUI, Thailand (AFP) – A Thai court on Thursday jailed a famous Spanish actor’s son for life for the grisly murder of a Colombian plastic surgeon on a tropical holiday island, in a lurid case that has gripped Spain.

Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a 30-year-old chef, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga on the tourist island of Koh Phangan last year.

The case has generated enormous interest in Spain because the defendant’s father Rodolfo Sancho is a well-known actor, and scores of Spanish reporters have flown in for the trial.

Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho arrives at court to attend the ruling of his son Daniel Sancho Bronchalo. PHOTO: AFP

Bussakorn Kaewleeled, a lawyer for the victim’s family, said they were happy with the outcome.

“The plaintiff is satisfied with the sentence because he will be put in prison for life and they receive some financial compensation,” Bussakorn told reporters outside the court on the island of Koh Samui.

“The verdict has been delivered, both sides have the right to appeal according to Thai law,” Bussakorn added.

When asked about Sancho’s reaction, she said: “He is sad, but we can’t forget the loss of the dead one”.

Sancho claimed he killed Arrieta, 44, in self-defence, and admitted hiding the body, but denied destroying the Colombian’s passport.

The trial heard that Sancho chopped up Arrieta’s body and put the parts in plastic bags before distributing them around Koh Phangan.

While Thailand still has the death penalty for some crimes, including premeditated murder, it rarely carries out executions — the last being in 2018.

Arrieta’s family said before the verdict that they favoured a sentence of life imprisonment.

FILE – A Thai police officer escorts Spanish Daniel Sancho Bronchalo on suspicion of murdering and dismembering a Colombian surgeon from Koh Phagnan island to Koh Samui Island court, southern Thailand, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. PHOTO: A{

“Let him be left in Thailand so he can take time, all the time that God gives him to live, to think about what he did,” Darling Arrieta, the victim’s sister, said in an HBO documentary about the case.

“He not only dismembered my brother, he dismembered a family.”

Self-defence claim

Sancho and Arrieta agreed to meet in person after getting to know each other online.

Sancho’s father said in the same HBO documentary that Arrieta had threatened his son, and then “there was a fight, and in this fight, there was an accident”.

The defence argued that Sancho acted in legitimate self-defence after Arrieta tried to force him to have sex.

“He tried to rape me, and we fought,” Sancho said in a statement quoted by the Spanish daily El Mundo.

A lawyer for the victim’s family, Juan Gonzalo Ospina, said in a recent interview with El Mundo that Sancho was living a “false reality”.

Ospina said it was proven at the trial in April that Sancho had bought knives, plastic bags and cleaning supplies ahead of the crime, and kept them in the room where the killing took place.

Norway’s Princess to wed California shaman

World

August 29, 2024

OSLO (AFP) – Norwegian Princess Martha Louise is set to marry American self-proclaimed shaman Durek Verrett on Saturday, in a union of two alternative therapy devotees.

Martha Louise, a 52-year-old divorcee, claims to be a clairvoyant who can speak with angels, a gift she has shared — and profited from — in books and courses.

Verrett, 49 and from California, calls himself a “sixth-generation shaman” and sells pricey gold medallions that he says save lives.

“I’m very spiritual, it’s just so nice to be with a person who embraces it,” Martha Louise said on Instagram after the couple announced their engagement in June 2022.

The pair will tie the knot at a hotel in the hills of Geiranger, a picturesque village on the shores of a fjord on Norway’s west coast.

Festivities kick off Thursday with a party for the more than 350 guests, including Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel.

According to Verrett, Saturday’s nuptials are actually a renewal of the couple’s vows.

The spiritual guide, who counts Hollywood celebrities Gwyneth Paltrow and Antonio Banderas among his followers, claims he was a pharaoh in a previous life and Martha Louise was his wife.

The couple’s eccentricity has ruffled feathers in no-nonsense Norway, as has their disregard for science and their use of their royal ties for commercial gain.

To avoid confusion over her role, Martha Louise relinquished her royal duties in November 2022. She kept her title but agreed not to use it in her commercial endeavours.

Norwegian Princess Martha Louise with American self-proclaimed shaman Durek Verrett. PHOTO: AFP

She has however violated the agreement several times since then, most recently when she and Verrett released a “wedding gin” for sale in Norway that bore her princess title on the label.

“Seeing as the agreement has not been respected, it’s time to take away Martha Louise’s princess title before King Harald sees his life’s work destroyed even further,” historian and royal expert Trond Noren Isaksen wrote in an op-ed piece in July.

The couple has also angered Norwegian media by signing deals with Hello! magazine and Netflix for exclusive coverage of the wedding.

Falling popularity

Martha Louise has three daughters from her first marriage to flamboyant Norwegian author Ari Behn, who committed suicide three years after their 2016 divorce.

She is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne; her younger brother Crown Prince Haakon is due one day to succeed King Harald.

Norway’s royal family has been largely spared from scandal — until recently.

Martha Louise and Verrett have contributed to an erosion of public support for the monarchy, from 81 per cent in 2017 to 68 per cent, a poll by public broadcaster NRK showed this week.

A recent scandal involving the 27-year-old son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit — from a relationship prior to her marriage to Crown Prince Haakon — has also contributed.

Earlier this month, Marius Borg Hoiby admitted to a cocaine- and alcohol-fuelled assault on his girlfriend, and two ex-girlfriends have since come forward with similar claims.

Four in 10 Norwegians said their view of the royal family had grown more negative in the past year, with many citing Martha Louise, Verrett or Hoiby as the reason, the poll showed.

Witch hunts and quacks

Martha Louise has accused the media of pursuing a witch hunt against her.

But it is Verrett who has received the most criticism, labelled a “charlatan and a quack” in the press.

In one of his books, he suggested that cancer was a choice, and recommended exercises to remove “imprints” from women’s vaginas left by previous sexual partners.

On his website, he sells a USD222 “Spirit Optimiser” medallion which he says helped him overcome Covid.

While Verrett has acknowledged his beliefs may be unsettling for some, he claims he is a victim of racism — echoing fellow African American Meghan Markle’s complaints after she joined Britain’s royal family.

“White people write all this hate and death threats to us… because… they don’t want to see a black man in the royal family,” he said on Instagram in June 2022.

Meanwhile, 87-year-old King Harald — who fought for years to be allowed to marry Queen Sonja, a commoner — has said little about his future son-in-law, referring only to a “culture clash”.

He has described him as “a great guy and very funny”.

“We’ve agreed to disagree” on some things, the king said in November 2022.

Angelina Jolie as the tormented ‘Divina’ Callas

Entertainment

August 29, 2024

VENICE (AFP) – Angelina Jolie returns to the limelight at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday as Maria Callas, “La Divina”, whose rich voice, glamourous persona, and tragic love affair mesmerised audiences around the world.

In “Maria”, the modern-day movie star will strive to capture the transcendent dramatic presence and tormented life of one of opera’s most resplendent divas in a biopic from Chilean director Pablo Larrain.

The film that premieres on the Lido Thursday evening, on the festival’s second day, is the last in Larrain’s trilogy of movies about iconic real-life women — after 2021’s “Spencer” about Lady Di and 2016’s “Jackie” about Jacqueline Kennedy.

The director has said only a larger-than-life star in her own right could play the role of the American-born Greek singer.

Enter Jolie.

“This is the greatest diva of the 20th century, and who could play that?” Larrain told Vanity Fair last week.

“I didn’t want to work with someone that didn’t have that already. I needed an actress who would naturally and organically be that diva, carry that weight, be that presence. Angelina was there.”

Angelina Jolie portrays Maria Callas in “Maria”. PHOTO: NETFLIX

Absent from the screen since 2021, the 49-year-old American actress and director has kept a relatively low profile even as her lengthy, acrimonious divorce from Brad Pitt continues to make headlines.

The public’s fascination with Jolie’s private life has parallels with Callas’s, whose stormy life and loves — including her relationship with the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who left her for Jacqueline Kennedy — were similarly fodder for the tabloids.

But while the paparazzi will be out in full force Thursday, Jolie — who was spotted in the Venice heat Tuesday cloaked in a Christian Dior trench coat — will not cross paths with Pitt during her visit.

Pitt’s action comedy “Wolfs”, in which he and George Clooney play rival professional fixers, is playing out of competition on the Lido on Sunday, as purposely planned by festival organisers to avoid awkward encounters.

‘Very scary’

One of 21 films in competition for Venice’s prestigious Golden Lion prize, “Maria” centres on Callas’s final, isolated years in Paris in the 1970s, as she looks back at her life and career before her death at age 53 from a heart attack.

Jolie reportedly studied six months for the role, training herself to mimic the singer’s cadences and tones as the film mixes in her own voice with that of the celebrated soprano.

“You can’t make a movie like this with an actress that is not actually singing it,” Larrain told Vanity Fair.

“This is the real thing — it was very scary for her, but she did it.”

While some critics found flaws with Callas’s voice, it was nevertheless deeply expressive, able to impart dramatic intensity to any role, which combined with her beauty and majestic stage presence prompting frenzied standing ovations.

A towering talent with a tireless work ethic, Callas was often portrayed as a “temperamental” star, a label she rejected, defending herself as a disciplined perfectionist with high standards.

She single-handedly revived the 19th-century bel canto operas of Donizetti, Rossini and Bellini — whose “Norma” was one of Callas’s signature roles.

Callas died in 1977.

Trade balance surplus recorded in June

National

August 29, 2024

The trade balance in June 2024 has recorded a surplus of BND347.2 million, compared to a deficit of BND154.9 million in June 2023. This was driven by an increase in exports value by 15.5 per cent to BND1,007.5 million, whereas imports value fell by 35.7 per cent to BND660.3 million.

The major contributors to export value were Mineral Fuels at 71.5 per cent, followed by Chemicals at 20.7 per cent and Machinery and Transport Equipment at 6.9 per cent.

The main export markets were People’s Republic of China at 22.0 per cent, followed by Singapore and Australia at 19.9 per cent and 11.5 per cent respectively. The largest export commodity to these countries were Mineral Fuels and Chemicals.

Meanwhile, imports in June 2024 were valued at BND660.3 million. The three main imports by commodity were Mineral Fuels, accounting for 62.9 per cent, followed by Machinery and Transport Equipment at 11.2 per cent, and Food at 8.6 per cent.

The largest import partners were Malaysia accounting for 59.5 per cent, followed by People’s Republic of China at 14.4 per cent and Australia at 6.1 per cent. The main import commodities from these partners were Mineral Fuels; Food; and Machinery and Transport Equipment.

Overall, total trade fell 12.2 per cent, from BND1,900.1 million in June 2023 to BND1,667.8 million, following a decline in imports by 35.7 per cent.

The imports for end-use categories, were mainly used as Intermediate Goods for processing at 60.2 per cent, followed by Capital Goods at 36.0 per cent for business operations, and Consumption Goods at 3.8 per cent for household.

Six businesses fined for price control violations

National

August 29, 2024

The Department of Economic Planning and Statistics (JPES) under the Ministry of Finance and Economy has issued six compounds with a total amount of BND3,200.00 to six business premises for offences under the Price Control Act, Chapter 142 and its Regulations throughout June and July this year, according to a press release from the department.

Following consumer complaints and routine inspections of business premises under the enforcement of the Price Control Act, Chapter 142 in June and July 2024, JPES found the following businesses have violated the Act by selling price-controlled items, namely cooking oil and formulated powdered milk above the set maximum price and displaying prices which were inconsistent with the prices in the counter payment system.

Iburia Sdn Bhd, Kampong Kiarong; Dayang Limah & Anak-anak, Kampong Lambak Kiri; Hezbollah Yusof Mini Mart, Kampong Petani; Salina’s Mart, Kampong Telanai; Syarikat Hazwandi, Kampong Kapok were each issued compounds of BND500 for violating Section 3B on maximum prices and charges for price-controlled items.

(ABOVE & BELOW) JPES officers during the inspection. PHOTOS: JPES

Ya Nur Trading Company Sdn Bhd, Kampong Batu Apoi was issued with a compound of BND700 for violating Section 5 on price display.

The month of June and July 2024 also recorded a total of four Warning Notices issued to four business premises for non-display of prices for some of the items found in the business premises and price inconsistency between the prices displayed and the prices in the counter payment system.

Businesses are reminded to carry out their responsiblity in complying with the Price Control Act, Chapter 142 and its Regulations by practicing ethical and fair business conducts, towards enhancing consumer confidence and fostering sustainable business growth in the long run.

Consumers are encouraged to optimise the use of official channels, namely the PenggunaBijak mobile application, hotline Talian Darussalam 123 and email consumercomplaint@jpes.gov.bn to lodge complaints or feedbacks related to the Price Control Act, Chapter 142 with supporting documents such as payment receipts, for further assessment.

Police cadet officers complete training

National

August 29, 2024

Twelve Assistant Superintendent Police Cadet Officers of the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) from Squad 1/2023 completed their 10-month basic police training with a passing out parade on Thursday.

This is the first batch of assistant superintendent police cadet officer training conducted entirely within the country.

Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Defence II Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof as the guest of honour graced the passing out parade held at the Parade Square of the RBPF Training Centre of the Gadong RBPF Headquarters.

Also present were the Commissioner of Royal Brunei Police Force Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Mohammad Irwan bin Haji Hambali, Deputy Commissioner of Royal Brunei Police Force Dato Seri Pahlawan Awang Sulaiman bin Alidin and senior RBPF officers.

The twelve Assistant Superintendent Police Cadet Officers of the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) from Squad 1/2023.

Assistant Superintendent Police Cadet Officer Ahmad Shawabi bin Hj Md Suot emerged as the best cadet officer awardee in training. – JAMES KON

Astronaut carrying flag at Paralympics sends ‘powerful message’

Features

August 29, 2024

PARIS (AFP) – When John McFall, the world’s first parastronaut, carried the Paralympic flag at the opening ceremony of the Games in Paris Wednesday, he knew he was sending a “powerful message”.

The 43-year-old Briton had his right leg amputated below the knee after a motorcycle crash in Thailand when he was 19, before becoming a surgeon himself and winning a bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

Two years ago the European Space Agency (ESA) recruited him as their first astronaut with a physical disability.

John McFall, British Surgeon and former Paralympian, carries the Paralympic flag onto the stage prior to the declaration of the games during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Place de la Concorde on 28 Aug. 2024 in Paris, France. PHOTO: AFP

“Astronauts are envoys of humanity,” he told AFP. So for “someone with a physical disability to reach this pinnacle is a powerful message for humanity.”

It says “‘Listen, this is possible,'” he added.

A keen runner and hockey player before his accident, McFall only became a top-level athlete after losing his lower leg.

He quickly embraced paralympic sport, working at the Athens Games in 2004. Four years later, he was one of the stars of Beijing after becoming world 100 metres champion in 2007.

The growing popularity of the Paralympic Games reflects a paradigm shift in attitudes towards disabilities, the sprinter said.

“People still find (disability) new and different… but people notice in a different way because the way they frame disability now is different,” said McFall, who recalled watching the 2000 Games in Sydney after his accident.

“It’s more normal — this is a tough word, right,” he joked.

McFall is a powerful believer in the spirit of inclusion the Paralympics embody.

“You just get this beautiful mesh of society which I think is wholesome and representative and complete.”

The Englishman was recruited as an astronaut by the ESA as part of a programme to test the feasibility of sending someone with disabilities to space.

He believes that the same qualities that enabled him to overcome his accident, turn into a paralympic sportsman and become a surgeon played a role in his selection by the ESA.

‘Dreaming awake’

“With my background as an athlete, as a surgeon and knowing my physical disability very, very well, I thought maybe I had a really great set of skills” to show the ESA it was feasible, he said.

McFall had been working as a trauma and orthopaedic specialist in the south of England, the ESA previously said.

Paris is his fourth Games, even if he is only a flagbearer this time.

“I feel like I have come full circle,” said the doctor, who described his passion for running as his “dreaming awake”.

“It’s a time where I get lost in my thoughts,” he said.

“I enjoy the breathing, I enjoy the sound of my feet on the ground.”

McFall, who has been reviewing and testing all phases of a flight in space, including training, from the ESA’s Cologne astronaut centre in Germany, will turn in a feasibility study by the end of the year.

“We just need to select the appropriate candidate and cross and solve the problems that will come up when they arise,” he said with a smile, adding they are “all solvable”.

If he does make it into space himself, the athlete-turned-astronaut will need a running blade that is more flexible than the one he uses on racetracks to adapt to zero gravity.

He will also need it to run on the treadmill used by the International Space Station’s staff to prevent muscle loss and osteoporosis.

Monsoon floods in India’s Gujarat kill at least 28 people

World

August 29, 2024

AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) – Intense monsoon rains and floods in India’s Gujarat state killed at least 28 people in the past three days, some drowning and others hit by falling trees, government officials said.

The weather department warned more heavy rain is expected on Thursday in the western coastal state.

Rivers have burst their banks and more than 30,000 people fled their homes.

The state government said late Wednesday that 13 people had died from drowning and the rest from houses or trees collapsing on them.

The Indian Express newspaper said 35 people had died so far across the state.

Some 1,856 people were rescued by disaster and army officials deployed for relief operations.

Vadodara was among the worst affected cities, the press release said.

Electricity connections were badly affected, with some 1,000 villages grappling without power.

A man carries his belongings through a flooded street after heavy rains on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on August 28, 2024. PHOTO: AFP

Images and video released by disaster officials showed them using inflatable boats and tyres to rescue people stranded by surging waters.

Rains cause widespread destruction every year, but experts say climate change is shifting weather patterns and increasing the number of extreme weather events.

The northeastern Indian state of Tripura was hit by floods and landslides last week, with more than 20 people killed.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, downriver from India, floods killed at least 40 people over the same period, with nearly 300,000 residents taking refuge in emergency shelters.

Journalist sentenced to life in prison by Myanmar’s military

Southeast Asia

August 29, 2024

BANGKOK (AP) — A military court in Myanmar has given a life prison sentence to a local journalist and sentenced one of his colleagues to 20 years after convicting them under a counterterrorism law, their editor said Wednesday.

The sentences for Myo Myint Oo and Aung San Oo of the independent online news service Dawei Watch appear to be the most severe dealt to any journalist since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The takeover triggered armed resistance and an ongoing civil war.

Myanmar is one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists, second only to China, according to the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, which ranks it near the bottom of its Press Freedom Index at 171st of 180 countries.

Last week, two freelance journalists in Myanmar were killed, one allegedly after being captured, when security forces raided the home of one of them in the southern state of Mon. Several local resistance fighters were also killed.

Dawei Watch’s Myo Myint Oo, 41, and Aung San Oo, 49, were arrested separately last December at their homes in the coastal town of Myeik, about 560 kilometers (350 miles) south of Yangon, three days after returning from hiding.

The military government hasn’t commented on their cases.

Kyaw San Min, the chief editor of Dawei Watch media, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Aung San Oo was initially sentenced to 20 years in prison by a military court in Myeik prison in February and Myo Myint Oo was handed a life sentence by the same court in May, but he was unable to learn further details.

He said both men were convicted under Myanmar’s Counterterrorism Law, but the circumstances were not clear. The law punishes acts of violence and “acts of exhortation, persuasion, propaganda and recruitment of any person to participate in any terrorist group or activities of terrorism.”

Kyaw San Min said the information about the sentences had been been received some time ago but he withheld it until now, when the security of the men’s family members had been secured. He did not elaborate.

“The sentences imposed on the two journalists are quite severe. Sentencing the journalists with such large penalties is very unjust,” the editor said.

Kyaw San Min said a total of five reporters and a columnist from Dawei Watch have been arrested since the army began cracking down on independent media after its seizure of power. Three of the journalists have been released.

Most media outlets, including Dawei Watch, now operate semi-clandestinely, publishing online as staff members try to avoid arrest. Others operate from exile.

Dawei Watch released a statement on its Facebook page on Tuesday saying it strongly condemned the military government for illegally arresting, interrogating and detaining the journalists without giving them the right to fair defense under the law.
“We urge their immediate release,” it said.

The statement said the security forces told Myo Myint Oo and Aung San Oo they were being detained because of their reporting. Their laptops and phones were seized.

The two were beaten during four days in a detention center before being transferred to prison, the statement said. The AP and others have reported how some detainees are tortured after their arrests.

“These types of extreme court rulings aim to instill fear among all reporters and will have a chilling effect across Myanmar’s independent media,” Shawn Crispin, Southeast Asia representative for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said in an emailed statement.

At least seven media workers in Myanmar have been killed and others tortured while in detention since the military takeover, according to media workers in Myanmar who track the situation. They say at least 15 media outlets have had their licenses revoked and at least 172 journalists have been arrested, with about 40 to 50 still detained and half of those convicted and sentenced.

Most of the detained journalists were charged with incitement for allegedly causing fear, spreading false news or agitating against a government employee or for violating the Counterterrorism Law.

UK launches AI project to help teachers plan lessons, mark homework

World

August 29, 2024

LONDON (AFP) – The UK government announced on Wednesday a “first-of-its kind” GBP4 million (USD5.2 million) project to bolster artificial intelligence tools to help teachers plan lessons and mark homework.

As part of project, government documents like curriculum guidance, lesson plans, and student assessments will be provided to AI companies to train their tech to “generate accurate, high-quality content, like tailored, creative lesson plans and workbooks”.

The generative AI tools will help teachers mark work and create teaching material, the science and education departments said in a press release.

For illustration purposes only. PHOTO: UNSPLASH

“Today’s world-leading announcement marks a huge step forward for AI in the classroom,” said early education minister Stephen Morgan, part of the recently elected Labour government.

Science Secretary Peter Kyle said the project aims to “ease admin burdens” and will “transform how we see and use public sector data”.

The project claims to have a “first-of-its kind approach to processing government data for AI”.

The previous Conservative government had announced investment of GBP2 million for AI resources in education.

A government-commissioned research paper on public attitudes to AI in education published today found that while those surveyed agreed AI could help teachers, there were concerns of overreliance on the technology.

Parents and students “were worried about the loss of key social and technical skills and reduced human contact-time leading to unintended adverse outcomes”, according to the research.

UK schools have been rocked in recent years by teaching strikes over a decrease in salaries in real terms, while struggling to retain teaching staff in sufficient numbers.

Borneo Bulletin OnlineThe Independent Newspaper in Brunei Darussalam, Sabah and Sarawak

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