FIFA ranks Brazil higher for 2027 Women’s World Cup

Sports

May 8, 2024

AP – Brazil’s bid for the 2027 Women’s World Cup was ranked higher than the bid submitted by Germany, Netherlands and Belgium in an evaluation report released by FIFA on Tuesday.

The FIFA Congress is set to vote for the 2027 host on May 17 at its meeting in Bangkok. It will be the first time the member federations of football’s 211-nation governing body will hold an open vote to pick the tournament’s hosts.

Brazil has been favoured to win the 2027 contest since FIFA brokered a deal with several of football’s continental governing bodies in October to get preferred hosts of the men’s World Cup in 2030 and 2034.

South American football body CONMEBOL agreed to take just three games for 2030 — one each in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay for a 104-game tournament mostly to be hosted in Spain, Portugal and Morocco — and skipped its turn to bid for 2034, which is going to Saudi Arabia.

Sending a first Women’s World Cup to South America then became a likely consequence.

Based on the technical evaluation by a FIFA in-house panel, Brazil’s bid was given an average score of 4.0 out of 5, while the joint European bid received a 3.7.

The three-person evaluation team, led by FIFA’s chief women’s officer Sarai Bareman, determined both bids qualify for consideration “due to both having exceeded the minimum hosting requirements” in the technical evaluation.

The United States and Mexico withdrew a joint bid last week. US football said the federations will instead focus on hosting the 2031 tournament. South Africa dropped its bid late last year, saying it would also turn to 2031. That hosting decision is due next year.

Brazil hosted the men’s World Cup in 1950 and 2014, and hosting another major FIFA event would make better use of stadiums built for that tournament.

Germany hosted the Women’s World Cup in 2011 and the men’s World Cup in 2006. It also will host the men’s European Championship in 10 cities starting June 14.

The 2023 Women’s World Cup was held in Australia and New Zealand and was the first hosted by two nations.

FILE – The tournament trophy is displayed on the pitch before the Women’s World Cup soccer final between Spain and England at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 20, 2023. PHOTO: AP

US pauses bomb shipment to Israel over Rafah ‘concerns’

World

May 8, 2024

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States halted a shipment of bombs to Israel last week after it failed to address Washington’s concerns over plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior US official said Tuesday.

“We have paused one shipment of weapons last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000-lb (907 kg) bombs and 1,700 500-lb (226 kg) bombs,” the senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration said on condition of anonymity.

“We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment,” the official added.

Biden’s administration made the decision when it appeared Israel was on the verge of a major ground operation into Rafah, which Washington has strongly opposed.

People and first responders carry away a rescued victim from the site of a building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 7, 2024. PHOTO: AFP

Israeli and US officials had been discussing alternatives but “those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns,” the senior US official said.

“As Israeli leaders seemed to approach a decision point on such an operation, we began to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah. This began in April.”

The US official said Washington was “especially focused” on the use of the heaviest 2,000-lb bombs “and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.”

The US State Department is still reviewing other weapons transfers, including the use of precision bomb kits known as JDAMs, added the official.

Israel sent tanks into Rafah on Tuesday and seized the border crossing with Egypt but the White House said earlier that Israel had promised it was a “limited operation.”

Third football player in Malaysia attacked

Southeast Asia

May 8, 2024

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Former Malaysia skipper Safiq Rahim became the third footballer to be attacked in the past week after he was threatened with a hammer and his car windscreen smashed by two assailants.

Safiq was not injured in the attack late Tuesday in southern Johor state following a training session with JohorDarul Ta’zim, one of Asia’s top clubs run by the crown prince of the Johor royal family.

The 36-year-old midfielder posted a photo of his black Honda with its rear windscreen smashed on Instagram.

Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) midfielder Safiq Rahim. PHOTO: ANN/THE STAR

“Didn’t expect to be attacked near the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) training centre. We need to be vigilant,” he wrote in the post.

He also shared a copy of the police report he made on Instagram where he said: “Two men on a motocycle suddenly approached my car armed with a hammer and smashed my rear car windscreen.”

“I stopped the car and I was in fear.”

The incident comes within a week of two other attacks on footballers in the Southeast Asian nation.

Malaysia’s right winger Faisal Halim is in the intensive critical unit with fourth degree burns after being splashed with acid at the weekend outside the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Police are investigating the motive for the attack.

His team mate Akhyar Rashid was injured in a robbery outside his home in the eastern state of Terengganu last week.

Kuala Terengganu police chief Azli Mohamad Noor has said both incidents were unrelated.

Football Association of Malaysia president Hamidin Mohamad Amin on Tuesday urged high-profile footballers to take precautions about their personal safety, including hiring bodyguards.

Malaysian football had its glory days in the 1970s and 1980s and achieved its highest-ever ranking of 73 in 1993.

Toyota posts record net income, revenue

Business

May 8, 2024

TOKYO (AFP) – Toyota said Wednesday that it enjoyed a record net profit of JPY4.94 trillion (YSD31.9 billion) in the year to March on revenues of JPY45.1 trillion, which was also an all-time high.

But the world’s largest automaker by sales warned net income would fall 27.8 per cent this financial year to JPY3.57 trillion because of investments, according to a statement.

The results for 2023-24 were helped by foreign currency effects, in particular the weak yen, as well as brisk sales, notably of hybrid vehicles.

They exceeded the firm’s forecast given in February of net profit of JPY4.5 trillion on revenues of JPY43.5 trillion.

Toyota’s previous record annual net profit was JPY2.85 trillion in 2021-22. For revenues it was JPY37.15 trillion the following fiscal year.

Last month Toyota said it sold 11.1 million vehicles across all brands in the 2023-24 fiscal year, up five per cent and the first time they have exceeded 10 million.

Pedestrians walk past a car dealership for Japanese automaker Toyota in Tokyo on May 8, 2024. PHOTO: AFP

A big factor was a 31-per cent jump to 3.7 million in sales of hybrid vehicles — combining internal combustion engines and batteries — like the Corolla compact car and the RAV4 sports utility vehicle.

Sales of purely electric car sales were a much more modest 116,500.

Toyota pioneered hybrid cars with its popular Prius model, but critics say the company has been slow to embrace purely battery-powered engines, even as demand soars for low-emission vehicles.

Japanese automakers are now attempting to play catch-up, with Toyota aiming to sell 1.5 million EVs annually by 2026 and 3.5 million by 2030.

The company is also hoping to mass-produce solid-state batteries, a potentially hugely important technological breakthrough that could mean faster charging times and greater range.

In 2023, China overtook Japan as the world’s biggest vehicle exporter, a change fuelled by the country’s dominance in electric cars.

Toyota was also left standing by Elon Musk’s EV giant Tesla in terms of market value, although the gap — almost USD1 trillion in 2021 — has narrowed sharply.

Toyota’s market capitalisation has soared 34 per cent this year, while that of Tesla — which sold 1.8 million vehicles last year — has dived 28 per cent over the same period.

In China, the world’s biggest electric car market where local firms such as BYD dominate, Toyota only sold 1.9 million vehicles, a rise of 1.4 per cent.

Kim mourns death of N Korea’s former propaganda chief

World

May 8, 2024

SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea’s former propaganda chief, credited with masterminding the personality cult surrounding the ruling Kim dynasty, has died, state media said Wednesday, with leader Kim Jong Un photographed bowing at his funeral bier.

Kim Ki Nam died on Tuesday due to old age and “multiple organ dysfunction”, having been treated at a hospital since 2022, the country’s official Korean Central News Agency said. He was 94.

Kim Jong Un visited the funeral hall early Wednesday morning, paid silent tribute and looked around the bier with “bitter grief over the loss of a veteran revolutionary who had remained boundlessly loyal” to the regime, KCNA said.

(FILES) Kim Ki-nam attends the memorial for former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung at the National Assembly in Seoul on August 21, 2009. PHOTO: AFP

A wreath in the name of Kim Jong Un was “laid before the bier of the deceased”, KCNA said.

Kim Ki Nam is best known for having led North Korea’s key department for propaganda. In the 1970s, he was in charge of Pyongyang’s official mouthpiece, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, according to the North.

He is credited with masterminding the cult of the Kim family dynasty, and Pyongyang’s state media on Wednesday described him as “a veteran of our Party and the revolution, a prestigious theoretician and a prominent political activist”.

An image released by the Rodong Sinmun showed leader Kim, dressed in a dark suit, solemnly paying his respects alongside high-ranking party and military officials, in front of what appeared to be a flower-decorated bier.

In another image, Kim was seen bowing in front of the bier, while those in military uniforms appeared to be playing musical instruments, including saxophones.

The Kim dynasty, established by Pyongyang’s founding leader Kim Il Sung, has ruled the impoverished, isolated nation with an iron fist and pervasive personality cult over three generations.

The family are revered in the North as the “Paektu bloodline”, named after the country’s highest mountain and supposed birthplace of the late leader Kim Jong Il.

In 2015, images in state media showed the late official Kim Ki Nam, in his 80s at the time, taking notes diligently in front of Kim Jong Un, more than 50 years his junior.

North Korea’s ‘Goebbels’

Kim Ki Nam “is the North Korean equivalent of Paul Joseph Goebbels,” Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP, referring to the infamous chief propagandist for the Nazis.

“It is safe to say that the propaganda and agitation strategies of the Kim dynasty all came from Kim Ki Nam’s mind.”

Kim Ki Nam’s role as the regime’s chief propagandist was eventually passed on to Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, in the late 2010s.

Her arrival at the propaganda department as its high-ranking figure took place in 2018, according to Seoul’s unification ministry.

Kim Ki Nam in 2005 led a North Korean delegation to visit South Korea’s National Cemetery, honouring soldiers who died during the Korean War, when inter-Korean relations were in a better state.

In 2009, the late official led a North Korean delegation to South Korea to attend the funeral of Seoul’s former dovish president, Kim Dae-jung. During the visit, they laid a wreath signed by Pyongyang’s then-leader Kim Jong Il.

Kim Dae-jung in 2000 made a historic visit to Pyongyang, where he met with Kim Jong Il, the predecessor and father of current leader Kim Jong Un.

During his visit to Seoul in 2009, Kim Ki Nam met with South Korea’s then-president Lee Myung-bak.

Inter-Korean relations are at one of their lowest points in years recently, with Pyongyang declaring South Korea its “principal enemy”.

It’s regrettable that Pyongyang has made no mention of Kim Ki Nam’s efforts for inter-Korean cooperation following his death, Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.

“It seems to show the current state of inter-Korean relations characterised by confrontation and conflict,” he said.

Sabah’s solar future takes shape

Southeast Asia

May 8, 2024

KOTA KINABALU (ANN/THE STAR) – Sabah, Malaysia, has reached a significant milestone in its renewable energy efforts with the registration of the first batch of 10 companies tasked with installing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the state.

This announcement was made by the Energy Commission of Sabah (Ecos), the regulatory body overseeing the energy sector in the region.

These companies have been categorised as Electrical Contractors with Class PV (Grid-Connected) or ECCPV (GC), a new classification created under the Electricity Supply Enactment 2024.

The establishment of this new category is a crucial step in effectively regulating the installation of PV systems in Sabah, ensuring their safety and reliability.

Ecos aims to guarantee that all installations are carried out by qualified professionals to uphold standards and protect solar asset users.

During the license certificate presentation ceremony in Sabah, Ecos’ CEO, Datuk Abd Nasser Abd Wahid, extended heartfelt congratulations to the pioneering individuals representing the first batch of registered ECCPV (GC) contractors in Sabah.

He then emphasised the importance of their role in advancing Sabah’s solar energy sector and encouraged them to continue their efforts in promoting renewable energy initiatives across the state.

M’sia mulls ‘orangutan diplomacy’

Southeast Asia

May 8, 2024

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysia intends to gift orangutans to palm oil-purchasing countries as part of an initiative similar to China’s panda diplomacy, the commodities minister said on Wednesday.

Johari Abdul Ghani said the “orangutan diplomacy” strategy would gift the endangered great apes to palm oil trading nations, especially major importing territories like the EU and India.

Orangutans are critically endangered, according to the WWF, with habitat loss “due to logging, agricultural expansion, particularly palm oil plantations, and infrastructure development” posing the greatest threat.

“By introducing ‘orangutan diplomacy’, it will show to the world, that Malaysia is always committed to biodiversity conservation,” he said in a post on social media platform X.

For illustration purposes only. PHOTO: UNSPLASH

He urged palm oil companies to collaborate with NGOs to help preserve and provide technical expertise on wildlife in Malaysia.

Palm oil is blamed by environmentalists for fuelling the destruction of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia, which together produce the majority of global output.

The edible oil is used in foods such as cakes, chocolate and margarine, as well as cosmetics, soap and shampoo.

Beijing has long used panda diplomacy as a form of soft power.

It only loans pandas to foreign zoos, which must usually return any offspring within a few years of their birth to join the country’s breeding programme.

World sweltered as April smashed global heat records

World

May 8, 2024

PARIS (AFP) – April marked another “remarkable” month of record-breaking global air and sea surface temperature averages, according to a new report by the EU’s climate monitor published on Wednesday.

The abnormally warm conditions came despite the continued weakening of the El Nino weather phenomenon that contributes to increased heat, said the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, pointing to human-caused climate change for exacerbating the extremes.

Record heat

Since June last year, every month has been the warmest such period on record, according to Copernicus.

April 2024 was no exception, clocking in at 1.58 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.

“While unusual, a similar streak of monthly global temperature records happened previously in 2015/16,” Copernicus said.

The average temperature over the last 12 months was also recorded at 1.6C above pre-industrial levels, surpassing the 1.5C target set by the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming.

The anomaly does not mean the Paris target has been missed, which is calculated over a period of decades.

But it does signal “how remarkable the global temperature conditions we are currently experience are”, Copernicus climatologist Julien Nicolas told AFP.

Last month was the second warmest April ever recorded in Europe, as was March and the entire winter period.

Diverging extremes

Swathes of Asia from India to Vietnam have been struck by scorching heat waves in recent weeks, while southern Brazil has suffered deadly flooding.

“Each additional degree of global warming is accompanied by extreme weather events, which are both more intense and more likely,” Nicolas said.

Diverging extremes in the form of floods and droughts peppered the planet in April.

Much of Europe saw a wetter April than usual, although southern Spain, Italy and the western Balkans were drier than average, Copernicus reported.

Heavy rain resulted in flooding over parts of North America, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

While eastern Australia was hit with heavy rains, the bulk of the country experienced drier than normal conditions, as did northern Mexico and around the Caspian Sea.

Warmer oceans

The natural El Nino pattern, which warms the Pacific Ocean and leads to a rise in global temperatures, peaked earlier this year and was headed towards “neutral condition” in April, Copernicus said.

Still, the average sea surface temperatures broke records in April for the 13th consecutive month.

Warming oceans threaten marine life, contribute to more humidity in the atmosphere and puts at risk its crucial role in absorbing planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate forecasts suggest the second half of the year could even see a transition to La Nina, which lowers global temperatures, Nicolas said, “but conditions are still rather uncertain”.

The end of El Nino does not mean an end to high temperatures.

More records

“The extra energy trapped into the ocean and the atmosphere by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases will keep pushing the global temperature towards new records,” Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo said in a statement.

The UN already in March warned that there was a “high probability” that 2024 would see record temperatures, while 2023 capped off a decade of record heat, pushing the planet “to the brink”.

It was “still a little early” to predict whether new records would continue to be broken, Nicolas said, given that 2023 was exceptional.

Mitchell’s game-high 33 points not enough for Cavaliers

Sports

May 8, 2024

BOSTON (AP) — Donovan Mitchell kept scoring, and the Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t getting any closer.

Jayson Tatum was struggling, and the Celtics kept pulling away.

Mitchell led all scorers with 33 points on Tuesday night in Cleveland’s 120-95 loss to Boston in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Jaylen Brown scored 32 and Derrick White had 25 for Boston to help make up for a tough shooting night that had Tatum going 0 for 5 from 3-point range.

“Jaylen Brown’s an All-NBA player. He makes USD300 million for a reason,” Mitchell said. “It’s not the first time he’s scored 30 on someone.”

It wasn’t the first time for Mitchell, either: It was his third straight game with more than 30 points, and the sixth time in a row he has topped the number in a playoff series opener. Only Michael Jordan (three times), Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain have done that.

But Mitchell, who was also on the court longer than any other player, wasn’t enough for a Cavaliers team that needed seven games to eliminate Orlando in the first round.

“We try to put him out there as long as we can,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We’re doing our best to keep him out there because we know how impactful he is. But we’re not going to run him into the ground, so he’s got nothing left in the fourth quarter.”

Mitchell, who scored 89 points in Games 6 and 7 against the Magic, played more than 20 minutes in the first half and all of the third quarter. But when he got a rest to start the fourth, Boston went on a 10-2 run to turn a 92-77 lead into a 23-point blowout.

“I understand I’m going to need to score the ball,” Mitchell said, adding later: “I trust my guys.”

Cleveland got 17 points and 13 rebounds from Evan Mobley, but the bench provided just 15 points. Tatum scored 18, going 7 for 19 from the floor overall, while adding 11 rebounds. Jrue Holiday scored 14 and Peyton Pritchard scored 16 off the bench.

“I think we knew what we were walking into,” Mitchell said. “That’s just who they are. You know they have different guys that can go in there and show. And so this isn’t like a shock. If it’s not JT it will be JB, it will be D-White, Jrue Holiday. They’ve shown that all season. So I don’t think it’s deflating, or it’s frustrating. I respect who’s out there on the floor.”

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, front, grabs a rebound next to Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday during the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Boston. PHOTO: AP

Resurfaced allegations spark outrage among BTS fans

Entertainment

May 8, 2024

SEOUL (ANN/THE KOREA HERALD) – Outraged BTS fans have taken over the streets outside Hybe’s headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, with protest trucks and flower wreaths as tensions over the agency’s management practices continue to rise. This anger shows no signs of cooling off, with old allegations of chart manipulation involving the company resurfacing and fueling the feud.

According to local media, a petition demanding an investigation into allegations that Big Hit Music, the sublabel of K-pop powerhouse Hybe that manages BTS, manipulated music charts was submitted to the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism on Thursday. The ministry plans to send the petition to its affiliated agency, the Korea Creative Content Agency, a KOCCA official told The Korea Herald on Monday.

The root of the allegation traces back to a trial in August 2017. According to court documents, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced a defendant, an official of a company that handled marketing duties for Big Hit Music, to one year in prison on charges of joint blackmailing.

The defendant sent a threat to Big Hit Music, saying they would leak evidence of illegal marketing materials of the agency’s artists, and also lied to the victims – officials from Big Hit Music – pretending to have received a similar threat, and extorted KRW57 million (USD41,900) from them.

Pointing out that the verdict document included a statement “The victim engaged in marketing activities through improper means, providing grounds for coercion,” the petitioner reportedly suggested that Big Hit Music may have actually engaged in inappropriate marketing activities.

At the time, Big Hit Music clarified that the “inappropriate marketing activities” mentioned in the defendant’s threats were solely his unilateral claims. The agency also explained that the “marketing activities through improper means” referred to in the court document meant ordinary online viral marketing.

Meanwhile, amid renewed controversy and suspicions surrounding BTS, K-pop fans are posting protest messages on social media, claiming that South Korea and the group’s agency are failing to protect the artists from groundless aggression.

On X, formerly Twitter, the hashtag “South Korea Apologise to BTS” emerged as a trending keyword in the K-pop category on Sunday. Many fans are emphasising BTS’s significant contributions to promoting K-pop, urging the government and Hybe not to tarnish BTS’s name.

The fans’ anger has also been evident since last Friday in front of the Hybe headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, where wreaths and protest trucks have been set up. The wreaths feature sharp messages such as “Incessant owner risk, wishing for BTS to leave Hybe” and “The incompetent agency ranked number one in the industry.” Alongside the wreaths, a truck bearing the slogan “Condemning the incompetent executive hiding behind the BTS shield” joined the protest.

“Hybe is doing nothing to protect its artists. I cannot stand that BTS has to face another ridiculous accusation even when all members are diligently fulfilling their military duties,” said a Japanese fan who stopped by Hybe headquarters during her trip to Korea on Monday.

Before the rumour surrounding BTS, Hybe was confronting intense discord with its sub-label Ador and the alleged link between the company and a pseudo-religious group. Hybe denied all allegations through a press release, Sunday, and vowed to take strong legal action against people who spread malicious rumours involving the artists.

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

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