BUDAPEST (AFP) – Femke Bol produced an astonishing anchor leg for the Netherlands in the women’s 4×400 metres (m) relay on Sunday to claim her second gold medal of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Bol began the championships in disastrous fashion by falling and dropping the baton as she closed in on the line in the 4x400m mixed relay. She went on to totally dominate the 400m hurdles event, easily taking gold.
On Sunday, in the final event of these championships and her seventh time on the track, Bol took the baton well down in third place for the fourth and final lap and gradually made up ground on Jamaica’s Stacey Ann Williams and Britain’s Nicole Yeargin.
Entering the home straight, the crowd rose to their feet as Bol accelerated past Yeargin and in a dramatic finish pipped Williams to the line. She literally staggered from there into the arms of her three relay teammates, collapsing to the track after her breathtaking effort.
The Dutch team, also comprising Eveline Saalberg, Lieke Klaver and Cathelijn Peeters, took gold in three minutes 20.72 seconds, with Jamaica claiming silver in 3:20.88 and Britain rounding out the podium in 3:21.04.
BEIJING (AFP) – United States (US) Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with her Chinese counterpart in Beijing yesterday, saying it was “profoundly important” for the world’s two biggest economies to have a stable relationship.
Her visit is the latest in a series of high-level trips to China by US officials in recent months.
The trips could culminate in a meeting between their leaders, with US President Joe Biden saying recently that he was expecting to sit down with China’s Xi Jinping this year.
Raimondo met yesterday morning with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, describing the economic relationship between the two countries as “the most significant in the world”.
“We share USD700 billion of trade and I concur with you that it is profoundly important that we have a stable economic relationship,” she said, according to a readout from the US Commerce Department.
“It’s a complicated relationship; it’s a challenging relationship,” she told Wang.
“We will of course disagree on certain issues, but I believe we can make progress if we are direct, open, and practical.”
Raimondo arrived in Beijing on Sunday and was met by director of the Commerce Ministry’s Americas and Oceania Department Lin Feng as well as US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.
In posts on the social media platform X, Raimondo said she was “looking forward to a productive few days”.
During her trip, she will also travel to China’s economic powerhouse Shanghai, the US Commerce Department said. She will leave tomorrow.
MUNICH (AFP) – Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer returned to training yesterday for the first time since breaking his lower right leg in December.
Neuer was forced to sit out much of last season and the start of the current campaign after the serious injury.
“(He) has now taken the next step on the comeback trail,” said the Bundesliga club in a statement, hailing Neuer’s session with his fellow goalkeepers as “good news”.
Calls have grown for Neuer to step down from the Germany side.
But Neuer, who has 117 caps for the national team, has insisted he will return.
Yesterday, Bayern also presented their new goalkeeper Daniel Peretz who has signed a five-year deal.
Peretz joins from Maccabi Tel Aviv, becoming Bayern’s first Israeli player. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Peretz underlined that he would seek to challenge Neuer and Sven Ulreich for the number one shirt.
“I obviously want to play and will train as well as possible, to show the coach what I can do,” he said.
LONDON (AFP) – West Ham signed Ghana midfielder Mohammed Kudus from Ajax in a deal worth a reported GBP38 million on Sunday.
Kudus agreed a five-year contract with the Premier League club and becomes their fourth major signing since the end of last season. The 23-year-old scored 19 goals and laid on seven assists in all competitions for Ajax last season.
He scored a hat-trick in Ajax’s Europa League play-off win over Ludogorets in Bulgaria last Thursday. “I’ve been dreaming to play in a league like this since I was a kid,” Kudus told West Ham’s website.
“I’ve been dreaming of this moment and I’m so happy to be here. But it doesn’t stop here, I want to keep going.
“I try my best to entertain the fans as I think that’s what football is all about. I can’t wait to get started.”
Kudus has won 24 caps for Ghana and featured in last year’s World Cup in Qatar. He had played for Ajax since 2020 and won two Dutch titles with the club.
ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – Britain’s often envied “bank of mum and dad”, used by first-time home buyers to scrape together a mortgage deposit, is drying up.
Parents accounted for 72 per cent of family members contributing to first-time buyer deposits in the year through July, according to analysis from broker Hamptons International using Skipton Building Society data. That is down from 74 per cent in 2022, and 80 per cent in 2018, as new home buyers increasingly call on siblings to help them pull together a deposit.
“As home ownership rates decline through the generations, younger parents today are less likely to be home owners than their predecessors,” said head of research at Hamptons Aneisha Beveridge. This “reduces their ability to withdraw equity from their home to pass on to children”, she added.
United Kingdom (UK) households are facing a stream of cost pressures triggered by pricey borrowing and inflation that is slowly dropping back from generational highs. That has led to a slump in first-time buyer sales, as wannabe home owners remain stuck in ever-pricier rental contracts while mortgage costs surge.
Some 32 per cent of mortgaged first-time buyers received family support towards their deposit in the first seven months of 2023, which is slightly higher than in 2022, but down from 40 per cent in 2017. While the proportion of parental contributions declined, the share of siblings supporting first-time buyers has almost doubled to 11 per cent in the past three years, the data shows.
“Should interest rates stay higher for longer, it will exacerbate the gap between what those with and without family help can afford,” Beveridge warned. “Those without help will likely face saving up for longer and buying later in life or purchasing a smaller home.”
UK parents gift about GBP14 billion a year to their children, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, often to help with the large deposits needed to get onto the housing ladder.
More than half of the value of transfers are made by the wealthiest fifth of adults – mostly home owners living in London and the South East – raising inequality concerns when it comes to home ownership.
Over a third of first-time buyers with family backing put down a deposit of at least 20 per cent so far in 2023, more than double the share of those purchasing without support. What is more, London first-time buyers were gifted an average of almost GBP35,000 in the same period – over two times the national average of about GBP14,000.
Interim chief executive officer at Skipton Charlotte Harrison said, “With high property prices, escalating rents and the cost-of-living squeeze further impacting people’s ability to save for a house deposit – it’s making it almost impossible for people to get onto the property ladder without a boost to their savings.”
Still, London home buyers are less likely to receive mortgage support than elsewhere in the country. Fewer than a third of first-time buyers in the capital have been gifted a deposit contribution in 2023 – just below the national average – compared with 40 per cent in Yorkshire and The Humber, where house prices are much lower, according to Hamptons.
United States (US) Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Caryn McClelland yesterday praised Brunei’s progress made in combating human trafficking during a seminar on Combating Human Trafficking and Forced Labour.
The ambassador in her opening remarks said it is encouraging to see Brunei improve from Tier 3 to Tier 2 watch list on the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report this year.
She said 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 stated during the recent 17th ASEAN Ministerial meeting on Transnational Crime that Brunei will continue to strengthen initiatives to combat human trafficking with a focus on local context and with the support of ASEAN counterparts.
However, she added, “There are more critical works needed to be done in the year ahead.”
Human trafficking, she explained, “is a shared problem that affects the entire world. Each year, millions of people are exploited within and across borders”.
“Traffickers prey on people of all ages and origins, exploiting them for profit while undermining the rule of law, compromising the economy and disregarding the wellbeing of individuals and communities.
“As long as trafficking continues to exist, it will continue to hinder the protection of human rights and sabotage the safety, security and strength of our nations,” she said.
She also highlighted, “The trauma of trafficking doesn’t end with the arrest. It is a weight that is carried on continuously by survivors. This is why Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will also be leading discussions on the best ways to assist victims through interviews and investigations.
“By partnering up with victims, we can better address the trauma and formulate anti-trafficking policies and strategies. The bottom line is that human trafficking is a crime that deprives millions of people of their dignity, freedom and basic human rights. It will take a commitment from all of us to end it.”
Also present at the ceremony were Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) Deputy Commissioner Dato Seri Pahlawan Sulaiman bin Alidin and officials.
The seminar was organised by the US HSI through the RBPF at the Mess Banquet Hall of RBPF headquarters in Gadong.
Six HSI experts on the subject matter were brought in to facilitate the three-day-seminar.
Around 70 participants joined the seminar comprising law enforcement agencies such as RBPF, Royal Customs and Excise Department, Immigration and National Registration Department, Labour Department, Community Development Department and Attorney General’s Chamber. – James Kon
Selling cold drinks on a small cart at Taman Mahkota Jubli Emas, popularly known as Eco Corridor, Muhammad Aiman Ashraf Naqiuddin bin Mohd Khirizal is no stranger to frequent visitors, from those doing sports to those on a family outing.
Seeing his parents’ finances stretched thin, he knew he had to mature faster as the second child of three.
He said as long as his actions are on the right path and blessed by Allah the Almighty, the word malu (embarrassment or shame) does not exist in his dictionary.
“Why must I be ashamed of doing something that is halal to help to ease the burden of my parents who have worked so hard to put food on our table and attend to my siblings’ needs?” he asked. While his father works as a personnel with the Royal Brunei Police Force, his mother is a fulltime housewife looking after the home and caring for the family.
“I may not be able to help much but I can do enough to take off one worry away from my parents.”
A Year 10 student at Sultan Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien College, Muhammad Aiman began selling drinks in 2013 with his parents.
Although he started very young, he quickly learnt how to do business and a few years later, confident despite his young age, he told his parents he could do it on his own.
At first, he sold cold drinks on foot from a cooler box. Later, with extra savings from his sales, he modified an old bicycle to carry his cooler box and let him move to better spots at the park. Muhammad Aiman, who lives in Kampong Mata-Mata, chose the park because of the heavy foot traffic. His father would drive and drop him off at the park before picking him up later.
“On school days, I would be at the park from 3.30pm until 7pm in the evening. On Fridays and Sundays or public holidays I do extra hours – from 2.30pm to 8pm.
“There are even times I would come early in the morning for a couple of hours until there are no more people at the park and come back later.”
After running his small business for close to 10 years, Muhammad Aiman has gained a circle of regular customers who would stop to buy drinks from him.
Some would even pay him extra to commend his efforts while others would have a brief chat with him while finishing their drink.
“This is also a reason I chose this park. It feels safe and fun to have people around being warm and friendly.
“Even those who don’t stop to buy would still give me a warm smile to keep my spirits up, especially when the weather is hot.
“Sometimes I also bump into my schoolmates but never have I felt embarassed or need to hide away.”
Muhammad Aiman said he intends to join the military when he completes his secondary education and is working hard to get good results to enable his dreams and start climbing the ladder.
“To fellow youth, don’t shy away of doing odd jobs that gives you a halal earning. Work wholeheartedly regardless of whether you are doing it for yourself or to help your family.
“Don’t be afraid of trying new and challenging things in life. Be adaptable to changes and always remember your humble beginning and struggles.” – Lyna Mohamad
Some 42 youth participated in the Tutong District Youth and Sports Department’s Anti-Bully Day at the Tutong Sports Complex yesterday.
The event began with an icebreaking session for participants followed by a talk by karate-do trainer Nabil bin Abdul Malik on the negative effects of bullying. He also demonstrated karate-do for self defence.
Tutong District Head of the Youth and Sports Department Amrah Farahiyah binti Haji Mohd Hamdilah presented certificates to the participants.
The recreational activities emphasised motivational aspects while also helping to address the issue of bullying.
The event aimed to raise awareness and understanding within youth that bullying is not only wrong legally, but also morally, ethically and spiritually. – Adib Noor
Faiz Aji from Team Raja Kerbau won both the Class A and Class D categories in the RC Boat Race Tournament organised by the Belait RC Boat Team at Anduki Recreational Park on Sunday. Meanwhile, Salman from Team DTJRC won the Class B category, Popeye from Team Raja Kerbau won the Class E category, and Amin Aji and Mateen, both from Team Raja Kerbau, won the Class F and Class G categories.
The Class H category was won by Faez KB from BRCB. Over 37 radio-controlled (RC) boat racers gathered at the Anduki Recreational Park to compete in the tournament.
The seven categories were broken down into classes, with Class A for Tunnel/Catamaran Hull and Open CC; Class B for Tunnel/Catamaran Hull 43cc only; Class D for V-shape/Mono Hull and 43cc and above; Class E for V-shape/Mono Hull and 26cc and below; Class F for Tunnel/Catamaran Hull and 26cc and below; Class G for V-Shape/Mono Hull and 29cc to 32cc only; and Class H for Tunnel/Catamaran Hull and 26cc to 32cc only.
The tournament was also held in in conjunction with the 77th birthday celebration of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
Participants competed in two qualifying heats, with the top 10 proceeding to the finals.
Acting Belait District Officer Haji Amirol Hafidzin bin Haji Muhammad as the guest of honour was welcomed by the chairman of the tournament Muhd Nurzairie bin Abdullah.
Also present was Legislative Council member and Penghulu of Mukim Bukit Sawat Yang Berhormat Haji Mohd Salleh bin Haji Othman.
The guest of honour presented medals to the winners and later visited the participants’ service booths where they maintained the RC boats and met with local entrepreneurs who had set up stalls at the park. – Daniel Lim