The Royal Brunei Police Force is seeking public cooperation in tracing the whereabouts of 14-year-old-local girl Nurul Amal Syazatul Hafizah binti Mohd Isa who was reported to have left home and has not returned.
Those who have seen Nurul Amal Syazatul Hafizah or know of her whereabouts can contact the BSB Central Police Station at 2242334, or police hotline 993 or the nearest police station.
(ANN/KOREA HERALD) Hybe, the label behind BTS, announced Friday that traditional Korean cultural objects, such as the iconic white porcelain moon jar, will be reimagined with BTS-inspired themes.
Fourteen unique items featuring BTS lyrics and designs related to the seven-member group have been developed as part of the latest collaboration between Hybe and the National Museum Foundation of Korea. This marks the third partnership between BTS and the foundation since 2021, aimed at promoting Korean cultural heritage.
Among the items to be unveiled are a white porcelain moon jar and a seated pensive bodhisattva, both of which will be made public on Wednesday, coinciding with Hangeul Day—a national holiday celebrating the Korean writing system.
“We hope everyone will have the chance to appreciate the beauty of cultural treasures like the seated pensive bodhisattva, white porcelains, and celadons,” said Choung Yong-suk, president of the National Museum Foundation of Korea.
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, USA (AP) — One of the most photographed events in the world is set to kick off Saturday with a mass ascension of color for the 52nd annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
The nine-day gathering draws hundreds of thousands of spectators and pilots to New Mexico each fall for the rare opportunity to be within arm’s reach as the giant balloons are unpacked and inflated. Propane burners roar and hundreds of the uniquely shaped balloons speckle the sky with vibrant colors.
Everyone usually bundles up in layers to protect against a morning chill that helps pilots stay in the air longer, but organisers say this year’s fiesta could be the warmest on record.
Morning lows and afternoon highs are expected to be above average for days in a city that on Monday recorded its hottest temperature this late in the year, at 33.8 Celsius, according to the National Weather Service.
Globally, things have been trending hotter too. It’s likely this year will end up as the warmest humanity has measured, the European climate service Copernicus reported in early September.
While past fiestas have had a warm day here or there, spokesman Tom Garrity said the prediction for prolonged heat is rare.
For pilots, it could mean less time aloft or carrying less weight in their baskets.
Typically, when the mornings are cool, less fuel is needed to get the balloons to rise. Fiesta veterans explain it’s all about generating lift by heating the air inside the envelope to temperatures greater than what’s on the outside.
“With cooler weather, pilots are able to fly for longer duration,” Garrity said. “But when you have warmer temperatures, it just means that you pop up, you go up a little bit and you come back down. So just some shorter flights.”
Still, ballooning happens year-round in many places, including in the Phoenix area, which has seen its share of record-breaking temperatures over recent months.
“These are really non-issues from a spectator’s standpoint,” said Troy Bradley, an accomplished balloon pilot who has been flying for decades. “I don’t see any difference other than they won’t be freezing in the pre-dawn hours.”
Even the fiesta’s official meteorologist has joked about the possibility of wearing shorts this year.
This year’s fiesta also features 106 balloons in special shapes, 16 of which will be making their fiesta debut. That includes Mazu, modeled after the sea goddess of the same name who is deeply rooted in Taiwanese culture and traditions.
GENEVA (AFP) – French international footballer Paul Pogba said Friday his “nightmare is over” after a four-year ban for doping was reduced to 18 months.
Pogba, who is under contract with Italian giants Juventus until 2026, will be able to return to competitive football from March 11 next year, four days before his 32nd birthday.
“Finally the nightmare is over. I can look forward to the day when I can follow my dreams again,” the player said in a statement released to Britain’s Press Association.
“I always stated that I never knowingly breached World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed to me by a doctor, which does not affect or enhance the performance of male athletes.
“I play with integrity and, although I must accept that this is a strict liability offence, I want to place on record my thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s judges who heard my explanation.
“This has been a hugely distressing period in my life because everything I have worked so hard for has been put on hold.”
Earlier Friday, a spokesperson for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed that Pogba’s suspension had been slashed.
“I can confirm the decision: an 18-month suspension with effect from 11 September 2023. The reasons for the decision will follow later,” the CAS spokesperson told AFP.
Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August 2023 after a match between Juventus and Udinese in Italy.
He was provisionally suspended in September of the same year, and then banned for four years by the Italian National Anti-Doping Tribunal the following February.
Pogba’s representatives said the testosterone came from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he consulted in the United States.
After the ban was announced, Pogba posted on his Instagram account that he had “never knowingly or deliberately” taken doping products.
“I am sad, shocked and heartbroken that everything I have built in my professional playing career has been taken away from me,” he wrote at the time.
On Friday evening, after the CAS ruling, his post was wordless, showing only a close-up of two feet wearing Pogba football boots with socks bearing his initials and decorated with the French flag and the two World Cup stars.
A key figure when France won the 2018 world title in Russia, Pogba collected four Serie A titles in his first stint at Juventus but had a string of problems, on and off the pitch, after his 2022 return from Manchester United.
During the 2022-23 season, Pogba made just 10 appearances for the club, mainly due to a knee injury that also ruled him out of the World Cup in Qatar, where France lost out to Argentina in the final in December 2022.
He was also the victim of a case of organised extortion, for which six men, including his brother Mathias, were last month ordered to stand trial.
BRASÍLIA (AFP) – Elon Musk’s X has paid millions of dollars in fines in Brazil to settle a row with a judge who banned the platform in its biggest Latin American market over disinformation.
But the platform transferred the money into the wrong account, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who ordered the shutdown of X in August, said Friday.
X, formerly known as Twitter, racked up USD5.2 million in fines for failing to comply with a series of court orders.
Moraes confirmed that the social network had paid the full amount but into a different account from the one on the court order and said it had ordered that the funds be immediately redirected.
Moraes blocked X on August 31 after Musk refused to remove dozens of right-wing accounts accused of spreading disinformation and failed to name a new legal representative in the country as ordered.
X, which had 22 million users in Brazil before Moraes blocked it, hopes that payment of the penalties will settle the dispute.
Last week it said it had complied with the court’s other demands, including the appointment of a legal representative in Brazil.
The clash between Musk and Moraes morphed into a high-stakes battle which was closely followed around the globe as a test of both freedom of expression and the fight against disinformation.
A furious Musk hit out at Moraes over the ban calling him an “evil dictator” and dubbing him “Voldemort” after the villain from the “Harry Potter” series.
But in recent days he had been notably more muted on the subject and X has appeared eager to do whatever necessary to have the ban lifted.
The platform had briefly resumed service in Brazil in mid-September after a technical workaround which it claimed was “inadvertent.”
But it went back offline again after Moraes threatened it with further fines.
X’s fight with Moraes began during Brazil’s 2022 presidential election campaign, when Moraes ordered the company to deactivate accounts of followers of failed far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.
The standoff escalated following attacks by Bolsonaro supporters on federal buildings in Brasilia after the inauguration of Bolsonaro’s leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as president in January 2023.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – Hezbollah said early Saturday it was engaged in ongoing clashes with Israeli troops in the Lebanon border area, after earlier saying it forced Israeli soldiers to retreat there.
“Israeli enemy soldiers renewed an attempt to advance towards the vicinity of the municipality in the village of Adaysseh”, and Hezbollah fighters confronted the attempt “and clashes are continuing”, the group said in a statement.
It said earlier that its fighters had forced Israeli troops to “retreat” in the same area.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group also said it targeted troops in south Lebanon’s Yarun area with a “rocket salvo”, as well as soldiers in two points across the border with rockets.
Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire for almost a year, with the group saying it is acting in support of Palestinian ally Hamas over the Gaza war.
Israel, saying it is targeting Hezbollah in an effort to make Israel’s northern area safe for the return of displaced people, has intensified its bombardment, and this week announced its troops had started ground raids into parts of southern Lebanon.
Professor Ampuan Dr Haji Brahim Ampuan Haji Tengah was recognised as an outstanding individual for his lifelong dedication and impact on the literary and academic fields, receiving the prestigious Anugerah Buku Negara 2024 – Tokoh Cendekiawan Sepanjang Zaman (National Book Award 2024 – Distinguished Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award).
Yang Di-Pertua of Sarawak, Tun Pehin Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar presented the award to Professor Ampuan Dr Haji Brahim at the Borneo Arts and Creative Awards (BACA) Gala 2024 recently held in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. He was among the 30 recipients from Borneo, comprising writers in various fields from Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Professor Ampuan Dr Haji Brahim expressed that he was sincerely moved that the National Book Development Foundation’s professional evaluation panel chose him as the recipient for the award. “This award is a testament to the calibre of academics of Malay culture and language,” he said. “Especially in recognition of those from Brunei Darussalam.”
He added, “I hope this award will motivate other scholars to continue with their efforts, actively conducting research and publishing papers and books in their respective fields of expertise.”
The Anugerah Buku Negara 2024 is a prestigious event organised annually by the National Book Development Foundation that celebrates and recognises significant contributions to the book industry in Malaysia. Datuk Emeritus Professor Osman Bakar, former Chair Professor and Director of the Sultan Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Centre for Islamic Studies (SOASCIS) in Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) received the “Anugerah Perdana: Tokoh Cendekiawan Ulung Alam Melayu Dalam Memartabatkan Buku Negara” (Premier Award: Distinguished Scholar of the Malay World in Elevating the Nation’s Books) previously in 2023.
Professor Ampuan Dr Haji Brahim is a prolific academic and scholar at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) in UBD who has significantly contributed to the field of Malay Literature over the course of his career. To date, Professor Ampuan Dr Haji Brahim has over a hundred publications including five academic books, and five creative works.
Throughout his academic journey in UBD, Professor Ampuan Dr Haji Brahim has served as the Dean of FASS, Director of the Academy of Brunei Studies (APB), the Director of the SOASCIS, and Acting Assistant Vice-Chancellor, and Dean of Students. He has also served as a member of the editorial board for local and international academic journals.
His exemplary service has been recognised with state decorations including Pingat Jubli Perak Sempena 25 Tahun Menaiki Takhta, Darjah Setia Negara Brunei Yang Amat Bahagia, Darjah Ke-empat (PSB), Pingat Kerja Lama (PKL), Pingat Jasa Kebaktian (PJK), Darjah Seri Paduka Mahkota Brunei, Yang Amat Mulia Darjah Ke-tiga (SMB), and Darjah Setia Negara Brunei Yang Amat Bahagia Darjah Ketiga (SNB). He was also bestowed the National Excellent Teacher Award by 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 in 2015. In 2005, he received the Southeast Asia Write Award, and he was named the Language Ambassador by the Language and Literature Bureau during the Malay Language Month Celebration 2023.
WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Joe Biden said Friday he was not confident the US election in November would be peaceful, citing incendiary comments by Republican contender Donald Trump, who still rejects his 2020 defeat.
Biden’s warning came with lawmakers and analysts voicing concern over increasingly bellicose campaign language ahead of the vote.
Trump — who survived an assassination bid in July and another apparent plot in September — alleged widespread fraud after his defeat to Biden, and pro-Trump rioters riled up by his false claims ransacked the US Capitol.
“I’m confident it will be free and fair. I don’t know whether it will be peaceful,” Biden told reporters as he discussed the election.
“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn’t like the outcome of the election were very dangerous.”
Trump was impeached in 2021 for inciting the insurrection after hundreds of his supporters — exhorted by the defeated Republican to “fight like hell” — battered police as they smashed windows at the Capitol and broke through doors.
He has been indicted over what prosecutors allege was a “private criminal effort” to subvert the election that culminated in the violence.
Trump — who is due to return to the venue of his first assassination bid in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday — has long been assailed over his violent rhetoric.
Biden made his comments during what was the first appearance of his presidency in the White House briefing room, where he touted his administration’s achievements as his vice president, Kamala Harris, battles Trump.
Harris and Trump meanwhile were barnstorming the battleground states that are likely to decide who wins the White House.
Trump campaigned Friday in North Carolina, where he reprised his claims of 2020 voter fraud: “We should get elected, but remember this, they cheat like hell,” he said.
He also visited neighboring Georgia, a swing state narrowly claimed by Biden four years ago but won by Trump in 2016 — and one of the biggest prizes of the 2024 election map.
The Republican inserted himself aggressively into Georgia politics after his 2020 defeat, pushing for state officials to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s victory.
Trump, 78, was charged by state prosecutors with racketeering, in a case that is on pause and expected to start up again after the election. He denies wrongdoing.
On Friday Trump joined Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp after receiving a briefing on the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Helene, the deadliest storm to hit the US mainland since Katrina in 2005.
Trump has repeatedly spread misinformation about the federal response to the disaster, falsely alleging that funding for relief has been misappropriated by Harris and redirected towards migrants.
Harris, who is neck-and-neck with Trump in all seven swing states, rallied Friday in Michigan — a union stronghold that epitomized the US manufacturing decline of the 1980s.
The Democratic contender accused Trump of jeopardizing Michigan auto jobs.
“This is a man who has only ever fought for himself. This is a man who has been a union buster his entire career,” she said at a stop in Detroit.
Later, in the city of Flint, she branded Trump “one of the biggest losers of manufacturing jobs in American history.”
Flint is a majority Black city where a 2010s scandal over lead-tainted water highlighted government mismanagement and the disproportionate damage to poor and non-white communities.
She reminded rallygoers that the election is just one month away, and early voting has already begun in several states.
“Folks, the election is here. And we need to energize, organize and mobilize,” Harris said.
Earlier her campaign announced the country’s first Black president, Barack Obama, would stump for her in Pennsylvania and other swing states from next week as she woos undecided voters in the US heartland.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Authorities suspended cellphone service and blocked key roads into Pakistan’s capital with shipping containers Friday to try to thwart a rally by tens of thousands of activists seeking the release of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Khan’s supporters were trying to march on Islamabad from the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where Khan’s party holds power, defying a ban on rallies imposed this week by the national government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Sharif’s interior minister said armed supporters of Khan were among activists trying to reach the capital and warned them to stop, and has said they would be shown “no leniency.” Police swung batons and used tear gas to prevent rallygoers from entering capital.
Sharif’s government also deployed paramilitary rangers and additional police and shut schools in Islamabad and the nearby city of Rawalpindi after Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party refused to withdraw its call for the protest.
Videos posted online showed police placing shipping containers on bridges and roads on a key highway near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Officials said that the provincial government was trying to remove the blockades with heavy machinery.
The protest comes ahead of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Islamabad on Oct. 15, and Pakistani authorities announced they would deploy troops in the capital starting Saturday to secure the meeting. India’s foreign ministry confirmed Friday that its external affairs minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, will attend.
On Friday, police reportedly arrested some of Khan’s party supporters from Islamabad, including two of his sisters.
Khan, Sharif’s main political rival, has been in prison for more than a year in connection with more than 150 criminal cases. He remains a popular figure despite the cases, which critics and his party say are politically motivated.
He was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament and arrested in 2023 after a court handed him a 3-year jail sentence in a graft case.
Sharif came into power after the Feb. 8 vote which Khan says was rigged.
The suspension of cellphone service in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Friday disrupted communications and affected basic services such as online banking, ride and food delivery services. Many people faced difficulties traveling because of the obstacles placed on the roads.
On Thursday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told Khan’s party to cancel the planned protest and warned that there would be “no leniency” if the ban on protests is defied.
He told reporters in Islamabad Friday that armed supporters of Khan were marching on Islamabad. “They should think what they are going to do with Pakistan by marching on Islamabad with weapons,” he said. “I am very clear that they are going launch an assault on Islamabad,” Naqvi said.
He said the government would not allow anyone to cause damage in the country.
Khan’s spokesman, Zulfiqar Bukhari, rejected the government’s demand to withdraw the call for the protest, saying it was their constitutional right to hold a peaceful rally.
A message on Khan’s social media account urged supporters to join the protest. “The tyrants in power want to terrorise us,” it said. “So go forth fearlessly, and remember if you still hesitate, to step forward and truly liberate yourself.”
Sharif’s government says Khan’s party wants to weaken the country’s economy by staging violent protests despite the threat posed by the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks in recent years.
Pakistan, which recently received a USD7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, has been struggling to overcome an economic crisis.
On Friday, supporters of Khan gathered in Swabi, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, to begin a march toward Islamabad.
Provincial Chief Minister Ali Amin Gundapur, who led a large rally last month near Islamabad demanding Khan’s release, planned to join the march along with tens of thousands of supporters who were heading to the capital in convoys of buses and trucks, but were forced to stop due to the roadblocks and teargas shelling by police.
