Lions Club of Belait members visited the elderly at the Belait District Community Service Council (Old Folk Home) in Seria on Friday.
First Vice President Johnny Cheong led the group and was accompanied by Zone 12 Chairperson Linda Chia and six members.
The group handed out angpao to the elderly and participated in the tradition of Yee Sang, served alongside homemade dishes, to enliven the festive season. – Daniel Lim
Early preventive measures like cancer screening, acquiring comprehensive information about cancer, sharing it with family, friends, and others, adopting healthy eating habits and an active lifestyle can support the fight against cancer, said Organising Chair of the World Cancer Day 2025 celebration campaign Dr Haji Muhd Syafiq bin Abdullah.
He said this in his welcoming remarks during an event at Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien yesterday.
“The Brunei Cancer Centre (TBCC) is the main centre for cancer care and management, offering a range of services from early detection to stages treatment including advice and tests for individuals at high risk.
“We utilise the latest treatment methods and modern technology to detect and treat cancer.
We also serve as the primary referral centre for cancer management and control, including providing information on cancer,” said Dr Haji Muhd Syafiq. He added, “To ensure an effective impact and sustainability, TBCC consistently delivers messages about cancer throughout the year, making sure that they are relevant, consistent, and has positively affect patients, citizens and residents of Brunei Darussalam.
“This is evident from initiatives carried out recently by the centre, such as briefings and collaborations with government and non-government agencies, schools, and public awareness activities.”
He also called on the public to support the goals of cancer prevention and control in the country. – James Kon
The Brunei Netball Association (BNA) has initiated a search to produce players to represent the under-21 national squad for the Asian Youth Netball Championship in South Korea this June following a first selection session at the multi-purpose hall of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex recently.
The selection witnessed a good turnout with 50 players hoping to make the cut. After a rigorous selection process, 22 players were shortlisted to represent the country in the championship.
The initiative is part of BNA’s efforts to strengthen the youth national netball team and ensure Brunei Darussalam is well-represented on the regional stage.
The association hopes that the selection will bring together a strong team capable of showcasing the nation’s talent and determination at the international level. – Fadhil Yunus
AP – Telescopes around the world have spotted a monster radio jet streaming from a quasar dating back to the first one billion years of the universe.
At double the width of the Milky Way galaxy, this jet of radio waves is the biggest ever detected so early in the history of the universe, astronomers reported.
Radio jets like this are not uncommon in the cosmic neighbourhood. But they’ve been elusive in the distant early universe – until now – because of the obscuring cosmic microwave background left over from the Big Bang.
“It’s only because this object is so extreme that we can observe it from Earth, even though it’s really far away,” lead author Anniek Gloudemans of the National Science Foundation’s NoirLab said in a statement.
Observatories across Europe and in Hawaii and Texas contributed to the study appearing in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The double-sided radio wave is estimated to be at least 200,000 light-years across. A light-year is 5.8 trillion miles.
Discovered just a few years ago, the quasar powering this jet formed when the universe was just nine per cent of its current age – within the first 1.2 billion years. Some of the brightest objects in the universe, quasars are galactic cores with gas and dust falling into a black hole, releasing a tremendous amount of energy that makes them exceedingly luminous.
The mass of this quasar is equivalent to 450 million times the sun with a black hole that is not particularly massive.
Religious school teachers from Brunei I participated in a recreational activity yesterday morning at the concourse area of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.
The participants joined in a warm-up session before beginning a group walk.
Head of the Religious Schools Unit of the Co-Curriculum Division at the Islamic Studies Department Haji Jaya bin Haji Metussin was the guest of honour.
The event was organised by the Islamic Studies Department through the Religious Schools Leadership Committee.
The event aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle. It also served as a platform to strengthen camaraderie and unity among the teachers. – Fadley Faisal
Despite the rain, over 380 runners nationwide gathered to compete in the Fire Fighter Run yesterday morning, starting at the Menara Cendera Kenangan in Kuala Belait.
The runners participated across eight categories: a 10-kilometre (km) and 5km open run for men and women, and a 10km and 5km veteran run for men and women.
A 3km fun run and bike ride were also held. Permanent Secretary (Safety and Welfare) at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) Salminan bin Haji Burut presented medals and cash prizes to the top three runners in each category. Also held alongside the run was the KBku Ceria, as well as booths and exhibitions, set up at a parking lot beside a hotel by various operation branches of the Fire and Rescue Department (FRD).
The participants and visitors learnt about the work of the firefighters as well as got a first-hand look and experience with the equipment used to keep the citizens and the nation safe.
Permanent Secretary (Municipal and District) at the MoHA Abdul Walid bin Haji Matassan was the guest of honour Deputy permanent secretaries, Legislative Council members Yang Berhormat Haji Mohd Salleh bin Haji Othman and Yang Berhormat Mohammad bin Abdullah @ Lim Swee Ann, Acting Belait District Officer Haji Amirol Hafidzin bin Haji Muhammad, and senior officers and staff at the MoHA were also present. – Daniel Lim
BEIJING (XINHUA) – Chinese researchers have unveiled a novel application of the Earth science satellite SDGSAT-1 for observing offshore oil and gas platforms.
The study, led by researchers from the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was recently published in the International Journal of Digital Earth.
As global demand for oil rises and the industry moves toward decarbonisation, tailored monitoring of oil and gas platforms has become increasingly necessary. However, tracking these platforms in vast and dynamic oceanic regions has long posed challenges.
The researchers used the SDGSAT-1’s Glimmer Imager and Thermal Infrared Spectrometer to track gas flaring activities.
This innovative approach enabled them to map platform operations with greater precision.
The findings helped researchers identify 113 oil and gas platforms amid the complex maritime environment of islands, vessels and other offshore facilities in the region.
“These findings highlight the competence of SDGSAT-1 in tracking the operational status of oil and gas platforms,” according to the study.
The 2025 Piala Dirgahayu football tournament organised by the Kampung Sungai Kedayan Youth Union Football Association (KPPKSK) is the best platform for players to showcase their talents and unleash potential.
This observation was made by the tournament’s chairperson Matali Haji Md Tahir during a draw ceremony at the FABD House yesterday.
The 2025 Piala Dirgahayu, open to under-13 and under-17 players, will commence on February 16 at the FABD Field and Berakas Sports Complex.
Matali expressed confidence that each team will line up talented and solid players to provide the competition with high sportsmanship.
For the under-13 category, Group ‘A’ feature KPPKSK, PM FC, Shada FT, PB FA and COT JPKK, while Group ‘B’ is represented by Sports School Warriors, Dash Football Academy, Projek Ikan Pusu, Junior Soccer and PKT FT B.
Meanwhile in the under-17 category, Group ‘A’ involves the participation of KPPKSK, COT JPKK, Jungle Star FC, Muaz F-Team, CPT FT and Supa Strikas FC, while Group ‘B’ comprises PM FC, Projek Ikan Pusu, Sport School Warriors, Gergasi FC, Kasuka FC and Shada FT.
Gergasi FC team manager Khairul Azim bin Haji Shari admitted that the competition in Group ‘B’ is more challenging but it does not put pressure on them to give a fair competition in the group stage.
“We are doing our best to be a challenging team in the group and if the players succeed in adapting and focusing on the match, we will be able to go further.” – Fadhil Yunus
PARIS (AFP) – Experts from around the world have called for greater regulation of AI to prevent it escaping human control, as global leaders gather in Paris for a summit on the technology.
France, co-hosting the Monday and Tuesday gathering with India, has chosen to spotlight AI ‘action’ in 2025 rather than put the safety concerns front and centre as at the previous meetings in Britain’s Bletchley Park in 2023 and the Korean capital Seoul in 2024.
The French vision is for governments, businesses and other actors to come out in favour of global governance for AI and make commitments on sustainability, without setting binding rules.
“We don’t want to spend our time talking only about the risks. There’s the very real opportunity aspect as well,” said Anne Bouverot, AI envoy for President Emmanuel Macron.
Max Tegmark, head of the US-based Future of Life Institute that has regularly warned of AI’s dangers, told AFP that France should not miss the opportunity to act.
“France has been a wonderful champion of international collaboration and has the opportunity to really lead the rest of the world,” the MIT physicist said.
“There is a big fork in the road here at the Paris summit and it should be embraced.”
Tegmark’s institute has backed the Sunday launch of a platform dubbed Global Risk and AI Safety Preparedness (GRASP) that aims to map major risks linked to AI and solutions being developed around the world.
“We’ve identified around 300 tools and technologies in answer to these risks,” said GRASP coordinator Cyrus Hodes.
Results from the survey will be passed to the OECD rich-countries club and members of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), a grouping of almost 30 nations including major European economies, Japan, South Korea and the United States that will meet in Paris Sunday.
The past week also saw the presentation of the first International AI Safety Report on Thursday, compiled by 96 experts and backed by 30 countries, the UN, EU and OECD.
Risks outlined in the document range from the familiar, such as fake content online, to the far more alarming.
“Proof is steadily appearing of additional risks like biological attacks or cyberattacks,” the report’s coordinator and noted computer scientist Yoshua Bengio told AFP.
In the longer term, 2018 Turing Prize winner Bengio fears a possible “loss of control” by humans over AI systems, potentially motivated by “their own will to survive”.
“A lot of people thought that mastering language at the level of ChatGPT-4 was science fiction as recently as six years ago, and then it happened,” said Tegmark, referring to OpenAI’s chatbot.
“The big problem now is that a lot of people in power still have not understood that we’re closer to building artificial general intelligence (AGI) than to figuring out how to control it.”
AGI refers to an artificial intelligence that would equal or better humans in all fields.
Its approach within a few years has been heralded by the likes of OpenAI chief Sam Altman.
“If you just eyeball the rate at which these capabilities are increasing, it does make you think that we’ll get there by 2026 or 2027,” said Dario Amodei, Altman’s counterpart at rival Anthropic said in November.
“At worst, these American or Chinese companies lose control over this, and then after that Earth will be run by machines,” Tegmark said.
Stuart Russell, a computer science professor at Berkeley in California, said one of his greatest fears is “weapons systems where the AI that is controlling that weapon system is deciding who to attack, when to attack, and so on.”
Russell, who is also coordinator of the International Association for Safe and Ethical AI (IASEI), places the responsibility firmly on governments to set up safeguards against armed AIs.
Tegmark said the solution is very simple: treating the AI industry the same way all other industries are.
“Before somebody can build a new nuclear reactor outside of Paris they have to demonstrate to government-appointed experts that this reactor is safe. That you’re not going to lose control over it… it should be the same for AI,” said Tegmark.
