More than 200 premium products under the One Village, One Product (1K1P) programme are being showcased at the ongoing Vietnam-Brunei Trade, Culture, Food and Arts Fair at The Mall, Gadong.
The showcase by Syarikat Seri Nova Food Industries in collaboration with village consultative councils (MPK) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) displays village products from all four districts.
Managing Director of Seri Nova Food Jessie Lim shared they are working to promote the image of 1K1P through better packaging.
“This is our first showcase after the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic we operated at the airport and we help promote 1K1P by making better packaging designs for better presentation to attract customers,” she said.
Meanwhile a member of the company’s Board of Directors, Datin Hajah Salmah binti Haji Hanafiah, said the exhibition serves to further promote 1K1P.
The 1K1P programme aims to recognise and help commercialise quality products from local villages to improve the socioeconomics of local communities.
A One Village, One Product (1K1P) showcase at The Mall, Gadong. PHOTO: LYNA MOHAMAD
Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) expanded its scope of teaching and research in the field of Agriculture and Halal with the handover of the Sinaut Agricultural Training Centre building, under the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood, on June 15, 2021.
Now known as the UNISSA Sinaut Campus, the scientific laboratories will be used for learning, research functions and professional services, especially the Faculty of Agriculture and the Halalan Thayyiban Research Center (PPHT), UNISSA.
During the 12th UNISSA Hafl Al-Takharruj, 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, the Chancellor of UNISSA approved the establishment of the scientific laboratory under the name UNISSA Ibnu Sina Scientific Laboratory Centre.
His Majesty has also decreed that the establishment of the laboratory will open up more research space and explore the latest innovations, and at the same time be an important investment to produce a generation of capable researchers.
Ibnu Sina Scientific Laboratory Centre. PHOTOS: UNISSAA view of the scientific laboratory; and students in a discussion
The selection of the name Ibnu Sina Scientific Laboratory Centre is based on the aspiration to the great contribution of Islamic scientific figures in the field of modern medical science.
As part of UNISSA’s long-term plan, the facility will further serve and function as teaching laboratories; nutrition laboratory; tissue culture laboratory; laboratory of soil, water, crops, environment, and fertilisers; DNA laboratory; herbal research laboratory; aquaculture laboratory; and halal analytical laboratory.
Among the activities and programmes to be carried out at the Ibnu Sina’s scientific laboratory under the Faculty of Agriculture are courses related to plant techniques, rice harvesting, organic soil modification and mangrove life studies that have been presented during the UNISSA Hafl Al-Takharruj Festival.
In addition to that, in line with the academic programme structure in the field of Halal Science, the Halalan Thayyiban Research Centre, which will begin with the January 2023 academic session, will strive to involve students in conducting small-scale laboratory studies through animal DNA analysis of food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical product samples including a study on the percentage of alcohol (ethanol) in food and drink samples as well as a study on the identification of pig fur and skin.
Based on the results of the research carried out at the Ibnu Sina Scientific Laboratory, it is expected that it will be able to be used as a source of information and reference material, especially for academics and students as well as the general public, whether distributed in the form of seminars, conferences, forums, publications in the form of book chapters, articles, journals or the like.
This is with the hope that this kind of effort will be UNISSA’s scientific contribution in helping the government raise awareness about the importance of agriculture in ensuring food security and also preserving the halal of food products and non-food products in accordance with the requirements of Syariah.
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Lin Xiyu of China fired an eight-under-par 64 to seize a one-stroke lead over Japan’s Nasa Hataoka after Thursday’s first round of the LPGA Queen City Championship.
The 26-year-old from Guangzhou made nine birdies against a lone bogey to finish one off her lowest LPGA round and pace the field after 18 holes at Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“I’m happy with how I’m playing right now,” Lin said. “My confidence is pretty high, really up there.”
Australian Sarah Kemp and South Korean Kim A-lim shared third on 66 with a pack on 67 including Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn, Atthaya Thitikul and Jasmine Suwannapura, South Koreans Choi Hye-jin and Kim Sei-young and American Katherine Perry-Hamski.
Lin, who shared seventh last week, seeks her first LPGA title and had her best tour finish in March at Thailand, when she lost a playoff to Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen.
Lin, making her 188th career LPGA start, hasn’t missed a cut this year and took full advantage of softened conditions after five inches of rain in five days.
“Overall, I’m really lucky we got to play,” she said. “With that much rain, the greens were rolling really well and I was putting really well.”
Lin began on the back nine with three birdies in a row, added two more at the par-3 14th and par-5 15th and another at the 18th hole.
She had back-to-back birdies again at the par-3 third and par-5 fourth before stumbling with a bogey at the seventh.
Thailand is set to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leadership Summit from November 18-19, under its main 2022 chairmanship theme ‘Open, Connect, Balance’.
“It is the first in-person APEC summit after the COVID-19 pandemic,” said officials from the Department of Information at Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) during a virtual briefing with the regional media on Thursday.
Director-General of International Economic Affairs Department and APEC Senior Official for Thailand Cherdchai Chaivaivid and Director-General of Information Department and MFA spokesperson Tanee Sangrat said several key issues will be presented at the summit, including the promotion of sustainable and inclusive economic growth, the facilitation of trade and investment, and the post-pandemic rehabilitation of the APEC bloc.
Member economies are also advancing initiatives to strengthen resilience and promote environmental sustainability through approaches, such as the bio-circular-green (BCG) economy model.
Thailand led a substantive discussion on the BCG economy.
Director-General of International Economic Affairs Department and APEC Senior Official for Thailand Cherdchai Chaivaivid and Director-General of Information Department and MFA Spokesperson Tanee Sangrat
The APEC platform was established in 1989 and convenes countries linked to the Asia-Pacific region namely Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, Russia and Vietnam. The 2022 APEC summit is set to convene in November in Thailand, which previously hosted the organisation’s summits in 1992 and 2003.
Cherdchai and Tanee also said APEC economies constituted some 38 per cent of the world population, 62 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 48 per cent of the global trade.
They added APEC is still relevant in the Asia-Pacific region in that the number of free trade agreement (FTA) had increased from 91 back in 2008 to 186 in 2018, while tariff had been reduced from 16.9 per cent in 1989 to 5.2 per cent in 2019.
Meanwhile, APEC economies have succeeded in luring foreign direct investment (FDI) to 67.9 per cent in 2022 from 45.2 per cent in 1990, while the poverty rate has been reduced to 1.8 per cent in 2015 from 41.7 per cent in 1990.
APEC Business Travel Card holders now reach 290,000 this year.
However, the officials said we have not done enough to connect people across border and hence must facilitate more people to travel or to do business across border.
“We need to revive the airline and tourism industry severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and put emphasis on connecting people. COVID-19 has reminded us that we are not fully equipped to counter interruption or disruption.“
Tea can be part of a healthy diet and people who drink tea may even be a little more likely to live longer than those who don’t, according to a large study.
Tea contains helpful substances known to reduce inflammation. Past studies in China and Japan, where green tea is popular, suggested health benefits. The new study extends the good news to the United Kingdom’s (UK) favourite drink: black tea.
Scientists from the United States (US) National Cancer Institute asked about the tea habits of nearly a half million adults in the UK, then followed them for up to 14 years. They adjusted for risk factors such as health, socioeconomics, diet, age, race and gender.
Higher tea intake – two or more cups daily – was linked to a modest benefit: a nine per cent to 13 per cent lower risk of death from any cause versus non-tea drinkers. Tea temperature, or adding milk or sugar, didn’t change the results.
This photo shows a cup of black tea in London. PHOTO: AP
The study, published last Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine, found the association held up for heart disease deaths, but there was no clear trend for cancer deaths. Researchers weren’t sure why, but it’s possible there weren’t enough cancer deaths for any effect to show up, said Maki Inoue-Choi, who led the study.
A study like this, based on observing people’s habits and health, can’t prove cause and effect.
“Observational studies like this always raise the question: Is there something else about tea drinkers that makes them healthier?” said professor of food studies at New York University Marion Nestle. “I like tea. It’s great to drink. But a cautious interpretation seems like a good idea.”
There’s not enough evidence to advise changing tea habits, said Inoue-Choi. “If you drink one cup a day already, I think that is good,” she said. “And please enjoy your cup of tea.”
LONDON (AP) – Prince Charles has been preparing for the crown his entire life. Now, at age 73, that moment has finally arrived.
Charles, the oldest person to ever assume the British throne, became King Charles III on Thursday following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. No date has been set for his coronation.
After an apprenticeship that began as a child, Charles embodies the modernisation of the British monarchy. He was the first heir not educated at home, the first to earn a university degree and the first to grow up in the ever-intensifying glare of the media as deference to royalty faded.
He also alienated many with his messy divorce from the much-loved Princess Diana, and by straining the rules that prohibit royals from intervening in public affairs, wading into debates on issues such as environmental protection and architectural preservation,
“He now finds himself in, if you like, the autumn of his life, having to think carefully about how he projects his image as a public figure,” said historian Ed Owens. “He’s nowhere near as popular as his mother.”
Charles must figure out how to generate the “public support, a sense of endearment” that characterised the relationship Elizabeth had with the British public, Owens said.
ABOVE & BELOW: Members of the royal family gather on the balcony of Buckingham Palace; and Britain’s Prince Charles wears a traditional Saudi uniform as he attends the traditional Saudi dancing at Der’iya in Riyadh. PHOTOS: AP
ABOVE & BELOW: Prince Charles, dressed in the uniform of the Colonel in Chief of the Royal Regiment of Wales, salutes at the Regiment’s Colour presentation; and Prince Charles during a procession in London
Prince Charles, kneels before his mother, Queen Eizabeth II, during the investiture ceremony of the Prince of Wales, at Caernafon Castle in WalesBritain’s Queen Elizabeth II speaks to Prince Charles, with his bride Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as they leave St George’s Chapel in Windsor
In other words, will Charles be as loved by his subjects? It’s a question that has overshadowed his entire life.
A shy boy with a domineering father, Charles grew into a sometimes-awkward, understated man who is nevertheless confident in his own opinions. Unlike his mother, who refused to publicly discuss her views, Charles has delivered speeches and written articles on issues close to his heart, such as climate change, green energy and alternative medicine.
His accession to the throne is likely to fuel debate about the future of Britain’s largely ceremonial monarchy, seen by some as a symbol of national unity and others as an obsolete vestige of feudal history.
“We know the monarch and certainly the monarch’s family – they’re not meant to have political voices. They’re not meant to have political opinions. And the fact that he’s been flexing, if you like, his political muscle is something that he will have to be really careful with… lest he be seen as unconstitutional,” said Owens, who wrote The Family Firm: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932-53.
Charles, who will be the head of state for the United Kingdom (UK) and 14 other countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, has defended his actions.
“I always wonder what meddling is, I always thought it was motivating,” he said in Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70, a 2018 documentary.
“I’ve always been intrigued if it’s meddling to worry about the inner cities, as I did 40 years ago and what was happening or not happening there, the conditions in which people were living. If that’s meddling, I’m very proud of it.”
In the same interview, however, Charles acknowledged that as king, he wouldn’t be able to speak out or interfere in politics because the role of sovereign is different from being the Prince of Wales.
Charles has said he intends to reduce the number of working royals, cut expenses and better represent modern Britain.
But tradition matters, too, for a man whose office previously described the monarchy as “the focal point for national pride, unity and allegiance”.
That has meant a life of palaces and polo, attracting criticism that Charles was out of touch with everyday life, being lampooned for having a valet who purportedly squeezed toothpaste onto his brush.
But it was the disintegration of his marriage to Diana that made many question his fitness for the throne. Then, as he aged, his handsome young sons stole the limelight from a man who had a reputation for being as gray as his Saville Row suits.
Biographer Sally Bedell Smith, author of Prince Charles: the Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, described him as being constantly overshadowed by others in the family, despite his destiny.
“I think the frustrations are not so much that he’s had to wait for the throne,” Smith told PBS. “I think his main frustration is that he has done so much and that… he has been sort of massively misunderstood. He’s sort of been caught between two worlds: the world of his mother, revered, now beloved; and Diana, the ghost of whom still shadows him; and then his incredibly glamorous sons.”
It took years for many in Britain to forgive Charles for his admitted infidelity to Diana before “the people’s princess” died in a Paris car crash in 1997. But the public mood softened after he married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005 and she became the Duchess of Cornwall.
Although Camilla played a significant role in the breakup of Charles and Diana, her self-deprecating style and salt-of-the-earth sense of humor eventually won over many Britons.
She helped Charles smile more in public by tempering his reserve and making him appear approachable, if not happier, as he cut ribbons, visited houses of worship, unveiled plaques and waited for the crown.
Her service was rewarded last February, when Queen Elizabeth II said publicly that it was her “sincere wish” that Camilla should be known as “Queen Consort” after her son succeeded her, answering questions once and for all about her status in the Royal Family.
Prince Charles Philip Arthur George was born on November 14, 1948, in Buckingham Palace. When his mother acceded to the throne in 1952, the three-year-old prince became the Duke of Cornwall. He became Prince of Wales at 20.
Sixty secondary school students recently took part in an educational tour to learn more about climate change through projects and initiatives in Seria, Belait District.
The students visited the 1.2 MW Tenaga Suria Brunei photovoltaic power plant, as well as viewed a showcase on electric and hybrid vehicles using the Mitsubishi i-Miev and Mitsubishi Outlander.
The students also attended a talk covering the Brunei Darussalam National Climate Change Policy and its 10 strategies at the Seria Energy Lab (SEL) and explored the SEL’s exhibitions and science experiments.
The group also toured the 3.3 MW BSP Flagship Solar PV Plant and learnt more on the development of solar technology and energy transition away from fossil fuels.
The visit was part of the Environmental Education Project, organised by Green Brunei in collaboration with Mitsubishi Corporation, and supported by Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd and the Science, Technology and Environment Partnership (STEP) Centre.
Secondary school students at the Seria Energy Lab. PHOTO: GREEN BRUNEI
AP – Ukraine’s state nuclear energy operator said yesterday that Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, caught in the Ukraine-Russia war, is operating in emergency mode with elevated risk.
The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant came under the control of Russian forces early in the war that started in February, but is being operated by Ukrainian staff. The plant and surrounding areas have been repeatedly hit by shelling that Russia and Ukraine blame on each other’s forces.
The last power line connecting the plant to the Ukrainian electricity grid was cut on Monday, leaving the plant without an outside source of electricity and receiving power for its own safety systems from the only one of the six reactors that remains operational.
Energoatom, the state nuclear operator, said yesterday that repairs to the outside lines are impossible because of the shelling and that operating in the so-called “island” carries the risk of violating radiation and fire safety standards. “Only the withdrawal of the Russians from the plant and the creation of a security zone around it can normalise the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Only then will the world be able to exhale,” the head of Energoatom Petro Kotin said yesterday.
Fighting continued yesterday in parts of southern and eastern Ukraine and in the north where Ukraine claims to have recently pushed Russian forces out of some areas. Ukraine this week claimed to have regained control of more than 20 settlements in the Kharkiv region, including the small city of Balakliya.
Social media posts showed weeping and smiling residents embracing Ukrainian soldiers.
Rockets launched from Russia’s Belgorod region at dawn in Kharkiv, Ukraine. PHOTO: AP
Minister of Home Affairs Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman paid a courtesy call on Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam during his working visit to Singapore from September 5-7.
The working visit aimed to further strengthen bilateral relationship and cooperation of both ministries established long time ago.
On the first day of his visit, Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Brunei Darussalam Fire and Rescue Department (FRD) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
Signing on behalf of Brunei’s FRD was its Acting Director Lim Hock Guan while SCDF was represented by its Commissioner Eric Yap Wee Teck.
The MoU aimed to facilitate the sharing of expertise and knowledge in developing search and rescue capabilities in urban areas and disaster management by conducting training and bilateral joint venture projects between the FRD and SCDF.
Minister of Home Affairs Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman and Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding by FRD Acting Director Lim Hock Guan and SCDF Commissioner Eric Yap Wee Teck. PHOTO: MOHA
It also served to improve the ability of FRD personnel in controlling, preventing and extinguishing fires while strengthening the capabilities and abilities of the FRD using technology in carrying out tasks.
Before the MoU, both agencies forged close cooperation including in the participation of FRD cadet officers in SCDF courses such as Rota Commander Course, Section Commander Course, Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), Structural Fire Fighting (SFF), Hazardous Material (HAZMAT), Fire Safety (FS) and Fire Investigation (FI) to increase experience and exposure in the field of operations and rescue as well as expertise in disaster management.
This is a testament to the special and close relationship fostered between the two agencies.
The minister also visited the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) and SCDF to take a closer look at the administration as well as SCDF and ICA programmes and examined the available leadership training methods provided for officers in both agencies including officers at the ministry level.
The visit also explored the development of infrastructure and capabilities and the availability of technology used by ICA and SCDF with best practices in dealing with challenges and issues that have been faced by both agencies to be used as a guide, reference and foundation in the preparation policies, structures and effective and productive implementation procedures.
Joining the delegation were Permanent Secretary (Safety and Welfare) at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) Salminan bin Haji Burut and senior officers from MoHA.
THE STAR – Oil prices rose yesterday as investors considered Russia’s threat to halt oil and gas exports to some buyers, but crude was set for a second weekly decline as central banks’ aggressive rate hikes and China’s COVID-19 curbs weighed on demand.
Brent crude futures rose 22 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to USD89.37 a barrel by 0635 GMT.
United States (US) West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 10 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to USD83.64.
“I think the selloff in oil prices may come to a pause for now due to a recovery in risk sentiment across the board,” said CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng, adding that a weaker dollar and falls in bond yields have offered support for a rebound in risk assets.
“Fundamentally, a sharp decline in the US SPR suggests that undersupply is still a predominant issue in the physical oil markets, though recession fears may continue to weigh,” Teng said.
Oil benchmarks headed for a weekly drop of four per cent, with the market sliding at one point this week to its lowest level since January. PHOTO: THE STAR
Both oil benchmarks were headed for a weekly drop of four per cent, with the market sliding at one point this week to its lowest level since January. The decline has been checked by underlying supply tightness amid Russia’s threat to cut oil flows to any country that backs a price cap on its crude, a small output cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, and a weaker outlook for US oil production growth.
The US Energy Information Administration on Thursday said it expected US crude output to rise by 540,000 barrels per day to 11.79 million bpd in 2022, down from an earlier forecast for a 610,000 bpd increase.
Analysts said in light of the supply outlook, the sell-off, which sent the 50-day moving average below the 200-day moving average mid-week in what’s referred to as a “death cross”, may have been overdone, as demand in China, the world’s biggest oil importer, could recover swiftly.
“China demand is more difficult to predict, but a post-COVID reopening has previously seen a snap back rather than a gradual rise in demand. In that context the fundamentals appear skewed against the latest technical signals,” National Australia Bank analysts said in a note.
For now, curbs are tightening in China.
The city of Chengdu on Thursday extended a lockdown for most of its more than 21 million residents, while millions more in other parts of China were urged not to travel during upcoming holidays.
