A 50-year-old Bangladeshi man, who stored smuggled cigarettes at his quarters, was ordered to settle a BND7,200 fine by the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Magistrate Nur Eleana binti Dato Seri Paduka Haji Hairol Arni ordered Abdul Hoque Faraji to serve seven months’ jail in default of payment after he pleaded guilty to the possession of nine cartons of undeclared cigarettes at his quarters in Kuala Balai, Belait District.
The Customs prosecutor informed the court that the officers conducting operations with other agencies found the contraband during an inspection on July 12.
UVALDE, TEXAS (AP) -Two months after the Uvalde school massacre, Texas state police on Monday announced an internal review into the actions of dozens of troopers who were at Robb Elementary during 73 minutes of bewildering inaction by law enforcement as a gunman slaughtered 19 children and two teachers.
The announcement appeared to widen the fallout of a damning 80-page report released over the weekend by the Texas House that revealed failures at all levels of law enforcement and identified 91 state troopers at the scene – more than all Uvalde officers combined.
It also amounted to a public shift by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) which until now has largely criticised local authorities for failing to confront the gunman sooner. The report made public on Sunday laid bare for the first time just how massive a presence state police and United States (US) Border Patrol had on the scene during one of the worst school shootings in US history.
“You got 91 troopers on the scene. You got all the equipment you could possibly want, and you’re listening to the local school cop?” said state Senator Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat whose district includes Uvalde and who has accused DPS of seeking to minimise its role in the response.
The report puts a new spotlight on the roles of state and federal agencies whose leaders, unlike local authorities, haven’t had to sit through meetings where they were confronted by the furious parents of the dead children.
Texas DPS did not put a timeline on when the review would be complete. It said the actions of every trooper, state police agent and Texas Ranger on the scene would be examined “to determine if any violations of policy, law, or doctrine occurred”.
A man pays respects at a memorial at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. PHOTO: AP
RIYADH (AFP) – Saudi businessman Ahmed Abdullah watches intently as his seven-year-old daughter Yasmine practises keyboard scales at a Riyadh music school, an opportunity he could only dream about when he was young.
Previously those who could afford it hired music tutors to come to their homes, while the rest struggled to find any instruction at all.
But as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seeks to expand entertainment options for citizens, music has become a bigger part of daily life, and music schools are popping up in major cities.
At least five such schools have opened over the past few years in the capital Riyadh and Jeddah, the kingdom’s second city on the Red Sea coast, serving an enthusiastic clientele of children and some adults.
Yasmine’s class, at the Yamaha Music Centre, meets every Saturday for half an hour, with their Egyptian instructor running students through keyboard drills under a sign reading ‘Music for All’.
The session is bittersweet for her father, Abdullah, who thrills at his daughter’s enthusiasm even as it reminds him of “things I had no chance of achieving in my childhood”.
Students receiving lessons at the Yamaha Music Centre in Saudia Arabia’s capital Riyadh. PHOTOS: AFP
Music has been a feature of the dramatic social reforms ushered in by Prince Mohammed, who became first in line to the throne five years ago.
For decades the country was decidedly off the beaten path of most touring artists but in recent years some of the world’s biggest stars, including Justin Bieber and K-pop juggernaut BTS, have performed in the kingdom.
There is little question that many young, entertainment-starved Saudis are grateful for the shows.
Last December more than 700,000 revellers flocked to the MDLBeast Soundstorm music festival in Riyadh, officials said, for four days of performances including a set by superstar French DJ David Guetta.
Daily life, too, has become more melodious, with restaurants and cafes staging live acts or blasting recordings through speakers – some even during prayer time, when in the past they would have been forced to close.
Several Saudis who are now trying to develop their own musical chops described the transformation as a boon to their mental health.
Wejdan Hajji, a 28-year-old employee at a firm selling medical supplies, said she once struggled to teach herself guitar by watching YouTube videos, lamenting that “if I made a mistake, there was no one to correct me”.
Now she pays SAR940 (around USD250) each month for classes with a Ukrainian teacher at the Yamaha Music Centre.
“I didn’t know anything, but now I’ve learned the basics,” she said.
“The one-hour session clears my mind… My personality has changed, and I’m calmer.”
Such benefits could soon extend to many more young Saudis.
In 2020 the kingdom established a “Music Authority” under its culture ministry which grants licenses to music schools and provides backing to young talents eager to pursue careers in the music industry.
Some 100 private schools nationwide have included a music component in their curricula during the current academic year, according to an official tally.
In May, the authority launched a “Music Culture Programme” to develop the skills of public school students as well.
As those initiatives get off the ground, the specialised music schools continue to do brisk business. One recent afternoon at the “House of Music” school in northern Riyadh, an instructor supervised five toddlers as they swayed to the sound of lullabies playing on a speaker.
The school opened in 2019 and has 300 students of all ages who come for lessons in rooms adorned with posters of performers like Bob Marley and Lebanese singer Fairuz.
“There is a good acceptance of the services we provide so far,” said the school’s Venezuelan director, Cesar Mora, adding that the school has a second branch in the works.
“There is a growing music-loving community and market.”
Walid Mahmoud, a 37-year-old Sudanese resident of Riyadh, began coming to the school so his young daughters could take lessons on the oud, a stringed instrument popular in the region.
Before long, he signed up for lessons himself. “Saudi Arabia has changed a lot,” he said with a laugh as his daughters, aged five and three, looked on.
TOKYO (AP) – Global shares were mostly lower yestreday, as investors weighed oil prices, inflation worries and corporate earnings.
France’s CAC 40 fell 0.7 per cent in early trading to 6,050.25, while Germany’s DAX shed 0.2 per cent to 12,933.45. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.3 per cent to 7,205.07. The future for the Dow industrials was up 0.2 per cent, while that for the S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent.
In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 reversed early losses, adding 0.7 per cent to finish at 26,961.68. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6 per cent to 6,649.60. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.2 per cent to 2,370.97. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.9 per cent to 20,661.06, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed at 3,279.43.
“The news paints a deteriorating picture for the outlook of major companies amid global growth fears. Traders will be paying close attention to the ongoing earnings season for further signs of how companies are faring in a weakening economy,” trader at ActivTrades Anderson Alves said in a commentary.
Analysts said the Tokyo market was seeing some buying after a three-day weekend. Monday was a national holiday in Japan.
On Monday, the S&P 500 fell 0.8 per cent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.7 per cent. The Nasdaq gave up 0.8 per cent and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies dropped 0.3 per cent.
People walk past a bank’s electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index in Hong Kong. PHOTO: AP
Corporate profits are under threat given high inflation and slowdowns in parts of the economy, though analysts are still forecasting continued growth, and markets are likely to remain volatile through the upcoming earnings season. Johnson & Johnson, American Airlines and Tesla are among the dozens of S&P 500 companies scheduled to issue quarterly snapshots this week.
The United States (US) market has been lurching mostly lower for weeks on worries that the Federal Reserve and other central banks will slam the brake too hard on the economy in hopes of bringing down high inflation. If they’re too aggressive with their interest-rate hikes, they could cause a recession.
A key report released last week indicated expectations are easing for inflation among households. That could prevent a more vicious cycle from taking root and ease the pressure on the Federal Reserve.
Expectations have fallen for how aggressively the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its meeting next week. Traders are now betting on a roughly one-in-three chance for a monster hike of a full percentage point, with the majority favouring a 0.75 percentage point increase. As recently as last Thursday, the heavy bet was on a hike of a full point.
Tomorrow, the European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates for the first time in 11 years. Many investors expect an increase of 0.25 percentage points, “but more is not unthinkable”, economists wrote in a BofA Global Research report.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude fell USD0.14 to USD102.46 a barrel. It rose 5.1 per cent on Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, lost USD0.25 to USD106.02 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar edged down to JPY137.75 from JPY138.13. The euro cost USD1.0232, up from USD1.0146.
JAKARTA, INDONESIA (AP) – Rescuers were searching yesterday for 13 passengers from a boat that sank in bad weather and high waves while travelling between Indonesian islands.
The boat, carrying 77 passengers and crew, sank on Monday night in waters around Tokaka Island in North Maluku province in east-central Indonesia.
Sixty-four survivors have been found, said head of the local search and rescue agency Fathur Rahman. They were able to swim to the coast to survive.
Rubber boats, speedboats and a local longboat were being used in the search for the others.
The KM Cahaya Arafah had left the seaport on Ternate Island on Monday morning and was heading to West Gane subdistrict in South Halmahera district.
Ferry and boat tragedies are common in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, where ferries are often used as transport and safety regulations can lapse.
In 2018, an overcrowded ferry with about 200 people on board sank in a deep volcanic crater lake in North Sumatra province, killing 167 people.
In one of the country’s worst recorded disasters, an overcrowded passenger ship sank in February 1999 with 332 people aboard. There were only 20 survivors.
Rescuers scan the horizon as they search for survivors after a passenger boat KM Cahaya Arafah sank in the waters off South Halmahera district in North Maluku, Indonesia. PHOTO: AP
GENEVA (AFP) – Swiss state prosecutors confirmed yesterday they have started the appeal process against the acquittal of former football chiefs Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini over a suspected fraudulent payment.
Blatter and Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football respectively, were cleared on July 8 by the Federal Criminal Court in a trial following a mammoth investigation that began in 2015.
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) confirmed to AFP it had taken the first step in appealing against the verdict.
“The OAG has… filed an appeal,” it said in a brief statement.
The Federal Criminal Court, based in the southern city of Bellinzona, must now provide a written explanation of its verdict, a process that can take some time.
This will then be considered by the OAG, which will then decide whether to maintain the appeal or withdraw it.
“This is not a preliminary decision. The judgement, to be justified in writing by the court as a result of the appeal application, will form the basis for further examination by the OAG,” the office said.
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter. PHOTO: AFP
Former FIFA president Blatter, 86, and Platini, 67, were cleared of the allegations that shook world football and torpedoed their time at the top.
The Federal Criminal Court rejected the prosecution’s request for a suspended prison sentence of a year and eight months.
The trial revolved around payment for Platini’s work as an adviser to Blatter between 1998 and 2002.
Platini was accused of having submitted to FIFA in 2011 an allegedly fictitious invoice for a claimed debt still outstanding for his advisory work.
They signed a contract in 1999 for an annual remuneration of CHF300,000, which was paid in full by FIFA. But the pair were tried over a CHF2 million (USD2.06 million) payment in 2011 to Platini, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.
Blatter told the court the pair had actually struck a “gentleman’s agreement” for Platini to be paid CHF1 million a year. Both were accused of fraud and forgery of a document. Blatter was accused of misappropriation and criminal mismanagement, while Platini was accused of participating in those offences.
The court concluded that fraud was “not established with a likelihood bordering on certainty”, and therefore applied the general principle of criminal law according to which “the doubt must benefit the accused”.
Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter joined FIFA in 1975, became its general secretary in 1981 and the president of world football’s governing body in 1998.
He was forced to stand down in 2015 and was banned by FIFA for eight years, later reduced to six, over ethics breaches for authorising the payment to Platini.
Platini was UEFA’s president from January 2007 to December 2015.
The land border re-opening is just around the corner. Just less than two weeks to go, a lot of us, who have not the fund for air travel, are eagerly awaiting the day that we can finally cross the international borders again.
However, a recent experience has gotten me thinking about the risk of travelling in these pandemic times.
A few weeks ago, I was invited to a mass gathering event. Given the health authority’s persistent reminder to comply with the guidelines, I attended the function with a lot of faith that all present would be responsible individuals. I did the necessary steps, such as screening myself prior to the event and ensuring I was masked the whole time.
However, a few days passed before words got to me that one of the attendees was infected with COVID-19. She had joined the event knowing that she could potentially infect the whole venue.
I was furious, but thankfully, despite having had a brief contact with the person, I was spared from the virus.
My point is, while it angers me to know that there are people who would intentionally hide their COVID statuses for selfish reasons, it is not beyond comprehension. After all, we are talking about a populace that has been cooped up in the country for over two years. Until the pandemic hit, it had been a tradition for Bruneians to cross the borders for a day’s break or a night stay at a neighbouring Malaysian town.
I’m sure comes August, the excitement will hit fever pitch. Droves of locals will be crossing the borders in search of a respite from all the COVID stress and anxiety or to reunite with family members on the other side.
While I’m certain that most of us will abide by the standard operating procedures, there will be a few who remain blind to the purpose of these precautionary measures.
Thus, I want to use this letter to reach out to those who think hiding a positive test result is not a big deal; because it is. Like the vast majority, I don’t want to see restrictive measures being implemented again.
Now is the time to be responsible, no matter how inconvenient the timing seems if we test positive for the coronavirus just before the borders re-open.
The Intermediate Court yesterday handed a sentence of six years and 10 months’ jail with three canings to a local man following a trial which found him guilty of break-ins and other theft-related offences.
Saufi bin Seruji was first charged, with a woman accomplice, in 2020 when he denied the two counts of housebreaking for theft, one auto theft, one mischief and one offence of switching the stolen vehicle’s number plates.
His accomplice only faced the theft charges, pleaded guilty immediately and received her sentences.
Prosecutor Aeny Zullizam’s case against the defendant had always been that he broke into a restaurant in Batu Satu during the wee hours on April 18, 2020 making away with some electronic appliances, drinks and cash along with the cash machine.
He then made his way to another restaurant nearby at The Crown Princess Complex, broke in and ransacked it.
He managed to make away with a carton of chilli sauce, two bottles of cooking oil, five raw chickens from the kitchen sink, a thermometer and two mobile phones from the storage room. Before he left, he opened the cash register, found a set of car keys, unlocked a car and drove off.
Later in Kampong Bengkurong the defendant came across a seemingly abandoned car, took its number plates and switched it with the ones on the stolen car. The defendant also caused damage by spray painting a section of the car.
The prosecution produced a number of witnesses to include the defendant’s accomplice.
Judge Harnita Zelda Skinner, on examining evidence, dismissed the defendant’s evidence on finding discrepancies in his and his accomplice’s testimonies.
I would like to urge the authorities to enforce the use of turn signals among motorists.
I was driving down the highway recently when I nearly got into an accident because the person on the adjacent lane failed to indicate his intention to move to mine. As a result, I had to pull the emergency brake to avoid colliding with his car.
My encounter was not uncommon; as a matter of fact, we could make a game out of spotting how many drivers fail to use the turn signal every time we’re on the road.
I believe the authorities need to make motorists understand that the use of turn signals isn’t optional but a must.
NAIROBI (AFP) – Kenya is a democracy with free and fair elections, Deputy President William Ruto said on Monday in an interview with AFP, confident that he will emerge victorious in the presidential poll on August 9.
Previous elections in the East African powerhouse have often seen accusations of vote-rigging but Ruto, known as a sharp strategist, insisted he would respect the outcome of the vote.
“I am very confident that I will win this election,” Ruto said in an interview at his Nairobi offices, where huge vehicles plastered with his face or the yellow and green colours of his party, the United Democratic Alliance, line the driveway.
“People of Kenya ultimately make their decisions. There is a wrong narrative that elections are manipulated… It is very difficult to steal an election,” the 55-year-old former MP and minister said.
At most, elections can be “influenced”, he conceded, but “we will stand (our ground) and still win against the so-called system”.
The ambitious politician was originally poised to succeed his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, as the ruling party’s candidate for the top job.
But a shock alliance between Kenyatta and his longtime rival Raila Odinga, who is now running against Ruto, has relegated the vice president to the sidelines.
