The Brunei Darussalam Scout Association (PPNBD), through the Brunei-Muara District Scout Training Team and National Scout Training Team held a virtual general information course for 1102 Rover Scout Crew of Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA).
According to course leader and Temburong District Assistant Scout Commissioner and Secretary of National Scout Training Team Skip Ronnie bin Siabu, the course was held to update new rover scout and future scout leaders on the latest development in the scout movement and encourage them to be more active and knowledgeable in carrying out their duties in their troops.
Some 30 participants comprising rover scout members and 1102 Rover Scout Crew UNISSA learnt the scout mission and vision, scout methods and history on the development of scout.
Talks on the national scout movement, the world and its structure as well as the parts of the scout movement (scout sections), scout leader training scheme and awards as well as proficiency badge award scheme and other societal issues were also held.
Scout trainers Zainudin bin Haji Ishak and Junaidi bin Haji Hussin facilitated the course with assistance from Brunei-Muara District Scout Commissioner for Training section and Cub Scouts section Ritchie bin Siabu, Brunei- Muara District Assistant Scout Commissioner for Girl Scout section, Anita Goh Ai Lian, Ronnie bin Siabu, and Belait District Assistant Scout Commissioner for Training section Mohammad Sharin bin Haji Suhaili.
The course concluded with a question-and-answer session, course evaluation and highlights from the first lesson.
National Scout Chief Commissioner Haji Badar bin Haji Awang Ali was present, joined by UNISSA 1102 Rover Scout Leader Dr Mohammad Alif bin Haji Sismat, Brunei-Muara District Scout Commissioner Pengiran Supri bin Pengiran Haji Hashim and Temburong District Scout Commissioner Jurkarnain bin Haji Husin.
Participants during the course’s closing ceremony. PHOTO: PPNBD
NEW YORK (AFP) – FedEx founder Frederick Smith will step down as chief executive after some five decades atop the transport behemoth, the company announced on Monday.
FedEx, which grew under Smith from a modest operation in the United States (US) state of Tennessee into a global titan with some 570,000 employees, announced CEO Raj Subramaniam will take the company’s helm.
The transition will take place on June 1, with Smith, 77, becoming executive chairman and Subramaniam ascending to president and CEO.
Smith first devised the idea for Federal Express – which adopted FedEx as its brand name in 1994 – while an undergraduate at Yale University, identifying urgent shipments as an economic imperative.
“Smith named the company Federal Express because he believed the patriotic meaning associated with the word ‘federal’ suggested an interest in nationwide economic activity,” according to the company’s official history.
“He also hoped the name would resonate with the Federal Reserve Bank, a potential customer. Although the bank denied his proposal, Smith kept the name because he thought it was memorable and would help attract public attention.”
From an initial fleet of 14 small aircraft in 1973, the company now boasts hundreds of aircraft, plus a worldwide logistics network. It reported nearly USD84 billion in revenues last year.
Subramaniam joined FedEx in 1991 and has held senior roles in Canada and throughout Asia and the United States.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA (AP) – Christian Pulisic looked like the weight of millions of American football fans had been lifted from his shoulders.
The first American to play in and win a Champions League final, Pulisic struggled in January, was played out of position by Chelsea and even was benched for a World Cup qualifier against Honduras.
Now he has boosted the United States (US) to the cusp of a World Cup return with the first international hat trick of his career. He had fired up his team, celebrated by doing the worm dance for a fan, earned a yellow card for dissent and crowned the night by sharing victory with his mom and dad.
”The reason that tonight meant so much is because we want to be on the biggest stage, playing in the World Cup,” he said last Sunday after leading the US over Panama 5-1.
On the very same field four-and-a-half years ago, Pulisic scored the first goal and set up another in a 4-0 victory over the Panamanians. Four days later he crouched on a field in Trinidad, his World Cup dream destroyed by a 2-1 loss that upended the US Soccer Federation from the presidency down to the national team staff and roster, where 114 players have cycled through. Pulisic, who scored the US goal that night, buried his face in his hands at the final whistle.
United States’ Christian Pulisic takes a penalty kick against Panama. PHOTO: AP
Now all the US has to do to qualify for this November’s tournament in Qatar is to not lose by six goals or more at Costa Rica later today. The Americans have nine losses, one draw and no wins in qualifiers at Costa Rica, but they haven’t lost by six goals in a competitive match since 1957 at Mexico.
A 23-year-old from Hershey, Pennsylvania, Pulisic is among just four holdovers from the team that flamed out in that final night of the Clint Dempsey-Tim Howard generation, joined by Paul Arriola, DeAndre Yedlin and Kellyn Acosta. Arriola was the only other one on the field against Panama, scoring and assisting as part of the 17-touch sequence capped by Jesús Ferreira’s goal.
Pulisic converted a pair of first-half penalty kicks, and his 65th-minute strike was exquisite.
With his back to the goal, a spinning Pulisic took a touch with his left leg, spun around Fidel Escobar and dummied the ball through his own legs. Pulisic poked the ball with the outside of his right foot through the legs of Andrés Andrade and slotted over a leg of sliding goalkeeper of Luis Mejía with his right foot from eight yards.
He is part of a new era of American soccer that left home during high school and debuted for a big-name club in a big-time European league, with Weston McKennie and Gio Reyna following.
Pulisic was given the captain’s armband for the eighth time, matching Tyler Adams, also just 23.
”The coaching staff talked about it and decided on Christian, I think, because of the journey,” US coach Gregg Berhalter said. ”You have a guy that’s been there before – he was on the field when we didn’t qualify, and this was us saying to him, ‘This is a new group, this is a new team and you’re a leader’ and we wanted to show that and we wanted to highlight that.
”And I think when I look at his performance, besides the three goals and the hat trick, everything else was in line, everything else was exactly what we needed him to do in terms of his work rate, his effort, his energy, his intensity and his leadership.”
Pulisic already is tied for seventh on the US career scoring list with 21 goals. His European club career is unparallelled for an American.
He was the eighth-youngest player to debut in the Bundesliga, at 17 years, 133 days when he first appeared for Borussia Dortmund in January 2016. Pulisic won the 2017 German Cup, earned a big-money move to Chelsea for the 2019-20 season and won the Champions League last May and the Club World Cup in February.
But for all that he has achieved in black and yellow and then blue, he longed for success in the red-white-and-blue.
”I think it was a big night, of course. I mean, scoring my first hat trick with the national team, I’m extremely proud,” Pulisic said. ”I just really want to play in a World Cup and so does this team. And that’s why tonight was so important to us. And I’m just really happy that we’re able to be in a good position to do that and finish the job off.”
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (AP) – Saudi Arabia’s oil chief said markets are going through a “jittery period“ and reiterated yesterday that the kingdom’s ability to ensure energy security is no longer guaranteed.
Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said cross-border attacks have put to question “our ability to supply the world with the necessary energy requirements“. The attacks have been carried out by Yemen’s rebel Houthis.
“In the old days, we, along with our friends here in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), worked on a collective effort to assure and ensure energy security. These pillars are no longer there,“ the minister said.
The Saudi energy minister spoke at the World Government Summit, an event sponsored by the government of Dubai, UAE.
Oil prices, already at their highest in years, have shot up further amid attacks from the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) largest oil producer. Brent crude prices are trading above USD110 a barrel, though have soared at times past USD120.
The Houthis have used drones and missiles to target the kingdom’s oil facilities, and have also attacked targets in the UAE’s capital of Abu Dhabi.
Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman at the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. PHOTO: AP
On Friday, they hit a Saudi oil products storage facility in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah, sending huge plumes of black smoke into the air. Saudi Arabia has expressed its frustrations in official statements, saying it will not bear any responsibility for shortages in oil supplies due to the attacks.
Crude oil prices have also been buoyed by a deal struck by leading producers, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, in an alliance known as OPEC+, which limited oil production to keep prices from crashing amid pandemic lockdowns in 2020.
The group has stuck to its cautious plan of releasing more barrels on a monthly basis as COVID-19 restrictions have eased, but critics of the plan said the Russian war in Ukraine is roiling markets and sending energy prices soaring for consumers at the pump. The UAE’s Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei doubled-down on the OPEC+ alliance in remarks at an energy forum in Dubai.
The war in Yemen has rattled these two Gulf Arab states, revealing the vulnerability of their oil facilities. The largest attack claimed by the Houthis took place in late 2019 against a sprawling Saudi Aramco site in the kingdom’s eastern region, temporarily knocking out production at the world’s largest oil processing facility in Abqaiq.
As the White House inches closer to a nuclear deal with Iran, the Biden administration has tried to reassure traditional Mideast allies of its commitment to their security. Israel and several Gulf Arab states remain fiercely opposed to any efforts that would lift sanctions on Iran.
“We have developed and delivered our side of the story,“ Prince Abdulaziz said, referring to the kingdom’s position on the link between its national security and global energy market stability.
“People, others, need to deliver their own side of the commitment,“ he added. “Otherwise, the very pillar of energy security will be disturbed, to say the least.“
This year, the World Government Summit is being held on the premises of Dubai Expo 2020, the six-month-long world’s fair that concludes later this week.
YAOUNDE, CAMEROON (AP) – When Samuel Eto’o won the election to become president of the Cameroon football federation, he celebrated like he might have after scoring a goal at the height of a playing career that put him among the best strikers in the world.
But that celebration in December marked just the start for Eto’o, who has set himself the daunting task of rebuilding a broken domestic football structure in his Central African home country.
Cameroon’s national team is one of Africa’s most successful with five continental titles; Eto’o was on the team for two of them. Cameroon seized the world’s attention with a run to the quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup. Many took notice of African football after that and Cameroon has gone on to play at seven World Cups, more than any other African nation.
Yet at home, the last decade has been deeply difficult. The national league has been bedevilled by allegations of corruption and unkept promises from football leaders. The league has been regularly disrupted, sponsors have deserted it – taking their money with them – and players have lost faith.
”I can’t list the number of players who have left football to do other jobs because they benefit nothing (from playing),” said a defender with Coton Sport, Cameroon’s national champion, Che Malone.
Samuel Eto’o. PHOTO: AP
Malone said many players in Cameroon ”play for free or almost free” as some teams aren’t always able to pay their salaries.
Enter Eto’o. It was a surprise when the former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker announced he was standing as a candidate to lead the troubled Cameroon federation. It was a shock when he won.
Eto’o promised to fight corruption, promote women’s soccer, improve stadiums and other infrastructure, get fans back at games and improve the lives of players.
He also stated he had a mission ”to rekindle the winning spirit within our national teams” and there were early signs of that when Cameroon impressed on the way to third place at the African Cup of Nations it hosted.
Turning around the domestic game won’t be nearly so easy, or immediate. But the 41-year-old Eto’o has made a start, establishing a minimum wage for players in the top two tiers and enforcing rules requiring club owners to show proof they have enough money to pay their players and staff.
He also negotiated a deal to see the return of league sponsor MTN, a multinational telecom company, and has promised to build 10 stadiums in answer to players’ pleas for better settings. Some lower-tier games go ahead on fields that have more bare earth than grass.
HANOI (AFP) – Vietnam’s economy expanded more than five per cent in the first three months of the year, the government said yesterday thanks to a pick-up in exports as the country emerges from the worst of the global pandemic, though officials warned of headwinds.
The communist state has long been a success story among Asian economies, posting growth of seven per cent in 2019.
But growth came in at just 2.9 per cent in 2020 as the pandemic shut most of the world down, while last year saw just 2.6 per cent expansion. The figures were the worst the country has experienced since the mid-1980s.
However, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said gross domestic product (GDP) came in at 5.03 per cent on-year.
Turnover from exports of goods in the first quarter was at USD88.58 billion, up by 12.9 per cent on-year, the GSO added.
A saleswoman checks goods on a shelf at a homeware mall in Hanoi. PHOTO: AFP
“While the economy continues to show resilience and is recovering, downside risks have heightened as the Omicron infections are sweeping the country and the Russia-Ukraine conflict has increased uncertainty about global economic recovery,” the World Bank said in a report on Vietnam in March.
“Authorities should encourage exporters to seek new markets and innovate into new products through global value chains and existing free trade agreements to strengthen export resilience,” it added. After almost two years of closure and strict measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Vietnam began re-opening to the world in mid-March, easing medical requirements and quarantine rules.
The country still reports more than 260,000 cases of virus infection a day, but hospitalisation and death rates are relatively low, the Health Ministry said.
More than 90 per cent of adults have been fully vaccinated, with the government urging vaccinations for teenagers and accelerating booster shots rollout.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (AP) – Gulf Arab states gathered for a summit yesterday about the yearslong war in Yemen, which the country’s Houthi rebels are boycotting because it’s taking place in Saudi Arabia.
The decision by the Houthis to skip the summit, called by the Saudi-based Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), immediately called into question the effectiveness of such a gathering.
The United Nations (UN), diplomats and others have been pushing for another potential cease-fire to mark the month of Ramadhan, similar to efforts for a truce over the past years.
Ramadhan is likely to start this weekend, depending on the sighting of the new crescent moon.
The GCC – a six-nation club including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – held closed-door talks in Riyadh.
On Monday, the GCC’s Secretary-General Nayef al-Hajraf held talks with British Ambassador to Yemen Richard Oppenheim and Yemeni officials allied with its internationally recognised but exiled government.
A satellite photo showing a fire still burning at Saudi Aramco’s North Jeddah Bulk Plant after an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. PHOTO: AP
Those talks saw al-Hajraf, a Kuwaiti politician, discuss “efforts to stop the war and ways to achieve comprehensive peace to alleviate the human suffering witnessed by Yemeni people“, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The Houthis, meanwhile, have rejected the summit because of its venue in Saudi Arabia, as well as the continuing closure of Sanaa’s airport and restrictions on the country’s ports by the coalition that is waging war on the Houthis.
The rebels, who over the weekend attacked an oil depot in the Saudi city of Jeddah ahead of a Formula One race there, have called for the talks to be held in a “neutral“ country.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke late on Monday with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
The State Department said the two “discussed support for the UN’s proposal for a Ramadhan truce in Yemen and efforts to launch a new, more inclusive and comprehensive peace process“. Yemen’s war began in September 2014, when the Houthis swept into the capital, Sanaa, from their northwestern stronghold in the Arab world’s poorest country. The Houthis then pushed into exile the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, elected in 2012 as the sole candidate after the long rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh.
A coalition entered the war in March 2015 to try and restore Hadi’s government to power.
But the war stretched into long bloody years, pushing Yemen to the brink of famine.
More than 150,000 people have been killed in the warfare, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
Year 11 students from Ma’had Islam Brunei, Tutong District attended the Ta’dil As-Suluk programme organised by the Islamic Legal Unit in collaboration with the Religious Enforcement Division and the Islamic Studies Department, Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Students were briefed on the offences under the Syariah Criminal Penal Code Order 2013 and Dharar Syar‘ie Section, Chapter 217 under the Islamic Family Law Act.
The virtual programme aimed to safeguard the students’ welfare by providing insights on rights of personal protection for victims of abuse and sexual crimes of domestic violence, and address social ills.
Syariah Legal Officer from the Islamic Legal Unit Mohammad Haziq bin Mamud, and Officer from the Religious Enforcement Division Haji Samry bin Haji Md Yaakub facilitated the programme.
Religious education officer from the Arabic Schools Division, Islamic Studies Department Zamery bin Haji Nayan also delivered a religious talk.
Students during the programme. PHOTO: AZLAN OTHMAN
LONDON (AP) – Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker told a London court he felt “shocked” and “embarrassed” after being declared bankrupt just days before the 2017 tournament at the All England Club.
The six-time Grand Slam winner said the negative publicity had damaged “brand Becker” and left him struggling to make enough money to pay off his debts.
Becker was declared bankrupt in June 2017 and is currently on trial accused of failing to hand over assets including nine trophies and medals from his glittering tennis career.
The 54-year-old German said he had been seeking to pay off a more than GBP3 million (USD3.9 million) loan from private bank Arbuthnot Latham, including through the sale of his estate in Spain.
The court heard the bankruptcy decision came days before Wimbledon, where Becker was working for the BBC as well as Australian and Japanese television stations.
“As you can imagine, I was very shocked at the fact. Because it was all over world news, and I walked through the gate of Wimbledon and everyone knew. I was embarrassed because I was bankrupt,” Becker said.
Boris Becker arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London. PHOTO: AP
He told jurors the bankruptcy was also in the midst of a “stressful time” with his then wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker, while they were living in “separate quarters” at his rented house in Wimbledon.
Describing an incident while he was commentating on the men’s quarter-final, he said: “My son called me saying my wife was breaking down the house – the furniture, the windows. The police came… while I was on site.”
Becker sat at the witness box on Monday to give evidence.
He said he faced damaging publicity “all around the world” but especially in Germany and the United Kingdom, which has affected his ability to earn.
“It is very difficult when you are bankrupt and in the headlines every week for it. It is very difficult to make a lot of money with my name,” he said.
The former world number one, who was helped to give evidence by a German translator, denies 24 charges under the Insolvency Act.
They include nine counts of failing to hand over trophies and other awards, seven of concealing property, five of failing to disclose estate, two of removal of property and one of concealing debt.
He is accused of failing to hand over nine trophies, including two of his three Wimbledon men’s singles titles, an Olympic gold medal, his 1991 and 1996 Australian Open trophies and his Davis Cup trophy and gold coin.
Over 50 participants comprising Institution of Surveyors, Engineers and Architects (PUJA) Brunei members, Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP) and public sector staff attended a webinar entitled ‘Decommissioning & Restoration (D&R): Technology Deployment’ organised by PUJA Academy Sdn Bhd (PASB) in collaboration with BSP.
Speaker BSP decommissioning and restoration Manager Haji Idris bin Haji Mohd Jaafar highlighted the Decommissioning and Restoration process in the oil and gas industry, where facilities reach the end of their lives. A growing number of oil and gas platform and facilities are ageing and their economically recoverable reserves offshore extracted, therefore an increase of decommissioning will be expected in the coming years.
Haji Idris said every decommissioning project is different and needs to be tailored to the facility design, local context and local legislation requirements.
The presentation also aimed to provide an insight on D&R from a Global Shell and BSP perspective followed by elaboration of the current and new technology that BSP deploys particularly in the areas of subsurface and wells plug and abandonment activity under the D&R team’s scope of work.
Haji Idris is a professional senior manager in an upstream industry with over 32 years of experience in Shell.
He has managed many large multiple projects previously and gained experience and skills across whole upstream value chain from various assignments within the company.
He is now accountable for the BSP Asset Decommissioning and Restoration Programme with the goal to reduce very large liability in a safe and efficient manner within the country regulation and in step with societal expectations.
PUJA Academy actively offers virtual webinars and courses to improve the competency of (PUJA) members and the construction industry, with its mission to ‘Promoting Awareness, Improving Knowledge and Enhancing Experience’.
BSP Decommissioning and Restoration Manager Haji Idris bin Haji Mohd Jaafar conducts the webinar. PHOTO: BSP
