Individuals who wish to get their booster dose can book slots on the BruHealth App starting from today at noon.
The bookings will be for slots from January 8 to February 16, said Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar during the daily press conference yesterday.
The BruHealth App should be updated via GooglePlay Store or App Store to enable for reservations.
The minister said walk-ins for the third dose of the vaccine is only open for the elderly, pregnant mothers and differently-abled persons.
Meanwhile Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham said no COVID-19 cases were detected during the first phase of re-opening of the schools on January 3, which involved Year 10 to Year 13 students.
He said 9,790 students underwent ART tests in schools nationwide. Two ART tests gave ‘false positive’ results and 15 had ‘invalid results’. The follow-up RT-PCR tests for those tests confirmed a negative result for COVID-19, said the minister.
Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin at the daily press conference. PHOTO: JAMES KON
Music has been a major part of my life, up to a point that I can honestly say that it has shaped me into the person who I am today. However, the irony is that I can never seem to pick up an instrument, which is disappointing.
After meeting Abdullah Wafi bin Haji Rusli, better known simply as Wafi, my perception changed as he showed me all you need is a voice, a microphone and a community to make it worthwhile.
“Beatbox or beatboxing is an expressive art form that involves the use of the mouth and voice to create music,” explained Wafi.
The first time I saw and heard him beatbox, I could not believe my eyes, nor my ears. How he is able to make complex audio loops and melodies spontaneously with just his voice and a microphone still boggles my mind.
Sharing his initial steps into beatboxing, Wafi said, “I used to sing in a choir back in 2007. It was there that I learned how amazing the human voice could be; it’s amazing how voices can create such beautiful harmonies and rhythms. Then, in 2014 in my second year of university, that’s when I first saw someone beatboxing with my own eyes.”
Abdullah Wafi bin Haji Rusli performs during an event. PHOTO: WAFI
The passionate beatboxer shared that beatboxing is fairly new in Brunei compared to other countries, and that people are slowly understanding and have been showing interest in it since lately.
“Since it’s new, there are still things that people are getting used to. I admit there are a lot of weird sounds that most are not familiar with,” added Wafi.
With his passion growing, the beatboxer shared he wanted to reach out to more local beatboxers and establish a scene in the Sultanate.
“At this day and age it’s amazing how you can connect with people with similar interests. I first started posting videos of me beatboxing and since then I’ve seen and even met with many young and talented individuals who picked up beatboxing in their spare time.”
After seeing there are aspiring beatboxers surfacing in Brunei, Wafi set up Brunei Beatbox Unity, a local beatboxing community in 2018.
“I literally went around and asked any beatboxer who would be willing to hang out and have jamming sessions. Initially there were 10 of us polishing our skills and even holding beatbox battles competing with one another,” he recalled.
Wafi explained that he believes it is important to have a community where everyone can share their knowledge by helping and pushing everyone to be better at their skills.
“The thing about beatboxing is that it helped shape my mindset to be more open to learning and to believe that the time and effort put into practicing or performing would only make me better at it,” he said.
Asked what his vision is for the local beatbox scene, Wafi shared that he aims to helm and organise more competitions to further expose beatboxing in the country.
“Beatboxing originated in the United States, and is one of the elements of hip-hop. With that in mind, it’s easily accepted as part of their culture. After joining beatbox competitions like the ones in Indonesia, I realised we need to organise our own competitions and events to further expose the art of beatboxing to a wider audience,” said Wafi.
With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the country, Wafi shared that the scene has moved online with competitions hosted via Discord.
The local beatboxer is passionate and sees potential in the growth of the scene, stating that more young individuals are picking up the art of beatboxing and are fairly good at it.
“With beatboxing, I hope to make an impact on the community to inspire people to not be afraid to be creative when it comes to expressing themselves. No one else can be you but you,” highlighted the passionate beatboxer.
Wafi also added that one of his unforgettable beatboxing memories is performing an acapella before 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 and the royal family at Bandarku Ceria in 2020.
RIEL, NETHERLANDS (AFP) – In the flat expanse of the Dutch countryside, Corne de Rooij nostalgically strokes the muzzles of his calves, wondering how long he will be able to keep them.
Livestock farming is one of the main emitters of greenhouse gases in the Netherlands, where climate change threatens to swallow up the low-lying fields.
“It’s my passion and my life,” the reserved 53-year-old said in a small voice in his stable in the southern Netherlands, where he raises calves and chickens.
“If we have to stop raising them, it will hurt.”
Dutch farmers have found themselves pushed to the wall by the government, which is offering them a final choice to make their farms more climate-friendly, or change jobs.
The new coalition government wants to release EUR25 billion (USD28 billion) by 2035 to help reduce herd sizes and reduce emissions of nitrogen, a greenhouse gas emitted particularly by fertilisers and manure.
Livestock farming is one of the main emitters of greenhouse gases in the Netherlands, where climate change threatens to swallow up the low-lying fields. PHOTO: PYS.ORG
The small, densely populated country of 17.5 million people is also densely populated with animals: nearly four million cattle, 12 million hogs and 100 million chickens.
The Netherlands is the world’s second biggest agricultural exporter after the United States, but agriculture is responsible for 16 per cent of the Netherlands’ greenhouse gas emissions.
Cows are also major emitters of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from their digestive systems.
The government aims to help farmers diversify their business, to retrain, to innovate or even to relocate if their farm is near a protected natural area.
But if they fail to comply, the government has warned it could even take the very sensitive step of expropriating land from recalcitrant farmers.
The government insists it has no choice. Huge construction projects aimed at tackling a housing shortage have already been suspended by the supreme court in a case brought by environmental groups over greenhouse gas emissions.
By pushing the agricultural sector to accelerate the climate transition, the government hopes to be able to resume some of these building projects, while reducing nitrogen emissions by 50 per cent by 2030.
Overall, the Dutch have realised that their country is too small to do everything at once: farming, a huge flower producing industry, one of Europe’s biggest airports at Schiphol in Amsterdam, a dense road network, housing for everyone plus, in the middle of it all, nature zones.
LAS VEGAS (AFP) – Electronics giant Sony unveiled on Tuesday a new prototype of its Vision-S electric vehicle and announced the founding of a company to explore jumping into the rapidly growing market.
The Japanese firm, better known for its TVs and video game consoles, will create the Sony Mobility subsidiary in spring 2022 as it weighs entering the field.
Sony Chief Executive Officer Kenichiro Yoshida unveiled at the CES tech show in Las Vegas the Vision-S 02, a new version of the firm’s first prototype that has begun road testing.
Through this new branch, the electronics giant “intends to explore entry into the EV market”, it said in a statement.
The Vision-S is packed with internal and external sensors and is used by Sony to test its autonomous driving technologies.
The company is also working on entertainment systems.
The electric vehicle sector is still small, accounting for only about three per cent of current sales in the United States (US) but it is attracting a lot of interest and investment. General Motors has planned to invest more than USD35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles by 2025.
Authorities in the US plan to spend billions of dollars to strengthen the network of charging stations or encourage individuals to abandon their fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
Two foreign workers who failed to produce valid immigration documents during a raid on rented rooms in Tutong District yesterday morning were taken in by immigration enforcement officers.
The Immigration and National Registration Department (INRD) said any foreigner found committing an offence will be brought to court and if convicted, they could be imprisoned, deported or blacklisted.
The public can report immigration violations to the INRD at 734888 and 8753888.
A foreign worker is quizzed during a raid by Immigration enforcement officers. PHOTO: INRD
TOKYO (AFP) – Japan’s rugby union season kicks off tomorrow with big ambitions, tongue-twister team names and a rebrand that has left some fans wondering which version of the sport they will be watching.
Japanese rugby chiefs want to create “the best league in the world” with 2019 world player of the year Pieter-Steph du Toit and Australians Samu Kerevi and Quade Cooper among the foreign talent on show.
Organisers also plan to invite southern hemisphere teams to play Japanese clubs in special “cross-border matches”.
But the rugby union competition’s new name – Japan Rugby League One – has confused some with its apparent reference to the 13-a-side version of the game.
And others have been left tongue-tied by rebranded team names such as NTT Communications Shining Arcs Tokyo-Bay Urayasu and NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka.
The launch has also been overshadowed by a whiff of scandal, with NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu firing Blake Ferguson this week after the former Australian rugby league international was arrested on drug charges.
The three-tier Japan Rugby League One – which replaces the old Top League – launches with a showpiece opener at Tokyo’s Olympic stadium tomorrow.
File photo shows Suntory Sungoliath’s Beauden Barrett catching the ball during the Japan Rugby Top League final match. PHOTO:AFP
“When the opportunity came across it was something I didn’t think twice about,” said Springbok flanker Du Toit, who has joined Toyota Verblitz.
“I think rugby at the moment in Japan is a really fast and highly skilled game and that’s probably the way the game is going in the future.”
Du Toit is one of a number of high-profile international players who have moved to Japan in recent years.
Australia captain Michael Hooper and New Zealand’s Beauden Barrett both had stints there last season, while World Cup-winning Springboks Malcolm Marx and Willie le Roux return for the new campaign.
Japan Rugby League One chief operating officer Hajime Shoji told AFP that teams will continue to lure top overseas players, who are attracted in part by the salaries on offer.
And he said plans are afoot to invite southern hemisphere sides to Japan to play the league champions.
“One thing that is different from what went before is that we’re looking outwards to the rest of the world and trying to connect,” he said.
Japanese clubs’ chances of signing more big names have been boosted by Australia’s loosening of the so-called “Giteau Law”, which bars overseas-based players from representing Australia unless they have appeared in at least 60 Tests.
A slight relaxation of the rule means more players are eligible to play for the Wallabies while plying their trade with teams overseas.
Kerevi, Cooper and Sean McMahon all played for Australia last year while keeping their lucrative Japanese club contracts.
But there is unlikely to be a recall for former Wallaby back Israel Folau, who has joined Shining Arcs for the new season.
Folau was sacked by Rugby Australia in 2019 for discriminatory comments.
“So far he’s been wonderful – he’s a great man and he’s been doing a lot of great things for the team,” Shane Gates said of his controversial new team-mate.
“Getting caught up in whatever’s happened in the past is not going to help us as a team.”
While eye-catching signings have grabbed the headlines, the biggest change for Japan’s new league is the way the clubs operate.
Previously they were run as divisions of corporate behemoths such as Toyota and Panasonic and league matches were organised by the Japan Rugby Football Union.
Now, clubs are responsible for their own matchday operations and finding sponsors, and must play their games in a designated “home area”, taking steps towards finding a permanent stadium.
Clubs have also taken on new names in a bid to move them away from their corporate roots and establish ties with local communities.
League officials are keen to rekindle the excitement generated by the 2019 World Cup, which was watched by millions of Japanese.
The launch of the new league was delayed by the COVID pandemic but the South African Gates believes it is not too late to regain momentum.
“I think the world has seen the growth of the Japanese national rugby team,” he said.
“I think now they’re hoping the domestic competition can also make that step up.”
BAGHDAD (AP) – A Katyusha rocket struck an Iraqi military base hosting United States (US) troops at Baghdad’s international airport yesterday, an Iraqi military statement said.
No damage or casualties were reported from the attack, the third in as many days since Monday’s anniversary of a US airstrike that killed top Iranian general Qassim Soleimani in Baghdad two years ago.
The Iraqi military statement said a rocket launcher with one rocket was located in a residential district in western Baghdad. The area has been used in the past by Iran-backed militias to fire rockets at the airport.
On Monday, two armed drones were shot down as they headed toward a facility housing US advisors at Baghdad airport. Two explosives-laden drones targeting an Iraqi military base housing US troops in western Anbar province were destroyed on Tuesday.
Pro-Iran Shiite factions in Iraq have vowed revenge for the killing and have conditioned the end of attacks against the US presence in Iraq on the full exit of American troops from the country.
The US-led coalition formally ended its combat mission supporting Iraqi forces in the ongoing fight against the Islamic State group last month. Some 2,500 troops will remain as the coalition shifts to an advisory mission to continue supporting Iraqi forces.
The top US commander for the Middle East Marine General Frank McKenzie warned in an interview with The Associated Press last month that he expects increasing attacks on US and Iraqi personnel by Iranian-backed militias determined to get American forces out.
A security official inspecting the wreckage of a drone at Baghdad airport, Iraq. PHOTO: AP
BAMAKO (AFP) – An envoy from West Africa’s regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was in Bamako yesterday to hand a message to Mali’s junta leader ahead of a key summit, AFP reporters saw.
ECOWAS, in a document dated Monday, had said Goodluck Johnson, a former president of Nigeria, would deliver a message to Colonel Assimi Goita, but did not reveal its contents.
The bloc’s leaders, at an extraordinary summit in Accra last Sunday, will decide how to respond to a revised timetable proposed by the junta for returning the poor Sahel country to civilian rule.
The army has ruled Mali since toppling its elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in August 2020.
The junta initially committed to holding elections by the end of February 2022.
But on December 30, the military-dominated government proposed a transition period lasting between six months and five years, starting from January 1 2020.
Former Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan. PHOTO: AFP
This would enable the authorities to “carry out structural institutional reforms and (organise) credible, fair and transparent elections,” it said.
ECOWAS has led the push for the earlier timetable to be upheld. At a summit on December 12, its leaders reiterated demands that the elections be held by February 27 as initially planned.
They maintained sanctions such as asset freezes and travel bans within the ECOWAS region against around 150 junta figures and their families, and threatened further “economic and
financial” measures.
After leading the August 2020 putsch, Goita staged a de-facto second coup in May 2021, forcing out an interim civilian government.
The junta has cited persistent insecurity in Mali’s restive north as its reason for postponing the elections.
Swathes of the country’s territory are out of the government’s control as groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State attack civilians and soldiers.
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Riyad Mahrez-captained Algeria are favourites to win back-to-back titles when a twice-delayed Africa Cup of Nations finally kicks off in Cameroon on Sunday.
The Desert Foxes are unbeaten in 33 matches – a record for an African national team – with the amazing run beginning with a 4-1 away triumph over Togo in November 2018.
To succeed again, however, Algeria will have to buck a trend as the last five African champions failed to defend the title with none advancing further than the round of 16.
Here, AFP Sport puts the spotlight on the four Group E contenders. The group winners and runners-up are assured of last-16 places while the best four third-placed teams from the six groups also qualify.
ALGERIA
Coach Djamel Belmadi has kept faith in the 2019 Cup of Nations-winning team with nine of those who started in the 1-0 final victory over Senegal heading to Cameroon.
While the 45-year-old France-born manager has been criticised for being too loyal to those who conquered Africa, a record of 24 victories and nine draws, and 83 goals scored, speaks for itself.
Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City controls the ball. PHOTO: XINHUA
Algeria are particularly powerful on the wings, deploying not only Manchester City star Mahrez but also currently clubless Youcef Belaili.
Belaili tested positive for coronavirus during a camp in Qatar and Belmadi hopes the winger will make a quick recovery ahead of the January 11 opener against Sierra Leone.
IVORY COAST
Elephants coach Patrice Beaumelle has chosen five Premier League stars – defenders Eric Bailly and Willy Boly and forwards Maxwel Cornet, Nicolas Pepe and Wilfred Zaha.
But it is former West Ham United forward Sebastien Haller, now at Ajax Amsterdam, who may emerge as the key figure for two-time champions the Ivory Coast.
He scored for the Dutch club in all six UEFA Champions League group matches this season, matching a record set by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017.
While the Ivorians made a last-eight exit in 2019, they were the only team to hold Algeria, drawing 1-1 after extra time before losing on penalties.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
The National Thunder have qualified for a first time with the 2012 and 2015 appearances due to them being co-hosts with Gabon in the first instance, then solo hosts.
They exceeded expectations in both tournaments, reaching the quarter-finals and semi-finals, but it is difficult to imagine the central Africans getting to the last eight in Cameroon.
In a group likely to be dominated by a couple of two-time champions, Algeria and the Ivory Coast, the Equatoguineans will do well to advance as one of the third-place qualifiers.
Equatorial Guinea has strong links with Spain so it no surprise that 16 of the 28 players they called up were born there, including 32-year-old captain and forward Emilio Nsue.
SIERRA LEONE
Manchester-born John Keister coaches a country that is back at the flagship African tournament after making the last of two appearances 26 years ago in South Africa.
To reach Cameroon, Sierra Leona staged the greatest comeback in Cup of Nations qualifying history, coming from four goals behind in Nigeria to draw 4-4.
Kwame Quee, Alhaji Kamara and Mustapha Bundu, scorers of the goals that stunned the Super Eagles, have all been included in the Cameroon-bound squad, whose realistic target must be third place in Group E.
Former Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Steven Caulker has also been called up after being capped once by England nine years ago before switching allegiances thanks to his grandfather being born in the west African state.
TOKYO (AP) – World shares were mixed yesterday after heavy selling of technology shares cast a chill over the cheerful start to 2022 on Wall Street.
France’s CAC 40 was up less than 0.1 per cent at 7,324.16 in early trading, while Germany’s DAX added 0.2 per cent to 16,185.77. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2 per cent to 7,516.63. The future contract for the Dow industrials gained 0.1 per cent while that for the S&P 500 slipped two points.
Added to the hangover from the tech-led retreat were reports of sharply rising coronavirus caseloads in Asia and elsewhere.
Expert opinion is divided among those who think the Omicron variant of COVID-19 that is gaining dominance in many places may set off fewer serious illnesses and those who advise more caution. Any restrictions on business activity will be sure to weigh on the recovery that all nations are counting on to happen soon.
“Global markets seem to be writing off Omicron as an existential threat, with some suggesting that the Omicron variant represents the ‘last hurrah’ for COVID. Let’s hope they are right.
But there may still be a final hit to activity in Asia before we can return to a semblance of normality,” said regional head of research Asia-Pacific at ING Robert Carnell.
People walk past a bank’s electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index. PHOTO: AP
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1 per cent to finish at 29,332.16. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.3 per cent to 7,565.80. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.2 per cent to 2,953.97. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.6 per cent to 22,907.25, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.0 per cent to 3,595.18.
Troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande announced late yesterday that it was asking bondholders to accept a delayed payment on one of its bonds.
Evergrande Group will conduct a three-day online vote starting tomorrow for holders of the CNY4.5 billion (USD700 million) bond, according to an announcement made through the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in southern China (See also page 11).
Analysts expect trading in Asia to stay choppy for some time. Reported daily COVID-19 cases are still small, compared to Europe and the United States (US). But the surges are coming quickly, now topping 2,000 daily in Japan.
In Japan, many people are not heeding warnings to take precautions and crowds have been out at levels close to pre-pandemic levels in Tokyo, where booster shots have barely gotten started.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has promised to speed them up, starting with medical professionals.
A mix of economic data and corporate quarterly earnings reports this week should give investors some insight into the impact that the pandemic and persistently rising inflation are having on companies and consumers.
The US job market will be a major focus for investors, starting with the Labor Department’s jobs report for December, which will be released tomorrow.
Some sectors of the economy are still struggling, especially with supply chain problems.
Growth in manufacturing slowed in December to an 11-month low, according to The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers. The organisation will release its December report for the service sector today.
