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Vietnam and Saudi Arabia to promote ties

VIETNAM NEWS/ANN – Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chính received Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affair Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Thursday.

At the meeting, Chính congratulated Saudi Arabia on their socio-economic development achievements and great transformation, after more than five years of implementation of the ‘Vision 2030’ plan.

Chính also thanked the government and humanitarian organisations of Saudi Arabia for supporting Vietnam with finance and medical equipment and supplies, contributing to Vietnam’s fight against COVID-19, while also improving the quality of life of people living in disadvantaged areas.

Regarding political cooperation, Chính proposed that the two countries strengthen the exchange of delegations and contacts between the leaders of the two countries; improve cooperation between the two foreign ministries and people-to-people and promote cultural exchanges between the two countries.

The prime minister used the occasion to reiterate his invitation to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to pay an official visit to Vietnam.

In terms of economic cooperation, Chính suggested that Saudi Arabia soon completely lift the import ban on Vietnamese seafood, increase imports of Vietnamese agricultural products and expand the market for each countries’ products and goods.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chính with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. PHOTO: VNA/VNS

Chính also hoped Saudi Arabia can share their experience with Vietnam, supporting access to markets for goods and services according to Halal Islamic standards, and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to participate in oil and gas services in Saudi Arabia.

In addition, the prime minister confirmed that Vietnamese authorities are ready to create all favourable conditions for investment funds from Saudi Arabia to seek investment cooperation opportunities in Vietnam. He proposed the Saudi Arabia Development Fund increase the number of projects and the size of preferential capital for each project to help improve the lives of Vietnamese people in remote and isolated areas.

Regarding labour cooperation, Chính thanked Saudi Arabia for creating strong conditions for Vietnamese citizens to live and work in Saudi Arabia, especially during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He suggested that Saudi Arabia increase the reception of skilled Vietnamese workers in the service sectors and medical care.

On a multilateral level, the Prime Minister suggested the two countries continue to coordinate and support each other at regional and international forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal affirmed that Saudi Arabia always attaches importance to developing relations with Vietnam.

The minister said that Vietnam and Saudi Arabia have great potential to further promote cooperation in many fields, especially in trade and investment.

He said that Saudi Arabia would work closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and other ministries, sectors and businesses of Saudi Arabia to actively implement the above roadmap to further improve the efficiency of bilateral cooperation in various fields, especially in economics.

Octopus ancestors lived before era of dinosaurs, study shows

Christina Larson

WASHINGTON (AP) – Scientists have found the oldest known ancestor of octopuses – an approximately 330 million-year-old fossil unearthed in Montana.

The researchers concluded the ancient creature lived millions of years earlier than previously believed, meaning that octopuses originated before the era of dinosaurs.

The 12-centimetre fossil has 10 limbs – modern octopuses have eight – each with two rows of suckers. It probably lived in a shallow, tropical ocean bay.

“It’s very rare to find soft tissue fossils, except in a few places,” said Mike Vecchione, a Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History zoologist who was not involved in the study. “This is a very exciting finding. It pushes back the ancestry much farther than previously known.”

The specimen was discovered in Montana’s Bear Gulch limestone formation and donated to the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada in 1988.

An octopus swims at the zoo in Frankfurt, Germany. PHOTO: AP

For decades, the fossil sat overlooked in a drawer while scientists studied fossil sharks and other finds from the site. But then paleontologists noticed the 10 tiny limbs encased in limestone.

The well-preserved fossil also “shows some evidence of an ink sac”, probably used to squirt out a dark liquid cloak to help to evade predators, just like modern octopuses, said Christopher Whalen, an American Museum of Natural History paleontologist and co-author of the study published recently in the journal Nature Communications.

The creature, a vampyropod, was likely the ancestor of both modern octopuses and vampire squid, a confusingly named marine critter that’s much closer to an octopus than a squid.

Previously, the “oldest known definitive” vampyropod was from around 240 million years ago, the authors said.

The scientists named the fossil Syllipsimopodi bideni, after United States (US) President Joe Biden.

Whether or not having an ancient octopus – or vampire squid – bearing your name is actually a compliment, the scientists say they intended admiration for the president’s science and research priorities.

ADB forecasts 3.5pc growth for Sultanate in 2022

Azlan Othman

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Outlook report recently stated that Brunei Darussalam’s economic growth for this year is forecast to be 3.5 per cent, compared to 1.8 per cent last year.

Additionally, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and ASEAN + 3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) recently projected positive economic growth for Brunei Darussalam this year at 2.6 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively, after taking into account the recovery efforts made, particularly the production of downstream oil and gas industry products and related activities from Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd and Brunei Fertilizer Industries Sdn Bhd (BFI).

In the ADB report presented at the Southeast Asia Development Symposium (SEADS), Director General of Southeast Asia Department of the ADB Ramesh Subramaniam said, “For 2022, growth in this region is expected to pick up to 5.1 per cent as 400 million or 59 per cent of the population in the region become fully vaccinated, enabling many economies to re-open.

“However, the spread of the Omicron variant will likely reduce the growth forecast for the year as it continues to cause widespread illness and partial lockdowns in the region.”

Despite a more favourable prognosis for 2022 compared to the previous year, the economic situation in the region remains fragile and many households continue to experience huge income losses.

Some traditional engines of growth such as hospitality, tourism, transport and personal services are still not expected to recover anytime soon. The region’s output level in 2022 is expected to remain at least 10 per cent below the no COVID-19 baseline despite improving recovery prospects.

Subramaniam said, “Looking ahead, one can still be optimistic about the prospects for Southeast Asia. Today, we are seeing more intensified efforts across the region to build back better and greener.

“As we continue to struggle to make sense of what our world will look like when this pandemic is over, one thing is certain: a return to ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option. The only way forward is to build stronger and more resilient communities and nations. This can be accomplished by improving social assistance programmes, increasing support to micro and small enterprises, and expanding competitiveness and human capital.”

Ex-Google worker files suit alleging discrimination against Black employees

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – A former Google worker filed a lawsuit on Friday accusing the tech titan of discriminating against her and other Black employees.

April Curley contended in the suit that she was undermined and ultimately fired for advocating reform of “barriers and double standards” imposed on Black Google employees.

“Black Google employees face a hostile work environment and suffer retaliation if they dare to challenge or oppose the company’s discriminatory practices,” the suit alleged.

Google hires few Black workers and steers them into low-level jobs with doors to career advancement kept closed due to their race, according to the suit.

Google did not respond to a request for comment.

Curley was hired by Google in 2014 as a university programmes specialists in New York City to reach out to Black college students as potential employees, according to the filing “She discovered that Google was not genuinely interested in actual diversity and equal employment opportunities but wanted only to burnish its public image for marketing purposes,” the suit contended.

Curley was terminated from her position by Google in late 2020, according to the filing.

“While Google claims that they were looking to increase diversity, they were actually undervaluing, underpaying and mistreating their Black employees, leading to high turnover,” said Curley’s attorney, Ben Crump.

The suit filed in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose seeks class action status to represent other Black Google employees.

Curley’s lawyers cited statistics indicating that as of last year, some 4.4 per cent of Google employees are Black and that a scant three per cent of people in management positions are Black.

They also told the court that the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing is investigating Google’s treatment of Black female employees.

Partial SHOAS Bridge closure

Lyna Mohamad

The Public Works Department (JKR) reminded motorists to exercise caution when travelling along the Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien (SHOAS) Bridge in view of temporary partial road closure starting 8am today to March 22 midnight.

The temporary T24.3km – T20.6km closure is to accommodate weigh in motion (WIM) sensor installation works.

PHOTO: JKR

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Strict adherence to ART kit instructions vital

COVID-19 antigen rapid test (ART) users must strictly follow the instructions in the COVID-19 Antigen Detection Kit package insert, Director of Laboratory Services at the Ministry of Health (MoH) Dr Hajah Surita binti Haji Mohd Taib told the Sunday Bulletin in an online interview on Saturday. More details in Sunday’s Borneo Bulletin.

ADB forecasts 3.5pc growth for Sultanate in 2022

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Outlook report recently stated that Brunei Darussalam’s economic growth for this year is forecast to be 3.5 per cent, compared to 1.8 per cent last year. More details in Sunday’s Borneo Bulletin.

Wooden two-storey home goes up in smoke

No injuries were reported after Fire and Rescue Department (FRD) personnel doused a two-storey home inferno in the remote area of Jalan Kecil Tenajor Ratan, Kampong Ratan in Labi on Thursday night. More details in Sunday’s Borneo Bulletin.

Sultanate sees drop in COVID cases

Brunei Darussalam logged 1,465 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the nationally tally of confirmed cases to 123,422, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah said at the press conference yesterday. More details in Sunday’s Borneo Bulletin

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Borneo Bulletin is the leading English daily in the country. It was first published by Brunei Press. Today, Borneo Bulletin has become the foremost source of information on local and foreign affairs, and the region’s business news.

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