TOKYO (CNA) – Japan’s Suzuki Motor plans to invest about JPY150 billion (USD1.26 billion) to produce electric vehicles (EV) and batteries in India, Japanese media reported yesterday.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is in India to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
Suzuki’s investment plan will be part of an announcement by Kishida during his trip of plans to invest JPY5 trillion over the next five years in India, according to the Nikkei business daily.
Suzuki has decided to build a new electric vehicle production line in India with the aim of starting operations as early as 2025, Nikkei said, without identifying the source of its report.
A Suzuki Motor spokesperson declined to confirm the reports.
A man passes a Suzuki showroom in India. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Kolej International Graduate Studies (KIGS) will continue to introduce programmes to help students realise their aspirations and meet the nation’s needs.
This was said by the college’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Haji Azaharaini bin Haji Mohd Jamil during the KIGS 2021 Convocation Ceremony.
He said the college had set up a new department to aid digital technology for online learning, library database system and student affairs applications.
The Department of Learning Technologies and International Development was set up in 2019 to facilitate new learning technology and establish ties with other institutions of higher learning in Brunei and overseas.
A majority of the college’s curriculum are currently delivered online through the Learning Management System (LMS).
The system also allows the college to easily adapt to changes caused by COVID-19 outbreak.
Kolej International Graduate Studies Chief Executive Officer Dr Haji Azaharaini bin Haji Mohd Jamil. PHOTO: BAHYIAH BAKIR
The college’s long-term plans include upgrades in information technology programmes, particularly virtual reality (VR), Internet of Things (IoT) and augmented reality (AR) as part of its efforts to keep abreast with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0).
There are also plans for new subjects, such as advanced robotics, additive manufacturing, simulations, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity.
The CEO highlighted several achievements of the college, including being entrusted by Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) as one of the IBTE Approved Centre to conduct IBTE HNTec and NTec Information Technology and Business programmes in October last year.
The programmes were also approved by the Brunei Darussalam National Accreditation Council and the Department of Private Education, Ministry of Education (MoE).
Other recognitions include accreditation by Bureau Veritas Brunei for ISO 9001:2015.
He said the college will continue to better itself to meet the needs of students, clients and stakeholders.
DAMASCUS, SYRIA (AP) – Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday, his office said, marking his first visit to an Arab country since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011.
In a statement posted on its social media pages, the office said that Assad met with Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The two discussed expanding bilateral relations between their countries, it said.
The visit sends the clearest signal yet that the Arab world is willing to re-engage with Syria’s once widely shunned president.
It comes against the backdrop of the raging war in Ukraine where Assad’s main ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, is pressing on with a military offensive, now in its fourth week, raining lethal fire on Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv.
Syria has supported Russia’s invasion, blaming the West for having provoked it.
Syria was expelled from the 22-member Arab League and boycotted by its neighbours after the conflict broke out 11 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the war, which displaced half of Syria’s population. Large parts of Syria have been destroyed and reconstruction would cost tens of billions of dollars.
UAE Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum meets with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. PHOTO: AP
Arab and Western countries generally blamed Assad for the deadly crackdown on the 2011 protests that evolved into civil war, and supported the opposition in the early days of the conflict.
When asked about Assad’s visit to the UAE, United States’ (US) State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Washington was “profoundly disappointed and troubled by this apparent attempt to legitimise Bashar Al-Assad, who remains responsible and accountable for the death and suffering of countless Syrians, the displacement of more than half of the pre-war Syrian population, and the arbitrary detention and disappearance of over 150,000 Syrian men, women and children”.
Assad has very rarely travelled outside the country during Syria’s civil war, only visiting Russia and Iran.
With the war having fallen into a stalemate and Assad recovering control over most of the country thanks to military assistance from his allies, Arab countries have inched closer toward restoring ties with the Syrian leader in recent years. The UAE re-opened its embassy in Syria in late 2018 in the most significant Arab overture towards the Assad government, though relations remained cold.
Last fall, the Emirati foreign minister flew to Damascus for a meeting with Assad, the first visit by the country’s top diplomat since 2011. The US, a close Emirati partner, criticised the visit at the time, saying it would not support any normalisation with Assad’s government.
Syria badly needs to boost relations with oil-rich countries as its economy is being strangled by crippling Western sanctions and as it faces the task of post-war reconstruction. The UAE is also home to thousands of Syrians who work in the Gulf Arab nation and send money to their relatives at home.
The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency said the country’s de facto ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad at his palace in Abu Dhabi.
MADRID (AFP) – Real Madrid will be underdogs in the Champions League quarter-finals and Barcelona will not be there at all, the draw on Friday setting the context for a Clasico of two giants desperately seeking a return to the elite.
Despite their momentous comeback against Paris Saint-Germain, Madrid are still rated fifth favourites in the Champions League this season and were widely considered a good draw for Chelsea, who outplayed them to reach the final last year.
Barca, meanwhile, had to wait another hour to find out their fate in the Europa League, where their chief threats are no longer the likes of Bayern Munich and Manchester City but Leipzig, Atalanta and West Ham.
Certainly, Barcelona’s decline has been far more severe but Real Madrid have deteriorated too, a series of underwhelming transfer windows and cautious coaching appointments contributing to an iconic team being allowed to grow old and increasingly stale.
And yet both head to the Santiago Bernabeu today (Monday 4am, Brunei time) with hope that a new era may be about to begin.
For Madrid, the greatest optimism comes from the expected arrival of Kylian Mbappe who, in one move, would fast-track them from one generation to the next, the kind of statement signing that could define the club for a decade and force the rest of the team to catch up.
Questions still linger about how Madrid replace the likes of Luka Modric, Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos and there is a debate around Carlo Ancelotti. A more progressive coach might be better placed to compete with the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.
Barcelona and Real Madrid transfer target Erling Haaland heads the ball during a German Bundesliga match. PHOTO: AP
Barcelona have already taken that bold step by hiring Xavi Hernandez, a risky but needed appointment that has so far paid off.
If Madrid’s enthusiasm is rooted in a super-star signing, Barca’s stems from a forward-thinking coach overseeing the emergence of a hugely exciting crop of youngsters.
Pedri, Ansu Fati, Gavi, Nico Gonzalez and Ronald Araujo could form an impressive core for years to come, with recent performances giving Barca belief they can land a statement victory over Madrid this weekend, at least psychologically, given it will have little bearing on the title race.
A win would also lend evidence to the theory Barcelona are ready to challenge in La Liga next season, even if Europe’s most powerful clubs might still be further off. The reason for that is Barca’s financial woes are far from over.
In fact, La Liga’s latest spending restrictions published last Monday had the Catalans’ limit reduced from EUR98 million (USD107 million) to -EUR144 million (-USD159 million), which puts into perspective suggestions from the club’s president Joan Laporta that they might sign Erling Haaland.
Real Madrid’s limit, in stark contrast, was EUR739 million (USD818 million) and they believe they can sign both Mbappe and Haaland this summer.
It was perhaps no coincidence then that Barcelona swiftly announced a deal to make Spotify their main sponsor from, which it is believed will earn them almost EUR300 million over the next four years.
Negotiations also continue with CVC, the capital investment fund that has struck a 50-year agreement with La Liga for eight per cent of television income in exchange for an injection of just under EUR2 billion.
Barca are trying to arrange their own bespoke deal that would see them take EUR300 million and, crucially, be able to register the cash as income instead of debt.
There is also the club’s wage bill, which stood at 103 per cent of income back in August.
Laporta said last month the club has shed EUR159 million from player salaries but that process will have to carry on this summer.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (AP) – Iran has converted a fraction of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium into material crucial for detecting cancers and other diseases, the United Nations’ (UN) nuclear watchdog and an Iranian media report said on Friday.
Iran’s decision to convert the uranium takes it out of a form that can potentially be further refined into weapons-grade levels.
The development comes as talks in Vienna over restoring Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers hang in the balance.
Negotiators previously said they had reached the end of a monthslong effort to find a way to bring both the United States and Iran back into the accord – just as a Russian demand threw the talks into a chaotic pause.
Since then, Iran and the United Kingdom agreed to a prisoner release and news of the decision by Tehran to reprocess the uranium appears to signal that the negotiations may still see the parties return to Vienna and reach a deal.
A nuclear research reactor at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. PHOTO: AP
In a statement on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had used 2.1 kilogrammes of its 60-per-cent enriched uranium to produce so-called “highly enriched uranium targets” at a facility in Isfahan.
Those “targets” will be irradiated at the Tehran Research Reactor and later used to produce molybdenum-99, the IAEA said. Molybdenum-99 decays within days into a form of an isotope called technetium-99m, which is used in scans that can detect cancer and assess blood supply to the heart.
Increasingly, countries around the world use low-enriched uranium to create the needed isotope to avoid the proliferation risks of employing highly enriched uranium.
Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency, quoting unnamed officials it referred to as “informed sources”, acknowledged that some of this material had been reprocessed. The report added that two kilogrammes of the material could help one million people.
The IAEA said that as of February 19, Iran had a stockpile of 33.2 kilogramme of 60-per-cent enriched uranium.
The ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) urged policymakers to take concrete action on trade facilitation, connectivity and digital transformation during its online dialogue session with ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) on Wednesday.
ASEAN-BAC Chair Neak Oknha Kith Meng urged the AEM to implement critical reforms which are crucial for the realisation of the 2025 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Strategic Blueprint, the five to six perfect annual trajectory growth of ASEAN and ASEAN as the fourth largest economy in the world by 2030.
He also urged economic ministers to push for full Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) participation of all 10 ASEAN member states, as well as for a green and sustainable economic recovery.
He emphasised that the private and public sectors should work closely to address challenges together to realise the ASEAN aspiration.
Meanwhile, Legislative Council member and Co-Chair of the ASEAN-BAC 2022 Yang Berhormat Siti Rozaimeriyanty binti Dato Seri Laila Jasa Haji Abdul Rahman updated the AEM on the Harnessing Impact With Resilient Employability Digitally (HIRED) legacy project and the Chairmanship 2021 report.
She said three initiatives in the pipeline are data analytics pilot programme working bilaterally with United Kingdom’s (UK)-Department for International trade, launching of a private sector page on the SEA-VET.net in collaboration with GIZ RECOTVET and SEAMEO Voctech, and seeking endorsement support from the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on micro, small and medium enterprises (ACCMSME) in expanding the project across the region.
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, Legislative Council member Yang Berhormat Siti Rozaimeriyanty binti Dato Seri Laila Jasa Haji Abdul Rahman, ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi, Dynamik Technologies CEO Haslina binti Haji Mohd Taib and other ASEAN economic ministers (AEM) during a dialogue session between the AEM and ASEAN-BAC. PHOTO: ASEAN-BAC
She said the ASEAN BAC Chairmanship Annual Report 2021 is in the finalisation process.
ASEAN BAC Brunei member and CEO of Dynamik Technologies Haslina binti Haji Mohd Taib updated the AEM on ASEAN Digital Gateway, an initiative launched during the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2021 to facilitate safer travels, seamless processes, and provide standardised, integrated platform, protocols, and ecosystem across ASEAN.
“Since the launch, the legacy project has further called for the standardisation of vaccination certificate, clarity and harmonisation of quarantine period and swabs across the region.
Essential data required for travel are encrypted and exchanged on private permissioned blockchain, while ensuring national data sovereignty,” she said.
The dialogue was chaired by Cambodian Minister of Commerce and AEM Chair Pan Sorasak and was attended by the AEM of 10 ASEAN member countries, senior officials, ASEAN-BAC members and other representatives from various organisations.
ASEAN-BAC members also provided updates on other projects and interventions including ASEAN Travel Wallet, Digital Trade Connect, Smart Growth Connect, MSME Empowerment, Green and Sustainable Economy Working Group, recommendation on issues related to trade facilitation, and Business Sentiment from Myanmar.
The AEM and ASEAN Secretary-General commended the achievements by ASEAN-BAC and took note of recommendations by ASEAN-BAC for consideration and further actions. They urged stakeholders to work closely with ASEAN-BAC.
DETROIT (AP) – Volkswagen (VW) is recalling more than 246,000 SUVs in the United States (US) and Canada because faulty wiring harnesses can make them brake unexpectedly, sometimes while in traffic.
The recall comes three days after The Associated Press reported that 47 people had complained to US safety regulators about the problem, some reporting nearly being rear-ended by other vehicles. Many reported that warning lights and alarms would go off, the driver’s side windows would roll down and the SUVs would suddenly brake while in traffic.
Volkswagen said in documents posted on Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the recall covers certain Atlas SUVs from the 2019 through 2023 model years, as well as the 2020 through 2023 Atlas Cross Sport.
The documents said the electrical contacts on a wiring harness in either of the front doors can corrode, interrupting electrical connections. The problem can cause the side air bags to deploy late in a crash, and the parking brake can come on unexpectedly. Volkswagen said in documents that the SUVs can brake at speeds below three kilometres per hour.
But many of those who complained to NHTSA said the unwanted braking happened while they were driving on city streets, putting them in danger. A driver from Mansfield, Ohio, wrote in a complaint that the braking happened multiple times at speeds of 25 to 70 miles per hour.
Kendall Heiman stands with the loaner car she has driven for the past two months. PHOTO: AP
A Lawrence, Kansas, clinical social worker Kendall Heiman said her 2021 Atlas Cross Sport tried to stop multiple times while she was driving on roads, often while it was decelerating.
Heiman said she was nearly rear-ended by another SUV while heading into a roundabout. It also braked while she was exiting a highway, she said.
She and others complained that VW had no parts available to fix their vehicles, which sat at dealerships for more than two months. Heiman was given loaner cars, but some of those who complained to NHTSA said they were told by dealers that VW would not provide loaners.
Documents filed with the government by VW show the company started getting complaints in 2020. An analysis was started, but VW initially handled the problem as a regular quality issue. In 2021 the company began analysing parts taken from vehicles, and it found the corrosion problem in a lab.
Around 90 participated in a special webinar to discuss the significance of the Malay language to preserve the unity of the nation in conjunction with Brunei Darussalam’s 38th National Day.
The webinar was organised by the Brunei-US Association (BUSA), in collaboration with the Brunei History Association (PESEBAR) and the Language and Literature Bureau (DBP).
During the webinar, President of PESEBAR Dr Muhammad Hadi bin Muhammad Melayong delivered a talk on the heritage and significance of the Malay language in shaping the Sultanate’s identity and ideology of Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB). An officer from DBP Hajah Norati binti Bakar also gave a special talk.
BUSA President Salimah binti Haji Saim stated that the webinar aimed to increase understanding of BUSA members on the role of the Malay language in national unity.
“It is also hoped that the webinar will bring the participants closer to make use of the Malay language in the day-to-day lives and dignify the Malay language to the American community living in the country,” said the president.
ABOVE & BELOW: Attendees and speakers of a special webinar on the Malay language organised by BUSA. PHOTOS: ADIB NOOR
DETROIT (AP) – General Motors (GM) said on Friday that it is paying USD2.1 billion to buy out Japanese tech investment firm Softbank’s stake in the Detroit automaker’s Cruise autonomous vehicle subsidiary.
Softbank paid USD2.25 billion for a 20 per cent stake in Cruise in 2018 as part of a wave of investment in self-driving technology.
GM also said it is making an additional USD1.35 billion investment in Cruise, in which it acquired a majority stake in 2016. Others Cruise investors include Honda, Microsoft, mutual fund company T Rowe Price, and Walmart.
Cruise is operating a small fleet of autonomous vehicles in San Francisco that it opened to the general public at the beginning of February.
GM acquired a majority stake in Cruise in 2016. PHOTO: AFP
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA (AP) – Iga Swiatek rallied from a break down in each set to beat Simona Halep 7-6 (6), 6-4 early yesterday and reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open.
Maria Sakkari outlasted defending champion Paula Badosa 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 and will play Swiatek in today’s final. Either fourth-ranked Swiatek or sixth-ranked Sakkari would move to number two in the world by earning the title.
It’s a rematch of last month’s semifinals in Doha, where Swiatek beat Sakkari for the first time, 6-4, 6-3 and went on to win the title.
After splitting sets, Sakkari took a 2-0 lead in the third.
”Even though I lost the second set, the way I lost it was by playing aggressive, which helped me a lot on the third set,” Sakkari said.
Badosa broke back, but Sakkari won the last four games to close out the victory and reach the biggest final of her career.
”She served well. She was moving very well. She was playing very fast,” Badosa said. ”She didn’t let me a lot of time to build the points.”
Iga Swiatek returns a shot to Simona Halep during the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. PHOTO: AFP
In the first semifinal, Swiatek saved two set points in the first-set tiebreaker when she overcame deficits of 3-1 and 5-3. She won the the final four points, with Halep committing errors on three of those points, before Swiatek cracked a forehand winner off Halep’s second serve. Halep received a racket abuse warning for smashing her racket on the court.
Swiatek took a 2-1 lead in the second set that featured five service breaks. Halep took a medical timeout and had a trainer wrap her upper left thigh.
Halep then broke Swiatek twice while taking the next three games for a 4-2 lead. But Swiatek took over from there. She won the last four games in a row, with Halep winning just four points total on her serve while getting broken twice.
”We had like the longest rallies I played here,” Swiatek said. ”At the beginning I had to adjust a little bit to the new rhythm because Simona was for sure playing good than my opponents in previous rounds, and I’m pretty proud that I did that. Mentally, I was pretty strong.”
On the men’s side, Taylor Fritz defeated Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1 to reach the semifinals for the second time in five months.
The 24-year-old American is in the midst of the best stretch of his young career, and it all began in the desert in October. That’s when the tournament was held last year, pushed out of its traditional March spot because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Fritz came into Indian Wells ranked 39th in the world. He beat top-10 players Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Zverev before losing in the semis to Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.
He’s now number 20 – having reached a career-high 16th in February – and is 24-8 since last year’s tournament. He’s made the quarterfinals in five tournaments and reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in January at the Australian Open.
”Things are starting to come together,” he said. ”I feel like my level as a player has gone up a tonne.”
Fritz has recorded many milestones at Indian Wells, where he’s always a crowd favourite. He first began coming to the event as a kid, having grown up near San Diego as the son of former WTA Tour player Kathy May.
Fritz made his debut in a Masters 1000 main draw at Indian Wells and notched his first top-10 win here in 2017.
His father, Guy Fritz, is a former ATP Tour pro who coaches the men’s tennis team at the nearby College of the Desert. ”It feels like a second home,” he said.
”Just the energy is completely different.”
Fritz is the first American to reach consecutive semifinals at Indian Wells since Andy Roddick in 2009-10.
The last American to win the tournament was Andre Agassi in 2001; Fritz was three years old at the time.
”There’s no place I’d rather have these results than here,” Fritz said.
Fritz next plays number seven seed Andrey Rublev of Russia, who beat Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 7-5 6-2.
Rublev has won 13 consecutive matches and is coming off back-to-back titles in Marseille and Dubai. He never trailed against Dimitrov and dropped serve just once in the one-and-a-half hour match that paired former world number one junior players.
