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    The magical journey begins

    Danial Norjidi

    Fans of the magical universe from the Harry Potter series will soon be able to embark on their own journey in the wizarding world through Hogwarts Legacy, an upcoming video game from Avalanche Software, Portkey Games and Warner Bros.

    An official gameplay reveal was shown on March 18 during a State of Play presentation by PlayStation, which provided a behind-the-scenes look at what the game entails.

    Set for release in holiday 2022, Hogwarts Legacy sees the player assume the role of a new student at Hogwarts, the famed school of witchcraft and wizardry, with a unique ability to manipulate powerful ancient magic hidden in the wizarding world.

    According to the presentation, “You’ll need to uncover what’s behind the return of this forgotten magic, and who is seeking to harness it to destroy wizard kind, as you may be the one that decides the fate of the entire wizarding world.”

    Described as an open-world, single-player, action role-playing game, Hogwarts Legacy sees players create their very own witch or wizard. When they arrive at Hogwarts, the player will be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts houses – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin.

    “After settling into your dormitory, you will meet up with your housemates in the common room. You will then need to attend classes, and you do have some catching up to do, as you are starting Hogwarts late as a fifth year.

    A screenshot of the ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ game. PHOTO: PORTKEY GAMES

    “You’ll begin your studies attending charms, defence against the dark arts, herbology and potions classes, to name a few. You’ll meet your professors and learn to cast spells, grow magical plants, brew potions and more. In between classes, you’ll be able to explore the castle famous for its secrets, enchantments and mysteries. You’ll discover dungeons and secret passageways as well as challenging puzzles that will require magical skill and a clever mind to resolve. You even find yourself in iconic locations you’ve never been able to explore before.”

    The game is set in the late 1800s, so while the common rooms and classes may be familiar to fans of the wizarding world, most of the professors will not be. “You’ll come to know this eclectic group of talented witches and wizards in class, and while completing side assignments that are part of a special curriculum – one designed to help you catch up with the other fifth-years at your own speed.”

    The presentation also highlighted opportunities for adventure in the area surrounding Hogwarts. “The magical abilities you learn to master through your schoolwork will soon become tested, as you unravel a dangerous mystery by working alongside the accomplished and yet enigmatic Professor Fig to try and discover if the rumours of a mounting Goblin rebellion hold any weight – and if the safety of Hogwarts lies in the balance.

    “The wizarding world of this era is fraught with dangers: creatures corrupted by a magical force, powerful goblins, and sinister witches and wizards, all willing to fight – even kill – to achieve their own goals. In fact, there’s an uneasy alliance between the goblins and dark wizards.”

    Elaborating on the game’s combat system, the presentation shared that enemies possess unique defensive and offensive abilities, including blasting curses, stunning spells, enchanted weaponry, and more. While some may attack directly, others might enchant and incapacitate the player.

    Mastery of a shield charm allows the player to deflect ranged spells and direct weapon strikes. By counter-attacking with powerful stunning charms, players can follow up with extended spell combinations.

    “Students who become particularly adept at spell-casting will find many ways to exploit their enemies’ weakness. Slam with Descendo, roast with Incendio – devastate your enemies using various finishers. You can even use the mysterious powerful magic your professors do not understand to obliterate your strongest foes. Mixing and matching dozens of spells will let you define your combat style on your path to become the ultimate duellist.”

    In addition to classes and spells, the player will have access to a deep set of upgrades, talents and skills to aid their progression as a witch or wizard. The player can complete challenges throughout the world to earn experience and level up their abilities by choosing talents to upgrade their spells, plants and potions to increase their powers.

    “Decide which talents best fit your play style to allow you to focus on your favourite types of magic,” the presentation shared. “You can also loot, buy or craft your own magical gear that will increase your offensive and defensive capabilities in combat. Gear can be upgraded and specialised to allow for greater abilities for your chosen playstyle.

    “There are dangers beyond your understanding in the world as well. Dungeons and vaults hold perilous threats and also untold rewards. Be careful where you choose to explore, as it may lead you down a darker path,” the presentation added.

    “Master spells, befriend new allies, journey across a landscape never seen before, uncover ancient secrets, combat mystical threats, learn long forgotten mysteries, become the witch or wizard you want to be as you leave your unique mark on the wizarding world in Hogwarts Legacy.”

    LNG projects in the Gulf of Mexico boosted as Russian gas alternative

    HOUSTON (AFP) – Two years ago, the American liquified natural gas (LNG) company Tellurian was in free fall: Its stock price collapsed, it laid off 40 per cent of its staff, and suspended a key project in Louisiana.

    Now, Executive Chairman Charif Souki said investors “are lining up at the door to ask me: ‘Can we finance your project?'”

    At the annual CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Souki told AFP that LNG projects have been boosted by the renewed emphasis on energy independence after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    “Global market demand and the desire of the Europeans to divest from their reliance on Russian gas… those are all positive market signals, which will obviously help stimulate those projects and get them moving towards final investment decisions,” said Vice President of the natural gas industry’s advocacy group Charlie Riedl.

    On March 8, the United States (US) banned all imports of LNG, petroleum and coal from Russia, and has for years encouraged its European allies to decrease their dependence on their eastern neighbour.

    An LNG processing plant in Cameron, Louisiana. PHOTO: AFP

    The White House, in a statement, also argued that “federal policies are not limiting the production of oil and gas”.

    “To the contrary, the Biden administration has been clear that in the short-term, supply must keep up with demand,” it added.

    Eight LNG terminals operate in the US, pumping out 14 billion cubic feet per day, and 14 other terminals have already been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

    That’s the case for Driftwood LNG, Tellurian’s future liquefaction plant and export terminal, south of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

    Stalled for a year and a half, the company will finally break ground on the massive project next month. Once completed, the site will be able to export 3.6 billion cubic feet per day.

    Charif said that “in principle, we should be able to provide LNG in 2026” to the oil companies Shell, Vitol and Gunvor. The Gulf Coast will see plant construction accelerate in the coming months: Five projects have already been approved by FERC in Louisiana, with seven more in Texas and Mississippi.

    Since its first exports in 2016, the Gulf Coast has become a key hub for global LNG shipments.

    A network of pipelines connects the states’ ports to gas fields across the country, from the Permian and Haynesville basins in the south to the Marcellus, the country’s largest onshore reserve, in the northeast.

    Tanzania Maasai torn over possible eviction from Ngorongoro reserve

    NGORONGORO, TANZANIA (AFP) – For over a century, Tanzania’s Maasai pastoralists have shared the famed Ngorongoro conservation area with zebras, elephants and wildebeests. But now they face the prospect of eviction as their exploding population poses a threat to wildlife.

    Since 1959, the number of humans living in the World Heritage Site has shot up from 8,000 to more than 100,000 last year. The livestock population has grown even more quickly, from around 260,000 in 2017 to over one million today.

    Tanzania has historically allowed indigenous communities such as the Maasai to live within some national parks, but the relationship between the pastoralists and wildlife can be fractious, with animals attacking people and livestock.

    President Samia Suluhu Hassan sounded the alarm last year, warning: “Ngorongoro is getting lost.”

    “We agreed to make it unique by allowing people and wildlife to stay together but the human population is now out of hand,” she said, ordering officials to examine the issue and put curbs on migration to the area.

    File photo shows a Massai tribesman standing on the slopes leading up to the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, northern Tanzania. PHOTO: AFP

    As debate rages about the possible eviction of the Maasai, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has proposed a voluntary relocation scheme to Handeni district where the government has allocated 162,000 hectares for the pastoralists. “We are taking you to areas where you will have access to schools, hospitals and electricity,” in addition to land for grazing and farming, Majaliwa said.

    The community is sharply divided over the issue, with many reluctant to leave the only home they have ever known.

    “My father and mother were born here, and we have been living here as well. I am not ready to leave,” said one woman who only gave her name as Rose, citing her fear of the authorities.

    Long before Tanzania created national parks aimed at attracting tourists, the Maasai co-existed with wildlife in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro.

    But as climate change leads to prolonged droughts and low crop yields, pressure on the pastoralists has increased, forcing them into conflict with wildlife over access to food and water.

    The expanding presence of livestock – and the noise of cowbells and other paraphernalia – also drives some animals away, posing a threat to the lucrative tourism industry, which accounts for nearly 18 per cent of Tanzania’s GDP.

    During AFP’s visit to the area, zebras were the only wildlife seen grazing near the Maasai plots.

    “If we allow this to continue, we will definitely disturb the wildebeest migration,” a conservation official told AFP, declining to give his name for security reasons. But tribal rights activists and opposition leaders have accused the authorities of using conservation as a fig leaf for economic exploitation, citing earlier cases when wealthy foreigners were granted trophy hunting rights in Ngorongoro district.

    “Big companies are indirectly pushing us away from our ancestral land under the name of conservation,” a Maasai human rights activist Onesmo Olengurumwa said on Twitter.

    In 2009, thousands of Maasai families were evicted from Loliondo, located 125 kilometres from the Ngorongoro conservation area, to allow the UAE-based safari company, Ortelo Business Corporation (OBC), to organise hunting trips there.

    The government terminated the long-running agreement with OBC in 2017, following corruption allegations. Many remain suspicious of the government’s intent.

    “The Maasai have been the biggest victims of forced evictions for conservation in Tanzania, for which they’ve never been lawfully and properly compensated,” deputy chairman of the opposition Chadema party Tundu Lissu said on Twitter.

    “It’s long past time that these wrongs were righted, rather than to repeat old injustices. I stand with the Ngorongoro Maasai!”

    An online petition on global advocacy website Avaaz against the potential eviction of the Maasai has garnered over three million signatures so far.

    CDC reports fewer COVID-19 paediatric deaths after data correction

    CNA – The United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 966,575 deaths from COVID-19 on Friday after it corrected the data earlier this week, which reduced the death tallies in all age groups, including children.

    The health agency, in a statement to Reuters, said it made adjustments to its COVID Data Tracker’s mortality data on March 14 because its algorithm was accidentally counting deaths that were not COVID-19-related.

    The adjustment resulted in removal of 72,277 deaths previously reported across 26 states, including 416 paediatric deaths, CDC said.

    The reduction cut the CDC’s estimate of deaths in children by 24 per cent to 1,341 as of March 18.

    Children accounted for about 19 per cent of all COVID-19 cases, but less than 0.26 per cent of cases resulted in death, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which summarises state-based data.

    Americans have been polarised over the mitigation measures the CDC recommended for schools during the pandemic from urging schools to be remote, require masks and set up social distancing measures. It now advises that for most of the country, children should be in school and can be without masks.

    The number of US children with COVID-19 rose sharply during the Omicron variant wave due to its increased transmissibility and low vaccination rates among children five to 11 who are eligible for the vaccine. Children ages zero to four are not eligible for the vaccine in the US.

    Nine deaths recorded in past 72 hours: Minister

    Rokiah Mahmud

    Nine COVID-19 cases have passed away in the past 72 hours, with two cases categorised as death due to the virus, said 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 at a press conference yesterday.

    The minister said the Ministry of Health (MoH) is currently investigating the causes of death, and once determined, an announcement will be made.

    Meanwhile, the two deaths were unvaccinated cases, the minister added.

    “The MoH and the people of Brunei Darussalam express our deepest condolences to the cases’ families,” the minister said.

    A total of 11 cases are in Category 4 with oxygen assistance, while seven cases are in Category 5, requiring artificial ventilation.

    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 listens to a query from the media during the press conference. PHOTO: HAKIM HAYAT

    “The total number of cases in Category 4 and Category 5 is 7.3 per cent of the treatment capacity for severe cases at the National Isolation Centre,” the minister said.

    A total of 1,294 new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday, bringing the total number to 124,716 cases.

    Of the new cases, 1,070 were derived from the antigen rapid test (ART) results uploaded onto the BruHealth app, while 224 cases were from 2,320 RT-PCR laboratory tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

    The minister also said that 2,521 cases recovered yesterday bringing a total of 111,340 recoveries in the Sultanate, while the total number of active cases is 13,187.

    The bed occupancy rate at isolation centres nationwide is 6.4 per cent, with 216 active cases placed in isolation centres and hospitals and 12,971 cases undergoing home self-isolation.

    As of March 19, 59.7 per cent of the total population had received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while over 94 per cent had at least one dose of the vaccine.

    Stern warning issued to TV stations over sensitive scenes

    KOTA BARU (THE STAR) – Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM) has issued a stern warning to all operators of television stations not to display any scenes that touch on religious and other sensitivities in the country.

    Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the ministry would not hesitate to take action if there were television stations that violated the guidelines set.

    “Under the current regulation, the government gives the authority to censor drama content to the television station itself.

    “If we find that the television station does not follow certain guidelines, especially touching on issues related to religion, culture, customs and so on, then I will review the facility (censorship authority), and we may revoke it,” he told reporters after presenting donations to Form Six students in the Ketereh parliamentary constituency in conjunction with the “Back To School” programme yesterday.

    He was asked to comment on a video uploaded by a local actor on his Instagram account, which featured hot scenes believed to be from a drama that had yet to be aired.

    Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa. PHOTO: BERNAMA

    Annuar said the facilities provided on a trust basis by the government under the Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) should not be taken lightly by television stations.

    “For me, scenes that are not in line with the culture of the Malays and Muslims, and that offend the Malays and Muslims should not even reach a stage where the ministry needs to step in and reprimand, because we need to understand for ourselves, the boundaries of scenes that are inappropriate,” he said.

    Annuar also said he had asked the parties involved in a drama to provide a written explanation, and if not deemed satisfactory, the drama would not be allowed to be aired.

    After a video clip of the scenes went viral, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Idris Ahmad through his Facebook page had also said that he would be contacting the parties involved to resolve the matter.

    Meanwhile, Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad (TV3) in a media statement on March 19 said that the scenes shown in the clip were not suitable to be broadcast and were neither discussed nor approved by the television station.

    Surviving catastrophy

    THE WASHINGTON POST – For the past week, fans of Stepan, a 13-year-old black-and-brown-striped rescue cat based in Kharkiv, Ukraine, have been in anguish. They’ve refreshed the cat’s Instagram and TikTok feeds and begged for updates in the comments since the accounts went quiet on March 3, as Russia continued its invasion of Ukraine.

    On Wednesday, nearly two weeks later, Stepan’s more than one million followers breathed a collective sigh of relief. He was safe and in France.

    Stepan is the latest example of how influencers in conflict regions – even nonhuman ones – are able to tap into their audiences to escape danger, and how a community that creators usually may rely on to source brand deals or sell merchandise can transform into a
    lifeline overnight.

    “When you’ve got that many followers you can use them as a network to provide aid, find shelter or even help find escape routes in a war zone,” Mohamad Taufiq Morshidi, a former fundraiser for Muslim Aid Malaysia who has worked extensively with refugees, said. “Having an online network will help you survive difficult times.”

    Stepan is one of the most famous pets in the world. He has amassed a huge following on Instagram and TikTok for his Grumpy Cat-esque nonchalant expressions, and he’s often posed next to a large glass of juice. Stepan’s solo, at-home parties have entertained millions, including many celebrity followers. Stars like Britney Spears, Diane Kruger and Hailey Bieber have shared Stepan’s photos and videos. In November, he appeared in an ad for Valentino.

    But then Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine, came under attack, and Russia bombed the city’s Freedom Square and opera house. Stepan’s owner, known to followers as Anna, lost electricity, and they took shelter in a basement. Stepan’s account went dark and followers feared the worst.

    Stepan, one of the world’s most famous cats, made it safely out of Ukraine. PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST

    Many left desperate, frantic comments and even launched a hunt for the cat in his native city to no avail.

    “I started checking the account every single day to make sure they were okay,” Kalina Newman, 24, a graduate student in Washington, said. “It’s a testament to how powerful these Internet figures can be.”

    By the time Stepan was tucked away on a train to the border of Poland with Anna and her two sons earlier this week, he had an online army ready to assist. Anna and her sons stood in line for nine hours before crossing into Poland on foot. That’s when the World Influencers and Bloggers Association stepped in.

    The World Influencers and Bloggers Association was founded in 2019 as a global organisation aimed at uniting influencers around the world.

    The group hosts an annual awards ceremony crowning the top content creators across continents, and its members include high-profile social media stars in Brazil, France, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, India, the United Kingdom, China and more.

    Last year, the association named Stepan one of the world’s top petfluencers. So, when Maria Grazhina Chaplin, the association’s CEO and founder, found out about Stepan’s plight, she sprang into action.

    The organisation helped shepherd the famous cat and his family through Poland to a safe house in France. It rented an apartment for Stepan and his family to stay in for as long as they need.

    “It was not so easy, on each stage we were in touch with them,” a spokeswoman for the World Influencers and Bloggers Association Iryna Savchak said. “Now, we are personally taking care of them in France.”

    There was widespread relief and rejoicing when Stepan’s account announced on Wednesday that he and his owner were finally safe.

    “My favourite cat I follow on Instagram in Kharkiv has made it to safety in France as refugee,” tweeted the author Ben Judah. Others posted photos celebrating the occasion.

    When war breaks out, a social media star’s network abroad can become a crucial asset.

    In August, Aryana Sayeed, one of Afghanistan’s top influencers (she has more followers online than the country’s former president), was able to escape to Istanbul after the Taleban took over Kabul. Earlier this month, a Ukrainian Twitch streamer known as @bobuubi and his family were guided through the war zone by the devoted community he had cultivated on the streaming platform. “They tracked the family’s location day and night and fed them lifesaving information,” WNYC reported.

    Assistant professor of media studies at CUNY Queens College Jamie Cohen said the unique bond followers feel with their favourite creators primes them to come to their aid in times of need. “A fan does not want to see their favourite influencer die or get hurt,” he said. “And by participating in helping secure the safety of the influencer you feel partially responsible for their success going forward.”

    Currently, the World Influencers and Bloggers Association isn’t working on extracting other influencers from Ukraine, but Savchak said it would try to help any stranded Ukrainian creators who reach out.

    “We will do our best because we are also Ukrainian,” Savchak said.

    “Our association is engaging a lot of people who are influencers and opinion leaders.”
    Stepan’s owner was able to travel with him in a carrier, but countless pets have been left behind in the war zone as their owners flee the country.

    Animal rescuers from Poland have been working overtime to rescue cats and dogs from Ukraine, and a German organisation recently set up an animal shelter at the Ukraine-Poland border to help.

    Stepan is adjusting to his new life in France. Anna said the entire family is “shocked and very much stressed” and traumatised by what they’ve been through. The comments and messages help.

    By Wednesday night, more than 14,400 people had left messages of love and support on Stepan’s latest Instagram post.

    “So glad to hear that you’re safe now,” one follower commented. “… We’re with you!”

    Sabah to hold 30pc stake in coconut plantation project

    BELURAN (BERNAMA) – Sabah will hold a 30-per-cent stake in the MYR400 million high-yield coconut plantation and coconut-based manufacturing facility project developed by Linaco Resources Sdn Bhd in Paitan, Sabah Chief Minister and Finance Minister Dato Hajiji bin Noor said.

    He said the state government is providing 2,000 hectares for the high-impact project, which is expected to contribute MYR1.2 billion annually to Sabah’s economy.

    Dato Hajiji said under the project, which is part of the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) investment initiative, Linaco will set up infrastructures for the project which is expected to provide more than 4,000 jobs once fully operational in 2026.

    “This MYR400 million project will definitely create a big impact. With an expected MYR1.5-billion annual income, surely the economic spillovers will transform Paitan and create employment opportunities to Paitan and nearby communities,” he said when launching the project at a plantation site on Saturday.

    The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was inked between the state government and Linaco Resources Sdn Bhd to develop Sabah’s coconut-based industry in March last year. The company is investing MYR200 million for the development of a high-yield coconut plantation and another MYR200 million for the coconut-based manufacturing facility.

    The chief minister gave an assurance that the state government will push its development agenda to bring progress to Sabah and its people, whereby MYR561.81 million was being allocated to finance the needs of the agriculture sector, which was one of the three main thrusts of SMJ under this year’s State Budget.

    He said the Sabah International Business and Economic (SIBES) 2022 Summit in January this year has sparked interests among local and foreign investors on the state’s investment potential.

    Sabah Chief Minister and Finance Minister Dato Hajiji bin Noor at the plantation site. PHOTO: BERNAMA

    Women’s Day event focusses on breaking the bias

    James Kon

    Women’s achievements in Brunei Darussalam were recognised during an event organised by the Embassy of Timor-Leste in Brunei Darussalam on Friday.

    The event, held in conjunction with International Women’s Day, was hosted by the spouse of the Ambassador of Timor-Leste to Brunei Darussalam Ana Guterres.

    Permanent Secretary (Community and Culture) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Hajah Nor Ashikin binti Haji Johari was the guest of honour.

    A seminar themed ‘Breaking the Bias’ was delivered by four prominent speakers. They were former finance minister of Timor-Leste Fernanda Borges, former ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to Timor-Leste Norazlianah binti Ibrahim, Assistant Professor at Universiti Teknologi Brunei and President of the Brunei Reading and Literacy Association (ReLA) Dr Malai Zeiti binti Sheikh Abdul Hamid, and consultant ophthalmologist at the Ministry of Health and Jerudong Park Medical Centre and President of Brunei Ophthalmology Society Dr Helena Hurairah.

    The seminar was moderated by SEAMEO Voctech Management Specialist Dr Jaya Priah Kasinathan.

    Permanent Secretary (Community and Culture) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Hajah Nor Ashikin binti Haji Johari at the event. PHOTO: TIMOR LESTE EMBASSY

    Ambassador of the Philippines to Brunei Darussalam Marian Jocelyn R Tirol-Ignacio and Ambassador Designate of the United States of America to Brunei Darussalam Caryn R McClelland also attended.

    The guest of honour and speakers were presented with the traditional hand woven textile from Timor-Leste called Tais, used to create clothing for ceremonies and festivals and is recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

    Other activities included a special cake-cutting session, video viewing of the official International Women’s Day music video and tasting culinary refreshments from Timor-Leste.

    Female spouses of heads of missions from Indonesia, United Kingdom, Turkey, Malaysia and Australia as well as the president of the International Women’s Club, executive members of ReLA, general manager and director of Radisson Hotel were also present.

    Inside Germany’s secret Cold War cash bunker

    COCHEM, GERMANY (AFP) – For many years, the residents of the leafy town of Cochem in the German Rhineland went about their daily business with no idea they were living on a gold mine.

    During the Cold War, the German central bank stashed away almost DEM15 billion worth of an emergency currency in a 1,500-square-metre nuclear bunker beneath the town.

    A closely guarded state secret, the currency was codenamed “BBK II” and intended for use if Germany was the target of an attack on its monetary system.

    After the Cold War, the bunker passed into the hands of a regional cooperative bank and then a real estate fund. In 2016, it was bought by German couple Manfred and Petra Reuter, who turned it into a museum.

    Today, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stoking fears of nuclear conflict, interest in the bunker is growing again.

    “Many people we know have pointed out that we have a safe bunker and asked whether there would be room for them in case of an emergency,” said Petra Reuter.

    Owner of the Bundesbank Bunker museum Petra Reuter walks through an underground passage in the former vault in Cochem, western Germany. PHOTOS: AFP
    The substitute German Mark banknotes in the vault

    On tours of the bunker, “questions are naturally asked about the current situation”, which feels like “a leap back in time 60 years”, she said. “The fears are the same.”

    Inside, behind a heavy iron door, long corridors lead to decontamination chambers and offices equipped with typewriters and rotary phones.

    The main room consists of 12 cages where, for almost 25 years, some 18,300 boxes containing millions of 10, 20, 50 and 100 mark banknotes were stored up to the ceiling.

    On the front, the banknotes were almost identical to the real deutschmarks in circulation at the time, but on the back they were very different.

    Starting in 1964, the notes were delivered to the bunker by hundreds of trucks over a period of about 10 years, with no one suspecting a thing – not even the East German Stasi secret police.

    The bunker was accessed via a secret passage from what was ostensibly a training and development centre for Bundesbank employees in a residential area of the town.

    Cochem, located about 100 kilometres from the border with Belgium and Luxembourg, was chosen because it was such a long way from the Iron Curtain.

    “The citizens of the community were astonished to discover this treasure, which had been hidden for so long near their homes,” said Wolfgang Lambertz, the former mayor of the town, which has around 5,000 inhabitants.

    Along with the DEM15 billion stored in the bunker, just under DEM11 billion worth of the alternative currency was also stored in the vaults of the central bank in Frankfurt.

    Altogether, this added up to around DEM25 billion – roughly equivalent to the total amount of cash circulating in the German economy in 1963.

    Perhaps an extreme measure to ward off a merely hypothetical attack, but the German authorities had been guided by lessons from history.

    During World War II, ‘Operation Bernhard’ was launched, in which prisoners in concentration camps were forced to manufacture counterfeit pounds with the aim of flooding England with them.

    “The most plausible explanation was probably the fear that counterfeit money would be smuggled through the Iron Curtain in order to damage the West German economy,” according to President of the Bundesbank’s regional office for Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland Bernd Kaltenhaueser.

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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.

    © 2013 Borneo Bulletin Online - The Independent Newspaper in Brunei Darussalam, Sabah and Sarawak