Contraband and drug paraphernalia including cigarettes, electronic cigarettes and equipment were seized during a joint operation on three homes in Kampong Tanjong Maya and Kampong Bukit Beruang, Tutong District on Saturday night.

More details on Monday’s Borneo Bulletin

Months after the temporary closure of business stalls for the weekly Bandarku Ceria in the capital, stall operators heaved a sigh of relief as businesses resumed to normal beginning yesterday.

The stalls have been relocated to the parking space opposite the Royal Regalia museum in Jalan Bendahara.

Assistant Municipal Officer Grade II at the Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) Municipal Department Ahmad Saufi bin Haji Md Yussof led the re-opening of the stalls, joined by BSB Municipal Department Economic Division staff.

 More details on Monday’s Borneo Bulletin

The Sultanate recorded 37 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the national tally of confirmed cases to 15,634. Of the new cases, 12 were local and 25 were imported.

The latest number of COVID-19 infections was shared by the Ministry of Health in its daily statement.

 The new cases were detected through 2,950 laboratory tests conducted over the past 24 hours. The infection rate of positive cases is at 1.25 per cent.

 More details on Monday’s Borneo Bulletin

A 46-year-old local man was detained by marine police personnel for allegedly possessing drug paraphernalia after his boat was stopped for inspection at Sungai Kupang area on Saturday morning.

According to the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), they discovered the boat during a patrol in the Brunei river.

The personnel stopped the boat and found drug paraphernalia inside a duffle bag owned by the suspect.

More details on Monday’s Borneo Bulletin

The resumption of Pasar Kitani weekend market yesterday received an encouraging response from the public.

The market, organised by the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood under the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT), will be held every Sunday beginning yesterday at the parking spaces of the MPRT building on Jalan Menteri Besar.

It was halted since August 2021 due to the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Sultanate.

 Some 46 local entrepreneurs and farmers are participating in the weekend market, selling fresh produce including vegetables, fruit, poultry and agrifood products.  Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Apong visited the market yesterday.

More details on Monday’s Borneo Bulletin

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) – A towering slab of rock broke from a cliff and toppled onto pleasure boaters drifting near a waterfall on a Brazilian lake on Saturday and officials said at least six people died.

 Commander of the Minas Gerais State Fire Department Edgard Estevo said at a news conference that in addition to the dead as many as 20 people might be missing and officials were seeking to identify them.

Video images showed a gathering of small boats moving slowly near the sheer rock cliff on Furnas Lake when a fissure appeared in the rock and a huge piece toppled onto at least two of the vessels.

More details on Monday’s Borneo Bulletin

WASHINGTON (AP) – United States (US) President Joe Biden faces a steep path to achieve his ambitious goal of slashing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030,  amid legislative gridlock that has stalled a USD2 trillion package of social and environmental initiatives.

Biden’s Build Back Better plan, which contains USD550 billion in spending and tax credits aimed at promoting clean energy, was sidetracked by Democratic Sen Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who said just before Christmas that he could not support the legislation as written.

Democrats insist they are moving forward on the sweeping package, which also would bolster family services, health care and other programmes. Manchin signalled in recent days that climate-related provisions were unlikely to be a deal-breaker, but the bill has taken a back seat to voting rights legislation and other Democratic priorities.

Even without the legislation, Biden can pursue his climate agenda through rules and regulations. But those can be undone by subsequent presidents, as demonstrated by Biden reversing Trump administration rules that rolled back protections put into place under Barack Obama.

More details on Monday’s Borneo Bulletin

BEIRUT (AP) – Hundreds of people rallied in Beirut on Saturday to protest measures imposed against the unvaccinated, saying individuals should have the right to decide whether to be inoculated or not.

Vaccination is not compulsory in Lebanon, but in recent days authorities have cracked down on people who are not inoculated or don’t carry a negative PCR test.

The protest by nearly 300 people in downtown Beirut came a day after the daily number of new coronavirus cases hit a record 7,974.

The protest came days after authorities imposed fresh restrictions – including the requirement of a vaccination certificate or negative PCR test for entry into restaurants, hotels and similar venues.

More details on Monday’s Borneo Bulletin

CHICAGO (AP) – Negotiations resumed on Saturday to resolve a standoff between Chicago school officials and the city’s teachers union over COVID-19 precautions that cancelled three days of classes, but the public war-of-words between union leaders and Chicago’s mayor showed little sign of easing.

In a statement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot flatly rejected the union’s latest proposal that its leaders described as a solution. The union softened its prior demand for broad mandatory testing but maintained that teachers and kids shouldn’t return to classrooms until mid-January.

“Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) leadership, you’re not listening,” Lightfoot said. “The best, safest place for kids to be is in school. Students need to be back in person as soon as possible. That’s what parents want. That’s what the science supports. We will not relent.”

More details on Monday’s Borneo Bulletin