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    Cambodia defends leader’s trip to Myanmar

    PHNOM PENH (AP) – Cambodia’s Foreign Minister yesterday defended Prime Minister Hun Sen’s trip to Myanmar, the first by a foreign leader since the military takeover last year plunged the country into turmoil, though there was little evidence the mission yielded any immediate breakthrough.

    Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn told reporters that talks between Hun Sen and Myanmar’s leader achieved “a very good, positive result with a progressive step forward” on the implementation of peace efforts agreed to by the ASEAN, a regional bloc currently led by Cambodia.

    Hun Sen’s meeting with Myanmar’s military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi last February, triggered protests in Myanmar and criticism abroad. Opponents said it legitimised the military takeover and broke the generals’ near-total diplomatic isolation.

    The military’s seizure of power has led to widespread conflict with civilians forming guerrilla groups and thousands of people driven from their homes by army offensives.

    “If there is anyone who opposes progressing these negotiations and the agreements like this, it is only those people who love war, those people who do not want to see Myanmar return to stability and peace,” Prak Sokhonn, who is also ASEAN’s special envoy to Myanmar, told reporters after returning home.

    Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Myanmar State Administration Council Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing hold a souvenir photo after a meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. PHOTO: AP

    Friday’s joint statement on the talks, which described them as “frank and candid”, said Min Aung Hlaing was extending a cease-fire until the end of the year, and that both leaders would push for a meeting of stakeholders on delivering humanitarian aid.

    The cease-fire offer is unlikely to be taken seriously by the military’s opponents. Such arrangements are routinely broken in Myanmar. The cease-fire also specifically referred only to long-standing ethic armed groups, not the new civilian guerrilla units that are currently doing most of the fighting.

    Prak Sokhonn also disclosed that Hun Sen brought up the case of Australian Sean Turnell, a former economic advisor to Suu Kyi who is on trial in Myanmar on charges of violating state secrets. He said that Hun Sen raised the matter at the request of Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

    “Hun Sen raised the issue with Min Aung Hlaing directly and he responded that the case is now before the court but he said that once it is completed, the senior general will consider the case. That means he promised that he would get back to Hun Sen with positive news,” Prak Sokhonn said.

    Last April, ASEAN leaders, including Min Aung Hlaing, agreed on a five-point roadmap toward a peaceful settlement of the Myanmar crisis, including an end to violence and a political dialogue between all stakeholders.

    The Myanmar leader was barred in October from attending ASEAN meetings after the group’s special envoy was prevented from meeting with Suu Kyi and other political detainees, which was one of the stipulations of the agreement.

    Myanmar’s military has said Hun Sen will not be allowed to meet with Suu Kyi, who was convicted in December on charges of incitement and violating coronavirus restrictions and sentenced to four years in prison – a sentence that Min Aung Hlaing then cut in half.

    She is also facing a string of other charges.

    Two fined for flouting stay-at-home directive

    James Kon

    Two foreign nationals were slapped with compound fines by enforcement personnel for violation of the directive to stay at home on Friday night, said Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar during the press conference yesterday.

    The Royal Brunei Police Force said Md Sabbir Ahammed and Md Shahadat were caught in the Tutong District.

    ABOVE & BELOW: Md Sabbir Ahammed and Md Shahadat. PHOTOS: RBPF

    Mystery solved? FBI arrest suspect in manuscript theft scam

    NEW YORK (AFP) – A mystery that has shaken the literary world for years – the theft of hundreds of unpublished manuscripts from distinguished authors – may finally be about to be solved.

    In New York this week, the FBI arrested Filippo Bernardini, a 29-year-old Italian employee of major publisher Simon & Schuster.

    He is accused of impersonating literary agents and publishers over email to steal unpublished works from writers and their representatives.

    The alleged scam had been known in literary circles for around five years with Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan and Sally Rooney among the novelists reportedly targetted.

    Bernardini was arraigned in court in Manhattan on Thursday after being arrested by agents at JFK airport the day before.

    He has been charged with committing wire fraud and identity theft between 2016 and 2021, crimes punishable by 22 years in prison.

    Bernardini pleaded not guilty and was released under “home detention” with a USD300,000 bond secured on his home, a spokesperson for the Southern District of New York told AFP.

    Bernardini worked in London for Simon & Schuster, which said in a statement it was “shocked and horrified to learn of the allegations”.

    “The employee has been suspended pending further information on the case,” the publisher said in a statement.

    “The safekeeping of our authors’ intellectual property is of primary importance to Simon & Schuster, and for all in the publishing industry, and we are grateful to the FBI for investigating these incidents and bringing charges against the alleged perpetrator,” it added.

    Prosecutors say the suspect’s modus operandi was well established. He would impersonate real people in the world of publishing by sending emails from fake accounts.

    The addresses would be made to resemble the domain names of legitimate publishers but with a letter changed here and there. The indictment accuses him of registering more than 160 fraudulent domains.

    What baffled alleged victims was that the thefts were never followed by demands for money, nor did the works ever seem to appear online or on the dark web.

    In 2019, Atwood’s agent revealed that the manuscript for The Testaments had been targetted.

    Last year, New York Magazine reported that the Swedish editors of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series had been approached by a purported colleague in Italy who requested an advance copy so that it could be translated before release.

    A New York Times investigation at the end of 2020 found that Normal People author Rooney, Atonement author McEwan, and actor Ethan Hawke had also been targetted.

    Little is known about Bernardini. Screenshots from a LinkedIn profile that was inaccessible Friday described him as a “rights coordinator” at Simon & Schuster.

    The biography said he obtained a bachelors in Chinese Language in Milan and a masters in publishing from UCL in London owing to his “obsession for the written word and languages.”

    Purdue Pharma can appeal rejection of bankruptcy plan

    NEW YORK (CNA) – A United states (US) judge on Friday allowed Purdue Pharma to immediately challenge her rejection of legal protections for Sackler family members who own the OxyContin maker, and which were a major component of its bankruptcy reorganisation plan.

    US District Judge Colleen McMahon’s ruling means Purdue will have another shot at keeping intact a USD4.5 billion opioid litigation settlement at the heart of the company’s plan. She gave Purdue until January 17 to file the appeal to the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals.

    McMahon reversed a bankruptcy judge’s order approving the deal in December.

    The settlement provides so-called non-debtor releases that shield the Sacklers against future opioid-related lawsuits.

    Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019 in the face of thousands of lawsuits accusing it and the Sacklers of fuelling the opioid epidemic through deceptive marketing.

    The Sacklers, who have denied wrongdoing, contributed the USD4.5 billion to the settlement in exchange for the releases. Under Purdue’s reorganisation plan, settlement funds would be directed toward opioid abatement programmes.

    A pharmacist holding a bottle OxyContin made by Purdue Pharma at a pharmacy in Provo, Utah. PHOTO: CNA

    Non-O&G sector records growth in Q3

    In the third quarter (Q3) of 2021, Brunei Darussalam’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate declined by 2.2 per cent year-on-year. This was due to a decrease in the oil and gas sector by 5.3 per cent. The non-oil and gas sector, however, recorded an increase of one per cent.

    The Sultanate’s GDP at current prices was valued at BND4.6 billion compared to BND4 billion in Q3 2020. The oil and gas sector, comprising of oil and gas mining and manufacture of liquefied natural gas (LNG), accounted for 47.4 per cent of the total gross value added (GVA).

    Meanwhile, the non-oil and gas sector, which includes downstream activities such as the manufacture of petroleum and chemical products, contributed 52.6 per cent.

    The decline in the oil and gas sector was due to a decrease in the production of crude oil from 100.6 thousand barrels per day in Q3 2020 to 97.1 thousand barrels per day in Q3 2021. Natural gas production also recorded a decrease from 30.7 million cubic metres per day in Q3 2020 to 28.5 million cubic metres per day in Q3 2021. In addition, LNG production declined from 834,489 MMBtu per day to 750,944 MMBtu per day during the same period of time. The reduction in crude oil and natural gas production was due to shutdown turnaround activities. In addition, the decrease was due to limited onsite workforce as a result of COVID-19 which reduced the ability to recover from unscheduled deferment and delayed of well, reservoir and facilities management (WRFM) activities. Meanwhile, the LNG production declined due to limited gas supply and maintenance activities at one of the LNG plant facilities.

    Despite the country’s second wave of COVID-19, the non-oil and gas sector shows positive development. Among the subsectors that showed an improvement in Q3 2021 were finance, government services, communication, health services, and non-oil and gas manufacturing.

    The increase in the finance subsector was in line with an increase in the income of financial and banking activities particularly the non-interest profit income.

    This was followed by an increase in the communication subsector in line with the rise in domestic demand resulting from the reinstatement of control measures in preventing the spread of the second wave of COVID-19.

    Meanwhile, the increase in the health services subsector was driven by an increase in the government health services activities. The non-oil and gas manufacturing subsector also registered an increase mainly supported by increased production of livestock feed.

    In addition, the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector has continued to show encouraging performance since the second quarter (Q2) of 2020. In Q3 2021, this sector has increased by 27.9 per cent due to fishery, livestock and poultry, and agriculture production activities. An increase in the fishery subsector was in line with the rise in the capture industry particularly from small-scale fisherman activities. Meanwhile, farm prawns was the main contributor to the increase in aquaculture industry. An increase in the livestock and poultry subsector was due to increased production of buffalo meat and broilers while the increase in fruits and paddy production was the major contributor to the growth of the agriculture subsector.

    By expenditure approach, a decline in GDP growth was mainly due to a decrease in the domestic demand by 11.5 per cent, which was driven by a decline in gross capital formation for both government and private, and government final consumption expenditure. However, this growth was moderated by an increase in the exports of goods and services by 44.5 per cent year-on-year, and the household final consumption expenditure by 13 per cent.

    Gross domestic product is a measure of the total value of goods and services produced in a particular period after deducting the cost of goods and services used up in the process of production. The GDP full report for Q3 2021 is available from DEPS’s website: www.deps.gov.bn.

    A celebration of understanding

    THE WASHINGTON POST – Until last summer, photojournalist Carlos Bernate was only dimly aware of the Hare Krishna movement in his home country of Colombia. When he attended college in Bogotá, he sometimes saw members of the Hindu branch soliciting donations or seeking students for its yoga or meditation classes. However, Bernate’s understanding of the religious group deepened when he pulled up to the gates of one of its communities and stepped inside.

    “They call it a little piece of India inside the Colombian mountains,” said Bernate, who relocated to Richmond, Virginia, in 2017. “And to be honest, it looks like you are entering a new country.”

    The Varsana Eco Yoga Village, about 30 miles south of the capital city, had invited Bernate to photograph its Holi-inspired festival in July. The ancient Indian celebration is traditionally held in March, on the cusp of spring. Despite the date change, the essence of the event was the same, honoring the triumph of good over evil. The main activity was also identical: Participants released colorful powder that flew into the air like a flock of liberated paradise tanagers.

    When Bernate arrived at the property, he was surprised to discover a fantastical kingdom just beyond the Camelot-style archway. “I expected a small building and a community center,” he said late last month by phone from Virginia. “But when you get inside, you face this huge palace. It was surreal. I have never seen architecture like that before in Colombia.”

    Bernate had free rein to explore and photograph the multifaceted compound, which included a community garden where members grow their own food, the kitchen where they prepare their vegetarian meals, the accommodations where they sleep, and the temple and halls where they meditate, pray and practice yoga. Out of respect, he did not enter a sanctuary where people were meditating.

    The temple of the Varsana Eco Village community. PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST
    Participants throw coloured powder into the air and splash them onto others during a Holi-inspired festival of colours at the Varsana Eco Village

    During his wanderings, he spoke with some of the roughly 20 residents about how – and why – they ended up at Varsana. Sadananda Swami Das, whose name translates to “the one who is always happy,” told Bernate that his previous career-centric life had left him physically exhausted and spiritually depleted. He said he found purpose and fulfillment after renouncing the trappings of mainstream society and dedicating himself to the Hare Krishna faith. (According to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the movement arrived in Colombia in 1973 and has about 5,000 devotees and four major centers, including the Varsana enclave, which started in 1980.)

    “We talked about why he decided to leave everything he had,” said Bernate, who acknowledges the group’s past improprieties. “I was able to relate to him, to his values and his ideas. I wouldn’t do that, myself, but I can understand why some people would.”

    In the early afternoon, the blended company of visitors and residents, children and parents, and couples and friends grabbed bags of colored powder and lobbed the contents like a gentler game of paintball. The rainbow-hued joy was contagious.

    “There was a big, diverse crowd. They were playing with it, throwing it at each other, throwing it at us,” Bernate said. “We were really scared that the powder would get in our lenses, but we put bags over our equipment and we started throwing powder.”

    After the dust settled, Bernate shook himself clean and headed back to Bogotá, the gate behind him closing on a world that was in, but not necessarily of, Colombia.

    “Right now, Colombia is not going through one of the best times. The pandemic life has been really rough on top of an already unstable country,” he said. “It was so beautiful to put that aside for this experience. We didn’t care who you were, what you were or what you believed. We just cared about sharing a moment – to be us, to be a community.”

    Bernate captured the experience in a photo essay that reflects the spirit and bonhomie of the event.

    Cold kills 22 stuck in cars in heavy snow at Pakistan resort

    ISLAMABAD (AP) — Temperatures fell to minus eight degrees Celsius amid heavy snowfall at Pakistan’s mountain resort town of Murree overnight, killing at least 22 people who were stuck in their vehicles, officials said yesterday.

    Atiq Ahmed, an Islamabad police officer, said eight of the 22 fatalities were from the family of fellow police officer Naveed Iqbal, who also died. Most of the victims died of hypothermia, officials said.

    Rescue services physician Abdur Rehman said that after evacuating all of the stranded tourists from their cars, the death toll stood at 22, including 10 men, 10 children and two women.

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said thousands of vehicles had been pulled from the snow but more than a thousand were still stuck in the area Saturday.

    Located 45.5 kilometres north of the capital of Islamabad, Murree is a popular winter resort that attracts well over a million tourists annually. Streets leading into the city are often blocked by snow in winter.

    Indonesia releases 33 sea turtles after rescue from poachers

    THE STRAITS TIMES – Authorities on the Indonesian tropical island Bali released 33 endangered green sea turtles into the ocean yesterday in an effort to boost a population threatened by poachers and illegal traders.

    The turtles, from the Chelonia mydas species that is protected in Indonesia, were released on Kuta beach after they being rescued during a Navy operation against poachers in December.

    Tourists gathered to watch and film the release on their mobile phones, cheering the turtles on as they trudged across on the beach.

    “It’s a great idea for the conservation effort,” said Australian tourist Briant Firth.

    “They were getting some of the poachers and they were saving the turtles.”

    Indonesia has become a hub of international trafficking of marine turtles, feeding demand from countries like Malaysia, Vietnam and China. Anyone convicted of involvement in the trade can be jailed for up to five years under Indonesian law.

    The turtles had been in rehabilitation at the Bali Conservation and Natural Resources Agency, authorities said.

    “They are evidence in a naval operation … we are releasing them because we can’t keep these wild animals as evidence long,” Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Ahmadi Heri Purwono told reporters.

    Volunteers help release a green sea turtle into the ocean at Kuta beach, Bali. PHOTO: AP

    Rangnick downplays talk of unrest at Man Utd

    MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM (AFP) – Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has downplayed reports of dressing room discontent at Old Trafford, saying unrest is inevitable with a deep squad.

    The German has suggested the squad he inherited is too big, with many players unhappy at their lack of playing time.

    United suffered a demoralising 1-0 home defeat to Wolves on Monday that could prove costly in their bid to finish in the Premier League’s top four.

    The Mirror newspaper reported on Thursday that as many as 17 players wanted to leave the club, who are 22 points behind leaders Manchester City.

    “If you have that many players and 10 outfield players can play and three being substituted, then of course you have quite a number of players – in our case 12, 13, 14 players who don’t even play, or not even being in the squad,” said Rangnick on Friday.

    Manchester United’s interim manager Ralf Rangnick and Technical Director Darren Fletcher. PHOTO: AP

    “Then those players are not happy about that situation. It’s obvious, it’s clear.

    “In total, we have a big squad. I tend to explain to players every two or three weeks why they are not playing but obviously I cannot do that every game and that is an issue in our team as well as in other clubs.”

    Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani are the two highest-profile stars out of contract at the end of the season.

    Anthony Martial looks set to leave in January, with Sevilla reportedly close to agreeing a loan deal for the France international.

    Dean Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Donny van de Beek could also move on in search of more first-team action.

    “We have players with contracts expiring in the summer,” said Rangnick. “We have maybe also one or two players who still want to leave, although they are under contract.

    “It’s about the players dealing with that in a professional way. Everybody has the chance and the option to show in training, to show up and then get a chance to play.

    “If this is not the case then of course the player together with club and the agents, they need to discuss the situation.”

    Tomorrow’s FA Cup third-round clash with Aston Villa could have been an opportunity for Rangnick to use some of his fringe players.

    China’s mainland records more rail transit trips

    BEIJING (XINHUA) – China’s mainland recorded an increase in passenger trips in its urban transit networks in December 2021, official data showed.

    The urban transit lines in 51 cities handled a total of 2.08 billion passenger trips in December, up 2.5 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Transport. The December amount also grew 5.6 per cent on a monthly basis.

    By the end of December, China has put 269 urban rail transit lines into operation, with the total length reaching 8,708 kilometres, the ministry said.

    The trian G5322 departs Pingtan Station on the Fuzhou-Pingtan railway in southeast China’s Fujian Province. PHOTO: XINHUA
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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