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    Evergrande revises payment plan for wealth unit investors

    CNA – China Evergrande Group yesterday dialled back plans to repay investors in its wealth management products, in a move that highlights the deepening liquidity squeeze at the property developer that has failed to meet its offshore debt obligations.

    Evergrande, whose USD19 billion in international bonds are deemed to be in cross-default by rating agencies after the developer missed a deadline to pay coupons earlier this month, did not pay offshore coupons due earlier this week.

    The developer has been scrambling to raise cash by selling assets and shares to repay suppliers and creditors.

    Evergrande said yesterday that each investor in its wealth management product could expect to receive CNY8,000 (USD1,257) per month as principal payment for three months starting this month irrespective of when the investment matures.

    Once China’s top selling developer and now reeling under more than USD300 billion in liabilities, Evergrande had earlier not mentioned any amount and had agreed to repay 10 per cent of the investment by the end of the month when the product matures.

    The Evergrande Center building in Shanghai. PHOTO: AFP

    It had also agreed to make follow up payments to the wealth management product investors every three months afterwards, until the debt Evergrande owed to an investor is cleared, according to state media reports earlier this year.

    Evergrande said in a statement posted on the wealth unit’s website yesterday that the company would “actively raise funds”, and update the repayment plan in late-March. The company did not elaborate.

    The situation is not “ideal”, the statement said, as the development’s wealth unit tries to recover capital from the projects it invested in previously and, therefore, the original repayment plan was hard to implement.

    Evergrande, in common with other heavily-indebted conglomerates, had issued high-yielding wealth management products to investors – a popular way of borrowing from mom-and-pop investors that sidesteps government lending restrictions.

    As the liquidity crisis deepened at Evergrande, the firm’s wealth unit in late September missed a payment on one of its products, leading to protests by investors who fear they will never get their money back.

    Some of its wealth investors had refused to accept the embattled company’s plan to provide payment with discounted apartments, offices, stores and parking units.

    Adventurer, scientist become the first to ascend earth’s tallest mountain

    UPI – A United States (US) adventurer and a marine scientist have become the first men to ascend Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in the world, Guinness World Records said.

    Victor Vescovo, who previously made headlines when he became the first person to visit the oceans’ greatest depths in 2018-19, told Guinness he “thought it was time for someone to finally ascend the full extent of this massive mountain”.

    Mount Everest is considered the world’s highest mountain, reaching a height of 29,031 feet above sea level, and Mauna Kea reaches only 13,802 feet above sea level, but is actually much taller – a total 33,500 feet – with more than half of the mountain submerged in the Pacific Ocean.

    Vescovo said he was inspired to take on the challenge “because it allowed me to combine two of the strongest passions in my life: mountain climbing and ocean exploration”.

    Cable thefts behind Internet disruptions

    The recent telecommunications service outage in Kampong Rimba, Kampong Ayer and the Edinburgh Bridge area which impacted services for over 2,000 fixed and mobile network subscribers were caused by damaged fibre cables and cable cuts due to theft.

    According to the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI), the nation has recorded an estimated total of 85 cable theft cases from January to December 2021 causing disruption to telecommunication services.

    Stolen cables have no value, said the agency. However, it said the damage caused by it can severely disrupt the livelihoods of the communities who depend on stable Internet connectivity.

    This includes educational institutions, organisations implementing Work from Home (WFH), as well as entrepreneurs relying on online platforms to run their businesses.

    Unified National Networks Sdn Bhd (UNN) said it has put in a lot of effort and cost in restoring the cables and services to minimise interruption of telecommunications services but, recurrent damages may put a strain on their resources.

    Under Section 49(1) of the Telecommunications Order 2001, any person who willfully removes, destroys or damages any installation or plant used for telecommunications shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding BND50,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both.

    Under Section 49(2), any person who, in the course of carrying out any earthworks, damages or suffers to be damaged any cable of a telecommunication system belonging to or under the management or control of a telecommunication system licensee shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding BND1 million, imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both.

    Additionally, Section 50 of the Telecommunications Order 2001, states that any person who removes, destroys or damages, whether wilfully, negligently, accidentally or otherwise, the installation or plant used for telecommunications shall be liable to pay compensation for the damage he has done.

    Recent amendments under the Penal Code (Amendment) Order, 2021 were made to further protect such infrastructure from theft, mischief and other illegal activities causing damage and disruption to key services.

    These offences are outlined under Sections 380B and 427B of the Penal Code (Amendment) Order, 2021, and carry a minimum punishment of three years’ imprisonment and four strokes of whipping, and a maximum punishment of 10 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of whipping.

    Amendments to Sections 411 and 414 have also been made to criminalise receiving or retaining stolen property related to the provision of a key service or any component part of a key service as well as assisting in concealing, disposing or making away with stolen property related to the provision of a key service or any component part of a key service.

    The punishment for these offences is imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, a fine or both.

    Cathay Pacific suspends cargo flights due to virus controls

    HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airlines is suspending cargo flights for a week due to stricter quarantine requirements for air crews, potentially adding to strain on global supply chains.

    Long-haul flights to Europe, across the Pacific and to Riyadh and Dubai are suspended through January 6, the airline said on Thursday. It promised to try to help customers “mitigate the disruption.”

    The airline’s workforce is stretched thin after the quarantine for Cathay Pacific flight crews who return from abroad was extended to one week in a hotel room from three days.

    Thursday’s announcement gave no details, but The South China Morning Post newspaper said the longer quarantine would leave Cathay without enough pilots for all its flights.

    The airline earlier asked staff to volunteer for a “closed-loop system” under which they would work for three-week stints with brief stopovers in Hong Kong, but too few agreed, according to news reports.

    Cathay said earlier it would reduce its schedule of passenger flights in the first three months of 2022 due to staff shortages.

    Yesterday, the airline said five air crew members tested positive for the coronavirus’s omicron variant after returning from abroad. It blamed “a serious breach of protocols” by those employees and said it would lead to unspecified discipline.

    Cathay Pacific Airways aircrafts line up on the tarmac at the Hong Kong International Airport. PHOTO: AP

    Four new cases, one out-of- home violator caught

    Adib Noor

    The Sultanate recorded four new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 15,474, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in a statement.

    The three local and one imported cases were detected through 2,475 laboratory tests conducted in the past 24 hours, with the rate of positive cases at 0.2 per cent.

    Six cases have recovered, bringing the number of active cases to 96.

    Meanwhile, a local man was issued compound fine during Operasi Peralihan on Thursday for breaching the stay-at-home order.

    According to the Royal Brunei Police Force, Awang Bin Haji Abdullah Mahrof (pic below) was caught in Brunei-Muara District.

    Burglar caught sleeping in house he entered to rob

    GULF NEWS – A burglar fell asleep while inside the would-be victim’s house in the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor and was handed over to police, local media reported.

    The city’s police received a report from the house owner that he had caught the thief sleeping in a bedroom.

    Police investigations showed the suspect, aged 30, had sneaked into the house in central Luxor with the intention of burglarising it while its inhabitants were away, but he was overwhelmed by sleep.

    On returning home, the family were surprised to find the stranger sleeping like a log in the bed past midnight.

    The suspect is being kept in custody as police are checking his criminal record. He faces charges of attempted larceny.

    Premier League stars set for ‘exceptional’ AFCON

    JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Premier League trio Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez will be star attractions in Cameroon at the Africa Cup of Nations, which promises to be “exceptional” according to the top football official in the continent.

    The 36-match group phase kicks off on January 9 at the newly built Olembe Stadium in Yaounde and the tournament concludes at the same 60,000-seat venue on February 6 with the final.

    Champions Algeria top a 24-team cast that includes former title-holders Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Sudan and Tunisia.

    While record seven-time winners Egypt will be making an unrivalled 25th appearance at the African football showpiece, Comoros and Gambia are debutants.

    It is a wide-open competition with Algeria, unbeaten in 33 matches since late 2018, the logical favourites, but there are at least seven other nations capable of conquering Africa.

    Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia will believe they can go all the way while Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mali should not be underestimated.

    ABOVE & BELOW: Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Egypt’s Riyad Mahrez. PHOTOS: AFP

    Guinea, who rank among the outsiders, have been told by junta leader Mamady Doumbouya that they must repay state-funded preparation costs if they do not return to Conakry as champions.

    The build-up to the biennial tournament has been marred by rumours that it would be postponed or cancelled owing to a worldwide coronavirus surge.

    There have also been reports of Cameroon racing against the clock to complete preparations for the biggest African sporting event.

    This is the fourth attempt by the central African state to play hosts after failing to meet 2019 deadlines and being replaced by Egypt, then losing out to unfavourable weather conditions and COVID-19.

    But as Liverpool forwards Salah and Mane, Manchester City winger Mahrez and other Premier League stars prepare for action, Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe is upbeat.

    “We are going to host with the people of Cameroon an exceptional tournament. It will be the most successful AFCON (Cup of Nations),” he said during a visit to Yaounde.

    “The world will witness the best of African football and hospitality. We can host a football tournament as good as any in Europe.”

    Motsepe and Cameroon football legend Samuel Eto’o, now head of the national football federation, have been stung by suggestions that the Cup of Nations should be delayed or scrapped over the pandemic.

    “If the Euros took place this year in the middle of a pandemic, with full stadiums in many cities, why would the Cup of Nations not be played in Cameroon?,” asked Eto’o in a Canal+ interview.

    “Or are people trying to say that, as always, Africans are not worth anything so we have to put up with it?”

    As Cup of Nations organisers applied finishing touches to the six venues, from Douala on the Atlantic coast to Garoua in the north west, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp stirred a verbal storm.

    Klopp referred to the Cup of Nations as a “little tournament” during a press conference only to later say “I did not mean it like that”.

    Senegal coach and former star Aliou Cisse was furious, asking reporters in Dakar “Who does Klopp think he is?

    “I respect Liverpool but not Klopp, who undermines African football. He is where he is today because of African footballers like Salah, Mane, (Naby) Keita and (Joel) Matip.”

    Having to free Africans during the European season is a sore point with managers and Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti labelled the Cup of Nations an “invisible monster”.

    The Serie A title challengers could lose Algerian Adam Ounas, Cameroonian Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Nigerian Victor Osimhen and Senegalese Kalidou Koulibaly for close to six weeks.

    Senegal-born Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira said the Cup of Nations “needs to be more respected because this tournament is as important as the Euros”.

    Another coach facing potential unhappiness is South Africa-born Pitso Mosimane from African and Egyptian club giants Al Ahly, nine of whose stars are in various Cameroon-bound squads.

    Ahly are scheduled to compete at the Club World Cup in the UAE between February 3 and 12, creating a headache if any nation with Ahly stars reaches the early February semi-finals in Cameroon.

    Huawei says revenues down 29pc this year

    BEIJING (AFP) – Chinese telecom giant Huawei said yesterday its annual revenue had fallen by nearly a third from the previous year, as it continued to be weighed down by United States (US) sanctions that have hit its smartphone sales.

    Huawei has been caught in the crossfire of a US-China trade and technology rivalry after the administration of former president Donald Trump moved to cripple the company over concerns it could pose a cybersecurity and espionage threat.

    The firm’s revenue for this year fell by 29 per cent year-on-year to CNY634 billion (USD99.5 billion), said rotating chairman Guo Ping in an annual new year message.

    “In 2021, despite all the trials and tribulations, we worked hard to create tangible value for our customers and local communities,” Guo said.

    “We enhanced the quality and efficiency of our operations, and expect to round off the year with a total revenue of CNY634 billion.”

    He added that the telecom carrier segment had “remained stable” and “overall performance was in line with our forecasts.”

    Huawei’s revenue has fallen in 2021 due in part to the offloading of its budget phone brand Honor, which was sold late last year.

    Huawei is not publicly listed, and the message did not give any other financial specifics.

    Guo said the company was on a “bumpy, but rewarding” road, adding that 2022 will come with “its fair share of challenges.”

    Huawei’s travails have forced it to quickly pivot into new business lines including enterprise computing, wearables and health tech, technology for intelligent vehicles, and software.

    The US has barred Huawei from acquiring crucial components such as microchips and forced it to create its own operating system by cutting it off from using Google’s Android operating system.

    This month, the company launched a new foldable phone and said 220 million Huawei devices were running its HarmonyOS system.

    The group is the world’s biggest supplier of telecoms network gear and was once a top-three smartphone producer along with Apple and Samsung.

    Unusual phenomenon causes fish to rain from sky in Texas town

    UPI – Officials in Texas town said residents weren’t just imagining it when it seemed to be “raining fish” during a storm.

    The city of Texarkana said in a Facebook post that it was indeed “raining fish” during Wednesday’s rainstorms.

    Multiple residents took to social media to share photos of the fish that fell from the sky.

    “Animal rain is a phenomenon that occurs when small water animals like frogs, crabs, and small fish are swept up in waterspouts or drafts that occur on the surface of the earth. They are then rained down at the same time as the rain,” the city’s Facebook post said.

    Imams to Ummah: Self-reflect as we enter new year

    Azlan Othman

    Imams urged the Ummah to self-reflect and determine to excel and become more pious and loyal followers of the teachings of Allah the Almighty as the nation ushers in the new year.

    “We hope to gain success and happiness in the worldly affairs and in the days of hereafter,”
    Imams said yesterday during the Friday Sermon.

    They said 2021 brought a slew of challenges, with a number of memorable events to be remembered and set as example.

    “COVID-19 still does not show any signs of abating, jeopardising daily activities and impacting the economy, health and education,” the Imams said, adding, “We must be convinced that whatever happens is a testimony and provision from Allah the Almighty that asks of us to self-reflect for the betterment for the future.

    “As a servant of Allah the Almighty, we are required to self-reflect whether we have intensified and fulfilled all the obligations ordered by Allah the Almighty.”

    File photo of Ash-Shaliheen Mosque

    Imams also called on the Ummah to assess the determination to be loyal to Allah the Almighty and perform the daily prayers, pay tithe, fast, not to engage in sinful acts like stealing, bribery and taking on interest.

    “We should also reflect and ask ourselves whether we have executed our tasks. We should be responsible and carry on the tasks entrusted – as a parent, child, student, employee and head of a department.

    “If our responsibilities and tasks are not up to the mark, we should strive for betterment.

    “If there are still shortfalls and weaknesses, we should make changes by stepping up our efforts towards betterment.

    “Mankind has many weaknesses and deficiencies.

    Left unchecked, it would be difficult for us to assess our shortcomings and we are more inclined to assess flaws of others,” said the Imams.

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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