Latest from The Star
The Star
13 minutes ago
- Sport
- The Star
Brunei team brings glory in SEAKF meet
Permanent Secretary (Culture) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Mohd Hasnan Ali Hassan and Brunei Karate Federation Executive President Yura Kesteria Mohammad Yusof in a group photo with Mohamad Khalil. - BB/ANN BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Brunei's karate team clinched one gold, one silver and seven bronze medals to be at sixth position in the 12th South East Asian Karate Federation (SEAKF) Championship that concluded on June 19. Brunei's gold medal came from Mohamad Khalil Kamarulzaman in the junior kumite male 76+ kilograms (kg) category while the only silver medal is from Nur Damia Zawanah in the junior kumite female 66+ kg category. Following the three days of competition, Vietnam's karate team emerged as champion with 28 gold, 31 silver and 17 bronze medals while Indonesia was in second place with 11 gold, nine silver and 24 bronze medals followed by Thailand in third place with eight gold, six silver and 27 bronze. Permanent Secretary (Culture) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Mohd Hasnan Ali Hassan witnessed the action-packed finale of the senior male team kumite. Brunei Karate Federation Executive President Yura Kesteria Mohammad Yusof said, 'We are proud of Brunei Darussalam's achievement of having secured one gold, one silver and seven bronze medals. This commendable result reflects the growing strength and potential of karate in the country.' A highlight of the closing ceremony saw the handing over of the flag to the next host of the SEAKF Championships. Yura Kesteria presented the flag to Vietnam Karate Federation President Vu Son Ha. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
The Star
34 minutes ago
- Politics
- The Star
Man claims trial to making obscene comments on social media about Nurul Izzah
SEPANG: A 48-year-old man has pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here to 11 charges of making indecent and excessively obscene comments targeting Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The accused, Ruslan Mat Ali, who works as a diver and is a single father, entered his plea after the charges were read before Judge Ahmad Fuad Othman. He is accused of knowingly making and initiating the transmission of indecent and excessively obscene comments with the intent to annoy others on his Facebook from Jan 21 to Feb 25. He was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which provides for a fine not exceeding RM50,000, or imprisonment for up to one year, or both, upon conviction. According to the first charge, the post was accessed on Feb 4 at approximately 7am at MCMC Tower 1, Jalan Impact, Cyber 6, Cyberjaya. For the second to eleventh charges, the posts were accessed on Feb 26, between 1.51pm and 4.30pm, at the MCMC Centre of Excellence, Jalan Impact, Cyber 6, Cyberjaya. Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) deputy public prosecutor Fadhli Ab Wahab proposed that bail be set at RM15,000 with one surety. However, the accused, who was unrepresented, appealed for a lower amount, citing the absence of a fixed income and the responsibility of supporting his three children. Judge Ahmad Fuad Othman set bail at RM10,000, with case mention fixed for July 18. The accused failed to post bail and has been remanded until the next mention date. – Bernama
The Star
34 minutes ago
- The Star
Johor cops nab six, bust drug syndicate using drink packets as cover
JOHOR BARU: Police have busted a drug syndicate with the arrest of six suspects, including two foreigners, and the seizure of various drugs worth RM1.28mil. Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Raub Selamat said the suspects, four local men, a Singaporean man and a Thai woman, were arrested in a series of raids between June 12 and 13. 'They repackaged the drugs into three-in-one juice or coffee sachets, which were then sold locally for RM150 to RM300 per packet, mostly to acquaintances. 'The syndicate is believed to have been active since April this year and had been renting apartments to carry out their operations. 'They would stay at one place for a short period before moving to another location to avoid detection,' he told a press conference at the Johor Baru South police headquarters. ACP Raub said a 31-year-old local man, believed to be the mastermind, was among those arrested. 'Among the drugs seized were 7.67kg of ecstasy powder, 13.60g of ketamine and 8g of Erimin 5 pills. 'The drugs, worth about RM1.28mil, could have fed the addiction of over 2,000 users,' he said. He added that two vehicles, RM3,000 in cash and jewellery worth RM8,365 were also seized, bringing the total value of items seized to more than RM1.48mil. 'Urine tests showed all suspects were positive for methamphetamine, while two of the local men had prior drug and criminal records,' he said, adding that the suspects, all believed to be friends, were aged between 30 and 39 years old. All suspects have been remanded for 12 days from June 13 to 24 to facilitate investigations under Section 39B and Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
The Star
34 minutes ago
- Sport
- The Star
Figure skating-Japan's Sakamoto to retire after 2026 Winter Olympics
FILE PHOTO: Mar 28, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) wins silver in Womens Free Skating during the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images/File Photo (Reuters) -Three-times world figure skating champion Kaori Sakamoto is to retire after the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics next year, the Japanese 25-year-old told reporters in Kobe on Friday. Sakamoto became the first woman in 56 years to win the figure skating world singles title three times in a row last year, matching the feat of American Peggy Fleming, who won three world titles between 1966-68. "I feel like I have less than a year left. I'll be 29 at the following Olympics, which is out of the question," Kyodo news reported Sakamoto as saying. "I'll try to bring things to a close the year I turn 26." Sakamoto, who won bronze at the 2022 Winter Olympics, missed out on a fourth straight world title in March when she finished runner-up to American Alysa Liu. (Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
The Star
34 minutes ago
- The Star
One Tech Tip: No more lost cats and dogs. Use tech to track your pet
LONDON: "Have you seen the cats?' That's a common refrain in my household because our two felines, Maple and Juniper, can venture outside through a flap in the backdoor. Like many other London house cats, they're free to come and go, roaming the surrounding backyards and beyond, equipped with microchips to identify them if they get lost. If your cat likes to prowl outdoors for long stretches, or your dog has a tendency to run off, it can be distressing when they don't return as expected. If you're worried about your furry friend's whereabouts, technology can help you keep tabs on them. How pet tech works Dedicated pet trackers are collar-worn devices that typically use GPS signals to pinpoint the location of the animal wearing them. They use a 4G cellphone signal or your home WiFi connection to relay the position to a smartphone app. There are many products on the market. Tractive, Jiobit and Pawfit are among brands that offer trackers for both dogs and cats. Devices for the latter are generally smaller and lighter. An Apple Air Tag and a Chipolo Bluetooth tracker are seen on a keyring next to a cat in London. — AP Dog trackers with integrated collars are available from Fi and Whistle. PetTracer is a cat collar that uses both GPS and radio signals from a home base station. FitBark, also for dogs, has an Apple Watch app to monitor location and other activity. Garmin has a range of GPS dog collars that work with handheld devices resembling walkie-talkies, but they're pricey and aimed at outdoors enthusiasts like hunters. Phone signals Most trackers let you designate a safe zone on a map, usually your house and surrounding area, and alert you if your pet has left it. They usually operate on the 4G LTE spectrum commonly used by wireless carriers. It typically has the longest range of any cellular signal, said Andrew Bleiman, Tractive's executive vice president for North America. That means strong connectivity in most of Europe and North America "unless you're in a really far flung place like the middle of a national park,' Bleiman said. What it costs Exact price depends on brand and model. Most devices sell for less than US$100 (RM425). However, keep in mind you'll also have to pay a subscription fee for the cell service to function. While that could cost US$100 or more a year, for some pet owners it's worth the "peace of mind,' Bleiman said. Battery life The collars usually have a built-in rechargeable battery but battery life varies. Most will be last at least two to three days before they need charging, and a lot longer in ideal conditions. One big factor is signal strength. The battery will drain faster if the device has to work harder to pick up the GPS or connect to WiFi. Some save power by not sending coordinates in the safe zone. Other features Like fitness watches for humans, pet tracking apps offer health and activity monitoring features. You can see how long your cat or dog has spent resting or exercising on a daily or hourly basis. But be aware, a tracker is "not going to keep your pet in the backyard," Bleiman said. It will only "alert you when they leave the virtual fence area that you set up.' How to use it This One TechTip was inspired by Maple, who once went AWOL for days. It turned out he was hanging out in a backyard 10 doors down the street. We only found out after the residents got hold of a pet microchip scanner to look up our contact details to let us know so we could retrieve him. A screenshot of the Tractive pet tracking app shows the path that a cat has taken in a London neighborhood in London, on May 29, 2025. — AP Tractive provided a loaner device to try. Using the included breakaway collar, we put it on Maple, who clearly didn't like it at first. He dashed out the back door and jumped through a hole in the fence. Over the next day, I used the Tractive app to monitor his movements. It showed his travels back and forth onto various neighbouring properties. He came back to rest for a few hours around midnight, went out to prowl again around 3am, then came back after an hour to nap some more. It was fascinating to see where he was spending his time. According to the app's "heatmap," one of Maple's favourite spots was the same backyard where we had to retrieve him previously. Losing track About 24 hours after I attached the Tractive collar on Maple, I noticed he was no longer wearing it. It had somehow come off. If you can't find your pet's exact location, or the device gets lost, Tractive has a "radar' feature to pinpoint it with your phone's Bluetooth. Other brands have similar features. On the app's map, I could see it was in a nearby backyard and that I was getting closer because the circle was getting bigger. But I couldn't figure out where it was and, not wanting to disturb the neighbours, I gave up. Bleiman recommends using a harness for cats that don't like collars, but I'm not convinced. Microchips It's common for cats and dogs to be implanted with microchips, with the details added to a database. That makes it much easier to reunite owners with lost dogs and cats, even if they've strayed hundreds of miles away or gone missing for years. Pet microchips, about the size of a grain of rice implanted just below the skin, are legally required in some European countries. There's no federal law in the US, though some places like Hawaii now require them, so check with state or local authorities. But there's some confusion about what microchips can do. Because they don't have a power supply, they can't be tracked in real time. Whoever finds your pet would need to take it to a vet or a shelter to can scan the device for contact details. Air Tags and similar devices are another option Many pet owners use Bluetooth trackers like Apple's Air Tags, Samsung's SmartTags or similar devices from Tile, Cube and Chipolo, which rely on low-power signals relayed by passing smartphones. Bluetooth trackers have a range of 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 meters), depending on the model. The batteries last for months if not longer, and there's no need to pay for a subscription. However, they're not specifically marketed for pets. That hasn't stopped pet owners, judging from many recommendations they've posted in online forums. Chipolo advises that its round plastic trackers are only for "in-house pets like house-trained cats and smaller dogs' and warns against using them on "larger dog breeds and outdoor cats". Still, they can be a solution for some pet owners. "Bluetooth is a totally reasonable solution if you're in a downtown urban core,' Bleiman said. "But pets move fast. And if you're in a wooded park, or you're in a suburban area – let alone a more rural or wilderness area – it's pretty unlikely your pet is going to be close to a Bluetooth device." – AP
