A male foreign national died Friday after he was buried alive in a landslide at the Bukit Sebanging Indigenous Land Scheme Area in Jalan Muara. The mishap occurred at about 11:45 a.m. when two workers were digging a section of the land for the installation of a pipeline.

The victim, identified as Adison Panyaoud, a Thai national, was confirmed dead by the authorities after his body was taken to the RIPAS hospital. The other worker, Bunchu also a Thai national, sustained slight injury to his legs. It took firefighters about two and a half hours to rescue the victims from under the mass of earth.

Overwhelming response from the public for the Relief Fund for Tsunami Victims shows the deep sympathy for the victims. The society in Brunei not only contributes cash and daily sundries, but also offers prayers for those killed in the disaster.

Friday, Pusat Ehsan of Kampung Bengkurong conducted a bertahlil ceremony for the Muslims who lost their lives during the disaster. The religious ceremony was one of the welfare activities organised by the centre, which was also coincided with the collection of money for the Fund for Tsunami's Victims that will be handed later to the National Tsunami Relief Fund.

The special people and the staff of the centre also donated to the relief fund. The Pusat Ehsan also donated clothes, which are needed for the Tsunami Relief Fund.

The Head of Resource and Standard Centre, Promotion and Entrepreneurial Development Division, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources said the burning desire of developing SME’s is a goal shared by all ASEAN and the Japanese governments. It is in the spirit of achieving that shared goal of uplifting respective SME’s that Brunei and Japan co-organised the training program on business incubator.

Pengiran Sharifuddin Pengiran Haji Matali stated this matter at the closing of the Business Incubator Programme in Gadong Friday afternoon. He said such a programme is another manifestation of the joint concern in providing concrete opportunities for developing the capacity of human resources through various international bodies, such as ASEAN and APEC.

He added it is also a testimony of His Majesty's commitment to contribute towards the development of human resources not only for the people of Brunei but also those from other countries in ASEAN and the Asia Pacific Region.

The Japanese Assistant Director and Incubation Manager, Mr. Terutaka Tansho explained some of the factors on how the Japanese SME’s are surviving.

The Brunei Darussalam football team has confirmed its participation in the Malaysian Premier League 2005 and has been selected with seven other teams from neighbouring countries in Group 'A'. The team will begin their campaign this season early next month.

According to the Secretary General of the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (BAFA), Pengiran Haji Metusin, the team - affectionately known as the Wasps - will utilise the services of one of the DPMM F.C.'s own import players, Olusye Ajayi. Meanwhile, other import players will also be given the chance to undergo a selection process to complete the import player quota for the Wasps.

Pengiran Haji Matusin also advised all representative players of the Brunei team to continue their efforts and improve their training in order to achieve BAFA's objective, which is to enter the Super League and then on to the Malaysian Cup this season. Pengiran Haji Matusin said that only the best teams may enter the fray in the super League, so Brunei should be the champion among the other teams first and should maintain a position in the top four team ranking, in order to compete in the Malaysian Cup.

Other teams in Group 'A' are three State teams; Selangor, Kedah and Melaka, and three club ranking teams, which are Kelantan TNB, Selangor MK LAND and Pulau Pinang NTFA, as well as the Kuala Lumpur team. The first match for the Wasps this season will be an away match against Pulau Pinang NTFA on the 6th of next month.

In this regard, the NBT Challenge Trophy Football Championship 2005 kicked-off Friday at the Berakas Sports Complex. The opening match was between NBT F.C. and the Youth and Sports Department. Among those present to watch the match was the Director of Youth and Sports, Awang Japar bin Bangkol.

The match was won by NBT F.C., three-two. NBT led by two goals to one in the first half of the game. The Youth and Sports Department equalised in the second half of the match. But, NBT scored their third goal to win the match. The tournament continues this Sunday at the same venue commencing at four in the afternoon, pitting RBC and Damit Worley Sendirian Berhad.

The 1st Brunei Chess Championship started Friday with the participation of players from Usbekistan, Sri Lanka and neighbouring countries. The tournament was launched by the President of Brunei Chess Association, Awang Haji Zainal Bin Haji Mohd Ali.

Brunei Darussalam is being represented by more than fifty young players aged between nine to mid forties while foreign countries are represented by sixty seven players. One of the country's potential players is Awangku Hirawan Pengiran Haji Omar. The championship will also see the youngest female Grandmaster chess player from Hong Kong, Anya Sun Corke who won the under 14 Asian Youth tournament recently.

Among the senior competitors is the Assistance Minister of Environment of Sarawak, the Honourable Doctor Abang Draup. The tournament offers a cash prize of one thousand five hundred US dollars, while the best Bruneian player will also receive two hundred US dollars. The competition is organised by The Brunei Chess Federation with the cooperation of the Youth and Sport Department, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. Chess enthusiasts are invited to watch the matches, which are taking place at the Orchid Garden Hotel in Berakas.