VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Malaysian budget airline AirAsia Group Bhd (AIRA.KL) reported a wider quarterly net loss on Monday, as pandemic restrictions on travel in two of three of its operating markets weighed on revenue, while it logged a foreign exchange loss.

It said enhanced lockdowns and travel restrictions in Malaysia and Indonesia impacted its aviation revenue, although its Philippines unit had a strong quarter.

The group said in bourse filings it recorded a net loss of 887 million ringgit ($212 million) for the July-September quarter, 4.1% more compared with a loss of 851.8 million ringgit a year earlier.

Revenue for the period dropped 37% to 295.9 million ringgit. However, its logistics business Teleport tripled its revenue, contributing 53% to the group total revenue.

AirAsia's income statement filed to the stock exchange showed that a foreign exchange loss of 216.9 million ringgit further dragged its financial performance during the period.

The group said investments in technology, talent and network for its digital businesses and in Teleport also added to its losses.

The airline carried 351,971 passengers in the third quarter, 82% less than 1.9 million a year ago, while the load factor - which measures how full planes are - was little changed at 67%.

AirAsia said it has seen "an upward trajectory of sales with the gradual recovery of travel" since domestic travel reopened in the region.

"We expect the current sales momentum and reduced cashburn trend to continue into (the following quarter) as the Group is well positioned to serve the pent up leisure travel demand," it said.

It has also completed two rounds of renegotiation with lessors for lower lease rental in the future and expects to complete the renegotiations with all lessors by the end of the year.

AirAsia maintained that it will have sufficient liquidity to sustain the business operations throughout 2021 and 2022.

Earlier this month, the airline won shareholder approval for a rights issue to raise 1 billion ringgit. (Reuters)

New Zealand will adopt a new system of living with the coronavirus virus from Dec. 3, which will end tough restrictions and allow businesses to operate in its biggest city, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

New Zealand remained largely COVID-19 free until August but has been unable to beat an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant, forcing Ardern to abandon an elimination strategy and switch to treating the virus as endemic.

Its biggest city Auckland has been in lockdown for over 90 days, although some measures were eased recently.

"The hard truth is that Delta is here and not going away, but New Zealand is well set to tackle it because of our high vaccination rates and our latest safety measures including the traffic light system and Vaccine Pass," Ardern said in a statement.

The new system will rate regions as red, orange or green depending on their level of exposure to COVID-19 and vaccination rates. Auckland, the epicentre of the Delta outbreak, will start at red, making face masks mandatory and putting limits on gatherings at public places.

Ardern said about 83% of eligible New Zealanders are fully vaccinated, while 88% have had their first shot.

The government previously said the country would drop lockdown measures and move to the traffic-light system to manage outbreaks after 90% of the eligible population was fully vaccinated.

Along with its geographic isolation, New Zealand enforced some of the tightest pandemic restrictions among OECD nations, limiting the spread of COVID-19 and helping its economy bounce back faster than many of its peers.

The country of 5 million has so far reported about 7,000 cases in all and just 39 deaths.

Its international border is still shut and it is unclear when it will reopen.

Air New Zealand (AIR.NZ) said on Monday it has cancelled more than 1,000 flights to neighbouring Australia through to the end of the year due to border uncertainty.

New Zealand ended quarantine free travel with Australia in August after a new Delta outbreak there, and has kept its borders tightly sealed.

"This will be particularly tough news for families and friends who were hoping to catch up over Christmas," said Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty.

"Our hands are tied until border restrictions ease, and we receive further clarity from the New Zealand government." (Reuters)

Three Cambodian refugees deported by Thailand have been jailed on charges of conspiracy and incitement, police said on Monday, as pressure grows on Thailand to protect activists at risk of persecution at home.

The pre-trial detention of the three members of Cambodia's disbanded opposition party comes amid a broad crackdown that started in the run up to a 2018 general election and has been condemned by the United Nations and the West.

Veourn Veasna and Voeung Samnang were registered refugees under U.N. protection and returned earlier this month. Thavry Lanh, a former commune chief, was sent back to Cambodia on Saturday, according to Human Rights Watch.

"The 'swap mart' arrangement between Cambodian and Thai authoritarians is operating at full speed, running roughshod over refugee protections and rights," its Asia deputy director Phil Robertson told Reuters on Monday.

Thailand's embassy in Phnom Penh declined to comment. Thailand's immigration bureau said it had no details on the specific cases but it was typical for the U.N. refugee agency to be consulted, even though Thailand is not a party to the refugee convention.

The bureau's spokesman Achayon Kraithong said Thailand would prioritise immigration law but avoid sending people into danger

Cambodian police spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun said the three jailed activists had violated immigration law in Thailand and Cambodia had not sought their deportation.

"They have arrest warrants against them so when they arrived, we must enact the arrest warrants," Chhay Kim Khoeun said.

"How can this be a human rights violation when living in Thailand illegally? I don't understand. Thailand enforced its law and we enforce our law," he said.

Dozens of activists are likely to be in hiding in the two respective countries, rights groups say, fleeing crackdowns by authorities on opponents.

"These individuals deserve protection, not deportation to a country where they could face persecution or ill-treatment," said Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns. (Reuters)

The top two contenders to be the next president of Honduras held boisterous final rallies over the weekend, one week ahead of an election that could end diplomatic support for Taiwan in the Central American country if the leftist candidate wins.

Should poll leader Xiomara Castro, of the leftist opposition Libre Party, beat the ruling National Party's Nasry Asfura and put an end to its dozen-year run in power, she would also become the first woman to be president in Honduras.

"We're going to take out the dictatorship," she thundered on Sunday, before thousands of supporters in downtown Tegucigalpa, in a nod to the bitterly disputed re-election of outgoing President Juan Orlando Herdandez in 2017.

Castro is running on an anti-corruption platform, while also favoring a partial legalization of abortion and a diplomatic opening to China, which would mark a major shift from country's current embrace of Taiwan over Beijing.

"As a united opposition, we say enough to so much thieving, so much corruption and drug trafficking," said Castro, who has also pointed to a the conviction of Hernandez's younger brother on drug charges in the United States earlier this year.

In a visible reminder of the united opposition backing her, Castro's crowd was also peppered with the white and yellow flags of the party of her running mate, popular television host Salavador Nasralla, the 2017 runner-up who describes his views as center-right.

Castro is the wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, who was deposed in a 2009 coup, after business and military leaders allied against him.

Presidential hopeful Asfura, a popular two-term mayor of the capital, held his own final rally on Sunday at a baseball stadium, projecting confidence despite trailing in a recent poll.

"We're going to create jobs and opportunity," he said. "We're going to work hard on social programs that bring progress and development to the entire country."

Unlike Castro, Asfura has not offered a detailed campaign platform.

A poll earlier this month showed Castro with a 17 point lead, but some analysts still expect a tight race. (Reuters)