VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The LDP, which has ruled Japan for most of the post-war era, will likely stay in power thanks to its coalition with junior partner Komeito, although it is almost certain to lose seats in parliament's powerful lower house.

A former banker who has failed to invigorate voters with calls for a more equitable "new capitalism", Kishida has set a coalition target for a majority 233 seats in the 465-seat lower chamber, well below the 276 seats held by the LDP alone before the election was called.

The focus remains on whether the LDP can hang onto a majority by itself. A lacklustre result for Kishida, who is just weeks into the job, could lead to a push in the party to oust him ahead of next year's upper house vote.

That could also bring policy uncertainty.

"A weak showing for the LDP could also give more say for the dovish Komeito, acting as a break on the conservative security policies popular with the LDP's right wing," said Tomoaki Iwai, political science professor at Nihon University.

A poll by the Yomiuri daily predicted the LDP would come close to majority but may fall short. Another recent poll by the Asahi daily predicted the party would lose seats but come in well above 233.

In a rare move, opposition parties have been successful in coordinating candidates in a large number of districts.

"The opposition collaboration in single seat districts is remarkable. It means that the votes that would previously be split among several candidates are now going to one, giving the opposition a realistic chance against the LDP," said Iwai.

TURNOUT IS KEY

Sunday's election is the most unpredictable since the LDP swept back to power under Shinzo Abe in 2012 - a victory that ushered in the longest premiership in Japan's history and ended years of policy paralysis caused by revolving-door premiers.

Voters are frustrated with the ruling bloc after 20 months of pandemic-induced restrictions and a sluggish economy. After Abe stepped down in ill health last year, he was succeeded by Yoshihide Suga who resigned in September due to widespread disapproval of his handling of the pandemic.

The party may have also hurt itself by choosing Kishida to succeed Suga, rather than popular maverick Taro Kono from its liberal wing.

Unfortunately for the opposition, they too have failed to get traction. Yukio Edano, the leader of the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, fares even below Kishida suitability ratings.

With about 40% of the electorate still undecided and one of the lowest turnouts in the post-war era expected, the outcome is far from certain.

The LDP resoundingly lost in a special upper house election on Sunday in Shizuoka, southwest of Tokyo, despite two visits by Kishida to woo voters there.

Kishida has struggled to explain how his economic programme - aimed at reducing the wealth gap - differs from the "Abenomics" remedy of Abe and Suga of using massive monetary and fiscal stimulus to revive the moribund economy.

He has taken on many of Abe's conservative security policies, calling for doubling of defence spending with an eye on China.

Kishida made party heavyweight Akira Amari the LDP's powerful Secretary General. Amari has pushed to restart Japan's nuclear power plants - a policy opposed by 40% of the people.

Key battlegrounds include the third-largest city of Osaka, the manufacturing hub of Nagoya and the capital, Tokyo, where several current and former LDP ministers are vulnerable to opposition challenge.

"With the coalition enjoying all the structural advantages in the election, in the end it all hinges on the turnout," said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University, noting that higher turnout favours the opposition.

Polls suggest turnout will be slightly higher than the post-war record low of 52.66% in 2014.

"If the turnout goes a level higher and into the sixties, opposition parties may come ahead in many, many single member districts," said Nakano.(Reuters)

The United Nations cannot get enough cash into Afghanistan to deliver humanitarian aid to millions of people on the brink of starvation and is struggling to develop options to help stabilize the collapsing economy, U.N. officials said.

Ultimately political solutions are needed, a senior U.N. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, an apparent reference to sanctions relief and for governments and institutions to free up billions of dollars of Afghan assets held overseas.

In the meantime U.N. agencies are scrambling to find ways to get large amounts of U.S. dollars into Afghanistan to combat a liquidity crisis that has taken hold since the Taliban ousted the Western-backed government in August. The U.N. official shared with Reuters some of the options being suggested.

The delivery of U.S. dollars to Afghanistan has stopped since the Islamist militants seized power and if countries or international financial institutions don't step up then the United Nations might have to fill the gap, said the official.

One suggested option is using Afghanistan International Bank, which could bring in and store money, but there are issues with insurance, the U.N. official said.

The United Nations is also aware that no one option will work and several avenues to get enough cash into Afghanistan are needed, the official said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the International Monetary Fund to agree on waivers or mechanisms to get money into Afghanistan. The IMF has blocked the Taliban from accessing some $440 million in new emergency reserves.

Much of the Afghan central bank's $10 billion in overseas assets have been frozen as well, most of it in the United States. The U.S. Treasury has said there are no plans to release the money.

"We need to work together to make the economy breathe again and to help people survive," Guterres said on Wednesday. "Injecting liquidity into the Afghan economy can be done without violating international laws or compromising principles."

FLYING IN MONEY NOT ON TABLE YET

The United Nations has repeatedly warned that Afghanistan's economy is on the brink of collapse and would likely further fuel a refugee crisis.

When asked about U.N. efforts to get cash into Afghanistan, Mary-Ellen McGroarty, head of the World Food Programme in Afghanistan, told reporters on Tuesday: "The U.N. collective is looking at what potential solutions we could have, but flying in money to the country is not on the table yet."

"What we are using at the moment is the limited liquidity that is in the country," she said. "But the longer this goes on ... we're finding it's becoming more and more difficult."

Some 8.7 million people are "one step away from starvation," said McGroarty, adding: "There is a tsunami of destitution, incredible suffering and hunger spiraling out of control."

The Taliban is facing growing international pressure for an inclusive and representative Afghan government and to uphold human rights, particularly those of women and girls in return for international recognition and freeing up aid and reserves.

Donors and institutions are also seeking to avoid running afoul of U.N. and unilateral sanctions on the Taliban.

The United Nations is appealing for countries "to provide humanitarian financial exemptions to allow funds to reach aid organizations in the country," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, without naming names.

U.N. agencies and aid groups are currently using informal money-moving networks - known as hawalas - and small amounts of cash in banks to pay staff salaries and for other smaller scale purchases, Dujarric told Reuters.

"These modalities are not sufficient for the large scale operations requiring cash payments or cash assistance in-country, however," said Dujarric, adding that the United Nations was talking to international financial institutions to find a solution that would expand aid operations.

A key part of U.N. plans to inject money into Afghanistan is by providing cash directly to poor Afghan families.(Reuters)

Fashion brands and airlines are creeping back into investors' good graces in Asia as lockdowns ease and vaccination rises, boosting travel and leisure activities, taking some shine off pandemic stalwarts such as supermarkets and gadget makers.

Earnings report cards show that people are spending less time watching TV or shopping online for groceries as they resume dining out or plan vacations after emerging from coronavirus curbs. Luxury purchases from China's big spenders, still unable to travel abroad, are also rebounding.

Asia-Pacific airlines are offering more flights as some countries resume domestic travel, and some like Singapore allow quarantine-free travel for select vaccinated visitors. Australia's planned reopening of state and international borders has led to a surge in bookings. 

"There is massive demand for loved ones wanting to get together for Christmas," Alan Joyce, CEO of Australia's Qantas Airways (QAN.AX) said last week. "There is demand for people wanting to take that holiday that they have been looking forward to for nearly two years."

To be sure, a recovery in the tourism sector in Asia is months away and China's huge domestic travel market remains in flux. As well, businesses including McDonald's (MCD.N) are still struggling with frequent and temporary curbs that countries impose to control outbreaks. 

But airline stocks in the Asia Pacific region climbed nearly 5% over the last three months (.TRXFLDAZPUARLI) while global airlines (.TRXFLDGLPUARLI) slipped 6% due to a slower-than-expected return of corporate travel.

The broader MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Price Index (.MIAP00000PUS) rose roughly 2% in the same period. 

European fashion houses like LVMH (LVMH.PA) and Kering (PRTP.PA) posted stellar results in China as appetite for luxury items remained undimmed, despite power shortages and a property sector crisis hurting the economy. 

"China's population and its middle classes are increasing and their appetite for beauty is not satisfied," L'Oreal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said last week.

Hieronimus expects a recent shift in Chinese government policy to narrow the gap between rich and poor to boost the middle class, a sentiment echoed by LVMH. 

Japan's Fast Retailing (9983.T) reported record profits in China last quarter, where it will open its first flagship store next month. Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido Co (4911.T) believes next summer will be a "turning point" as inbound tourists from China return.

EARLY WINNERS

Companies globally are struggling with severe labour shortages, supply bottlenecks and marine logjams as economies bounce back from pandemic lows, resulting in a steep rise in costs. A long-running chip shortage has disrupted the auto industry. 

For supermarkets, among the early winners of the pandemic when people scrambled to stockpile food and toilet paper, the rising inflation is likely to offset some of the post-pandemic slowdown.

Australian grocer Woolworths (WOW.AX) said on Wednesday that food sales started to slow in October. Its shares have fallen 10% since mid-August when the pace of vaccinations started picking up. The stock rose nearly 40% during the 17 months prior, when coronavirus restrictions were in place.

"The big question now is how many people will return to the offices, how will that play out in terms of at-home consumption?", said Morningstar retail analyst Johannes Faul.

Pandemic winners are unlikely to turn losers overnight, though, said Jason Teh, chief investment officer at Vertium Asset Management in Sydney. But work-from-home trends that benefitted companies like Australian electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi (JBH.AX) were waning as vaccination surged, he said.

China's smartphone sales in the third quarter fell 9% from a year earlier, according to Counterpoint Research.

While pent up demand from supply bottlenecks is likely to support a seasonally strong holiday quarter, sales are starting to slow at chipmakers and component suppliers such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and LG Display (034220.KS).

"LCD panels for televisions are expected to see further drops in the fourth quarter as vaccinated people have begun to spend less time in front of screens," said Park Sung-soon, Seoul-based analyst at Cape Investment & Securities. (Reuters)

China will finance the construction of an outpost for a special forces unit of Tajikistan's police near the Tajik-Afghan border, the Central Asian nation's parliament said on Thursday.

The post will be located in Tajikistan's eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in the Pamir mountains, which border China's Xinjiang province as well as the northeastern Afghan province of Badakhshan.

No Chinese troops will be stationed at the facility, a parliament spokesperson said.

The plan to build the post comes amid tension between the Dushanbe government and Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon has refused to recognise the Taliban government, calling for a broader representation of Afghanistan's ethnic groups - of which Tajiks are the second-biggest.

Kabul, in turn, has warned Dushanbe against meddling in its domestic affairs. According to Russian media, the Taliban have struck an alliance with an ethnic Tajik militant group based in northern Afghanistan which seeks to overthrow Rakhmon's government.

A Russia-led regional security organisation held exercises last week near the Tajik-Afghan border, designed to demonstrate that Moscow stands ready to protect Dushanbe in the event of an incursion from the south. L8N2RJ0AK

China is a major investor in Tajikistan and Beijing has also acted as a donor on several occasions, handing over, for example, a new parliament building free of charge.(Reuters)