VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The remote atoll nation of Kiribati said on Monday it would rejoin the Pacific Islands Forum, ending a split that had threatened unity at a time of increased superpower tensions in the strategically-located region.

The decision followed the "fruitful, positive, and successful bilateral meeting" with Fiji's new Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, who travelled to Kiribati on Jan. 20, said a statement posted to the Facebook account of President Taneti Maamau.

The statement said the Kiribati government had formally stated its "positive endorsement to rejoin the Pacific Islands Forum this year 2023".

Kiribati, which is 3,000 kms (1,860 miles) southwest of the U.S. state of Hawaii, switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019.

In July, Kiribati abruptly withdrew from the first in-person meeting of Pacific Island Forum leaders to be held since the pandemic closed borders, and where United States vice president Kamala Harris pledged to triple aid to the region and sought closer maritime surveillance cooperation.

Fiji, the forum's chair, has been pivotal to the region's response to competition between China and the United States, and Rabuka made his first international visit to Kiribati.

Rabuka's coalition government narrowly won a general election in December, the first transition of power in Fiji in 16 years, but has since been warned by Fiji's military against making "sweeping changes".

Fiji's President Wiliame Katonivere on Monday evening announced that Fiji's Chief Justice Kamal Kumar had been suspended on Rabuka's advice.

The suspension followed complaints of alleged misbehaviour, and was in accordance with the constitution, the statement said.

Fiji's police commissioner and its supervisor of elections were suspended on Friday.

Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Major General Jone Kalouniwai earlier this month warned Rabuka's government to abide by a 2013 constitution which gives the military a key role. (Reuters)

Czech President-elect Petr Pavel is due to speak with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday, Pavel's spokeswoman said, a highly unusual move given the lack of formal ties and a diplomatic coup for Taipei that is likely to anger China.

Most countries' leaders avoid high-level public interactions with Taiwan and its president, not wishing to provoke China, the world's second largest economy.

In 2016, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke by telephone with Tsai shortly after winning the election, setting off a storm of protest from Beijing.

Pavel's spokeswoman said he and Tsai were expected to speak at 1000 GMT.

Taiwan's presidential office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but said on Sunday that Tsai had offered her congratulations to Pavel on his victory.

Pavel, a former army chief and high NATO official who won the Czech presidential election on Saturday, will take office in early March when he will replace current head of state Milos Zeman, who has been known for his pro-Beijing stance.

The Czech Republic, like most countries, has no official diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but the two sides have moved closer together as Taipei seeks new friends in Eastern and Central Europe.

Pavel has strongly backed Western support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia's invasion.

Taipei has sought to bolster its relations with European countries by stressing their shared values of freedom and democracy, especially as Beijing ratchets up military threats to try and force Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty.

In 2020, the head of the Czech Senate visited Taiwan and declared himself to be Taiwanese in a speech at Taiwan's parliament, channelling the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy's defiance of communism in Berlin in 1963. (Reuters)

Several hundred people gathered as snow fell in Indian Kashmir's main city of Srinagar on Monday to mark the end of Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi's foot march that he began at the southern tip of the country 135 days ago.

The "Bharat Jodo Yatra", or Unite India March, was aimed at boosting the 52-year-old's popularity but Congress still faces an uphill battle against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that appears poised to sweep the general election due next year.

"I didn't do the Yatra for myself or Congress," said Gandhi, who swapped the t-shirt that he had worn for the majority of the march for a woollen Kashmiri gown to ward off the cold.

"The aim is to stand against an ideology that wants to destroy the foundation of the country," he said, referring to the BJP.

Leaders from half a dozen opposition parties attended the rally, the largest opposition gathering in India's erstwhile Muslim-majority state that Modi's government reorganised into two federally administered territories in August 2019.

"All secular parties must come together to liberate the country from BJP," D. Raja, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, said at the rally.

Several other opposition leaders failed to make it to the rally because flights into Srinagar's airport were cancelled due to the heavy snow.

The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has controlled the Congress party for decades but has also overseen its recent decline. Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president after the last election.

Security arrangements had been reinforced in Kashmir ahead of the rally, with armed police sealing off all roads leading to the cricket stadium where the rally was held.

Sameer Ahmad, 26 and without a job, said he travelled from Pulwama, around 30 km away, to attend the rally, at times trudging through snow.

"I am not from the Congress party but want to support the cause Gandhi stands for," Ahmad said. (Reuters)

A suicide bombing at a crowded mosque in Pakistan's Peshawar killed at least 32 people on Monday, the latest attack targeting police in this northwestern city where Islamist militants remain active.

Hospital officials said at least 147 people were wounded, with many of them in critical condition.

Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif called the blast a suicide attack. There were at least 260 people in the mosque, police official Sikandar Khan added.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which ripped through the mosque during noon prayers, causing a wall to collapse on top of worshippers. The building is located inside a highly fortified compound that includes the headquarters of the provincial police force and a counter-terrorism department.

"We're getting that the terrorist was standing in the first row," Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo TV.

Footage from government broadcaster PTV showed police and residents scrambling to remove debris from the blast site and carrying wounded people on their shoulders.

The attack was the city's worst since March last year, when a suicide bombing at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque during Friday prayers killed at least 58 people and injured nearly 200. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for that bombing.

Peshwar, which sits at the edge of Pakistan's tribal districts bordering Afghanistan, is frequently targeted by militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban.

The group, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is an umbrella of Sunni and sectarian Islamist groups that want to overthrow the government and replace it with their own brand of Islamic governance.

The TTP has stepped up attacks since it ended a so-called peace deal last year with the Pakistani government, which was facilitated by Afghan Taliban.

TTP has staged frequent attacks targeting police in the last few months. In December, Islamist militants seized a counter-terrorism centre in the northwestern and took hostages to negotiate with government authorities. (Reuters)