VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a law expanding Russia's restrictions on the promotion of what it calls "LGBT propaganda", effectively outlawing any public expression of LGBT behaviour or lifestyle in Russia.

Under the new law, which widens Russia's interpretation of what qualifies as "LGBT propaganda", any action or the spreading of any information that is considered an attempt to promote homosexuality in public, online, or in films, books or advertising, could incur a heavy fine.

The law expands Russia's previous law against LGBT propaganda that had banned the "demonstration" of LGBT behaviour to children.

It comes as the Kremlin exerts increased pressure on minority groups and opponents of Putin at home, quashing independent media groups and further stifling free speech as Moscow ramps up a decade-long campaign to promote what it says are "traditional" values.

Authorities have already used the existing law to stop gay pride marches and detain gay rights activists.

Rights groups say the new law is intended to drive so-called "non-traditional" LGBT lifestyles practised by lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people out of public life altogether. (reuters)

The acting defence minister of the Afghan Taliban has met the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, for talks in Abu Dhabi on strengthening relations, his ministry and UAE state media reported on Monday.

The acting defence minister, Mullah Yaqoob, is the son of the late supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, and the meeting with the UAE president is a rare encounter between a senior member of the group and a foreign head of state.

They discussed "strengthening relations, bilateral cooperation between the UAE and Afghanistan and other important issues", the Afghan defence ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The UAE state news agency WAM reported that the meeting took place on Sunday.

The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has not been formally recognised by any government since the Islamists swept to power last year as U.S.-led foreign forces withdrew after two decades of war.

The Taliban have for years run a political office in Qatar where top members of the group have often met foreign officials.

The UAE news agency released photographs of the talks that showed another senior Taliban figure, Anas Haqqani, was present at the talks.

The meeting with the UAE president comes after the Taliban, in September, signed a final contract for running Afghanistan's airports with the UAE company GAAC Holding, which had beat out rival bids from Qatar and Turkey.

The UAE is keen to counter Qatar's diplomatic influence in Afghanistan with the airport contract, diplomatic sources have told Reuters. (reuters)

Conditions for China to downgrade its management of COVID-19 as a serious contagious disease improving as the coronavirus weakens, state media outlet Yicai reported, among the first to float the idea.

Since January 2020, China has classified COVID-19 as a Category B infectious disease but has managed it under Category A protocols, which give local authorities the power to put patients and their close contacts into quarantine and lock down affected regions.

Category A diseases in China include bubonic plague and cholera, while SARS, AIDS and anthrax fall under Category B. Category C diseases include influenza, leprosy and mumps.

Infectious diseases such as COVID-19 that have strong pathogenicity, a high fatality rate and strong infectivity are classified as Class A or Class B but managed as Class A.

But more than 95% of the cases in China are asymptomatic and mild, and the fatality rate is very low. Under such circumstances, adhering to Class A management is not in line with science, Yicai reported late on Sunday, citing an unnamed infectious disease expert.

COVID-19 could be downgraded to Category B management or even Category C, the expert told Yicai.

Any adjustment to the management of infectious diseases by the National Health Commission, China's top health authority, requires the approval of the State Council, or cabinet.

Vice Premier Sun Chunlan last week that China is facing "a new situation" as the pathogenicity of the Omicron virus weakens, becoming the first high-ranking government official to publicly acknowledge that the new coronavirus's ability to cause disease has diminished.

Since her pronouncement, many major cities have started to lift large-scale lockdowns, reduced regular PCR testing and end checks for negative PCR results at public spaces such as subway stations and outdoor parks. (reuters)

The New Zealand government said on Monday it would launch an inquiry into the country's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic so future governments could learn from the experience.

A Royal Commission, a public inquiry of the highest level in New Zealand, would look at the overall response, the government said in a statement. That would include considering economic measures, such as fiscal and monetary policy responses but without reviewing particular central bank decisions.

The aim would be identifying lessons that could be applied in a future pandemic.

"It had been over 100 years since we experienced a pandemic of this scale, so it's critical we compile what worked and what we can learn from it should it ever happen again," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.

A one-time poster child for tackling the coronavirus, New Zealand's swift response to the pandemic and its geographic isolation kept the country largely COVID-19 free until the end of 2021, winning Ardern strong domestic support.

But anger over vaccine mandates for people working in sectors such as health and education and strict border closures prompted protests earlier this year. The government's financial response is also now being blamed by some political opposition parties for contributing to three-decade high inflation.

The review will be concluded in mid-2024, the government said. (Reuters)