VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will not attend the COP27 climate summit which begins in Egypt next month, his office said on Thursday, with other senior ministers going instead to allow him to focus on domestic issues and a major fiscal statement.

Sunak became prime minister on Monday, and has delayed an autumn fiscal statement to Nov. 17 as he looks to tackle a cost-of-living crisis and restore international economic credibility damaged in the short tenure of his predecessor Liz Truss.

Truss had been expected to attend, but on Thursday Sunak's Downing Street office said the new prime minister was not planning to go to the summit.

"The Prime Minister is not expected to attend the summit in Egypt due to other pressing domestic commitments, including preparations for the autumn statement," a Downing Street spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that Britain remained "absolutely committed to supporting COP27 and leading international action to tackle climate change and protect nature," having hosted the COP26 summit in Glasgow last year.

Just under a year ago Britain trumpeted the agreement of the Glasgow Climate Pact, finalised in dramatic circumstances after month of arduous negotiations that ran until the final minutes. The deal was meant to ensure the world still has a chance to avert the worst impacts of global warming.

"The UK will be fully represented by other senior ministers, as well as COP President Alok Sharma," the spokesperson said.

"They will be working to ensure that countries continue to make progress on the ground-breaking commitments made at COP26 in Glasgow."

Sunak has told world leaders he has spoken to in his first week in charge that he does intend to go to the leaders summit of G20 in Indonesia, which occurs a few days before the autumn statement.

The autumn statement will detail spending cuts and medium term fiscal forecasts as the finance ministry seeks to plug a medium term budget shortfall of as much as 40 billion pounds ($46.28 billion). (Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday as a "strong leader" who always defended Turkey's interests.

Putin said Erdogan was not always an "easy partner" to deal with, but that Turkey was always "reliable" and had a desire to reach agreements.

Erdogan has played a vital role as a go-between for Kyiv and Moscow since the start of the conflict, brokering the Black Sea grain deal and assisting in a number of prisoner exchangers - the only diplomatic breakthroughs to date in the eight-month conflict. (Reuters)

The Biden administration expects to ink a deal with allies in the near-term to bring them on board with new U.S. rules curbing China's access to sophisticated chipmaking tools, a senior Commerce Department official said on Thursday.

This month, the Commerce Department published a sweeping set of export controls, including measures tightly restricting Chinese access to U.S. chipmaking technology, vastly expanding its reach in its bid to slow Beijing's technological and military advances.

But it faced criticism for failing to convince key allies to put in place similar equipment curbs, since Japanese and Dutch firms Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T) and ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS), along with U.S. companies, produce chipmaking equipment.

"We expect to have a deal in the near term," Undersecretary of commerce for industry and security Alan Estevez said in an interview with Washington-based think tank CNAS, when asked what it would take to get allies, particularly Japan and the Netherlands, to implement similar rules.

When asked what parts of the sprawling new China export rule could be included in a deal with allies, Estevez said "we're looking at the whole gamut," including chips as well as tools.

The rule also cuts China off from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with U.S. equipment. Estevez said countries could receive carveouts from the U.S. rules if they implement similar regimes at home. (Reuters)

Uzbek workers at a waste processing plant in the western Russian city of Oryol, who were handed mobilisation notices and ordered to show up at the local conscription point, have asked their president for help, a local news outlet reported.

Moscow started the mobilisation campaign, its first since World War Two, last month as its military campaign in Ukraine stalled and Russian forces began to lose ground. Hundreds of thousands of men have since fled Russia to avoid being sent to the front lines.

According to the Istoki video report, Oryol authorities sent out a fresh batch of mobilisation notices this week, including 50 to workers of the EcoCity waste processing facility.

Half of the workers, however, are Uzbek nationals, it said, showing a group of men displaying their Uzbek passports and asking Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to intervene on their behalf.

The Uzbek embassy in Russia said on Thursday that the notices had been served to 26 Uzbeks by mistake and the issue has been resolved, as have other cases where Uzbeks - over a million of whom are estimated to work in Russia - were called up to Russian conscription points.

The mobilisation campaign drew criticism after notices were served to many people not eligible for military service, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to order officials to correct all mistakes.

Uzbekistan has warned its citizens against joining foreign armies, which qualifies as a felony under Uzbek law. (Reuters)