VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

At least 19 countries where most overseas travelers (PPLNs) visiting Indonesia come from are currently experiencing a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, the Health Ministry has noted.

"The five countries whose citizens often enter Indonesia are Australia, Malaysia, India, Singapore, and the United Kingdom (UK)," director for health surveillance and quarantine at the ministry, Achmad Farchanny Tri Adryanto, said at the “Talkshow for Facing New Variants: Tighten Health Protocols, Complete Vaccination” on Thursday.

Out of the five countries, the new XBB variant of COVID-19 has been detected the most in India and Singapore.

According to the ministry’s data, as of October 19, 2022, in addition to the five countries, the United States, Germany, South Korea, France, Russia, the Netherlands, Vietnam, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, China, Spain, and Canada have also reported a surge in infections.

The director appealed to all parties to stay vigilant since some of the 19 countries are located adjacent to Indonesia, such as Singapore, thus there are concerns that the spike in cases in those countries may also affect Indonesia.

“The number of overseas travelers coming from Singapore reached 26,851 on October 9–15 (2022). Thus, on average, around 20 thousand to 30 thousand people enter Batam city (Riau Islands province) from Singapore per week," he noted.

The government will continue to monitor the global situation and the development of the transmission of the XBB variant, he stated.

To prevent large-scale transmission of the variant in Indonesia, the government is currently increasing health quarantine surveillance.

The surveillance is being carried out not only on overseas travelers, but also on transportation and shipments at cross-border posts (PLBNs), especially those arriving from countries affected by the XBB variant.

In addition, the Health Ministry is also trying to improve the vaccination coverage as well as the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) examination of the detected COVID-19 cases in all laboratories and health offices.

"All positive cases which we find must be further examined by Whole Genome Sequencing examination. Thus, we can find out the variants and sub-variants causing the cases as soon as possible," Adryanto said.

He also appealed to the public to bolster the observance of the health protocols and remain disciplined in implementing them.

"Let's make wearing masks and washing hands as our lifestyle. Then, secondly, let's complete our vaccination doses," he added. (Antaranews)

The Balinese philosophy of Tri Hita Karana may be able to encourage the G20 Summit participants to forge joint agreements to resolve global challenges, the President’s special staff coordinator Ari Dwipayana has said.

"The philosophy of Tri Hita Karana includes a harmonious relationship between humans and their God, fellow humans, as well as the environment to achieve happiness," he observed here on Thursday.

The official, along with Jean Couteau -- a French anthropologist who has lived in Bali since 1975 -- stressed the importance of introducing the philosophy during the implementation of the G20 Summit so that the meeting can provide concrete solutions to global problems, such as conflicts, economic crisis, hunger, socioeconomic inequality, and climate change.

Dwipayana said that the international conflicts being witnessed currently are problems of inharmonious interhuman relations.

Furthermore, climate change can be deemed the result of the problematic relationship between humans and nature. Currently, global warming has raised sea levels and affected marine life forms.

"The G20 Summit meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali (province), is a momentum to introduce the Balinese philosophy, which always maintains a harmonious relationship between humans and humans, humans and nature, and humans and God," Dwipayana, who is also the chairperson of Kauhan Ubud Temple Foundation, remarked.

He said he expects that by introducing the Tri Hita Karana philosophy at the summit, the heads of state of G20 nations will strive to maintain the harmony of the three relationships.

“The heads of state need to stop wars and rivalries, which end up destroying the world and its people. It must be prevented," he stressed.

Meanwhile, Couteau noted that there are a number of Balinese values that need to be invoked at the G20 Summit.

“Balinese people prioritize harmony and agreements, rather than differences. It is important for the G20 meeting (which is being hosted) in the midst of a tense global situation to jointly put aside differences as well as emphasize harmony and agreements," he said.

The G20 Summit – which will be held on November 15 and 16, 2022 -- must absorb the values and philosophies of the Balinese people to reach solutions and agreements to tackle the world economic crisis and climate change, which is threatening mankind, he added. (Antaranews)

Major U.S. stock indexes rose and European shares recovered losses on Thursday after strong U.S. economic data, while the British pound eased off mid-September highs.

Asian markets benefited from speculation among investors that major central banks are considering slowing their aggressive interest hikes, given signs of an economic slowdown.

U.S. treasury yields fell after data showed the country's economic growth rebounded more than expected in the third quarter.

Oil prices extended their rally on optimism over record U.S. crude exports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 1.67% and the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 0.73% by 10:31 a.m. ET (1431 GMT). The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) recovered early losses and was up 0.13%, overcoming pressure from this week's disappointing Big Tech earnings.

"The U.S. is not currently in recession, given the strength of the consumer sector. However, excluding the more volatile categories, the trajectory for growth looks weak," Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial, said.

"A silver lining is markets have possibly priced in much of the near-term recession risks."

Europe's STOXX 600 (.STOXX) touched its highest level since Sept. 20 as the European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde spoke. It was last up 0.21%.

The ECB raised rates by 75 basis points, in line with expectations, and signalled that it was keen to start shrinking its bloated balance sheet.

The more dovish tone pushed the euro back below parity against the U.S. dollar . Yields on the benchmark 10-year German bund dropped to a three-week low of 1.992% .

The MSCI world equity index (.MIWD00000PUS), which tracks shares in 47 countries, also recovered losses. It was up 0.62%, holding below Wednesday's five-week high.

London's FTSE 100 was up 0.34% (.FTSE) while Germany's DAX was up 0.13% (.GDAXI), both recovering earlier losses.

Investors are focused on the outlook for future rate hikes.

"We expect the ECB to slow its pace of rate rises, hiking 'only' another 50 bps in December," said Altaf Kassam, head of EMEA investment strategy and research at State Street Global Advisors.

Disappointing earnings have soured the mood in global markets in recent sessions. U.S. heavyweights including Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Alphabet inc (GOOGL.O) reported worse-than-expected earnings.

"Earnings have been better in Europe than they have in the U.S. mainly because of that mix of old economy, new economy," said Patrick Spencer, vice chairman of equities at Baird, referring to the dominance of technology companies in the United States compared to oil and materials companies in Europe.

Emerging market stocks extended gains to a third straight session. MSCI's index of EM stocks (.MSCIEF) was up more than 1%.

The Bank of Canada delivered a smaller-than-expected rate hike late on Wednesday, bolstering investors' hopes that central banks would slow their aggressive pace of rate hikes.

Data on Thursday also showed the Federal Reserve's interest rate increases hurt consumer spending.

The Fed is expected to deliver a 75-bps hike in November, but speculation that it may be less aggressive afterwards has led the dollar to decline 1.4% so far this week.

The yen gave back early gains seen ahead of Friday's Bank of Japan meeting. Most analysts expect the central bank to maintain its ultra-low interest rates .

Gold eased, weighed by the greenback's advance. Spot price were down 0.03%.

Brent crude futures were 1.3% while U.S. crude prices gained 1.25%. (Reuters)

The United States will give Pakistan a further $30 million in aid to help millions of people whose lives were disrupted by severe flooding in recent months, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said on Thursday.

"The new funding will expand efforts to address immediate needs, scaling up assistance to the most affected communities and enabling USAID to reach more than 4 million people," said a statement from the U.S. Embassy, referring to the U.S. government aid agency.

The funding would take the total in disaster-related assistance from the U.S. to Pakistan this year to $97 million.

Pakistani officials have estimated damage from torrential monsoon rains that killed over 1,000 people and displaced tens of millions at more than $40 billion.

Some Pakistani leaders have said the world needs to do more to provide financial support to the South Asian nation, which is highly vulnerable to climate-related disasters despite having produced a tiny fraction of global greenhouse case emissions.

U.S. Ambassador Donald Blome said during a visit to flood-hit areas in the southern province of Sindh that the new assistance would help with food and medical support as well as providing shelter supplies for homeless citizens in the lead up to winter.

This month, the United Nations revised up its humanitarian aid appeal for Pakistan five-fold to $816 million from $160 million, as a surge of water-borne diseases and fear of growing hunger posed new dangers after weeks of unprecedented flooding. (Reuters)