VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged rich countries to tax windfall profits of fossil fuel companies and use that money to help countries harmed by the climate crisis and people who are struggling with rising food and energy prices.

Addressing world leaders at the 193-member U.N. General Assembly, the climate activist secretary-general stepped up his attacks on oil and gas companies, which have seen their profits explode by tens of billions of dollars this year.

"The fossil fuel industry is feasting on hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies and windfall profits while household budgets shrink and our planet burns," he said.

"Polluters must pay," he added.

While Guterres again pushed developed countries to tax the fossil fuel windfall profits, this time he also used his platform to spell out where the money should be spent.

"Those funds should be redirected in two ways: to countries suffering loss and damage caused by the climate crisis; and to people struggling with rising food and energy prices," he told the annual gathering of world leaders in New York.

Britain has passed a 25% windfall tax on oil and gas producers in the North Sea, while the European Union plans to raise more than 140 billion euros to shield consumers from soaring energy prices by taxing windfall profits from oil companies and electric generators. U.S. Democratic lawmakers have discussed a similar idea, though it faces long odds in a divided Congress.

While these plans focus on redirecting windfall profits to domestic consumers, the secretary general advocated for a tax that would be directed to the world's most climate vulnerable countries, which have been embracing the idea.

He also said multilateral development banks "must step up and deliver" and that helping poor countries adapt to worsening climate shocks "must make up half of all climate finance."

Guterres added: "Major economies are their shareholders and must make it happen."

The secretary general also broadened his criticism of oil and gas companies to enabling industries that he said helps keep carbon pollution growing, such as banks and other financial institutions that invest in those companies and the public relations and advertising industries.

"Just as they did for the tobacco industry decades before, lobbyists and spin doctors have spewed harmful misinformation," Guterres said. "Fossil fuel interests need to spend less time averting a PR disaster – and more time averting a planetary one." (Reuters)

 Former President Donald Trump's lawyers resisted revealing whether he declassified materials seized in an August FBI search of his Florida home as the U.S. judge appointed to review the documents planned his first conference on the matter on Tuesday.

Judge Raymond Dearie on Monday circulated a draft plan to both sides that sought details on documents Trump allegedly declassified, as he claimed publicly and without evidence, though his lawyers have not asserted that in court filings.

In a letter filed ahead of Tuesday's hearing, Trump's lawyers argued it is not time and would force him to reveal a defense to any subsequent indictment - an acknowledgement that the investigation could lead to criminal charges.

Dearie, a senior federal judge in Brooklyn, was selected as an independent arbiter known as a special master. He will help decide which of the more than 11,000 documents seized in the Aug. 8 search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home should be kept from the Justice Department's criminal investigation into the alleged mishandling of the documents.

Dearie will recommend to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon which documents may fall under attorney-client privilege or an assertion of executive privilege, which allows a president to withhold certain documents or information.

It is unclear whether the review would go forward as instructed by Cannon, the Florida judge appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020 who ordered the review.

Trump is under investigation for retaining government records, some marked as highly classified, at the resort in Palm Beach, his home after leaving office in January 2021. He has denied wrongdoing, and said without providing evidence that he believes the investigation is a partisan attack.

The Justice Department on Friday appealed a portion of Cannon's ruling, seeking to stay the review of roughly 100 documents with classified markings and the judge's restricting FBI access to them.

Federal prosecutors said the special master review ordered by the judge would hinder the government from addressing national security risks and force the disclosure of "highly sensitive materials."

On Tuesday, Trump's legal team filed its response to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, opposing the government's request and calling the Justice Department's investigation "unprecedented and misguided."

In their 40-page filing, Trump's attorneys said the court should not take the Justice Department at its word that the roughly 100 documents in question are in fact still classified, and said the special master should be permitted to review them as a step towards "restoring order from chaos."

In Cannon's order appointing Dearie as special master, she asked him to conclude his review by the end of November. She instructed him to prioritize the documents marked classified, though her process calls for Trump's counsel to review the documents, and Trump's lawyers may not have the necessary security clearance.

The Justice Department has described the special master process as unnecessary, as it has already conducted its own attorney-client privilege review and set aside about 500 pages that could qualify. It opposes an executive privilege review, saying any such assertion over the records would fail.

The August FBI search came after Trump left office with documents that belong to the government and did not return them, despite numerous requests by the government and a subpoena.

It is still unclear whether the government has all the records. The Justice Department has said some classified material still could be missing after the FBI recovered empty folders with classification markings from Mar-a-Lago. (Reuters)

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met with her Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, in New York on Monday to discuss preparations for the G20 Summit scheduled in Bali on November 15-16, 2022.

The Netherlands is one of the countries invited to the G20 Summit held under Indonesia's presidency. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is expected to attend the meeting.

"The global situation is indeed experiencing challenges and rivalries. Amid this very difficult situation, Indonesia expects all G20 member states to keep working, so that the G20 Summit will end with concrete cooperation to help global economic recovery," Marsudi stated during the meeting, according to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry's written statement released on Tuesday.

Hoekstra supported Indonesia's expectations and reiterated his country's backing for Indonesia's G20 Presidency.

"I express (our) gratitude and appreciation for Indonesia's leadership in managing G20 meetings so far," he told Marsudi during the meeting held on the sidelines of the High-Level Week of the 77th UN General Assembly in New York.

"One of the examples is that during the G20 foreign ministers' meeting, Indonesia succeeded in bringing together all foreign ministers of G20 member states and invited countries to sit together to discuss very sensitive issues," he remarked.

Hoekstra said the Netherlands was keen to witness Indonesia's success in leading G20. (Antaranews)

The demand from Australian tourists to visit Bali is very high, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno noted through an official statement on Tuesday.

This is supported by the relaxation of most travel restrictions, improving implementation of health and safety standards, new tourism product offers, and increasing efforts to amplify the uniqueness of Bali's culture.

"The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry is committed to maximizing the potential of Australian tourists to drive economic revival," he remarked.

The ministry strives to increase visits from Australian tourists by facilitating 18 hotel and resort industry actors to conduct a sales mission to Australia on August 22-25, 2022.

The sales mission, themed #itsTimeforBali and Explore Beyond Bali, comprises a series of activities that include one-on-one business meeting, table top meeting, and sales call in two cities, Melbourne, and Sydney.

During the table top meeting, Indonesian tourism actors conducted presentation and developed network with 150 agents and retailers from four main wholesalers in Australia: Flight Centre, Helloworld, Bali Tours, and Hoot Holidays.

In addition, the ministry utilizes the opportunity to establish network with other main industry players comprising Luxury Escapes and Ignite Holidays, mass customers, such as Flight Center, and airlines Virgin Australia and Garuda Indonesia.

"This activity is undertaken with the mission to strengthen the Wonderful Indonesia brand to remain on the top of the minds of tourists across the world, specifically the Australian market," the minister stated.

While Bali remains etched in the minds of tourists, he noted that Indonesia still has other breathtaking destinations, such as the natural beauty and culture in five super-priority tourism destinations.

These destinations comprise Borobudur in Central Java, Likupang in North Sulawesi, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, and Lake Toba in North Sumatra.

Moreover, the ministry utilizes the momentum of Indonesian tourism revival by introducing three additional destinations in the Australian tourists' vacation plan to Bali that comprise Labuan Bajo, Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, and Borobudur.

In 2019, a total of 1.4 million tourists from Australia visited Indonesia and 1.2 million of them, or around 85 percent, traveled to Bali.

Ever since international travel was reopened in March 2022, the number of Australian tourists that visited Indonesia continues to increase significantly, reaching 118,347 visitors during the period from January to June 2022.

"This sales mission is expected to be able to attract 3.6 million tourists with income equivalent to US$1.7 billion," Uno noted. (Antaranews)