VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A Pakistani court on Monday extended former Prime Minister Imran Khan's pre-arrest bail for eight more days on terrorism charges relating to a speech in which he allegedly threatened police and judicial officers, his lawyer said.

Khan, who appeared in court in person, was booked in the case by police in August. This is the fourth time he has secured pre-arrest bail in the matter.

"Bail is extended till 20th September with the same sureties," Khan's lawyer, Babar Awan, told Reuters.

Khan has denied he threatened the officials, saying his words were taken out of context.

"This amounts to making a mockery of the anti-terrorism law; making a mockery of our country," he told journalists outside the court on Monday after he secured his bail.

The terrorism case is one of a spate of legal woes for Khan, who was ousted as prime minister by a parliamentary vote in April.

The court said last week it would indict Khan in a contempt of court case in coming days in a matter that poses a threat to his future as it could see him disqualified from politics for at least five years.

Khan, who still enjoys widespread support, has been holding political gatherings across the country to pressure the government into holding snap elections. Officially, general elections are not due until November next year.

The government says the polls will take place on time and has rejected Khan's call for early elections.

It is at one of these rallies that Khan thundered against police and judicial officials. He has also targeted the top brass of the country's military, which issued a rare direct public rebuke of Khan for his statements earlier this month. (Reuters)

Efforts to tackle AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria began to recover last year after being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but the world is still not on track to defeat these killer diseases, according to a report.

In its 2022 report, released on Monday, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said the numbers of people reached with treatment and prevention efforts rebounded last year after declining for the first time in almost 20 years in 2020.

However, all the ground lost has not been regained, said Peter Sands, head of the Fund, a public/private alliance based in Geneva.

"Most countries have done an impressive job of bouncing back from the terrible disruption of 2020 ... but we are not where we want to be. Far too many people are still dying of these diseases," he told Reuters last week.

For example, the numbers treated for tuberculosis fell by 19% in 2020, to 4.5 million. In 2021, this went back up by 12%, to 5.3 million - still just below the 5.5 million on treatment pre-pandemic. While malaria and AIDS programmes did exceed 2019 levels, the pandemic's impact means they are still off-track on the aim of ending the diseases by 2030.

Sands also warned that the impact of the global food crisis, exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, would make the situation worse.

Infectious diseases are usually much deadlier for people whose bodies are weakened by malnutrition, and they also do not respond as well to treatment or prevention efforts. As such, Sands said it was "likely" that the Fund would have to work with partners to provide more nutritional support than it ever has before in order to continue to save lives.

The report estimates that the Fund's work with countries has saved around 50 million lives since its inception in 2002. It spent $4.4 billion to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on its key areas, and fight the pandemic, from March 2020 on.

To continue its work, the Global Fund is now aiming to raise $18 billion for its next three-year funding cycle, from governments, civil society and the private sector. It has already raised more than a third of the total and there are plans for a pledging conference next week, hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden. (Reuters)

A U.N. expert on Monday said that human rights had deteriorated under the Taliban, describing a "descent towards authoritarianism" and calling for radical changes.

"The severe rollback of the rights of women and girls, reprisals targeting opponents and critics, and a clampdown on freedom of expression by the Taliban amount to a descent towards authoritarianism," Richard Bennett, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, told a Human Rights Council meeting.

The mandate to monitor human rights violations in Afghanistan was established by the Geneva-based council almost a year ago in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover last August and is now up for renewal. (Reuters)

Ukraine and Russia are interested in the U.N. atomic watchdog's proposal that a protection zone be created around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the watchdog's chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday, describing it as a ceasefire.

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for shelling at the site of Europe's biggest nuclear power plant that has damaged buildings close to its six reactors and risked nuclear catastrophe, including by cutting power lines essential to cooling fuel in the reactors even though they are all shut down.

Grossi has called both for an immediate stop to shelling and a more formal "nuclear safety and security protection zone" around the plant.

"I have seen signs that they are interested in this agreement," he told a news conference when asked about the progress of talks with Russia and Ukraine on the zone. "What I see is two sides that are engaging with us, that are asking questions, lots of questions."

Issues being discussed include the radius of the zone and the role of IAEA staff, Grossi said. Two IAEA officials are currently stationed at the plant and form what the agency calls a continuous presence there.

Asked if his proposal was for a ceasefire rather than a removal of all military equipment or personnel, Grossi said what he was suggesting encompassed a ceasefire.

"It includes that. It may include other things," he said, adding: "Basically it's a commitment that no military action will include or will imply aiming, of course, at the plant, or a radius that could be affecting its normal operation. This is what we expect." (Reuters)