VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Soldiers from the Indonesian National Army's Mechanized Battalion Task Force (Yonmek) Garuda Indobatt Contingent XXIII-R/UNIFIL clear debris from the road to open a logistics distribution route in South Lebanon. (11/4/2024). ANTARA/HO-Penerangan Satgas Yonmek TNI Konga XXIII-R/UNIFIL.

VOI News, Jakarta: The Foreign Ministry has emphasized that Indonesia will not withdraw Indonesian Defense Forces personnel from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and they will continue to carry out their duties.

"Indonesia's peacekeeping forces continue to carry out their duties based on the direction of the UNIFIL Force Commander while ensuring their safety and security," spokesperson of the ministry, Rolliansyah Soemirat said in a written statement released in Jakarta on Friday.

As reported by Antara News Agency (22/11), he stressed that Indonesia remains committed to supporting the UN Peacekeeping Mission (MPP) in southern Lebanon, which is in keeping with the mandate of the Constitution.

Indonesia, he said, is still the largest troop-contributing country to UNIFIL, with a total of 1,230 personnel.

Indonesia's commitment to continue serving in UNIFIL is in line with the UN's decision to keep peacekeeping troops in Lebanon, he added.

"The Indonesian government continues to communicate and coordinate with various parties to ensure the safety and security of its personnel in Lebanon," he said.

Soemirat also assured that TNI personnel in UNIFIL are still safe and healthy.

Earlier, Argentina became the first country to withdraw its troops from UNIFIL, citing safety concerns. The country had sent four personnel to UNIFIL.

The withdrawal of personnel from UNIFIL is the prerogative of each country, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, President Prabowo Subianto, during his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil on Sunday, reiterated Indonesia's commitment to continue supporting the strengthening of UN peacekeeping forces.

"The need for peacekeeping forces, we are ready to provide troops," Prabowo said, adding that Indonesia is ready to send peacekeeping forces to Palestine if needed.

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Pratikno (center), issuing a press statement in Jakarta on Friday (November 22, 2024). (ANTARA/Asep Firmansyah/rst)

VOI News, Jakarta:  Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Pratikno will discuss the proposal to eliminate the school zoning system with Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Abdul Mu'ti.

"We have not discussed it and will confirm it with Minister Mu'ti," Pratikno said on Friday as reported by Antara News Agency (22/11).

Earlier, Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka has asked Minister Mu'ti to eliminate the school zoning system in new student admissions (PPDB).

"During a meeting with the heads of education services, I stated to the Minister of Education regarding the elimination of the zoning system,"he said.

According to him, education is key for building a golden generation and Golden Indonesia 2045, therefore it is important to provide conveniences in accessing education.

Pratikno said he had heard the proposal from the vice president, and it is being processed by the minister of primary and secondary education.

Meanwhile, Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) said that the elimination of the school zoning system in PPDB must consider the aspirations conveyed by the community to the government so that it has a positive impact on the education sector.

"We should listen to the opinions of the public and stakeholders by inviting stakeholders, including Minister Mu'ti, education services, teachers, parents, and education observers, to discuss the effectiveness of zoning and public complaints," Commission X chair Hetifah Sjaifudian said.

Besides gathering opinions, the impact of the PPDB zoning system must be studied first, including conducting an in-depth evaluation of its positive and negative impacts since the system was implemented, she added.

According to her, the zoning system in PPDB is aimed at providing closer access to education, reducing disparities in school quality, and preventing discrimination in education.

However, Sjaifudian agreed that the system has its own flaws, such as the unpreparedness of educational facilities in various regions and disparities in quality between schools.

An illustration of social media apps. (Image: iStock) - 

VOInews, Sydney : Australia's centre-left government on Thursday (Nov 21) introduced a Bill in parliament that aims to ban social media for children under 16 and proposed fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$32 million) for social media platforms for systemic breaches.

Australia plans to trial an age-verification system that may include biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off, some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date.

The proposals are the highest age limit set by any country and would have no exemption for parental consent and no exemption for pre-existing accounts.

"This is a landmark reform. We know some kids will find workarounds, but we're sending a message to social media companies to clean up their act," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.

The opposition Liberal party plans to support the Bill though independents and the Green party have demanded more details on the proposed law, which would impact Meta Platforms' Instagram and Facebook, Bytedance's TikTok and Elon Musk's X and Snapchat.

But Albanese said children will have access to messaging, online gaming, and health and education related services, such as youth mental health support platform Headspace as well as Alphabet's Google Classroom and YouTube.

The Albanese-led Labor government has been arguing excessive use of social media poses risks to physical and mental health of children, in particular the risks to girls from harmful depictions of body image, and misogynist content aimed at boys.

A number of countries have already vowed to curb social media use by children through legislation, but Australia's policy is one of the most stringent.

France last year proposed a ban on social media for those under 15 but users were able to avoid the ban with parental consent. The United States has for decades required technology companies to seek parental consent to access the data of children under 13.

"For too many young Australians, social media can be harmful. Almost two-thirds of 14 to 17-year-old Australians have viewed extremely harmful content online, including drug abuse, suicide or self-harm," Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told parliament on Thursday.

The law would force social media platforms, and not parents or young people, to take reasonable steps to ensure the age-verification protections are in place//CNA-VOI

FILE PHOTO: U.S. dollar and Euro notes are seen in this November 7, 2016 picture illustration. Picture taken November 7. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo

VOInews, Tokyo : The euro plunged to a two-year low on Friday after data showed a tumble in euro zone business activity, and caused markets to up bets on ECB rate cuts, while bitcoin hit a record high just shy of $100,000.

The common currency dipped over 1 per cent at one point to its lowest level since November 2022, and was last down 0.6 per cent on the day at $1.0412 after the data, which showed the bloc's dominant services industry contracted and manufacturing had sunk deeper into recession.

Markets also raised their expectations of European Central Bank rate cuts, and see a more than 50 per cent chance of a larger-than-usual 50 bp rate cut in December.

Francesco Pesole, currency strategist at ING, said in advance of the release that the PMI figures were "arguably the most important data input for the European Central Bank and the euro".

"The release has risen from being almost disregarded to a de-facto critical input for policy decision, given the Governing Council’s greater focus on forward-looking indicators of growth."

The euro also fell 0.44 per cent against the Swiss franc. It weakened against the pound but then pared declines after soft British PMI data.

The euro has been weakening against the dollar since Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election. Recent escalations in fighting between Russia and Ukraine and political uncertainty in Germany, the bloc's biggest economy, have further weighed on the currency in recent weeks.

Britain's pound was also under pressure, down 0.5 per cent at $1.257, after British retail sales fell by much more than expected in October, and PMI data showed British business output had shrunk for the first time in more than a year.

Further signs of slowing economic growth could cause the Bank of England to soften its monetary stance. The index that tracks the dollar against six main peers was up 0.43 per cent at 107.5, its highest since November 2022.

The index has appreciated sharply this month on expectations that President-elect Donald Trump's policies could reignite inflation and limit the Fed's ability to cut rates, keeping other currencies under pressure.

Trump floated the idea of appointing Kevin Warsh as Treasury Secretary on the understanding that he could later be Federal Reserve chairman, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter//CNA-VOI