VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Saudi Arabia government opened domestic pilgrims to perform Umrah pilgrimages starting on Oct. 4 and pilgrims from abroad starting Nov. 1, 2020, as quoted by Reuters, on Wednesday.

Initially, the country does not allow the small pilgrimage since March due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The reopening of Umrah enables up to 6,000 citizens and residents in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah every day.

According to the SPA report, only 30 percent of the normal capacity of 20,000 pilgrims are allowed to perform the daily Umrah pilgrimage as a measure to prevent transmission of the virus.

The capacity of the new daily umrah will be increased to 75 percent after two weeks, on Oct. 18, 2020.

Meanwhile, for the opening in early November, Saudi Arabia will only allow Umrah pilgrims from countries that are considered safe, with a capacity of 100 percent until the end of the pandemic.

Apart from Umrah, Saudi government also restricted pilgrimage (Hajj), which normally can gather around three million people from around the world, to only a few thousand domestic worshipers.

Official data shows that the Hajj and Umrah services bring in revenue for Saudi Arabia of up to $12 billion or equivalent to Rp177 trillion per year.

Confirmed Covid-19 infections by Saudi Arabia until Sep. 22, 2020 was 330,798 cases, an increase of about 500 new cases from the previous day, and a total death of 4,542 cases. (RRI)

Rescuers were trying to refloat hundreds of whales stranded on a sandbar off the remote west coast of the Australian island of Tasmania on Tuesday, hoping to end one of the country’s worst beaching events.

Government scientists estimated about 90 of around 270 pilot whales trapped in shallow water had died since the stranding was reported a day earlier.

Aerial footage showed large numbers of the animals largely prone on a wide sandbar at Macquarie Harbour, about 200 km (120 miles) northwest of the state capital Hobart, while others floundered in slightly deeper water.

“We’ve got animals that are semi-buoyant so it probably won’t take too much to refloat those animals closer to the deeper water and will involve just a bit of grunt from specialized crew in the water,” Kris Carlyon, a wildlife biologist with the state government, told local media.

Pilot whales are a species of oceanic dolphin that grow to 7 meters (23 ft) long and can weigh up to 3 tonnes. Drawing them back out to sea is a labor-intensive process that can include physically pushing the animals or using specialized tarpaulins and pontoons to drag them to deeper water. Rescuers try to keep the whales upright to avoid disorientation.

Around 40 government scientists, 20 police officers, and local fish farmers and volunteers were involved in the rescue attempt, which experts said was the hardest they had encountered.

While the wet, cool conditions were beneficial for the whales, the rough waters and remote location were more challenging for their rescuers.

“It’s pretty ugly out there for people on the ground, but as far as the whales go it’s ideal,” Carlyon said. “If the conditions stay the same they can survive quite a few days.”

Scientists do not know why whales, which travel together in pods, sometimes beach themselves but they are known to follow a leader, as well as gather around an injured or distressed whale. (Reuters)

World leaders will come together, virtually, on Monday to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, as the deadly coronavirus pandemic challenges the effectiveness and solidarity of the 193-member world body.

As COVID-19, which emerged in China late last year, began to spread around the world, forcing millions of people to shelter at home and dealing a devastating economic blow, countries turned inward and diplomats say the United Nations struggled to assert itself.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Reuters that the pandemic has exposed the world’s fragilities. He plans to tell world leaders on Monday that they need to work together at a time when there is a surplus of multilateral challenges and a deficit of solutions.

The 15-member Security Council took months to back a call by Guterres for a global ceasefire - to allow countries to focus on fighting COVID-19 - due to bickering between the world’s biggest powers: China and the United States.

The 193-member General Assembly only adopted an omnibus resolution on a “comprehensive and coordinated response” to the pandemic earlier this month and it was not by consensus. The United States and Israel voted no.

A $10.3 billion U.N. appeal to fund fighting the pandemic in vulnerable and low-income countries is only a quarter funded. Guterres now has taken a lead in pushing to make sure any vaccine for the coronavirus is made available to everyone globally.

A senior European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the General Assembly should have acted months ago, but “we were all hampered by, and hit, by the COVID-19.”

‘MOMENTS OF DISAPPOINTMENT’

The United Nations headquarters is in New York, which was hit hard by the coronavirus. U.N. member states had to decide how to work virtually, which they did for several months before resuming some in-person meetings recently.

“We all suffered from the fact that we couldn’t meet ... A lot of attention was paid to process more than substance, unfortunately,” said the European diplomat. “I wouldn’t put the blame on the U.N. as an organization, it’s the member states that have to be more assertive and positive.”

A U.N. report released on Monday found that six out of ten people believe the United Nations has made the world a better place, but looking ahead three-quarters see the world body as essential in tackling global challenges.

“However, at the same time, over half still see the U.N. as remote from their lives and say they don’t know much about it,” the report said.

The one-day special event on Monday comes ahead of the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, which starts on Tuesday with no presidents or prime ministers physically present in New York. All statements have been pre-recorded and will be broadcast in the General Assembly hall.

The United Nations was created when countries came together after World War Two to prevent another such conflict. While there has not been World War Three, leaders will adopt a statement on Monday acknowledging “moments of disappointment.”

“Our world is not yet the world that our founders envisaged 75 years ago. It is plagued by growing inequality, poverty, hunger, armed conflicts, terrorism, insecurity, climate change, and pandemics,” the statement says.

“All this calls for greater action, not less,” it says. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Over 200 Indonesian Muslim pilgrims are still stuck in India because of the lockdown in the country.

"Our team, especially at the Indonesian Embassy in New Delhi and the Indonesian Consulate General in Mumbai, will continue to work hard to get 237 other pilgrims," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a press statement on Thursday.

Retno explained that the pilgrims are spread across several states in India, including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, New Delhi, Maharashtra, Kamataka, Bihar, and Jharkhand.

The ministry has repatriated 122 pilgrims on Wednesday.

"Thank God, they arrived safely in Jakarta this morning. With their return, we have successfully repatriated 515 pilgrims or 2/3 of the total pilgrims in India," Retno said.

She said this issue was the focus of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia-India Meeting, at the ASEAN meeting last Saturday. All delegations, especially the Indian Foreign Minister, responded well.

"Because this is the context that ASEAN and pilgrims are not only come from Indonesia but also from other ASEAN countries, so I called out to help the pilgrims to return to their respective countries. the Indian Foreign Minister responded well," she said.

Previously, more from 700 Indonesian Muslim pilgrims went to India to attend the annual meeting of the Islamic organization on March 3, 2020. Before they had time to return to their homeland, the government of India locked down the country.

The event was followed in over 80 countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, to the United States. (RRI)