VOINews, Jakarta - King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Monday opened the International Conference on Women in Islam in the city of Jeddah.

According to a press statement posted on the Union of the OIC News Agencies website on Monday, the three-day international conference has been organized by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The conference aims to highlight the successes of Muslim women and their role and contribution to the development of OIC member states.

The conference also aims to counter the negative propaganda that portrays Islamic religion as an obstacle to women's rights and to demonstrate that Islamic teachings have always been just toward women.

The conference will seek to create a detailed plan for legal reforms and political initiatives to foster justice and empower women in Islamic societies. The participants of the conference are also expected to adopt a comprehensive document entitled The Jeddah Document for Women in Islam.

The conference comprises five working sessions during which ministers, officials, scholars, and thinkers of both genders will delve into the status of women and their rights in Islam in addition to various issues related to women in contemporary societies.

During his speech at the opening session of the 49th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers held in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania on March 16–17, 2023, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, presented the Kingdom's initiative to host the International Conference on Women in Islam.

In his presentation, he underlined the Kingdom's commitment and active role in promoting the status and empowerment of women across all development sectors.

It is said that Saudi Arabia continuously supports the OIC's objectives and its efforts to preserve the rights of Muslim women and enhance their role in the development of member countries. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said he has submitted an offer to send a hospital ship to Palestine to help those in need of medical treatment amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

Speaking to journalists after receiving a courtesy call from the Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Zuhair Al-Shun here on Monday, Subianto informed that he had discussed the offer more deeply with the ambassador.

He said he had also reported the Defense Ministry's plan to send the hospital ship to President Joko Widodo and coordinated it with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

He disclosed that he will also coordinate the plan to send the hospital ship to Palestine with the Egyptian Ambassador in Jakarta about the detailed delivery procedure for the hospital ship.

Subianto said he had also told Palestine that all Indonesian military hospitals would welcome Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip who need medical treatment.

He informed that he has been coordinating with related parties to determine ways to get those in need of medical treatment to Indonesian military hospitals.

Subianto further said that 22 Palestinian cadets have arrived at Indonesia's Defense University to pursue undergraduate programs, including medicine and engineering, for five years.

"We officially receive them on Tuesday evening," he added.

In response to Indonesia's offer, Ambassador Al-Shun thanked the government and the people of Indonesia for their support and assistance for Palestine.

He said he had discussed the latest situation in Palestine and ways to put an immediate end to Israel's brutal killings of Palestinian civilians.

Ambassador Al-Shun also expressed gratitude for Indonesia's offer to send a hospital ship as well as for the opportunity it has given to 22 Palestinian cadets to study at Indonesia's Defense University.

Fresh armed conflict broke out between Palestine and Israel again following a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel early in the morning of October 7, 2023.

Prior to the assault by Palestinian liberation fighters, Israel had continued its closure of Gaza crossings.

Palestine's news agency WAFA reported on September 25 that the Israeli closure of Gaza crossings had worsened the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza.

According to WAFA, the Palestinians had already suffered from the severe impacts of "more than 17 years of tight Israeli land, sea, and air blockades."

Al Jazeera quoted Hamas, which governs Gaza, as stating that its assault on Israel was "a response to the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence."

In response to the unprecedented surprise attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and, according to Al Jazeera, pledged that the Israeli forces would "turn all Hamas hideouts into rubble."

The ongoing Israeli campaign in the Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million people, has resulted in the deaths of several thousand Palestinian civilians and prompted a humanitarian crisis. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Medical volunteer organization Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) has reported that the Indonesian-Palestinian Hospital is using vehicle parking lots and yards to treat victims of Israeli military attacks in Gaza.

The continued influx of a large number of victims has prompted the Indonesian Hospital management to use those outdoor spaces, president of the MER-C Indonesia presidium, Farid Thalib, said in Jakarta on Monday.

During an emergency, the Indonesian Hospital has the capacity to admit up to 800 people and accommodate 235 beds.

"Meanwhile, the latest information is that the number of people being treated continues to increase, to the point where almost 5 thousand people are currently being treated in the Indonesian Hospital parking lot, including refugees," Thalib informed.

MER-C Indonesia confirmed that 60–80 percent of the victims treated at the Indonesian Hospital have consisted of children and women with moderate to serious injuries.

He said that the increase in the number of patients is expected since the Indonesian Hospital is the only mainstay health service, especially in North Gaza.

The Indonesian government has been providing consistent humanitarian support for the victims. On Sunday (November 5, 2023), it distributed 7 tons of medical equipment to Palestinians who were victims of the conflict in Gaza.

The medical equipment assistance included equipment such as emergency kits for minor surgical needs as well as food for pregnant women and children aged under five.

"This includes clothes for health workers and two washing machines, which are also needed by Indonesian Hospital," Thalib said.

Besides the reliability of medical services provided by the Indonesian and Palestinian governments, which has continued to be improved, hospital security must also be ensured for humanitarian reasons, he added.

This is because the management of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza informed that it had been attacked and bombed by the Israeli military since early October 2023, which resulted in the death of 2 workers. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Foreign Affairs Ministry informed that humanitarian aid from Indonesia for victims of the conflict in the Gaza Strip arrived in Egypt on Monday.

Indonesian Air Force Hercules aircraft arrived at El Arish Airport, Egypt, with the aid around 8 a.m. local time on Monday.

"Thank you to the Indonesian people who have shown their solidarity with the Palestinian people. The aid has arrived at El Arish Airport and will be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent to be taken to the Gaza border," Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pahala Mansury, who directly supervised the aid delivery, informed in a written statement released on Monday.

After handing over the aid to representatives of the Egyptian Red Crescent, the Indonesian Air Force aircraft will prepare to return to Indonesia.

The aid will be taken to Gaza via the Rafah border and will be distributed to the victims by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) — two international humanitarian agencies operating at the center of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

On November 4, 2023, Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officially sent the aid from the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta.

The humanitarian aid consists of food, medical equipment, blankets, tents, and other logistical items, weighing a total of 51.5 tons. The delivery marks the provision of the first batch of aid from Indonesia for Gaza.

The aid was transported using three aircraft, including two C-130 Hercules aircraft with tail numbers A-1327 and A-1328 from Air Squadron 31 and Air Squadron 32 of the Indonesian Air Force, as well as one chartered Boeing 737 Garuda Indonesia aircraft. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian Agriculture Ministry has continued to strengthen the mechanism for transforming the nation's agricultural system from traditional to modern.

"In the current era of technological development, we must keep up with the modern agriculture method like other countries in Asia and Europe. The modern system is currently being implemented by our farmers in stages," Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said.

Speaking at the 2023 National Agricultural Instructors Gathering in Sigi, Central Sulawesi, on Monday, he said Indonesia is on par with Thailand as one of the agriculture producers in the Asian region, though, in previous years, its level of domestic mechanization was just 0.14 horsepower per hectare.

In 2019, Indonesia managed to catch up with Thailand's 2.1 horsepower per hectare mechanization.

Currently, the Indonesian government is aiming to match modern agriculture or the Japanese mechanization level of six horsepower per hectare, Sulaiman informed.

"Our domestic agriculture must keep up with the modern agriculture method. In other countries, spreading fertilizer has been carried out by unmanned aircraft or drones," he pointed out.

The minister said that the use of technology for carrying out agricultural activities has been very effective and efficient in the current era, therefore the contribution of millennial farmers is necessary to accelerate this transformation.

"Shifting the farmers' culture may take time. We need help from field agricultural instructors (PPL) who consistently communicate with farmers as working partners," he added.

The government's intervention to build a sustainable agricultural climate has included involving farmers of productive age in the formation of a forum through the Indonesian Youth Farming Movement (Gempita), which is focused on millennials, Sulaiman noted.

Considering that technological developments are increasing rapidly, agricultural solutions in the future must use digitalization, starting from cultivation activities to selling produce, the minister said.

"Attracting young people to enter the agricultural sector begins with creating an economic circulation of profits, then using the latest technology to support agriculture activities. The government is in the middle of intensifying those efforts," he added. (Antaranews)

VOI, Jakarta - President Xi Jinping said on Monday stable ties between China and Australia served each other's interests and both should expand their cooperation, sending a clear signal that Beijing was ready to move on from recent tensions.

China and Australia should promote the development of their strategic partnership as they build up mutual understanding and trust, Xi told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the first Australian leader to visit Beijing since 2016, at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of the Chinese capital.

A strong relationship "will be beneficial into the future," Albanese told Xi in their second face-to-face talks in a year, a meeting that lasted more than an hour.

For decades, China and Australia built a relationship on trade, with Beijing becoming Canberra's biggest commercial partner with purchases of Australian food and natural resources.

But ties soured after Australia in 2017 accused China of meddling in its politics. The following year, Australia banned equipment from Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co (HWT.UL) for its 5G network out of national security fears.

An Australian call in 2020 for an international inquiry into the origin of the COVID pandemic, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, infuriated Beijing, which responded with blocks on various Australian imports.

As relations deteriorated, China warned its students against studying in Australia, citing racist incidents, threatening a multi-billion-dollar education market.

Earlier on Monday, Albanese stopped by Beijing's iconic Temple of Heaven and posed for a photograph at the circular Echo Wall where Australia's then prime minister, Gough Whitlam, stood in 1973, a year after the two countries established ties. (Reuters)

VOI, Jakarta - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday that Australia has an interest in the continued stable growth of China's economy and its ongoing engagement with the world.

In opening remarks as the two leaders met at the Great Hall of the People, Albanese said a strong relationship between the two countries was "beneficial into the future".

"Australia, along with other countries in the region, has an interest in continued stable growth in the Chinese economy, and its ongoing engagement with the world ," he said, according to an official transcript from the Australian Prime Minister's Office.

Albanese said it was "important that we have communication" where differences arise. (Reuters)

VOI, Jakarta - India's Delhi city will restrict use of vehicles next week to curb rising pollution as air quality in the capital remained dangerously unsafe for a third consecutive day despite mitigation efforts.

New Delhi ranks among the world's top polluted cities every year ahead of the onset of winter, when calm winds and low temperatures trap pollutants from sources including vehicles, industries, construction dust, and crop residue burning in nearby fields.

A thick smog shrouded the federal secretariat and president's palace in the heart of the city early on Monday, and lowered visibility in other parts, as public outrage over hazardous air quality grew and the city extended closure of primary schools until Nov. 10.

The local government said that it will impose the "odd-even" vehicle rule from Nov. 13-20 to mitigate pollution levels that are expected to rise after the Hindu festival of Diwali on Nov. 12, when firecrackers are often set despite a ban.

The rule will allow vehicles with odd registration numbers on the road on odd dates and similarly vehicles with even numbers on alternate days.

Environmental experts have previously said that the rule, which has been imposed multiple times with some variations since 2016, has been more effective in de-congesting roads and less effective in bringing down pollution.

"In view of rising pollution, odd-even will be imposed in Delhi," Gopal Rai, the local environment minister, told reporters, adding that a meeting will be held with police and transport department on Tuesday to decide on the implementation.

Air quality was "severe" for a third consecutive day in the city on Monday, making it the second most polluted city in the world, behind Lahore in Pakistan, according to a real-time compilation by Swiss group IQAir.

A cricket World Cup match involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, however, went ahead in the city on Monday with organisers installing air purifiers in the players' dressing rooms and using water sprinklers to reduce pollutants in the air.

Curbs on vehicles are in addition to a ban on construction work for public projects in the national capital region, and restrictions on entry of trucks and heavy vehicles in Delhi, imposed by a federal pollution control watchdog on Sunday.

An analysis of 25 research studies by the Down To Earth magazine, published on Sunday, showed that poor air quality was linked to low birth weight, preterm delivery, stillbirth, developmental delay, restricted growth in children and even death. (Reuters)

VOI, Jakarta - Myanmar should cooperate with China to maintain stability on their common border, a Chinese official said on Monday, after a surge of fighting in Myanmar between junta forces and insurgents rocked the region.

Last week, Myanmar's ruling military said it was trying to restore order near the border after an alliance of ethnic minority armies battling for self-determination launched a series of coordinated attacks on junta targets.

"Myanmar is called on to cooperate with China to maintain stability along the China-Myanmar border, earnestly ensure the safety of the lives and property of Chinese border residents, and take effective measures to strengthen the security of Chinese personnel," said Nong Rong, assistant Chinese foreign minister.

A spokesperson for Myanmar's ruling military was not immediately available for comment.

The Asia Times news site reported that one Chinese citizen was killed and several were wounded on Saturday when a shell fired by the Myanmar military over-shot its target and struck on the Chinese side of the border.

Nong, who visited Myanmar on Nov. 3-5, said China hoped Myanmar would restore stability, and it supported all parties to properly handle differences and achieve reconciliation through dialogue as soon as possible.

Thailand is trying to bring home 162 of its nationals trapped by the fighting in Myanmar.

Myanmar has been in chaos since a military coup in February 2021 unseated a democratically elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. (Reuters)

VOI, Jakarta - The United States, South Korea and Japan have agreed to launch a high-level consultative group on countering North Korean cyber activities that they say finance its unlawful weapons programs, South Korea's presidential office said on Monday.

Anne Neuberger, U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, held talks with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Washington last week. They agreed to hold quarterly meetings under the new framework, the presidential office said.

"It is aimed at strengthening the three countries' effective response capabilities against global cyber threats, including jointly countering North Korea's cyber activities that are abused as a key source funding its nuclear and WMD programs," the office said in a statement.

The announcement comes after the leaders of the three countries agreed at a summit in August at Camp David that they would establish a new trilateral working group for the North's cyber threats.

Sanctions monitors have accused North Korea of using cyberattacks to gather funds for its nuclear and missile programs, and a United Nations report said the North stepped up its cryptocurrency theft last year, using sophisticated techniques to steal more in 2022 than any other year.

North Korea has denied allegations of hacking or other cyberattacks. (Reuters)