VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 23: Passengers check in for United Airlines flights at O'Hare International Airport on January 23, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. United Airlines said Monday it expects to face a loss in its first quarter due to the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 jets due to safety concerns. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

VOInews, Jakarta: United Airlines announced Wednesday it will resume flights to Israel next month, becoming the first US carrier to bring back flights since last fall's suspensions with the outbreak of war in Gaza.

United plans initial flights to Tel Aviv from its New York-area hub in Newark, New Jersey on March 2 and 4, with a goal of having daily non-stop service restored from March 6.

"United conducted a detailed safety analysis in making this decision, including close work with security experts and government officials in the United States and Israel," the US carrier said in a news release.

"United will continue to monitor the situation in Tel Aviv and adjust the schedule as warranted," the company said.

The company hopes to bring back a second flight from Newark as soon as May, United said, adding that it would evaluate bringing back flights from San Francisco, Washington and Chicago as early as the fall.

United and US rivals Delta Air Lines and American Airlines suspended service to Israel after the October 7 attack by Hamas, which has been followed by an ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip by Israel.

A Delta spokesperson referred AFP to the company's January 19 statement canceling flights to Tel Aviv through April 30 that said the company is "continuously monitoring the security situation" in the region.

American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other companies that have resumed service to Israel include British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and RyanAir.

Source: jmb/dw/AFP

General view of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, taken on February 21, 2024. Foreign ministers of the G20 group of nations open a two-day meeting Wednesday in Brazil, with a bleak outlook for progress on a thorny agenda of conflicts and crises, from the Gaza and Ukraine wars to growing polarization. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP)

VOInews, Jakarta- Brazil criticized the "paralysis" of the UN Security Council on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine as it opened a G20 meeting Wednesday where the international community's deep divisions were on display.

The outlook is bleak for progress on the thorny agenda of conflicts and crises gripping the planet as foreign ministers from the world's biggest economies gather in Rio de Janeiro for the Group of 20's first high-level meeting of the year.

Opening the two-day meeting, which featured US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Brazil's top diplomat, Mauro Vieira, said the explosion of global conflicts shows international institutions like the United Nations are not working.

"Multilateral institutions are not properly equipped to deal with the current challenges, as has been demonstrated by the Security Council's unacceptable paralysis on the ongoing conflicts" in Gaza and Ukraine, Vieira said, adding the situation was costing "innocent lives."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell for his part warned multilateralism "is in crisis."

The Security Council has failed to act on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, held in check by Russian veto power, and has struggled to find a response to the war in Gaza, with Israel's ally the United States using its veto to block calls for a ceasefire, most recently Tuesday.

Brazil, which took over the rotating G20 presidency from India in December, has voiced hopes the group could be a forum to make progress on such questions.

But that likely took a hit when Lula ignited a diplomatic firestorm Sunday by accusing Israel of "genocide," comparing its military campaign in the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust.

The comments drew outrage in Israel, which declared him persona non grata, and could overshadow any bid to de-escalate the conflict via the G20.

Blinken, who met Lula Wednesday in Brasilia before heading to the G20, "made clear we disagree with (his) comments," a senior State Department official told journalists.

The secretary of state and Brazilian leader had a "frank exchange" in their more than 90-minute meeting at the presidential palace, the official said.

Source : AFP

(LtoR) German and a Chinese flag are seen flying in the wind from the Chancellery, as the dome of the Reichstag building, which houses the German lower house of Parliament, can be seen in the background, in Berlin on June 19, 2023, during a visit of China's Premier to Germany. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

VOInews, Jakarta: China's top diplomat Wang Yi will visit Germany for the Munich Security Conference then travel to Spain and France in the coming days, Beijing's foreign ministry said Thursday.

"From February 16 to 21... Minister of Foreign Afairs Wang Yi will attend the 60th Munich Security Conference where he will deliver a speech," a spokesperson said in a statement. 

He will then visit Spain and France, where he will "hold the China-France Strategic Dialogue", they added.

The annual security gathering in Munich brings together military elite from around the world and is seen as a barometer of transatlantic relations. It starts on Friday.

Wang will use his speech there to "elaborate on China's propositions on building a community with a shared future for mankind and advocating an equal and orderly multipolar world", the foreign ministry said.

His visit to Spain will be the Chinese foreign minister's first there in six years, Beijing said.

China said the visit will "consolidate mutual trust, enhance friendship, promote cooperation and enrich the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership".

Beijing also hopes to "deepen strategic communication, consolidate political mutual trust, advance practical cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges" with France, it said.

Source: AFP

International observers monitoring the election conduct at a polling station in Jimbaran, Badung District, Bali, Wednesday (February 14, 2024). ANTARA/Ni Putu Putri Muliantari/nbl.

VOInews, Jakarta: International observers monitored the election conduct at Polling Station No. 13, operated by an all-woman team, in Jimbaran Village, Badung District, Bali, under the General Elections Commission's (KPU's) Election Visit Programme.

Zahir Hassan, a Malaysian Parliament member who participated in the monitoring group, commended the election conduct observed in Bali. He also highlighted the high participation of women at the polling station.

“I am also convinced that the election conduct proceeded well, smoothly, and transparently because of the presence of the candidates' representatives (as witnesses),” Hassan stated here on Wednesday.

He also admitted to being amazed that Indonesian voters received five different ballot papers to vote for the president-vice president pair and members of the House of Representatives (DPR), Regional Representative Council (DPD), and regional legislatures at the province and city and district levels.

“In comparison, Malaysian voters will receive at most two ballot papers at one election. I think it is huge, and it will be a huge success if (the election is) organized properly,” the observer from Malaysia stated.

House of Representatives (DPR) Secretariat General’s deputy for parliamentary proceedings, Suprihatini, remarked that the observer group comprising 11 representatives from international organizations visited Polling Station No. 13 in Badung.

Meanwhile, the other group of observers in Bali monitored the election conduct at Polling Station No. 29 in Ungasan Village, also in Badung District, and at Polling Station No. 9 in Penglipuran Village, Bangli District.

“In total, 33 observers from 17 countries and international parliamentary organizations (observed the election in Bali),” Suprihatini revealed.

Moreover, Jimbaran village-level election organizing chief I Wayan Muliwan spoken of sensing pride that foreign observers monitored the election conduct in the village.

“The monitoring (allows) them to understand our election system, especially at the polling station operated by an all-women team that emphasized gender equality where men and women are not discriminated by their capability,” Muliwan stated.

Apart from the election conduct, the official also expressed hope that international observers would also spotlight Bali’s natural beauty when they return to their home country.

Source: ANTARA