VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The third Indonesia-Britain Joint Defense Cooperation Dialogue was held at the British Ministry of Defense on Wednesday (November 24, 2021), (ANTARA/HO-KBRI London) - 

Indonesia and Britain have agreed to renew a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on defense cooperation that was inked in 2012.

The two countries reached the agreement at the third Indonesia-Britain Joint Defense Cooperation Dialogue held at the British Ministry of Defense, the Indonesian Embassy in London informed in a statement released on Saturday.

“Indonesia-Britain defense relations have a strategic value for Indonesia, particularly to strengthen the capacity of defense human resources and advance the defense industry,” the Indonesian Ambassador to Britain, Desra Percaya, told the Indonesian delegation during the meeting.

Director general of defense strategy at the Defense Ministry, Major General Rodon Pedrason, led the Indonesian delegation, which comprised representatives from the Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, and the National Defense Forces (TNI).

Meanwhile, the British delegation was led by Air Vice Marshall Alastair Smith, Assistant Chief of Defense Staff on Military Strategy and Global Engagement.

JDCD is a bilateral dialogue in the defense field that the two countries initiated in June 2019, coinciding with the commemoration of 70 years of Indonesia-Britain bilateral relations.

The two countries host the dialogue in rotation. In 2021, the dialogue was held in Britain.

This year, the dialogue covered several areas of defense cooperation such as the political and security situation in the Indo-Pacific region, capacity building, and the defense industry, the Indonesian Embassy informed.

In addition, the third JDCD also evaluated the implementation of the outcome of the second JDCD as well as future concrete programs that the two countries have agreed upon, it said.

The defense cooperation between the two countries has been deemed comprehensive and included humanitarian aid and disaster mitigation in the wake of a powerful earthquake and tsunami that devastated Central Sulawesi capital Palu in 2018, it noted.

The cooperation also covers military education and transfer of technology in the defense industry, the embassy said.

Britain has expressed an interest in strengthening its presence in the rest of the world following its exit from the European Union. The British interest is contained in the Global Britain vision, the embassy noted.

Specifically, Britain has described the Indo-Pacific region as one of the strategic areas for developing cooperation//ANT

Head of the National Civil Service Agency (BKN), Bima Haria Wibisana (right), accompanied by head of the East Java Province Human Resources Development Agency, Aries Agung Paewai, on Saturday (November 27, 2021). (ANTARA PHOTO/Fiqih Arfani/rst) - 

Head of the National Civil Service Agency (BKN) Bima Haria Wibisana has urged all state civil servants (ASN) to cancel their collective leave during the approaching Christmas and New Year holidays.

"For ASN who have long intended to take year-end leave for vacation or homecoming, please immediately cancel it," he said at the East Java Province Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDM) Building on Saturday.

A regulation has been issued by the Minister for Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, Tjahjo Kumolo, regarding the ban on collective leave at the end of this year, he noted.

The policy is outlined in the Circular Letter of the Minister for Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Number 26 of 2021 concerning Restrictions on Traveling Outside the Region and/or Leave for ASN Employees During the 2021 Christmas and New Year 2022 Period amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

The regulation has been issued as a follow-up to the Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 62 of 2021 regarding the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 during the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year, Wibisana informed.

The circular from the Minister for Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Number 13 of 2021 also forbids ASN from taking leave and traveling outside the region in the same week as a national holiday, starting December 20, 2021, and also before and after the period, he noted.

The prohibition does not apply to ASN on maternity leave and sick leave, he said.

"Of course, there are dispensations in emergencies, such as illness or maternity leave," he informed.

He also said that civil servants who continue to take leave and travel outside the city will face sanctions.

"If they are being reckless and then come home being infected with COVID-19, causing a cluster in their neighborhood, then this is a serious violation because it endangers the public. The sanctions will be very heavy for them," Wibisana warned.

He asked ASN to be patient and stay vigilant amid the sloping cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia.

"Please be patient. There is no need to travel during the year-end holidays. Just stay at home, for the sake of everyone," he added//ANT

FILE PHOTO: Health workers in hazmat suits walk outside the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital in Manila, Philippines, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David - 

The Philippines has slashed its inoculation target for an ambitious three-day national vaccination push due to a shortage of supplies and other logistical challenges, authorities said on Saturday (Nov 27).

The Southeast Asian nation is facing the region's second-highest COVID-19 infections and deaths, and officials tagged vaccination as key to a sustainable economic recovery in what was one of the region's fastest-growing economies before the pandemic.

Target vaccination output for the Nov 29 to Dec 1 "National Vaccination Days" was cut to nine million from 15 million, the national task force said in a statement. The targeted three million shots a day is nearly four times the country's 829,000 average daily doses for November.

"There is currently a shortage in ancillary supplies, particularly syringes for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines and other logistical challenges," the task force said.

While 95 per cent of the capital region's eligible population were already fully vaccinated, barely half of residents in the provinces have completed their inoculation, government data show. The Philippines has so far fully inoculated roughly 35 million or 45 per cent of its eligible population.

To achieve its goal of inoculating 54 million Filipinos by year-end, the government will hold another three-day national inoculation event from Dec 15 to 17.

The national vaccination days aim to increase the Philippines' first-dose coverage to 70 per cent from 58 per cent and increase the booster jabs, while the Dec 15 to 17 activities will focus on second doses and boosters.

"Again, we enjoin everyone to get vaccinated and be a hero to your family and loved ones," the task force said.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Philippines has reported 2.83 million infections and 48,017 coronavirus-related deaths, as it remains on alert for Omicron, which the World Health Organization has described as a "variant of concern"//CNA

FILE PHOTO: People sit in the arrivals section of the international terminal of Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney, Australia, March 21, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott - 

Australia imposed new restrictions on Saturday (Nov 27) on people who have been to nine southern African countries, as the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 raises concerns about another wave of the pandemic.

The countries are South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, the Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique.

Effective immediately, the government will ban non-citizens who have been in those countries from entering and will require supervised 14-day quarantines for Australian citizens and their dependents returning from the countries, said Health Minister Greg Hunt.

These restrictions also apply to people such as international students and skilled migrants arriving from countries with which Australia has travel bubbles, who have been in any of the nine countries within the past 14 days.

"If the medical evidence shows that further actions are required, we will not hesitate to take them. And that may involve strengthening or expanding the restrictions," he said.

Anyone who has already arrived in Australia and who has been in any of those countries within the past 14 days must immediately isolate and be tested.

The Australian government will also suspend all flights from the nine southern African countries for two weeks.

Twenty travellers from South Africa are in quarantine in the Northern Territory's Howard Springs facility, 19 of whom have returned negative coronavirus tests. It is not yet known if the one positive test result is the Omicron variant, Hunt said.

The discovery of the variant - which has a spike protein dramatically different from the one that existing vaccines are based on - triggered global alarm on Friday as countries rushed to suspend travel from southern Africa and stock markets suffered their biggest falls in more than a year.

Australia early this month eased its international border restrictions for the first time during the pandemic allowing fully vaccinated residents to return to the country without quarantine after higher vaccination levels.

Australia had largely stamped out infections for most of this year until an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant in late June spread rapidly across its east. About 205,000 cases and 1,985 deaths have been recorded so far, lower than many other countries in the developed world//CNA