VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The 89th stage of vaccine arrival comprised 601,380 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, Thursday (October 14, 2021). (ANTARA/HO) - 

Hundreds of thousands of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine doses arrived in Indonesia on Thursday, marking the 89th and 90th stages of vaccine arrival in the country.

"As directed by President Joko Widodo, vaccine doses that have arrived must be immediately distributed and then be administered to the community. Hence, the faster the community is vaccinated, the more protected we are from COVID-19," Director General of Information and Public Communication at the Ministry of Communications and Informatics, Usman Kansong, noted in a press statement, Thursday.

The 89th stage of vaccine arrival comprised 601,380 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the form of finished products, thereby bringing the number of Pfizer vaccine doses received by Indonesia to 16.3 million as of October 14.

The Pfizer vaccine supplies, on arrival, were immediately distributed to eight provinces: South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, North Maluku, North Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Maluku, West Sulawesi, and West Java.

Meanwhile, the 90th stage, which also arrived on the same day, comprised 672,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The country received a total of 282,490,700 doses through the arrivals of vaccines from various brands.

Kansong stated that increasing vaccination coverage in regions is essential for the country to achieve herd immunity. Hence, sufficient vaccine stocks are necessary.

Apart from vaccination, he also appealed to the public to comply with the health protocols.

In a bid to boost immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government has launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, and President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.

According to the Health Ministry's data, as of October 14, 2021, as many as 104,308,702 citizens had received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 60,422,073 Indonesians had been fully vaccinated//ANT

This US Navy photo obtained May 19, 2020 shows the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) as it is moored pier side at Naval Base Guam on May 15, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Conner D Blake/US Naby) -- 

The US Navy said on Thursday (Oct 14) that personnel who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will be expelled from the force, ahead of the Nov 28 deadline for the injection.

"With COVID-19 vaccines now mandatory for all military members, the Navy has announced plans to start processing for discharge those who refuse vaccination without a pending or approved exemption," it said in a statement.

It was the first clear indication by the Pentagon of what would happen to service members who reject the vaccines, which became mandatory at the end of August.

Until now military officials had avoided answering what would happen to those who refuse to be vaccinated.

The navy said that 98 per cent of its 350,000 active duty members had begun or completed the vaccination process.

For the US military overall, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that 96.7 per cent of the nearly 1.4 million active duty personnel had received at least one dose, and 83.7 per cent two doses.

Including military reserves, though, the level was just 80 per cent with at least one dose.

If all the services take the same hard line that the navy is taking, it risks losing as many as 46,000 troops, though presumably more will accept vaccinations before the deadline.

Vice Admiral John Nowell, the chief of naval personnel, said the navy force has been hit with 164 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

Of them 144 were known to have not been immunised, while the status of the other 20 was unclear.

People expelled for refusing the vaccine will receive a general honourable discharge, but could lose certain benefits or be forced to repay the cost of training and education in some cases, the statement said.

Navy personnel who can claim an exemption from mandatory vaccines, for health or other reasons, can be reassigned from their current duties.

The navy has been particularly sensitive to the pandemic, because of the risk that a single COVID-19 case could infect an entire ship or submarine at sea, forcing it out of action.

Last year the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was struck by an outbreak that infected around a quarter of the 4,800 crew, forcing the warship to remain in port in Guam for disinfection for several weeks//CNA

Police work at the scene where an arrow was shot into a wall in Kongsberg, Norway, Oct 13, 2021. A man armed with a bow and arrows killed several people Wednesday near the Norwegian capital of Oslo before he was arrested, authorities said. (Photo: Torstein Bøe/NTB via AP) - 

Norway said on Thursday (Oct 14) a bow-and-arrow attack that killed five people appears to have been an "act of terror," with the suspect a Danish Muslim convert previously known to police over fears he had been radicalised.

Four women and a man were killed, and three other people wounded during the rampage on Wednesday in the south-eastern town of Kongsberg in Norway's deadliest attack in a decade.

"There is no doubt that the actual act appears as if it could be an act of terror, but it's important that the investigation continues and that we establish the motive of the suspect," the head of Norway's intelligence service PST, Hans Sverre Sjovold, told a news conference.

Police official Ole Bredrup Saeverud had told reporters earlier in the day the man was believed to be a Muslim convert, adding: "There were fears linked to radicalisation previously."

Police have identified the suspect as Espen Andersen Brathen, a 37-year-old Danish citizen who was a resident of the area, and said he had confessed during questioning.

Reports that linked him to radicalisation pre-date this year, Saeverud said, and police followed up at the time. "We haven't had any reports about him in 2021, but earlier," he said.

"We're relatively sure that he acted alone."

PST also confirmed the suspect was known to them but declined to disclose further details.

A judge will rule Friday morning whether to remand him in custody and a psychiatric evaluation had begun on Thursday.

Police prosecutor Ann Iren Svane Mathiassen said the evaluation could take "maybe a couple of months".

"This is a person who has been in and out of the health system for some time," Sjovold also told the news conference, confirming the man's mental health was a potential issue.

Norwegian media reported that Brathen was subject to two prior court rulings, including a restraining order against him regarding two close family members after threatening to kill one of them and a conviction for burglary and purchasing narcotics in 2012.

Kongsberg, a picturesque town of 25,000 people with wooden facades and the foliage changing colour for the autumn, was largely quiet on Thursday.

Knut Olav Ouff, 54, told AFP he was about to light a cigarette on the doorstep when he found himself in the middle of the tragedy.

"I saw a friend of mine cowering behind a car and then suddenly heard a 'thung'," he said. "I could hear the tinkling of the arrow hitting the streets. And after that I could see a man drawing a kid out of a car and running towards my house."

Streets were almost empty Thursday with only a light police presence.

A few police officers stood outside a store where part of the attack took place. A glass door there was chipped by a shot.

Candles flickered outside the town's church.

Norwegian media questioned why it took police more than a half-hour to arrest the suspect after the first reports of the attack.

Police were informed of the attack at 6.13pm and the suspect was arrested at 6.47pm. He fired arrows at police, who responded with warning shots, Saeverud said.

Norwegian police are not normally armed, but after the attack, the National Police Directorate ordered that officers be armed nationwide.

Norway rarely experiences such violence, but 10 years ago Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in the country's worst massacre since World War II.

Several planned militant attacks have also been foiled by security services//CNA

Polish Army soldiers are seen in front of the Border Guard headquarters in Michalowo, Poland October 11, 2021. REUTERS - 

Poland's parliament passed legislation on Thursday (Oct 14) that human rights advocates say aims to legalise pushbacks of migrants across its borders in breach of the country's commitments under international law.

Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have reported sharp increases in migrants from countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq trying to cross their frontiers from Belarus, in what Warsaw and Brussels say is a form of hybrid warfare designed to put pressure on the EU over sanctions it imposed on Minsk.

Rights groups have criticised Poland's nationalist government over its treatment of migrants at the border, with accusations of multiple illegal pushbacks. Six people have been found dead near the border since the surge of migrants.

Border guards argue they are acting in accordance with government regulations amended in August and now written into law. The legislation must now be signed by President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the ruling nationalists, to take force.

The amendments include a procedure whereby a person caught illegally crossing the border can be ordered to leave Polish territory based on a decision by the local Border Guard chief.

The order may be appealed to the commander of the Border Guard, but this does not suspend its execution.

Additionally, the bill allows the chief of the Office of Foreigners to disregard an application for international protection by a foreigner immediately caught after illegally crossing the border.

Under international law, migrants have a right to claim asylum and it is forbidden to send potential asylum-seekers back to where their lives or well-being might be in danger.

The EU's home affairs commissioner has said EU countries need to protect the bloc's external borders, but that they also have to uphold the rule of law and fundamental rights.

Critics such as Poland's Human Rights Ombudsman and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights say the new law does not guarantee effective recourse for people - migrants or refugees - seeking international protection.

"If there are people who have a legitimate request to seek asylum, there should be a way to allow that to happen," ODIHR director Matteo Mecacci told Reuters.

"I understand there are also security concerns ... but security concerns cannot completely overrun the need for international protection."//CNA