VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A Screenshot, Indonesian President Joko Widodo Inagurating Bangkit Stadium, Papua Saturday (02/10/21) - 

President Joko Widodo on Saturday inaugurated 7 sports arenas in Jayapura that will be used as venues to compete the games at PON XX in Papua. The seven arenas are Istora Papua Bangkit, Aquatic, Cricket, Hockey, Rowing, Archery, and Roller Skatearena.

Speaking after signing the PON XX Venue Inscription at Istora Papua Bangkit, President Joko Widodo hoped that a number of venues could be utilized as much as possible for the nurturing and development of Papuan athletes.

" These venues are useful as a place for selecting the best sports novices for Papuan athletes to excel at both the national and world levels" President said. 

The seven arenas built according to the international standards with advanced innovations, construction that is energy efficient and environmentally friendly. According to the President, the construction of the sports arena was carried out to support the implementation of the PON, which was the first to be held in Papua.

The President said he hopes that the community and all related parties can maintain, care for, and utilize it.

"After being able to build these best venues, our work is not finished yet. The next task is to maintain, care for, and make the best use of this venue. I don't want that after PON is over, the facilities, which have been built with huge funds and with international standards, will become a lonely place. Not maintained and eventually damaged. This is what we don't want to do" President added. 

In the inauguration of the seven sports arenas, Head of House of Representatives Puan Maharani, Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuk Hadimuljono, Chairperson of BKPM Bahlil Lahadalia and a number of related parties were also present//VOI-NDY-PTR

John Kerry, the United States special presidential envoy for climate, arrives for a news conference during the pre-COP26 climate meeting in Milan on Oct 2, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapane) - 

The world's major economies must "stretch to do more" at next month's United Nations climate talks to show that they are serious about wanting to tackle global warming, United States climate envoy John Kerry said on Saturday (Oct 2).

The COP26 conference in Glasgow aims to secure more ambitious climate action from the nearly 200 countries that signed the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well below 2.0 degrees Celsius - and to 1.5 degrees Celsius preferably - above pre-industrial levels.

"We now have about 55 per cent of global (gross domestic product) committed to undertake tracks that will hold the temperature to 1.5 degrees. There are other countries now sharpening their pencils," Kerry said during a pre-COP26 meeting in Milan, Italy.

"Well below 2.0 degrees Celsius means well below ... the common sense meaning of that is not 1.9, 1.8 or 1.7 (degrees)," he added.

New energy and funding pledges from the US and China have raised negotiators' hopes, but many Group of Twenty (G20) countries - including major polluters such as China and India - have yet to announce updates of their short-term climate action plans.

Youth climate activists including Sweden's Greta Thunberg, who was in Milan this week, have demanded that policymakers match words with action and stump up billions of dollars to wean the world off fossil fuels.

They have also called for a transparent climate finance system and more grants to help the people most exposed to the impact of climate change.

Wealthy nations that pledged a decade ago to mobilise US$100 billion a year to help vulnerable countries adapt and transition to cleaner energy are still short of their 2020 goal.

Kerry said that he expected donors to fulfil the US$100 billion pledge, but added that a post-2025 finance plan "with an emphasis not just on billions, but on trillions" would be required.

"(The) private sector is needed for this ... We'll be announcing one specific agenda item in conjunction with the World Economic Forum," he said, without giving further details.

European Union climate commissioner Frans Timmermans echoed Kerry's call for radical and swift action.

"We're fighting for the survival of humanity," he told reporters.

Asked about coal mining, Timmermans said that the industry would gradually disappear even without specific climate action because it would eventually become economically unviable.

"I'd be highly surprised if there is still a significant coal mining industry after 2040," he said.

China and India, the world's top two coal producers, still rely on coal-fired power stations for a big share of their electricity supply.

"We're in a very constructive dialogue with India and China ... there is a wish by both countries to be part of the success," Timmermans added//CNA

FILE PHOTO: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte attends the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Summit in Singapore, November 15, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo - 

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday (Oct 2) he was retiring from politics, a surprise move that fuelled speculation he was clearing the way for his daughter to run to succeed him.

"Today, I announce my retirement from politics," Duterte said, accompanying loyalist Senator Christopher "Bong" Go from their ruling PDP-Laban party as he registered to run for vice president.

Duterte had been expected to run for vice president. He is not eligible to run again for the top job as the constitution sets a single-six-year term limit for the president.

Political observers had long suspected Duterte could spring a surprise, such as a presidential run by his daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, next year.

Duterte-Carpio, who replaced her father as mayor of Davao, said last month she was not running for higher office next year because she and her father had agreed only one of them would run for national office in 2022.

The older Duterte's decision not to join the race next year would clear her way.

"This allows Sara Duterte to run," said Antonio La Vina, professor of law and politics at the Ateneo de Manila University.

But La Vina said he could not rule out the possibility the firebrand leader could have a change of heart and be Go's substitute.

Candidates have until Friday to register, but withdrawals and substitutions are allowed until Nov 15, leaving scope for last-minute changes of heart, like the 11th-hour entry of Duterte for the 2016 election, which he won by a huge margin//CNA

A medical worker administers a COVID-19 test at a testing clinic during a lockdown in Auckland, New Zealand, Aug 26, 2021. (File photo: REUTERS/Fiona Goodall) - 

New Zealand officials reported 27 new cases of the highly infectious Delta coronavirus variant in Auckland on Saturday (Oct 2), as protestors took to the streets to rally against an almost two-month lockdown in the country's biggest city.

Auckland's 1.7 million residents are expecting a government decision on Monday about whether it will remain sealed off from the rest of New Zealand.

Daily case numbers have fluctuated between eight and 45 in recent days, with the total from the outbreak in the city standing at 1,295 cases.

The Health Ministry said the fluctuation was expected "at this state in the outbreak".

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern enforced what was meant to be a "short and sharp" nationwide lockdown in mid-August in response to the Auckland outbreak.

But while the rest of the country has largely returned to normal life, the North Island city has remained in lockdown for about seven weeks.

Around 1,000 people rallied in the city, organised by Destiny Church, a Pentecostal fundamentalist Christian movement, demanding "freedom from lockdown", New Zealand media reported. There were no immediate reports of violence or arrests.

Rallies were scheduled to also take place in the capital Wellington and Christchurch.

While New Zealand was among just a handful of countries to bring COVID-19 cases down to zero last year and largely stayed virus-free until the latest outbreak in August, difficulties in quashing the Delta variant have put Ardern's elimination strategy in question.

Amid mounting pressure, Ardern has said her strategy was never to have zero cases, but to aggressively stamp out the virus.

She said strict lockdowns can end if 90 per cent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated, contrasting with the current 46 per cent//CNA