VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

SpaceX's Elon Musk gives an update on the company's Mars rocket Starship in Boca Chica, Texas, US on September 28, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Callaghan O'Hare) - 

Elon Musk's private rocket company SpaceX was awarded a US$178 million launch services contract for NASA's first mission focusing on Jupiter's icy moon Europa and whether it may host conditions suitable for life, the space agency said on Friday (Jul 23).

The Europa Clipper mission is due for blastoff in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket owned by Musk's company, Space Exploration Technologies, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said in a statement posted online.

In April, SpaceX was awarded a US$2.9 billion contract to build the lunar lander spacecraft for the planned Artemis programme that would carry NASA astronauts back to the moon for the first time since 1972.

But that contract was suspended after two rival space companies, Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics, protested against the SpaceX selection.

The company's partly reusable 23-story Falcon Heavy, currently the most powerful operational space launch vehicle in the world, flew its first commercial payload into orbit in 2019.

NASA did not say what other companies may have bid on the Europa Clipper launch contract.

The probe is to conduct a detailed survey of the ice-covered Jovian satellite, which is a bit smaller than Earth's moon and is a leading candidate in the search for life elsewhere in the solar system.

A bend in Europa's magnetic field observed by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in 1997 appeared to have been caused by a geyser gushing through the moon's frozen crust from a vast subsurface ocean, researchers concluded in 2018. Those findings supported other evidence of Europa plumes.

Among the Clipper mission's objectives are to produce high-resolution images of Europa's surface, determine its composition, look for signs of geologic activity, measure the thickness of its icy shell and determine the depth and salinity of its ocean, NASA said//CNA

Most US soldiers deployed in Iraq in 2014 to lead a coalition against the Islamic State group have left. (Photo: AFP/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE) - 

Weakened by pro-Iran factions at home, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will meet with US President Joe Biden on Monday (Jul 26) to discuss a possible full US troop withdrawal from his country.

The White House talks between the two allies come just a week after a deadly attack claimed by the Islamic State group, despite Baghdad declaring the Sunni extremists defeated over three years ago.

Kadhimi finds himself backed into a corner by the influence of Iraq's other main ally - neighbouring Iran, which has long seen the United States as its arch-nemesis.

Despite shared enmity on the part of the US and Shiite Iran toward a resilient Islamic State, Kadhimi is under intense pressure from pro-Tehran armed factions who demand the withdrawal of 2,500 US troops still deployed in Iraq.

Operating under the Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary network whose tentacles extend deep into the state, these Shiite factions stand accused of carrying out around 50 rocket and drone attacks this year against US interests in Iraq.

"If there is no significant announcement on the withdrawal of troops, I fear that the pro-Iran groups may ... increase attacks on the US forces," Iraqi researcher Sajad Jiyad told AFP.

Such concerns are given weight by the leader of one such paramilitary group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, who recently warned that "resistance operations will continue until all American forces have left Iraqi territory".

Most of the US soldiers, deployed in 2014 to lead an international military coalition against Islamic State, left under Biden's predecessor Donald Trump, who hosted Kadhimi at the White House last August.

The troops that remain are officially classed as advisers and trainers for Iraq's army and counter-terrorism units.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, already in Washington for several days, has assured Iraqi media that "the talks will successfully establish a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces".

But US media outlets have only pointed to a "redefinition" of the troops' mission.

Ramzy Mardini, an Iraq specialist at the University of Chicago's Pearson Institute, believes there will be no "radical change" in the US position.

The Biden-Kadhimi meeting may cosmetically be "shaped" to help the Iraqi premier alleviate domestic pressures, "but the reality on the ground will reflect the status quo and an enduring US presence," he said.

Mardini points to "political costs" for Biden were he to authorise a full withdrawal of US troops, stemming from the catastrophic "legacy" of the 2011 withdrawal, which created a vacuum exploited by Islamic State during their lightning 2014 offensive.

Kadhimi will therefore also seek to secure a softening of secondary US sanctions relating to Iran when in Washington, to help Iraq honour crucial transactions with its neighbour and tackle the power crisis//CNA

President Joko Widodo during a teleconference with elementary school students on Friday (July 23, 2021). ANTARA/Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau - 

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stressed that children in Indonesia should continue to be passionate about learning, enjoy themselves, and stay diligently devout despite homebound activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"All my children, the future of Indonesia, must continue to be enthusiastic about learning, keep having fun, be diligent in worshiping, and do not forget to pray to Allah SWT, God Almighty, to ask for protection for all of us, for the Indonesian nation," President Jokowi stated while greeting elementary school children during a video conference on the occasion of National Children's Day 2021 in Jakarta, Friday.

The head of state highlighted that the plan to start face-to-face schooling, originally scheduled to open in July 2021, was canceled whilst awaiting an improvement in the situation.

Jokowi urged the children to continue to study, always wear masks while leaving the house, wash hands regularly, and remind friends and neighbors to follow suit.

As many as 548 thousand children out of the targeted 11.9 million children in the age group of 12-17 years have received COVID-19 vaccine shots, the Ministry of Health had earlier announced.

"The vaccination drive for children in the age group of 12-17 years is focused on local health facilities or their respective schools," the Health Ministry's COVID-19 vaccinations spokesperson, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated during an online dialog hosted by the National COVID-19 Handling and Economic Recovery Committee (KPC-PEN) here on Thursday.

Vaccination drives at local healthcare facilities are focused on vaccinating teenagers in the age bracket of 12-17 years, who are not enrolled in any educational institutions, while teenagers enrolled in schools are being directed to get vaccinated at schools hosting vaccination drives, Tarmizi revealed.

Vaccines for teenagers have been distributed nationwide, with 50 percent of the vaccines allocated for the Java-Bali provinces while the rest proportionately to other provinces, she noted.
"We currently have a policy of distributing 50 percent of the vaccines to the Java-Bali provinces due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases there, while the rest of the vaccines will be distributed proportionally to other provinces. That portioning already includes vaccines for teenagers," she stated.

Vaccine stocks in Indonesia currently reach just 130 million doses, a mere 30 percent of the 426 million doses required to meet the national vaccination target, she pointed out.

The target of the vaccination program has also been increased to 208 million, from 181.5 million, Tarmizi remarked//ANT

A screenshot of senior deputy governor of Bank Indonesia, Destry Damayanti - 

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) loan growth exceeded the total credit growth as of June 2021, in sharp contrast with June 2020, senior deputy governor of Bank Indonesia, Destry Damayanti, has revealed.

"The latest credit developments as of June, MSME loans continue to show positive signals. (As per) The latest data in the second quarter of 2021, MSME loan growth has exceeded total credit growth," she said during an online discussion on the acceleration of MSME digitization, originating from Jakarta on Friday.

Based on data provided by Bank Indonesia, MSME loan growth stood at 0.13 percent in June, 2020, while total credit growth was pegged at 1.49 percent. Meanwhile, in June, 2021, MSME loan growth reached 2.35 percent, while total credit growth was recorded at 0.59 percent.

In terms of segmentation, MSME credit growth was the highest in the medium and small segments, while micro credit growth continued to contract, Damayanti said.

New loans in the MSME sector, which has the largest share of credit, were recorded in the trade sector, both retail and large, especially the food and beverage trade sector, she added.

BI also noted an increase in new credit disbursement, which even exceeded credit repayments. As of June, 2021, new credit disbursement stood at Rp72.23 trillion, while loan repayments were pegged at Rp60.21 trillion, she informed.

In addition, there was an improvement in the performance of MSMEs in 2021, Damayanti noted.

According to a survey conducted by the Mandiri Institute, as of April, 2021, around 84.8 percent of MSMEs were operating normally, 8.1 percent were operating on a limited basis, and 7.2 percent had halted operations, she said.

This number reflects an increase compared to 2020, when only 35.2 percent of MSMEs were operating normally, 34.5 percent were operating on a limited basis, and 30.4 percent had halted operations amid the pandemic, she added.

Although there was an improvement in the MSME sector, Damayanti reiterated that the key to economic recovery will be the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.

"So, we are required to carry out health protocols in a disciplined manner, vaccination continues to be accelerated," she remarked.

The decline in mobility due to the implementation of the public activity restrictions (PPKM) has had an impact on the performance of the MSME sector, she said//ANT