VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A medical worker fills a syringe with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease vaccine as Japan launches its inoculation campaign, at Tokyo Medical Center in Tokyo, Japan on Feb 17, 2021. (Behrouz Mehri/Pool via Reuters) - 

The Japanese government is planning to open large vaccination centers in Tokyo and Osaka in the coming weeks to administer shots in a bid to speed up its inoculation drive, local media reported on Sunday (Apr 25).

Japan only started vaccinating its sizable elderly population this month and health experts say it may take till the winter (December to February) or longer for most of the general populace to get access to the shots.

The Nikkei newspaper said on Sunday the government will open a vaccination site in central Tokyo as early as May that will be able to vaccinate about 10,000 people a day. The site will be open to anyone living and working in Tokyo, the paper said.

Medically trained staff from Japan's Self-Defense Forces will also assist with vaccinations in such centres, the Nikkei said.

The Japanese government has come under sharp criticism for its sluggish vaccination rollout, which has been handled mostly by municipal authorities. Japan has vaccinated about 1 per cent of its population, according to a Reuters tracker.

Japan has avoided an explosive spread of the pandemic experienced by many countries. There have been about 550,000 cases and 9,761 deaths, significantly lower numbers than inother large economies.

But the latest rise in infections has stoked alarm, with a surge in a mutant variant and a critical shortage of medical staff and hospital beds in some areas.

Japan's third state of emergency in Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures began on Sunday, which will cover nearly a quarter of the population and attempt to combat a surge in coronavirus cases three months before the Tokyo Olympics is set to open//CNA

File photo of a Philippine coast guard ship sailing past a Chinese coast guard ship near Scarborough shoal in the South China Sea in May 2019. (File photo: AFP/TED ALJIBE) - 

The Philippine coast guard is conducting drills in the South China Sea which an official said on Sunday (Apr 25) were part of efforts to secure "our maritime jurisdiction" over the disputed waters.

The exercises near the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island and China-controlled Scarborough Shoal come amid heightened tensions over the resource-rich sea.

Most of the boats have since dispersed around the contested archipelago.

China - which claims almost the entirety of the sea - has refused repeated demands by the Philippines to call back the ships, which Manila says are maritime militia vessels and Beijing says are fishing boats.

In response, the Philippines has deployed more patrol vessels, including coast guard and navy ships, to intensify surveillance and prevent illegal fishing.

The coast guard drills began last week.

"We are supporting the whole-of-nation approach in securing our maritime jurisdiction," coast guard spokesman Commodore Armando Balilo said.

The exercises involve training in navigation, small boat operations, maintenance and logistical operations.

They are being held near Thitu Island and Scarborough Shoal, as well as the Batanes islands in the north, and the southern and eastern parts of the country.

Scarborough - one of the region's richest fishing grounds - has long been a flashpoint between Manila and Beijing.

China seized it from the Philippines in 2012 following a tense standoff.

The drills began as Philippine armed forces held joint exercises with US soldiers that ended on Friday.

Beijing has ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared its historical claim over most of the South China Sea to be without basis.

But once-frosty relations between Manila and Beijing have warmed under President Rodrigo Duterte, who set aside the ruling in exchange for promises of trade and investment.

The Philippine foreign and defence secretaries, however, have been engaged in a war of words with Beijing.

The foreign affairs department has been filing daily protests over the Chinese vessels and, in a rare move, recently summoned Beijing's envoy to express its "utmost displeasure" over the issue//CNA

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (left) and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo meet ahead of the ASEAN leaders' summit at the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java on April 23. (Handout/Lukas/Indonesian Presidential Palace via Reuters) - 

Indonesia and Vietnam have renewed calls to finish ongoing negotiations on the delimitation of the maritime boundary between their exclusive economic zones (EEZ) near the South China Sea to provide clarity and avoid incidents in the waters.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo hosted Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at Bogor Palace in West Java on Friday, ahead of the highly anticipated ASEAN leaders meeting on Myanmar over the weekend.

This was the first meeting between the leaders. The Prime Minister assumed office earlier this month. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said President Jokowi stressed the importance of accelerating the EEZ negotiations, which had been ongoing for 11 years. 

“The President suggested that the technical teams from the two countries immediately resume the talks and finish the negotiations" President said. 

ASEAN leaders held a special meeting on the Myanmar crisis on Saturday in which they called for an immediate end to the violence against protesters in the country and for special envoys to be sent to push for inclusive dialogue there.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo told reporters after the meeting that in a push for a dialogue that includes all stakeholders, ASEAN leaders reached a consensus on sending special envoys -- the ASEAN secretary general and chair of the regional bloc -- to Myanmar//JP

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo - 

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said on Sunday he had been informed by the navy that a missing submarine had been found sunken in the Bali Sea and sent his condolences to the 53 crew's families.

"The army and navy have changed the status of the KRI Nanggala 402 submarine from having lost contact to being 'sub-sunk' or drowned," he told reporters, quoted by Reuters.

"All of us Indonesians express our deep sorrow over this tragedy, especially to the families of the submarine crew."

The 44-year old KRI Nanggala-402 lost contact on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill. On Sunday, the hunt for a missing Indonesian submarine with 53 crew turned into a salvage effort after recovered debris suggested it broke apart as it sank off the coast of Bali.

Warships, planes and hundreds of military personnel had led a frantic search for the KRI Nanggala 402 since it disappeared this week during training exercises, hoping for a miracle rescue before its known oxygen reserves ran out.

But the Indonesian Navy acknowledged Saturday that pieces of the submarine, including items from inside the vessel, had been retrieved. They declared that it had sunk, effectively ending any chance of finding survivors.

Among the items recovered was a piece of the torpedo system and a bottle of grease used to lubricate periscopes. They also found a prayer mat commonly used in the country. President Jokowi described the missing sailors as Indonesia's "best patriots".

"All Indonesians convey their deep sadness over this incident, especially to the families of the submarine crew," he said.

Authorities have not given an official explanation for the accident, but said that the submarine may have suffered a blackout and left its crew unable to resurface.

Indonesian Navy chief Adm. Yudo Margono discounted an explosion, however, saying Saturday that the evidence suggested the submarine came apart as it was crushed by water pressure at depths of more than 800 metres (2,600 feet) -- well below what the German-built Nanggala was built to withstand.

"Submarine hulls are pressurised but when they're breached then water would come flooding inside," said Wisnu Wardhana, a maritime expert at Indonesia's Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, quoted by AFP.

Authorities have warned that any salvage operation would be risky and difficult in the deep waters.

Singapore's MV Swift Rescue -- a submarine rescue vessel -- has arrived to aid in the recovery effort, the navy said Sunday.

Neighbouring Malaysia, as well as the United States, India and Australia, were among the nations helping in the search. Search vessels, reconnaissance aircraft and submarine rescue ships have been deployed to scour a zone of about 10 square nautical miles (34 square kilometres)//JP