VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A vial of the Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine is seen at Northwell Health's South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, New York, US, Mar 3, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton ) - 

The United States can immediately resume use of Johnson and Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, top health regulators said on Friday (Apr 23), ending a 10-day pause to investigate the vaccine's link to extremely rare but potentially deadly blood clots.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration said in a joint statement that they would warn of the risk of a potentially fatal syndrome involving severe blood clots and low platelets in a fact sheet given to recipients.

Top US FDA officials said the decision was effective immediately, clearing the way for shots in arms as early as Saturday.

"We are no longer recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told a news briefing. "Based on the in-depth analysis, there is likely an association but the risk is very low."The agencies made the decision following a meeting by outside advisers to the CDC who recommended that the vaccine pause be ended. The agencies had been investigating the risks of the vaccine.

Earlier on Friday, the CDC panel voted 10 to four that the Johnson and Johnson's vaccine be used as recommended in people 18 years of age and older, the parameters of its current FDA authorisation.

"The committee's recommendation is an essential step toward continuing urgently needed vaccinations in a safe way for millions of people in the US," Johnson and Johnson's Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels said in a statement.

The CDC said that there had been 15 total cases of the syndrome, including the six original confirmed cases that all occurred in women. There were three deaths.

It also is stored in a refrigerator and does not need to be frozen during transport, which makes it better for hard-to-reach areas.

The US decision follows a similar one by the European Medicines Agency, which on Tuesday said the benefits of Johnson and Johnson's shot outweighed its risks and recommended adding a warning about unusual blood clots with low blood platelet counts to the vaccine's product label. Johnson and Johnson resumed its rollout there.

The United States has made substantial progress in vaccinating its population in recent months compared to many other countries, with 35 per cent of adults fully vaccinated and 53 per cent having received at least one shot, according to CDC data. The United States has recorded about 570,000 COVID-19 deaths//CNA

This handout photo taken on April 23, 2021 and released by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry shows Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (top centre R) attending an informal dinner with her Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) counterparts in Jakarta, ahead of the ASEAN summit on the Myanmar crisis. (AFP/Handout) - 

Southeast Asian leaders hold Myanmar crisis talks Saturday with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing who has become the focus of international outrage over a military coup and crackdown that has left more than 700 dead.

The senior general was expected at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Indonesia's capital, marking his first foreign trip since security forces staged a coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in early February. Mass protests by an angry population have been met by a brutal crackdown that has left blood on the streets.

An estimated 250,000 people have been displaced, according to a UN envoy, with Myanmar's democratically elected top leaders in hiding or under house arrest. On Saturday, Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and the Sultan of Brunei, the current chair of ASEAN, were joined by leaders and foreign ministers from most of the 10-country group, which also includes Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos. Protests were expected around ASEAN's downtown headquarters, which is being ringed by heavy security. The meeting was to be closed to media.

The general's expected involvement has angered activists, human rights groups and a shadow government of ousted Myanmar lawmakers, which was not invited to the talks.

"The crisis initiated by a murderous and unrepentant Myanmar military has engulfed the country, and will cause severe aftershocks -- humanitarian and more -- for the entire region," Amnesty International said ahead of the meeting. "The Indonesian authorities are duty-bound to investigate Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other Myanmar military officials who may join his delegation to Jakarta," it added.

There have also been calls for the regional bloc to expel Myanmar. But ASEAN generally takes a hands-off approach to members' internal affairs. Few analysts expected major breakthroughs from the meeting, saying instead it was a chance to bring Myanmar's military to the bargaining table and pave the way for a possible resolution.

"We have to be realistic here. I don't think the summit is going to bear out a full-blown plan on how to get Myanmar out of the conflict,"  said Mustafa Izzuddin, senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore.

"But rather I think it will start the conversation and perhaps lay the parameters as to how a resolution could be found." United Nations special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, is expected on the sidelines of the summit.

While the EU and Washington have ramped up sanctions against Myanmar to force the military's hand, it is unlikely ASEAN would scold the coup leaders or demand Suu Kyi's release, observers said.

"ASEAN wants to embrace (Myanmar) so it can create and safeguard peace in Southeast Asia," said Beginda Pakpahan, an international relations expert at the University of Indonesia.

"The second objective is to find a long-term solution through constructive engagement." But the crisis engulfing Myanmar has delivered a big challenge to the future of the bloc and its consensus-driven approach.

"This summit is really a test of ASEAN's credibility not just within the region but also outside of the region," Izzuddin said. "International eyes are on (it) to see whether the regional approach that ASEAN has taken to find a resolution in Myanmar is effective."//JP

KRI Nanggala 402 submarine - 

Hopes of rescuing dozens aboard a missing KRI Nanggala 402 submarine faded Saturday as its oxygen reserves were believed to have run out, turning the focus to retrieving the stricken vessel from waters off Bali.

As hundreds of military personnel took part in a frantic hunt for the KRI Nanggala, authorities said the German-built craft was equipped with enough oxygen for only three days after losing power. But that deadline passed early Saturday with still no sign of the missing vessel and its 53 crew.

The submarine -- one of five in Indonesian Navy's fleet -- disappeared early Wednesday during live torpedo training exercises off the  holiday island. Despite hopes for a miracle, an oil spill spotted where the submarine is thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage, fanning fears of a deadly disaster.

There were concerns that the submarine could have broken apart as it sunk to depths reaching 700 metres (2,300 feet) -- well below what it was built to withstand. The vessel was scheduled to conduct the training exercises when it asked for permission to dive. It lost contact shortly after.

Authorities have not offered possible explanations for the submarine's sudden disappearance or commented on questions about whether the decades-old vessel was overloaded. Neighboring Singapore and Malaysia as well as the United States and Australia were among nations helping in the hunt with nearly two dozen warships deployed to scour a search zone covering about 10 square nautical miles (34 square kilometres).

On Thursday, the Indonesian Military said it had picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 50 and 100 metres (165 and 330 feet), bolstering hopes of finding the submarine. But the passing of Saturday's oxygen deadline was likely to add Indonesia to a list of countries struck by fatal submarine accidents.

Among the worst was the 2000 sinking of the Kursk, the pride of Russia's Northern Fleet. That submarine was on manoeuvres in the Barents Sea when it sank with the loss of all 118 aboard. An inquiry found a torpedo had exploded, detonating all the others. Most of its crew died instantly but some survived for several days before suffocating.

In 2003, 70 Chinese naval officers and crew were killed, apparently suffocated, in an accident on a Ming-class submarine during exercises in 2003. Five years later, 20 people were killed by poisonous gas when a fire extinguishing system was accidentally activated on a Russian submarine being tested in the Sea of Japan.

And in 2018, authorities found the wreckage of an Argentine submarine that had gone missing a year earlier with 44 sailors aboard//JP

US Navy aircraft the Poseidon P-8 (left) and the USAF Boeing C-17A Globemaster III (right) - 

The United States is deploying a P-8 Poseidon aircraft to assist in the search and rescue operation for a missing KRI Nanggala 402 submarine lost in the Bali Sea, as hopes fade for the 53 crew which are expected to have run out of oxygen early on Saturday.

The Indonesian Navy said it was sending search helicopters and ships to the area where contact was lost with the 44-year-old KRI Nanggala-402 submarine on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill. Australia has also deployed a sonar-equipped frigate with a helicopter to help the submarine hunt, while a deep submergence rescue vessel is on route from India, as concerns grow that the submarine might have been crushed by water pressure. 

"The possibility of it having fallen underneath its maximum diving depth thereby leading to the implosion of the submarine will have to be considered," said Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. If the submarine was still intact, Indonesian Military (TNI) officials said on Friday it would only have enough air to last until around dawn on Saturday if equipment was functioning properly.

"So far we haven't found it... but with the equipment available we should be able to find the location," Maj. Gen. Achmad Riad, TNI spokesman told a news conference. Koh said the assumption that the submarine had 72 hours of oxygen was optimistic given the submarine's limited ability to generate oxygen due to its conventional power generation.

The Indonesian Navy said it was investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 metres (1,968-2,296 feet), well beyond its survivable limits. An object with "high magnetic force" had been spotted "floating" at a depth of 50-100 metres, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono said on Friday, and an aerial search had earlier spotted an oil spill near the submarine's last location.

The diesel-electric powered submarine could withstand a depth of up to 500 metres but anything more could be fatal, Indonesian Nnavy spokesman First Adm. Julius Widjojono said. Experts like Koh say the authorities will have to expand the area of search again if the magnetic anomaly is proven not to be the vessel and warn that if the submarine is lost at an"extreme depth", it might be possible to retrieve.

The Bali Sea can reach depths of more than 1,500 metres. One of the people on board was the commander of the Indonesian Navy submarine fleet, Col. Harry Setiawan. Late on Friday, the Pentagon said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto and offered additional support, which could include undersea search assets//JP