VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - North Korea is poised to close as many as a dozen embassies including in Spain, Hong Kong, and multiple countries in Africa, according to media reports and analysts, in a move that could see nearly 25 percent of Pyongyang's missions close worldwide.

North Korea's recent closing of its diplomatic missions was a sign that the reclusive country is struggling to make money overseas because of international sanctions, South Korea's unification ministry said on Tuesday.

On Monday, North Korean state media outlet KCNA said the country's ambassadors paid "farewell" visits to Angolan and Ugandan leaders last week, and local media in both African countries reported the shutdown of the North's embassies there.

Both Angola and Uganda have forged friendly ties with North Korea since the 1970s, maintaining military cooperation and providing rare sources of foreign currency such as statue-building projects.

The embassy closings set the stage for what could be "one of the country’s biggest foreign policy shakeups in decades", with implications for diplomatic engagement, humanitarian work in the isolated country, as well as the ability to generate illicit revenue, wrote Chad O'Carroll, founder of the North Korea-focused website NK Pro.

More than a dozen missions may close, likely because of international sanctions, a trend of Pyongyang's disengaging globally and the probable weakening of the North Korean economy, he said in a report on Wednesday.

Seoul's unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the pullout reflected the impact of international sanctions aimed at curbing funding for the North's nuclear and missile programs.

"They appear to be withdrawing as their foreign currency earning business has stumbled due to the international community's strengthening of sanctions, making it difficult to maintain the embassies any longer," the ministry said in a statement.

"This can be a sign of North Korea's difficult economic situation, where it is difficult to maintain even minimal diplomatic relations with traditionally friendly countries."

North Korea has formal relations with 159 countries, but had 53 diplomatic missions overseas, including three consulates and three representative offices, until it pulled out of Angola and Uganda, according to the ministry.

North Korea will also shut down its embassy in Spain, with its mission in Italy handling affairs in the neighbouring country, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

Correspondence with the Spanish Communist Party released on the party's website showed the North Korean embassy announcing the closing in a letter dated Oct. 26.

The North's embassy in Madrid was in the spotlight after members of a group seeking the overthrow of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un staged a break-in in 2019, during which they bound and gagged staff before driving off with computers and other devices.

Pyongyang denounced the incident as a "grave breach of sovereignty and terrorist attack," and accused the United States of not investigating the group thoroughly and refusing to extradite its leader. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - A first group of civilian evacuees from Gaza crossed into Egypt under a Qatari-mediated deal on Wednesday while Israeli forces bombed the Palestinian enclave from land, sea and air as they pressed their offensive against Hamas militants.

The evacuees, who had been trapped in Gaza since the start of the war more than three weeks ago, were driven in ambulances through the Rafah border crossing. A source at the border said they were undergoing security checks on the Egyptian side.

Under the deal reached between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, a number of foreign nationals and critically wounded people will be allowed to leave the besieged territory.

Despite the breakthrough on the humanitarian front, Israeli war planes, naval boats and artillery pounded Gaza throughout the night, inflicting scores more casualties among the civilian population, Palestinian residents said.

Hospitals struggled to cope as fuel shortages forced shutdowns.

Israel sent its forces into Hamas-controlled Gaza following weeks of air and artillery strikes in retaliation for a deadly attack by the Islamist group on southern Israel on Oct 7.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas. But the civilian death toll in Gaza and desperate humanitarian conditions have caused concern across the world as food, fuel, drinking water and medicine run short.

WAITING ON THE BORDER

An Egyptian security source had said earlier that up to 500 foreign passport holders would pass though the Rafah crossing on Wednesday. About 200 people were waiting at the Palestinian side of the border, the source said.

A second source said not all were expected to make it out on Wednesday and there was no timeline for how long the crossing would remain open.

A Western official said a list of people with foreign passports who can leave Gaza had been agreed between Israel and Egypt. An Israeli official confirmed that Israel was coordinating the exits with Egypt.

Egypt has prepared a field hospital in Sheikh Zuwayed, medical sources said. Ambulances were waiting at Rafah.

The first source said the deal was not linked to other issues, such as the release of about 240 hostages held by Hamas or a "humanitarian pause" in the fighting which many countries have called for but which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected.

Indonesia said it was trying to get out 10 nationals but three of them, volunteers at an Indonesia-run hospital, have decided to stay. The Philippines, Jordan and Italy also said they said they hoped to bring citizens out on Wednesday.

The Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered the hostilities killed about 300 soldiers and 1,100 civilians, Israel says.

The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians, including 3,648 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since then.

REFUGEE CAMP HIT

On Tuesday, an Israeli air strike killed about 50 people and wounded 150 in Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp, Palestinian health officials said.

The Israeli military said the attack had killed Ibrahim Biari, a Hamas commander it said was pivotal in organising the Oct. 7 assault, as well as dozens of Hamas militants.

The European Union's foreign policy chief said he was appalled by the high number of casualties in Jabalia and he urged all sides to respect the rules of war.

Josep Borrell said Israel had a right to defend itself but "laws of war and humanity must always apply".

The EU last week called for pauses in Israeli bombing and Hamas rocket attacks to get humanitarian aid into Gaza through safe corridors.

"With each passing day, as the situation becomes more and more dire, this is more urgent than ever," Borrell said.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that Israeli hostages held in Gaza were subject to the same "death and destruction" that Palestinians have faced.

Eleven Israeli soldiers were also killed in fighting on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, its biggest one-day loss since the initial assault.

Netanyahu mourned mounting military losses and cautioned that the war would be long.

"We are in a tough war," he said. "I promise to all citizens of Israel: We will get the job done. We will press ahead until victory."

Cross-border Hamas rocket fire continued, with warning sirens sounding in southern Israel communities as well as the port cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod.

POWER OUTAGE

Overnight Israeli ground forces clashed with fighters from Hamas and other groups in the north, southern and eastern areas of Gaza - part of a series of incursions apparently aimed at incremental gains rather than a full-scale invasion.

Communications and internet services were cut off in Gaza again on Wednesday, telecommunications provider Paltel said.

"They don't want the world to see their crimes against civilians," said Gaza resident Ahmed Muhey.

Dozens of Palestinians gathered outside the Nasser Hospital morgue waiting to get the bodies of their relatives for burial.

Inside, bodies lay on the ground being prepared to be shrouded in white after they were cleaned of dust and blood.

Health officials said they had received 15 bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes overnight in Khan Younis, including four children.

"Everyday there are dead and every day there are children or women among them or both," said one doctor.

Two hospitals - Al Shifa Medical and the Indonesian Hospital - faced power outages as their generators were running out of fuel.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital, Gaza's only cancer treatment facility, was now out of service due to the lack of fuel.

The violence - the worst in many years of sporadic warfare - erupted at a time when Palestinian apirations for an independent state and an end to Israel's occupation have little prospect of being fulfilled.

Peace talks are now a distant memory and Netanyahu's right-wing government has expanded Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel sees Hamas, which has vowed to destroy the Jewish state, as an existential threat. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - State-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina is holding the 2023 Pertamina Digital Expo (DigiExpo) on November 1-2, 2023, in Jakarta, as a forum for digital partners and practitioners from various companies to meet and talk.

Pertamina's Director of Business Support, Erry Widiastono, stated here on Wednesday that Pertamina is bolstering business transformation towards digitalization that has brought several benefits, such as reducing costs, increasing efficiency and effectiveness, and expediting business processes.

The DigiExpo presented an exhibition of technology transformation by Pertamina and other business actors.

"Digital transformation is an important step in changing the way the oil and gas industry, especially Pertamina, runs its daily operations. By implementing digital transformation, Pertamina is able to add value in cost optimization," Widiastono remarked while opening the expo.

He explained that in 2022, Pertamina's digital transformation resulted in value creation reaching US$441 million for the company and another value creation, worth US$36.8 million, contributed to the country.

Through digital transformation, Pertamina is able to fulfill the needs of the community, such as through the Digital Gas Station (Digital SPBU) program. This program is Pertamina's efforts to monitor the volume of fuel in regions, so that the company is able to distribute subsidized fuel on target.

Deputy for Technology and Information at the State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry Rizal Kamal explained that one of the ministry's priority programs to support digital transformation is the Technology Leadership Program.

"Technology leadership is a way for SOEs to lead globally in strategic technology and strengthen digital capabilities, such as data management, big data, artificial intelligence, and so on," he remarked.

The Pertamina DigiExpo 2023 invited digital practitioners, including experts from PT Telkom, Jakarta Smart City, PT KAI, Biofarma, and PT Bank Mandiri, to talk in its panel sessions. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The DKI Jakarta Health Service reported that there are 24 positive monkeypox cases in the city, based on data on October 31, 2023, with all male patients exhibiting mild symptoms.

"There are a total of 24 positive cases, all with mild symptoms transmitted from sexual contact in men aged 25-50 years old," Head of the Surveillance and Immunization Section of the DKI Jakarta Health Service, Ngabila Salama, confirmed on Wednesday.

Of the 24 cases, one person has been declared cured, while the other 23 cases are active positive cases that are undergoing intensive treatment and isolation in hospitals, she remarked.

Of the 23 active positive cases in 2023 one case was identified on October 13, one case on October 19, five cases on October 21, three cases on October 24, two cases on October 25, two cases on October 26, one case on October 27, one case on October 28, two cases on October 29, three cases on October 30, and two cases on October 31.

In addition, Salama remarked that as many as seven people were suspected of having monkeypox symptoms on October 30, with two cases reported, and on October 31, with five cases detected.

"There are 23 active positive cases, while the PCR positive rate is 33 percent," she remarked.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta provincial government is intensifying monkeypox vaccination and expanding tracing following a spike in cases.

Salama said that the total number of recipients of the monkeypox vaccine has reached 447 people out of the target of 495 individuals.

Acting Head of the DKI Jakarta Health Service, Ani Ruspitawati, noted that the provincial government is also conducting tracing with a special team along with related partners.

The team will be processing, tracing, and monitoring parties, who came in close contact with monkeypox patients, she remarked.

For non-sexual close contacts, symptoms will be monitored on a daily basis by the community health center (puskesmas). If monkeypox symptoms are found, a laboratory examination is conducted, Ruspitawati remarked.

Moreover, her side has prepared hospital isolation rooms, prepared antiviral drugs, and actively coordinated with experts at vertical hospitals regarding monkeypox case management.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. It can cause a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes, and fever. (Antaranews)