VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The government pays attention to the development of herbal medicines in the country, according to the Health Ministry's Director General of Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Lucia Rizka Andalusia.

"We have placed Indonesian herbal medicines highly in Law No. 17 of 2023 concerning Health, where there is a special chapter that encourages the development of natural medicines," Andalusia noted in a statement received here on Wednesday.

She explained that Indonesia has the Phytopharmaca Formulary, or a list of clinically tested natural medicines.

The Phytopharmaca Formulary aims to provide access to healthcare facilities to purchase phytopharmaceutical drugs that have been listed in the formulary, she noted.

"If it is listed in the formulary, it means that its standard has been analyzed and evaluated, so that it can be used in health services," she stated.

On the other hand, she explained that herbal medicines are more suitable to be used for health promotion and sickness prevention, which is in accordance with the objectives of Law No. 17 of 2023.

"Herbal medicines do not have to be used as curative medicine. The most important thing is (health) promotion and disease prevention, wellbeing and fitness, as well as complements conventional medicine," Andalusia stated.

She said, the Ministry of Health has the Center for Research and Development of Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine (B2P2TOOT) in Tawangmangu, Central Java, which conducts research and cultivation of herbal medicine.

However, the development of herbal medicines faces various challenges, such as the gap between researchers and doctors as herbal drug users, she pointed out.

"There is still a gap between researchers and doctors, so we integrate clinical research and use (of herbal medicine) in Sarjito Hospital in Yogyakarta," she remarked. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Residents in three areas in Australia's northern Queensland state were ordered to evacuate their homes on Wednesday, as bushfires burned out of control.

Firefighters including those flown in from across Australia and New Zealand have been battling blazes in the state that have already killed two and destroyed dozens of homes.

People in two adjacent areas, near the town of Dalveen, were on Wednesday ordered to evacuate immediately.

"Every Australian's heart goes out to the people... who are being impacted once again by these bushfires," Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers, whose electorate is in the state, told a news conference on Wednesday. "I really wanted to express our gratitude as well for all of the people who are reinforcing the efforts in those affected communities."

The blazes in the area also affected the neighbouring state of New South Wales (NSW) to the south.

"It was a pretty horrifying experience," NSW resident Michelle Balint told state broadcaster ABC on Wednesday, recounting a wall of flames racing across the family's land. "(We've) never seen anything like it."

Authorities on Wednesday imposed a third evacuation warning in the far north of the state, near Watsonville. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Kazakhstan on Wednesday on the first leg of a trip to Central Asia, a region long regarded as Russia's backyard which has drawn fresh Western attention since the war in Ukraine began.

Oil-rich Kazakhstan has already emerged as a replacement supplier of crude to European nations turning off Russian supply and an important link in the new China-Europe trade route bypassing Russia.

In addition to oil, Kazakhstan is a major exporter of uranium, and France's Orano already operates a joint venture with its state nuclear firm Kazatomprom.

At a meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Macron complimented Kazakhstan for refusing to side with Moscow on Ukraine and said the two countries signed business deals, including a declaration of intent for a partnership in the much-sought area of rare earths and rare metals.

"I don't underestimate by any means the geopolitical difficulties, the pressures ... that some may be putting on you," Macron told Tokayev, who called the visit "historic."

"France values ... the path you are following for your country, refusing to be a vassal of any power and seeking to build numerous and balanced relations with different countries."

Russia has voiced concern at the West's growing diplomatic activity in former Soviet Central Asian nations.

While on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Kazakhstan as a sovereign state was free to develop ties with any countries, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week the West was trying to pull Russia's "neighbours, friends and allies" away from it.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where Macron goes next, have refused to recognise Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territories and have pledged to abide by Western sanctions against Moscow, while calling both Russia and Western nations such as France their strategic partners.

"We respect our friends, we are here when they need us and we respect their independence," Macron said. "And in a world where major powers want to become hegemons, and where regional powers become unpredictable, it is good to have friends who share this philosophy."

Asked about Macron's visit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia valued its relations with Kazakhstan "very highly."

"In our turn, we have historical ties, ties of strategic partnership with Kazakhstan, they are our allies and our interests are united in many international bodies," Peskov told reporters. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - Two Chinese icebreaker research vessels and a cargo ship set sail on Wednesday for the Antarctic with more than 460 personnel on board to help complete construction of China's fifth station on the world's southernmost continent.

China's biggest flotilla of research vessels deployed to the Antarctic will focus on building the station on the rocky, windswept Inexpressible Island near the Ross Sea, a deep Southern Ocean bay named after a 19th century British explorer.

Work on the first Chinese station in the Pacific sector began in 2018. It will be used to conduct research on the region's environment, state television reported.

China has four research stations in the Antarctic built from 1985 to 2014. A U.S.-based think tank estimated the fifth could be finished next year.

The facility is expected to include an observatory with a satellite ground station, and should help China "fill in a major gap" in its ability to access the continent, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a report this year.

The station is also well situated to collect signals intelligence over Australia and New Zealand and telemetry data on rockets launched from Australia's new Arnhem Space Centre, it said.

China rejects suggestions that its stations would be used for espionage.

The two icebreakers, Xuelong 1 and Xuelong 2, the name means "Snow Dragon" in Chinese, set sail from Shanghai with mostly personnel and logistics supplies on board.

The cargo ship "Tianhui", or "Divine Blessings", taking construction material for the station, set off from the eastern port of Zhangjiagang.

The five-month mission will include a survey on the impact of climate change.

The two icebreakers will also conduct environmental surveys in the Prydez Bay, the Astronaut Sea in southeast Antarctic, and in the Ross Sea and Amundsen Sea in the west.

The mission, China's 40th to the Antarctic, will also cooperate with countries including the United States, Britain, and Russia on logistics supply, state media said. (Reuters)