VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Ukraine's president on Monday renewed his denial of a quid pro quo with Donald Trump over military aid, despite a growing case against the US president in impeachment proceedings in Washington.

"I did not speak with US President Trump in those terms: you give me this, I give you that," Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with European publications including Germany's Der Spiegel magazine.

In remarks published in German, Zelensky said he "did not understand at all" the accusations heard at the hearings and did not "want to give an impression that we are beggars" in Ukraine.

The scandal centres around a phone conversation on July 25 in which the Republican leader is suspected of putting pressure on Ukraine to launch investigations against former Democratic vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who worked for a Ukrainian gas company. 

The key issue is whether Trump set up a "quid pro quo" -- Latin for seeking one action in exchange for another -- with Zelensky by holding back promised US military aid for Ukraine until the Bidens were investigated.

In the interview published on Monday, Zelensky also played down expectations ahead of a summit on December 9 in Paris in which he is set to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first time.

He said that an end to the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine could not be discussed until three preliminary steps had been taken.

He said there should first be a prisoner exchange within a "reasonable time period", followed by a genuine ceasefire and the retreat of all armed forces to allow local elections to be held in the region.

"If these three issues are resolved, then we can see if everyone wants to put an end to the conflict."

The conflict in Ukraine, which broke out in 2014 after pro-Western politicians took power in Kiev and Russia annexed Crimea, has killed more than 13,000 people.

China suspended US warship visits and sanctioned American NGOs on Monday in retaliation for the passage of a bill backing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

The financial hub has been rocked by nearly six months of increasingly violent unrest demanding greater autonomy, which Beijing has frequently blamed on foreign influence.

Last week US President Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which requires the president to annually review the city's favourable trade status and threatens to revoke it if the semi-autonomous territory's freedoms are quashed.

The move came as the world's two biggest economies have been striving to finalise a "phase one" deal in their protracted trade war.

"In response to the unreasonable behaviour of the US side, the Chinese government has decided to suspend reviewing the applications for US warships to go to Hong Kong for (rest and) recuperation as of today," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing.

China had already denied requests for two US Navy ships to dock in Hong Kong in August, without specifying a reason why.

Behaving 'badly'

Hua said they would also apply sanctions to a number of US-based NGOs, although failed to give any specifics over the form sanctions would take.

Sanctions will apply to NGOs that had acted "badly" over the recent unrest in Hong Kong, she said, including the National Endowment for Democracy, Human Rights Watch and Freedom House.

There was "already a large amount of facts and evidence that make it clear that these non-governmental organisations support anti-China" forces and "incite separatist activities for Hong Kong independence", Hua added.

She accused them of having "great responsibility for the chaotic situation in Hong Kong". 

Protesters in Hong Kong are pushing for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability, but the city's pro-Beijing leadership has refused any major political concessions.

The increasingly violent rallies have hammered the retail and tourism sectors, with mainland Chinese visitors abandoning the city in droves.

The city's finance chief warned Monday that Hong Kong is set to record its first budget deficit in 15 years.

Governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan unequivocally praised the peaceful manner in which this year's 212 reunion rally ran, thereby mirroring Indonesia's unity in diversity.

Addressing the annual event at the area of National Monument (Monas) Square in Central Jakarta on Monday morning, the Jakarta governor pointed out that those thronging the venue hailed from different parts of the archipelago.

In his speech at the event, Baswedan, dressed in his daily uniform as Jakarta governor, drew attention to the significance of ensuring justice for all to preserve genuine unity in diversity of the nation.

Baswedan joined respected figures on the stage of this 212 reunion rally at the invitation of the organizing committee.

Attendees at the event also held to commemorate Maulid Nabi Muhammad, or the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, comprised the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) Chairman, KH Ahmad Sobri Lubis, and Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party's elite, Fadli Zon.

FPI leader Habib Rizieq Shihab was offered the opportunity to deliver his recorded speech from the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in which he apologized for being unable to partake in the event directly.

Shihab, living in Saudi Arabia since May 2017, expressed keenness to return to Indonesia, but the Indonesian government has banned him from leaving Saudi Arabia to return to Jakarta.

Speaking in connection with the Shihab-related issue, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD had claimed earlier of no valid evidence of the government having barred Muslim cleric Shihab from returning to Indonesia.

Mahfud believed it would be impossible for the government to impose the almost 1.5-year ban for Shihab since the regulation only allows a six-month ban.

The 212 reunion rally has been convened consistently since 2017 to commemorate the historic moment of the 212 rally that the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Councils Fatwa (GNPF-MUI) had held on December 2, 2016.

Participating in the rally at that time were some seven million Indonesian Muslims hailing from different parts of the country and abroad to demand the prosecution of then Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) after he was accused of insulting Islam.

Despite the huge number of participants flocking to Monas Square and its adjoining areas, the rally proceeded peacefully. The areas that the crowds of people occupied and passed by also appeared clean owing to those, who voluntarily collected the trash.

Taking into account the significance of this commemorative event for strengthening "silaturrahim" (communal togetherness) among Muslims, the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI)-Jakarta Chapter has let Muslims across the country join the 212 reunion rally.

Tens of thousands of protesters, primarily in Europe and Asia, hit the streets on Friday to make a fresh call for action against global warming, hoping to raise pressure on world leaders days before a UN climate summit.

Carrying signs that read "One planet, one fight" and "The sea is rising, so must we", thousands flocked to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate for the latest "Fridays for Future" protest inspired by 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg.

In total, about 630,000 people demonstrated across more than 500 cities in Germany, the Fridays for Future movement said. 

In Hamburg alone, some 30,000 mainly young people gathered and another 17,000 congregated in Munich to voice alarm at rising temperatures, police said.

Thunberg, meanwhile, was on a boat sailing across the Atlantic, but tweeted a photo of herself holding a sign that said "School strike for climate." 

Rallies took place across Europe, although on a smaller scale than during September's wave of "climate strikes" when organizers said some four million people filled city streets around the world.

Approximately 1,700 turned out in Madrid, the host city of next week's 12-day COP25 conference, which aims to encourage governments to increase their commitments to cut emissions and combat climate change.

In France, climate activists focused their anger on the "Black Friday" sales bonanza with protesters blocking a distribution center of online retail giant Amazon outside Paris and others near Lyon and Lille.

Protesters in Paris also formed a human chain at La Defense shopping mall that prevented people from reaching stores, to highlight the climate costs of consumerism.

The Dutch branch of "Fridays for Future" said demos were taking place in around 15 cities, culminating in an evening march in Amsterdam where protesters would observe a moment's silence for victims of the climate crisis.

Several hundred young people also took to the streets of Lisbon, where Thunberg is expected to arrive shortly before making her way to Madrid.

Turnout was low in the United States and Canada, with the protest taking place during the American Thanksgiving holiday weekend. A demonstration in Washington drew about 50 people, another in New York had 100. 

"It's important to keep showing up, keep being out there and talking to people about how this is not a problem that can go away, unless we address it head-on," said 24-year-old Frank Fritz in Washington.

New York police arrested 23 anti-consumerism protesters who staged a sit-in outside Macy's department store.

In Montreal, environmental groups distributed second-hand clothing.

"We are trying to create an eco-responsible movement against mass consumption, so we are giving away clothes for free to encourage people to consume less," protester Germain Desloges told AFP.