VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Pentagon said on Monday that the security situation in Afghanistan was "not going in the right direction" as Taliban militants captured a sixth provincial Afghan capital.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the United States was deeply concerned about the trend, but that Afghan security forces had the capability to fight the insurgent group.

"These are their military forces, these are their provincial capitals, their people to defend and it's really going to come down to the leadership that they're willing to exude here at this particular moment," Kirby said. (Reuters)

 At least 27 children have been killed and 136 injured across three provinces of Afghanistan over the past three days amid escalating violence, the U.N. children's agency said on Monday.

"UNICEF is shocked by the rapid escalation of grave violations against children in Afghanistan," UNICEF country representative Hervé Ludovic De Lys said in an emailed statement. "The atrocities grow higher by the day."

The deaths and injuries were reported in Kandahar, Khost and Pakria provinces. (Reuters)

Australia expanded a COVID-19 lockdown to a rural town and the coastal region of Byron Bay on Monday, as fears grew that the virus has spread from Sydney to the northern tip of the country's most populous state.

Tamworth, a farming town 414 km (257 miles) northwest of Sydney, and Byron Bay, a tourist spot about 770 km north of Sydney, will both enter a seven-day lockdown, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

Neither Tamworth nor Byron Bay has yet recorded a COVID-19 case, but Berejiklian said two infected people had contravened travel bans and travelled there.

"As a precaution, the health experts have recommended we lock down Tamworth for one week," Berejiklian told reporters.

New South Wales reported 283 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, up from 262 cases a day earlier.

The state has struggled to contain a surge of the highly infectious Delta variant despite a lockdown of Sydney now in its seventh week.

Neighbouring Victoria state said it would ease restrictions after reporting 11 new COVID-19 cases, the same as the previous day.

The majority of the new cases in Victoria spent time in the community while infectious but state Premier Daniel Andrews said the lockdown of areas outside the state capital of Melbourne would be lifted on Monday.

Melbourne would remain in lockdown - for the sixth time since the pandemic begun - until at least Aug. 12. read more

In Brisbane, capital of Queensland, authorities reported four new local cases on Monday, the first day after the city came out of stay-at-home restrictions.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is under fire for a sluggish vaccine rollout, with only 22% of Australians above 16 fully vaccinated.

An opinion poll by the Australian newspaper showed his public approval rating had hit its lowest since the pandemic began. read more

Morrison acknowledged mounting frustrations but urged people to be patient.

"I know they're sick of it, I know they're angry and I know they want it to stop and for life to get back to where they knew it," Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

"But there can be no short cuts."

Australia has reported about 36,250 cases and 939 deaths, including a woman in her 90s whose death in Sydney was reported on Monday.

Morrison has said all Australians over 16 will be offered a vaccine by the end of the year, with prospects for achieving that boosted on Monday when the pharmaceutical regulator gave provisional approval for the Moderna (MRNA.O) shot. (Reuters)

Under pressure from businesses and public sectors facing a worker shortage that policymakers fear will fuel inflation, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is due to unveil plans this week to reopen the country's borders.

Ardern garnered global praise for containing local transmission of COVID-19 via an elimination strategy, imposing tough lockdowns and slamming New Zealand's international border shut in March 2020.

However, that tactic is now straining an economy heavily reliant on an immigrant workforce, leading to higher costs and lower output.

The dairy, horticulture, housing, services, health and broader public sector have all reported acute staff shortages, and called on the government to raise border blocks.

The pressures were visible on Monday when around 1,500 hospital midwives walked off the job, citing overwork due to "critical shortages". More than 30,000 nurses are due to strike later this month for the second time since June, seeking better pay and working conditions amid the staff shortages.

"We rely on internationally qualified nurses to meet our staffing needs but with the borders closed we are not getting any," said New Zealand Nurses Organisation industrial services manager Glenda Alexander.

"Kiwis are not coming into nursing as they are put off by the workload and the low pay," she added. "Nurses are burning out, they are getting sick themselves and are constantly worried that they will make mistakes that could affect their patients."

The hospitality sector has been similarly stretched. About 2,000 eateries stopped service and turned off lights last month as part of a two-month campaign to draw the government's attention to the severe shortages chefs and other skilled labour.

Ardern has indicated she will remain cautious when she on Thursday outlines her government's six-month plan for public health and border control.

"Any changes to border settings will be carefully considered in phases, based on risks," she said on Monday. "We have come too far and gained too many freedoms to rush at this next step and go backwards."

Ardern last week opened one-way quarantine-free travel for seasonal workers from Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, all countries with no active COVID cases, to address labour shortages in the horticulture industry. read more

New Zealand has recorded about 2,500 COVID-19 cases, including 26 deaths, among the lowest in the world and a track record that helped Ardern retain power in a blowout relection last October. The last reported case of local transmission was in February.

The roadmap will be based on the findings of a report by experts including epidemiologists titled "Reconnecting New Zealanders to the World."

Still, businesses are pressing for the plan to include the resumption of labour imports, sooner rather than later.

The country's unemployment rate is at pre-COVID levels, with more jobs than skilled workers. The underutilization rate, a measure of how many people are working less than they would like, is at a record low.

The labour shortages are pushing up costs as employers pay more to keep staff. Annual inflation reached a record 3.3% in the second quarter, much higher than central bank predictions.

CHANGING TRACK

Economists think the pressures will force the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to tighten monetary policy next week to avoid overheating of the economy.

"Monetary and fiscal policy quite possibly overachieved in creating demand," said ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner.

The government pumped stimulus through wage subsidies while the RBNZ dished out a NZ$100 billion quantitative easing programme in pandemic-induced polices that has caused rising inequality and worsened a housing crisis. read more

A major concern for Ardern and policymakers is the Delta coronavirus variant, which is raging in neighbouring Australia and the world.

Delta-fuelled outbreaks across Australia led Ardern to last month suspend the so-called "travel bubble" that allowed quarantine-free travel between the two countries.

Experts have warned that the arrival of Delta into New Zealand would result longer lockdowns, particularly given only 21% of the country has been fully vaccinated.

"It (Delta) is much more dangerous than other strains of COVID," Ardern said. "It changes our risk calculation in the same way that it's changed everyone's risk calculation." (Reuters)