VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOI, Jakarta - Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) will run undersea cables powering internet access to at least eight far-flung Pacific Ocean nations under a joint U.S.-Australian deal set to be announced on Wednesday, according to a U.S. official.

The deal will expand an existing commercial project by Google in the region to the nations of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Set to be announced during an official White House visit by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the previously unreported deal involves contributions from both governments.

Canberra will contribute $50 million and Washington is adding another $15 million, according to a senior administration official.

The tiny and sometimes isolated nations of the Pacific have become an area of intense focus in recent years, with both China and the United States courting them with infrastructure development and military partnerships.

President Joe Biden has also pushed for U.S. dominance in telecommunications services, seeing the industry as a key national security issue given the control it affords over information flows worldwide.

Google is currently working on a fiber-optic cable that links Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by China, with the Philippines and the United States.

As part of the Pacific islands project, the United States will work with the countries on cybersecurity resilience, helping them back up key information to global cloud networks, according to the official. (Reuters)

VOI, Jakarta - New Zealand’s Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon said on Wednesday that negotiations were ongoing with potential coalition partners ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First, as the country awaits final results of the general election.

Luxon’s conservative National Party and preferred coalition partner ACT won a one-seat majority in the general election Oct. 14. However, this majority could be eroded after special votes are counted and final results are released Nov. 3.

“What we're doing between now and the third of November is progressing relationships and arrangements with both parties,” Luxon told state-funded Radio New Zealand on Wednesday.

He said once special votes are counted, the parties will move quickly to form a government.

“Unfortunately, this will take as long as it takes in order to be able to get a good agreement and good trust and a strong base and a good government,” Luxon added.

Special votes are ballots cast for example by electors overseas or by those who enrolled on the day of the election.

New Zealand is currently being governed by a caretaker government run by the previous Labour government. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - Russia's parliament completed the passage of a law on Wednesday withdrawing ratification of the global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests, evidence of the deep chill in relations with the United States as Moscow pursues its war in Ukraine.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia was not prepared to resume discussing nuclear issues with the U.S. unless Washington dropped its "hostile" policy.

The bill to deratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was approved by 156 votes to zero in the upper house after the lower house also passed it unanimously. It now goes to President Vladimir Putin for signing.

Putin had requested the change to "mirror" the position of the United States, which signed the CTBT in 1996 but never ratified it.

Though it has never formally come into force, the CTBT has made nuclear testing a taboo - no country except North Korea has conducted a test involving a nuclear explosion this century.

Russia says it will not resume testing unless Washington does, but arms control experts say a test by either Russia or the United States could trigger a new arms race - and more testing by other countries - at a moment of acute tension, with wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.

CNN published satellite images last month showing that Russia, the United States and China have all expanded their nuclear test sites in recent years.

The U.S. Energy Department said last week it had conducted a chemical explosion at its test site in Nevada "to improve the United States' ability to detect low-yield nuclear explosions around the world".

Speaking to Russian lawmakers before Wednesday's vote, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said the Nevada blast was "undoubtedly a political signal".

"As our president said, we must be on alert, and if the United States moves towards the start of nuclear tests, we will have to respond here in the same way," he said.

Russia says its monitoring stations will keep supplying data to the global network that detects nuclear blasts.

But In separate comments, RIA news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying Russia was not ready to resume nuclear talks with the U.S.

Without changes in its "deeply fundamental hostile course", he said, "a return to dialogue on strategic stability, including the topic of strategic offensive arms and other topics in the form that was previously practised, is simply impossible".

Russia accuses Washington of trying to inflict a "strategic defeat" on it by arming Ukraine in the war. The U.S. says it is helping Kyiv to defend itself.

The absence of nuclear dialogue has called into question the fate of the New START treaty, which limits the number of strategic warheads that Russia and the U.S. can deploy.

Russia suspended the treaty this year and it is due to expire in 2026, leaving the two countries without any remaining bilateral nuclear weapons agreement.

Ryabkov said Moscow had received an unofficial memo from Washington on arms control and was looking at it, but it had "no novel elements". (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - Buffeted by years of upheaval and China's economic slowdown, Hong Kong's leader on Wednesday outlined his annual policy vision focused on kick-starting the ailing property market while further tightening national security laws.

The policy blueprint, the second delivered by Chief Executive John Lee since he took office, comes at a critical moment for Hong Kong, as the Chinese-ruled former British colony looks to emerge from the turmoil of the last few years.

Mass pro-democracy protests in 2019, the COVID lockdown, the emigration of tens of thousands of residents and unease over a national security crackdown have all sapped energy from one of Asia's most vibrant cities.

Lee, a former police officer, in a three-hour speech outlined policies that ranged from slashing property transaction fees to geopolitics and offering cash bonuses for local parents to have more babies.

"Hong Kong has many strengths. We should treasure them, without inflating our ego. In face of competition, we should never be complacent; we should not be frustrated or doubt ourselves when we lag behind," Lee said.

Lee's primary focus was on stimulating Hong Kong's economy, which contracted 3.5% last year, and luring back international businesses and capital at a time when the local stock market has struggled and families have sold flats and moved abroad.

But Lee, who was sanctioned by the U.S. government for his role in cracking down on freedoms after the pro-democracy protests in 2019, also emphasized the need to bolster national security -- a priority for China's President Xi Jinping.

"External forces continue to meddle in Hong Kong affairs," he said, adding that fresh security legislation including laws to counter alleged espionage activities, known as Article 23, would be enacted by the end of 2024.

"We should pay particular attention to those anti-China and destabilising activities camouflaged in the name of human rights, freedom, democracy and livelihood," he said.

To enhance Chinese national identity and unity, Hong Kong would be rolling out "patriotic" education in local schools, Lee said.

He also said cybersecurity would be strengthened to protect critical infrastructure.

Some observers say Lee's economic and security priorities are difficult to balance.

"The Hong Kong business environment is already facing challenges due to an unwelcoming atmosphere and a repressive political climate," said Sunny Cheung, an exiled activist and visiting fellow at John Hopkins University in Washington D.C.

PROPERTY AND STOCKS

Turning to the property market, Lee said stamp duty, would be halved to 7.5% from 15% for second home buyers and non-citizen buyers with immediate effect, to help revive a sector that is one of the economy's pillars.

Other adjustments were made to allow some home owners to sell properties after two years without incurring hefty duties.

And Lee said the government would continue to increase the overall supply of land for public and private housing.

The reaction from investors was lukewarm, with shares of Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016.HK) and Henderson Land (0012.HK), two major residential property developers, closing down 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively.

Hong Kong had tried to cool the property market during a surge of nearly 300% in home prices in the decade to 2019. Since then prices have fallen 13%.

In August, property prices dropped to a seven-month low, and realtors expect them to end 2023 as much as 5% down.

"The relaxation of cooling measures is only a band-aid solution that is unlikely to reverse the downward trend of home prices," said Joseph Tsang, chairman of property consultancy JLL in Hong Kong, citing the global economic downturn and interest rate hikes as lingering factors weighing on the market.

Lee said stamp duties for stock transactions would be reduced to 0.1% from 0.13% to help bolster liquidity in the Hong Kong market, and market data fees would be cut later this year to help brokerages.

He added Hong Kong would seek to strengthen its role as an offshore yuan centre and bolster financial ties to China, and enhance schemes to attract foreign talent.

($1 = 7.8241 Hong Kong dollars) (Reuters)