VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. U.S. President Joe Biden does not intend to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the White House said on Monday.

Asked if Biden’s diplomatic approach to North Korea would include “sitting with President Kim Jong Un” as former President Donald Trump had done, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “I think his approach would be quite different and that is not his intention,” she said.

North Korea launched a new type of tactical short-range ballistic missile last week, prompting Washington to request a gathering of the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) sanctions committee, which then criticized the test.

Biden on Thursday said the United States remained open to diplomacy with North Korea despite the tests, but warned there would be responses if North Korea escalates matters.

North Korea on Saturday said the Biden administration had taken a wrong first step and revealed “deep-seated hostility” by criticising what it called a self-defensive missile test.

Trump had three high-profile meetings with Kim, and exchanged a series of letters, but relations later grew frosty, and the nuclear-armed state said it would not engage further unless the United States dropped its hostile policies. (Reuters)

Jakarta. The blocking of the Suez Canal by one of the world’s largest container ships is likely to result in losses worth hundreds of millions of euros for the reinsurance industry, Fitch Ratings said, even as rescue teams were successful in partially refloating the vessel on Monday.

The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given got wedged diagonally across the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, blocking the path for hundreds of vessels waiting to transit the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

This event will reduce global reinsurers' earnings but should not materially affect their credit profiles, while prices for marine reinsurance will rise further, the credit rating agency said. bit.ly/3m1RwrL

Shipping rates for oil product tankers nearly doubled after the ship got jammed, and the blockage has disrupted global supply chains, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with COVID-19 restrictions.

“The ultimate losses will depend on how long it takes the salvage company to free Ever Given completely and when normal ship traffic can resume, but Fitch estimates losses may easily run into hundreds of millions of euros,” Fitch said.

The owner and insurers of Ever Given also face claims totaling millions of dollars even if the ship is refloated quickly, industry sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

A large share of losses will probably be reinsured by a global panel of reinsurers, Fitch said, adding that this will add pressure to first-half earnings.

Global reinsurers are already on the hook for natural disasters such as winter storms in the U.S. and flooding in Australia, as well as COVID-19 pandemic-related losses. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan removed his finance minister on Monday as part of a government shake-up aimed at bringing in policies to control “rising inflation”, the information minister.

The removal - the second of a finance minister in the 2-1/2 years of Khan’s tenure - comes amidst the restart of a $6 billion IMF bailout programme that had been suspended for one year over questions about fiscal and revenue reforms.

Cash-strapped Pakistan is also preparing to float Eurobonds worth around $2 billion to raise capital from international markets about two months before presenting a budget.

“There has been rising inflation, and the prime minister thinks that we need to bring in a fresh team which could devise pro-poor policies,” information minister Shibli Faraz told local Dunya News TV.

He said Hammad Azhar, the minister for industries and production, would replace Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

The central bank on March 19 kept its policy rate at 7% for a 10th consecutive month to support economic recovery while keeping inflation expectations well-anchored and maintaining financial stability. It also revised higher its growth rate for the current fiscal year.

The South Asian nation recorded 8.7% CPI Y/Y in February.

Sheikh had lost a parliamentary election earlier this month that was mandatory for him to keep the office of the finance minister constitutionally. However he could have stayed in office until June 10, and it is not clear whether the decision to remove him was also a move to cover for the consequences of that election loss. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi has tested positive for COVID-19, he said on Twitter on Monday, after receiving his first dose of a vaccine.

“Had (first) dose of vaccine, but antibodies start developing after (second) dose that was due in a week. Please continue to be careful,” he said.

Coronavirus cases are rising quickly in the South Asian nation and Prime Minister Imran Khan tested positive two days after receiving his first vaccine dose earlier this month with officials saying he had likely been infected before being vaccinated. (Reuters)