VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry reported on Tuesday that no Indonesians had fallen victim to a mass shooting at the King Soopers Store in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday.

"No other report was received of Indonesians falling victim to the fatal shooting," the Foreign Ministry's Director for the Protection of Citizens, Judha Nugraha, stated.

The Indonesian consulate general in Los Angeles had contacted the local authorities and Indonesians residing in Colorado shortly after the deadly shooting occurred.

The consulate general confirmed that 10 Indonesian citizens, all registered as students, currently resided in Boulder City.

The US media outlets reported that 10 people, including a cop, lost their lives after a gunman opened fire at the King Soopers Store on Monday.

Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold was quoted by CNN as saying that the gunman was placed in detention, and the local police investigators had continued to probe the case.

CNN reported that the boulder shooting occurred less than a week after eight people were killed in shooting attacks at three spas in the Atlanta area.

Over the past nine years, the United States has repeatedly borne witness to acts of gun violence that have killed numerous innocent people.

In December 2012, a total of 27 people, including 20 children in the age group of five to 10 years, reportedly died after a gunman launched an attack on a primary school in Newton, Connecticut.

Thereafter, on June 12, 2016, a fatal shooting again broke out at a night club in Orlando, Florida, claiming the lives of 50 people and inflicting injuries to 53 others.

The Indonesian government has denounced the Orlando shooting incident and extended its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the US government and people.

In tackling the gun violence-related issue, the Barack Obama administration had also planned to "widen background checks on buyers of firearms" in the country, according to the BBC in 2016.

The BBC noted that the Barack Obama administration had imposed a regulation necessitating all gun sellers to be licensed and to conduct background checks. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. Vietnam has approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for use against COVID-19, its health ministry said, the second coronavirus shot to be approved in the Southeast Asian country after the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“The approval of Sputnik V vaccine was based on data about its safety, quality and efficiency,” the health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday on its website.

The ministry did not say when it expected doses of the vaccine to arrive.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which promotes the vaccine, said in a statement on the Sputnik V website that it had now been approved for use in 56 countries with a combined population of over 1.5 billion people.

“Its approval in Vietnam, one of the most populated countries in Southeast Asia, will provide for protecting the people and getting closer to lifting the restrictions imposed because of coronavirus,” RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said.

Vietnam, with a population of 98 million, has been relying on the AstraZeneca vaccine so far and since launching vaccinations on March 8 more than 36,000 people have been inoculated.

The country is also in talks to buy vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson and is aiming to put its first domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine in use in 2022.

The government has previously said it would acquire 150 million vaccine doses in total, both through direct purchases from producers and the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme.

The Southeast Asian country has been praised for its record in containing the virus through mass testing and tracing and strict quarantining, only recording 2,575 infections and 35 deaths. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Malaysia’s exports of palm-based biodiesel are likely to fall this year to their lowest since 2017 due to European Union restrictions and the coronavirus pandemic, the Malaysian Biodiesel Association (MBA) said on Tuesday.

Exports from Malaysia are estimated to fall to 350,000 tonnes from 378,582 tonnes in 2020, MBA president U.R. Unnithan said at the Virtual Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference.

The European Union accounts for nearly 80% of Malaysia and Indonesia’s exports of palm methyl ester (PME), the bio component of biodiesel that comes from palm oil.

Exports, however, have slowed since the bloc in 2019 moved to cap the use of palm oil for transport fuel at 2019 levels due to deforestation concerns, with an aim to phase out its use by 2030.

“(Malaysia’s) biodiesel exports are unlikely to best the performance seen in 2019 due to the EU Delegated RED II Act,” Unnithan told the conference.

MBA estimates the EU’s total consumption of palm biofuel in 2019 was 6.2 million tonnes. It said that actual exports this year will start at much lower levels because EU member states pushing for a no palm-biofuel agenda can set a lower limit.

Some member states will also phase out palm biodiesel before the 2030 deadline, Unnithan said.

Exports this year will be the lowest in four years due to the impact of the EU rule, a rising crude palm oil-gas oil spread and reduced usage of vehicles due to coronavirus containment measures, he added.

A recent rally in palm oil prices amid lower crude prices pushed the edible oil to trade $455 above gas oil on Tuesday, making it a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

Crude prices have declined on concerns that new pandemic curbs and slow vaccine rollouts in Europe will hold back a recovery in fuel demand, which collapsed last year as a result of global lockdowns to curb COVID-19 outbreak. [O/R]

Malaysia’s benchmark crude palm oil prices are trading at an average of 3,638 ringgit ($883.01) per tonne so far this year, up 34% from an average price of 2,700 ringgit throughout 2020. (Reuters)

Jakarta. U.N. human rights boss Michelle Bachelet was given a mandate on Tuesday to collect and preserve information and evidence of war crimes committed during Sri Lanka’s long civil war that ended in 2009.

The Human Rights Council adopted a resolution, brought by Britain on behalf of a core group of countries, strengthening her office’s capacity to investigate with a view to future prosecutions. The vote was 22 countries in favour, with 11 against, including China and Pakistan, and 14 abstentions including India. (Reuters)