VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 12 - Western governments condemned on Thursday an attack by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group on the city of Marib, according to a statement released by Britain’s foreign ministry.

“We, the governments of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, condemn the sustained Houthi offensive on the Yemeni city of Marib and the major escalation of attacks the Houthis have conducted and claimed against Saudi Arabia,” the statement said.

The Houthis, who control Yemen’s most populous areas and have been battling a Saudi-led coalition since it intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March 2015, have recently pushed towards the gas-rich region of Marib, aiming to take the government’s last stronghold in the north of Yemen. (Reuters)

Mar. 12 - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that “some hopeful progress” had been made toward a ceasefire in Yemen, but more commitment was needed from the warring parties.

In a statement after U.S. special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking returned from a tour of the Gulf and Jordan, the State Department said Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis should end their offensive on the gas-rich Marib region and cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

Mar. 12 - Novavax Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine was 96% effective in preventing cases caused by the original version of the coronavirus in a late-stage trial conducted in the United Kingdom, the company said on Thursday, moving it a step closer to regulatory approval.

The vaccine was also about 86% effective in protecting against the more contagious virus variant first discovered and now prevalent in the UK.

It was only around 55% effective in a separate, smaller trial in South Africa, where volunteers were primarily exposed to another newer, more contagious variant that is widely circulating there and spreading around the world.

In both trials, the vaccine was 100% effective in preventing serious illness and death.

Results from the final analysis of the UK trial were largely in line with interim data released in January, which also showed the Novavax shot to be 96% effective against the original version of the coronavirus and around 86% effective against UK variant.

The company expects to use the data to submit for regulatory authorization in various countries. It is not clear when it will seek U.S. authorization or if regulators will require it to complete an ongoing trial in the United States. (Reuters)

Mar. 12 - Pakistan on Thursday blocked the popular social media app TikTok after a court order over a complaint that it ran indecent content, a spokesman for the country’s telecoms regulator said.

“The court has asked PTA to block access to TikTok,” Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) spokesman Khurram Mehran told Reuters, adding that the authority would comply with the order.

A high court in the northwestern city of Peshawar said it ordered the ban after a private complainant said the social media app was spreading indecent content, said Jehanzeb Mehsud, a lawyer who represented the PTA.

The service providers have been directed to immediately block access to TikTok, the regulator said in a statement.

The app stopped working within an hour of the direction.

A TikTok representative in Pakistan said strong safeguards were in place to keep inappropriate content off the platform.

“In Pakistan, we have grown our local-language moderation team, and have mechanisms to report and remove content in violation of our community guidelines,” the representative said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to serve the millions of TikTok users and creators in Pakistan who have found a home for creativity and fun.”

Muslim-majority Pakistan had banned the app in October, but restored it within 10 days after the company vowed to block all accounts involved in spreading “obscenity and immorality.”

The telecom regulator said the social media company had agreed to moderate accounts in accordance with local laws.

TikTok has been one of the most-downloaded apps in the South Asian nation behind WhatsApp and Facebook.

TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, has become hugely popular in a short period of time, by encouraging young users to post brief videos.

But the app has been mired in controversy in a number of countries, with authorities raising privacy concerns and security fears due to its links with China.

TikTok has denied that its ties to China pose a security concern in other countries. (Reuters)