VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said he believes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India can forge cooperation in various fields to address a wide range of challenges that may lie ahead.

India can serve as ASEAN's strategic partner in strengthening medical capacity in the region, particularly to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, including increasing the production capacity of COVID-19 drugs and vaccines, raw materials for the production of medicines, and conducting joint research and development in the health sector, he said.

"We must encourage access to affordable healthcare for all," the President said while addressing the virtual 17th ASEAN-India Summit from the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java on Thursday.

In addition to the health sector, the ASEAN-India partnership could be directed towards restoring the regional economy, which has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

He noted that the growth of digital platforms has been able to drive the economy.

As one of the countries with a large and rapidly growing digital economy ecosystem, India can expand cooperation with ASEAN member states, which are also developing their digital economy potential, he said.

Collaboration in increasing cybersecurity is badly needed, he pointed out and lauded India's scholarship program for one thousand ASEAN scientists.

"I warmly welcome doctoral scholarships for one thousand ASEAN scientists to study at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). The initiative of His Excellency (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) was launched in 2018. The collaboration will cement the basis for ASEAN-India digital cooperation," he remarked. (Antaranews)

The latest batch of results from Sunday’s vote confirmed Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) had secured the 322 seats in the bicameral legislature needed to form a government.

The NLD has taken 346 seats of the 412 seats that have been declared, with results from 64 more yet to be announced.

The comfortable win will be a welcome boost for Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate who has had a turbulent first term and struggled to meet high public expectations.

She is tasked with developing a country that suffered nearly 50 years of isolation and decay under strict military rule, years of which she was held under house arrest.

Even now, her government is required to govern with military involvement, in particular in the areas of security and defence, under a constitution drafted during the generals’ rule.

The NLD won by a similar margin in the last election in 2015, the first free vote since the end of military rule.

This time, the ballot was seen as a referendum on Suu Kyi’s government, which is hugely popular at home. But its reputation abroad has collapsed due to accusations of genocide against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority, which it denies.

The main opposition party, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), had won 24 seats, according to the partial official results.

The USDP raised objections on Wednesday and demanded a new vote as soon as possible “in order to have an election that is free, fair, unbiased and free from unfair campaigning”.

A USDP spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.

International and domestic observers said the vote went smoothly and without major irregularities.

The election commission on Wednesday said any allegations of irregularities were from a minority of participants.

The NLD has also demanded proof of wrongdoing, while the military, in an earlier statement, said the election had been carried out successfully. ruling party of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has won enough parliamentary seats to form the next government, according to official general election results released on Friday. (Reuters)

The ISIS group on Thursday (12/11) claimed responsibility for a non-Muslim funeral attack in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, which wounded scores of people, although there was no evidence to substantiate this claim.

In a statement on its official channel on Telegram, ISIS revealed that "its soldiers" hid a homemade bomb at the cemetery on Wednesday, which then exploded after several hours "consuls of crusading countries" gathered there.

The explosion which took place during a World War I memorial service involving foreign embassies was the second security incident to have occurred in Jeddah in recent weeks and the first attack of homemade bombs in years in an attempted attack on foreigners in the conservative kingdom.

In a subsequent statement, ISIS claims to be targeting the French consul general, who attended the ceremony, for what he thinks is a warning against France for publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

The French government defended its right to publish the cartoon, which Muslims saw as an insult. On October 18 ISIS spokesmen asked their supporters to target Westerners, oil pipelines, and economic infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

Chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross M. Jusuf Kalla said IRC was ready to help distribute the COVID-19 vaccination to all corners of Indonesia when the vaccine arrived in Indonesia.

Kalla said this during his presence inaugurating the arenatorium in Makassar, Thursday.

He said IRC had prepared around 230 blood donor units (UDD) scattered throughout Indonesia which functioned as vaccine delivery posts accompanied by thousands of vaccine workers.

Meanwhile, following up on the direction from the Chairman of IRC, the head of IRC South Sulawesi's Public Relations, Syahrul Rustam, said that based on reports that were obtained as many as 200 UDD were ready to assist in the distribution of vaccines in the field.

"Therefore, according to 'Pak JK's' instructions, one of the 200 UDDs is in South Sulawesi, out of 200 UDDs which are confirmed to have two UDDs in South Sulawesi that have operated, one of which is in Makassar while the other UDD is spread across 24 districts/cities," he said.

Based on instructions and directions from the Head of the Central PMI, all volunteers will be fully involved in the vaccine distribution process, but specifically for South Sulawesi, it will be focused on Makassar City through the local UDD.

"'Pak JK' has instructed the role of volunteers to be maximized, especially when distributing vaccines in each region," he concluded.

Regarding this readiness, Chairman of the UDD IRC Makassar Syamsu Rizal said his staff was ready to carry out their duties according to the instructions of the central IRC.

Moreover, this task is a noble task to suppress and prevent the spread of COVID-19 cases. (Antaranews)