VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The government plans to vaccinate 9.1 million people with a high-risk category of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus by the end of November 2020.

Director-General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health, Achmad Yurianto, when delivering a press statement in Jakarta, Monday, explained that the first group to be vaccinated were health workers at a referral hospital for handling COVID-19 patients and laboratory personnel involved in examinations to detect COVID-19 transmission.

The second group that will receive vaccinations, he continued, are public service officers at public facilities such as airports, stations, and the Center for Public Health and the Indonesian Army-Police apparatus and the Civil Service Police Unit who enforce health protocols.

The government plans to carry out the COVID-19 vaccination by the end of November 2020, after the vaccine is available and the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) complete safety and halal checks of vaccines.

Achmad Yurianto explained that the government had secured a commitment to supply vaccines from the vaccine manufacturers Sinovac, Sinofarm, and Cansino from China.

"Sinovac itself is committed to giving Indonesia the opportunity to buy vaccines in the form of two shipments. The initial plan was in November of 1.5 million (doses) of vaccines, and December 1.5 million (doses) of vaccines," he said.

The vaccine from Sinovac should be given two doses to one person with an interval of 14 days. Thus, three million Sinovac vaccines will be used for 1.5 million Indonesians.

In addition, the government has received a commitment to send 15 million doses of finished vaccine from Sinofarm which can be used to immunize 7.5 million people, and 100 thousand doses of vaccine from Cansino which can be used to vaccinate 100,000 people.

The government has secured a commitment to provide a COVID-19 vaccine to vaccinate 9.1 million people.

Achmad Yurianto emphasized that the realization of the vaccination plan at the end of November 2020 depends on issuing emergency use authorization certification from BPOM and halal certification from MUI.

Representatives from the two institutions are still in China to get data on vaccines and to see the process of providing raw materials and making vaccines to ensure their safety and halalness.

The government will cover the cost of the first phase of vaccination for 9.1 million people.

In addition to preparing the first phase of vaccination for groups with a high risk of contracting COVID-19, the government is preparing services for residents who want to undergo vaccinations at their own expense.

"We have prepared space for people who are able to vaccinate independently," said Achmad Yurianto. (Antaranews)

The District Education Office of Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU), South Sumatra continues to strive to increase the capacity of Early Childhood Education (PAUD) teaching staff, including through collaboration with the Organization of the Ministers of Education in Southeast Asia which has a mission to develop and focus on Early Childhood Education (PAUD) (SEAMEO CECCEP).

Head of the OKU Education Office Teddy Meilwansyah in Baturaja, Monday explained to follow up on the cooperation between the OKU Regency Government through the local Education Office, he said, recently his party visited the Office of the Organization of the Ministers of Education in Southeast Asia which has a mission to develop and focus on PAUD (South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center for Early Childhood Care Education and Parenting) in West Java Province.

The visit, he said, was to fulfill an invitation from the SEAMEO CECCEP party to follow up on cooperation in the field of capacity building for PAUD education personnel in OKU Regency.

"In the future, there will be a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two parties," he said.

Through this collaboration, he hopes to increase the ability of PAUD level teaching staff in providing quality education for their students.

"This cooperation will be expanded again to provide life skills training for school dropouts and competency training for class and subject teachers at the elementary and junior high school levels," said Teddy Meilwansyah. (Antaranews)

France is preparing to expel 231 foreigners on a government watch list for suspected extremist religious beliefs.

Radio Europe 1 reported on Sunday, two days after a Russian-born citizen beheaded a teacher.

The French Interior Ministry, which is responsible for expels foreigners, declined to comment.

President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government has come under pressure from conservative parties and the right to take a tougher stance against citizens he sees as posing a security threat.

Macron held a Defense Council meeting with senior cabinet ministers on Sunday.

Earlier a man armed with a knife on Friday killed a high school history teacher by slitting his throat in front of the school where he teaches on the outskirts of Paris, police said.

We consider the attack an act of terrorism. The attacker was shot dead by police on patrol nearby.

The teacher shows cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students in the class, which Muslims see as blasphemy, according to police sources.

French anti-terror prosecutors said they were investigating the attack, which took place at Conflans Sainte-Honorine, northwest of Paris.

President Emmanuel Macron arrived at the scene on Friday evening.

French broadcaster BFMTV reported that the suspected attacker was 18 years old and born in Moscow.

The incident echoes an attack five years ago on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. The publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad caused problems in French society.

Less than a month ago, a Pakistani man used a butcher knife to attack and injure two people smoking outside the office where Charlie Hebdo was based at the time of the 2015 attack.

In Friday's attack, police sources said that witnesses heard the attacker shout "Allahu Akbar", or "God is great." A police spokesman said the information was being checked.

Another police source also said that the victim was beheaded in the attack, but this has not been confirmed. The attack took place on the street in front of the secondary school where the victim worked.

France attacked "Tonight, France was attacked, a teacher was brutally murdered," wrote French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer on his Twitter account.

"Our unity and our determination are our only response to this act of terrorism," a Twitter thread posted on October 9 alleged that a history teacher at Conflans Sainte-Honorine showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students.

The thread contains a video of a man saying his daughter, a Muslim, is one of the students in the class. He was shocked and irritated by his teacher's actions. The man in the video urged Twitter users to complain to the authorities. (Antaranews)

New Zealand’s next parliament is set to be the most inclusive ever, with several people of colour, members from the rainbow communities and a high number of women.

The ruling Labour Party was handed a resounding mandate in the election over the weekend, as voters rewarded Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her decisive response to COVID-19.

Although Ardern has the numbers to govern alone, she is in talks with former ally the Green Party to build a wider consensus.

Labour won 64 of the 120 parliamentary seats, and more than half of those are female candidates. It also has 16 indigenous Maori MPs, the first leader of African origin, Ibrahim Omar, and Vanushi Walters of Sri Lankan origin.

“This is the most diverse parliament we have ever had in terms of gender, and minority ethnic and indigenous representation,” said Professor Paul Spoonley from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Massey University.

Its also expected to be the most rainbow representative parliament system in the world, with about 10% of the members in the 120-seat house being openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

This includes prominent leaders like Finance Minister Grant Robertson who is openly gay.

The Greens surprisingly won as many as 10 seats in parliament and a majority of them are women, indigenous leaders or LGBTQ+.

The majority of the new MPs elected into parliament are also much younger and many of them are millennials, Spoonley said.

“What we have seen is a departure of many of the older, male, white MPs including some who have been in parliament for over 30 years,” said Spoonley.

Ardern herself arrived onto the global scene in 2017 when she became the world’s youngest female head of government at the age of 37.

The 40-year-old leader is feted globally as a progressive leader, who is a champion for woman’s rights, equality and inclusivity. (Reuters)