VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Rice stocks at the BULOG warehouse (Photo : BULOG) - 

VOInews, Jakarta : The government has assured that the nation has sufficient rice stocks to meet demand during March, April, and May this year so people need not worry about rice shortage during Ramadan and the Idul Fitri holiday.

"Insya Allah (God willing), our national rice stocks for March, April, and May remain safe," Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said in a press statement issued by his ministry here on Saturday.

To meet the demand in June, preparation for rice planting will need to be carried out from March. At least three million hectares of land will need to be prepared for rice planting to secure three months' rice stocks, the minister informed.

"We must plant rice on at least one million hectares of land per month to produce 3.0 to 3.5 million tons of rice, while our monthly rice demand is recorded only at some 2.5 million tons," he expounded.

If this scenario works, Indonesia will get a rice surplus, he said, adding that domestic rice production will hopefully help lower rice prices significantly.

"This March, the rice prices definitely go down. I guarantee that the rice prices are safe during the holy month of Ramadan, the Idul Fitri holiday season, and two months after Idul Fitri," he said.

Meanwhile, supply chain and public service director at the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), Mokhamad Suyamto, said that the government's rice reserves remain sufficient to meet demand during Ramadan and Idul Fitri.

"The availability of the government's rice reserves is currently recorded at 1.4 million tons, and the remaining quota of this year's rice import is recorded at 1.5 million tons. So, the stocks are sufficient," he explained.

ANTARA reported earlier that Bulog president director Bayu Krisnamurthi also assured of sufficient rice stocks to fulfill people's needs, especially ahead of Ramadan and the Idul Fitri holiday.

He informed that Bulog is routinely distributing rice via several channels, namely the Rice Food Assistance Program and the Stabilization of Food Supply and Prices (SPHP) Program, to meet people's requirements//ANTARA-VOI

Social Democratic (PSD) and Democratic Alliance (AD) leader Luis Montenegro gestures at the crowd during a rally on the last day of the campaign ahead of the snap elections in Lisbon, Portugal, Mar 8, 2024. (Photo: Reuters/Pedro Nunes) - 

VOInews, Lisbon : Portuguese voters will elect a new parliament on Sunday (Mar 10), facing a choice between switching to a centre-right government or keeping the centre-left in power, although neither appears to have a clear path to a full majority as the far-right's clout grows.

The issues dominating the campaign in Western Europe's poorest country include the housing crisis unleashed by soaring rents, low wages, sagging healthcare and corruption, seen by many as endemic to the mainstream parties.

The early election, four months after Prime Minister Antonio Costa's sudden resignation amid a graft investigation, again pits against each other the two centrist parties that have alternated in power since the end of a dictatorship five decades ago.

The ruling Socialist Party (PS) could attempt a replay of their old alliances with the Left Bloc and the Communists that allowed them to govern between 2015 and 2019, if the combined left gets more than 115 seats in the 230-seat parliament.

The Democratic Alliance (AD) of right-leaning parties, helmed by Luis Montenegro, leads in most opinion polls, but it could struggle to govern without the votes of far-right Chega. Montenegro has so far ruled out any deals with the radical populists, who want a government role.

Surveys suggest support for Chega's anti-establishment message, its vows to sweep away corruption and hostility to what it sees as "excessive" immigration, has roughly doubled since the last election in 2022, though it remains in third place.

On Friday, conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told Expresso newspaper he would do everything he can to prevent Chega from gaining power, drawing criticism as the head of state is mandated to remain neutral.

Political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto of Lisbon University said Portugal "has entered the dynamic of many European democracies", in which the centre-right is challenged by having a radical party to its right consolidated in third place.

A potential AD minority government, even supported by the smaller centre-right Liberal Initiative, would likely need votes from Chega to pass legislation, making it relatively fragile as Chega could topple it at any point.

However, "a PS victory with an absolute right-wing majority in parliament would be the most complex, most unstable scenario", Costa Pinto added.

Polls open at 8am (0800 GMT) and close at 7pm in the mainland and an hour later on the Azores archipelago. More than 10 million citizens are eligible to vote//CNA-VOI

Max Verstappen leads his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to victory in Jeddah. (Photo: AFP/Giuseppe Cacace) - 

VOInews, Jeddah : Max Verstappen won Saturday's (Mar 9) Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from Sergio Perez to maintain Red Bull's perfect start to the season.

Charles Leclerc's Ferrari was third with British teen Oliver Bearman a remarkable seventh on his debut for Ferrari as a late stand-in for the ill Carlos Sainz.

"He's done an incredible job, seventh in your first race in F1 is hugely impressive," said Leclerc of 18 year old Bearman, only called up before third practice on Friday with Sainz hit by appendicitis.

While Bearman was voted driver of the day Verstappen once again demonstrated his ability to overcome all the distractions off track from the continuing fallout from the inquiry into team principal Christian Horner.

After a season opening win in Bahrain last Saturday, the defending three time world champion notched up a ninth consecutive victory and a 100th career podium finish.

Oscar Piastri of McLaren finished fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin.

George Russell (Mercedes), Bearman, Lando Norris (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10//CNA-VOI

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, attends a news conference during an informal EU Development Ministers Council, in Brussels, Belgium, Feb 12, 2024. (File photo: REUTERS/Johanna Geron) - 

VOInews, Geneva : The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said he was cautiously optimistic some donors would start funding it again within weeks, warning it was "at risk of death" after Israel alleged some of its staff took part in the Oct 7 Hamas attack.

An independent review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has been launched under French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, and the final report is expected to be published next month.

"I am cautiously optimistic that within the next few weeks, and also following the publication of Catherine Colonna's report, a number of donors will return," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said in an interview with Swiss broadcaster RTS that was aired on Saturday (Mar 9).

Lazzarini told RTS that UNRWA was at "risk of death, at risk of dismantlement".

Colonna, whose work on the review began in mid-February, said on Saturday she would visit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Amman next week.

UNRWA, which provides aid and essential services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and across the region, has been in crisis since Israel accused 12 of its 13,000 staff in Gaza of involvement in the Oct 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war in the Palestinian enclave.

The allegations prompted several countries, including the United States, to pause funding.

When the allegations emerged, UNRWA fired some staff members, saying it acted to protect the agency's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, and an independent internal UN investigation was launched.

UNRWA said some employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been pressured by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that staff took part in the Oct 7 attack, according to a report by the agency dated February.

"What is at stake is the fate of the Palestinians today in Gaza in the short term who are going through an absolutely unprecedented humanitarian crisis," Lazzarini told RTS.

UNRWA runs schools, healthcare clinics and other social services in Gaza, and distributes humanitarian aid. The UN has said some 3,000 members of staff are still working to deliver aid in the enclave, where it says 576,000 people - one quarter of the population - are a step away from famine.

"The agency I currently manage is the only agency that delivers public services to Palestinian refugees," Lazzarini said.

"We are the quasi-ministry of education, of primary health. If we were to get rid of such a body, who would bring back the million of girls and boys who are traumatised in the Gaza Strip today back to a learning environment?"//CNA-VOI