Indonesia puts spotlight on Palestine as Jakarta hosts meeting with OIC states

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Updated 12 May 2025
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Indonesia puts spotlight on Palestine as Jakarta hosts meeting with OIC states

Indonesia puts spotlight on Palestine as Jakarta hosts meeting with OIC states
  • Delegations representing member countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, attending conference
  • Indonesian government sees Palestinian statehood as being mandated by constitution

JAKARTA: Indonesia began hosting a meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States on Monday with a special focus on the situation in Gaza, as Jakarta seeks to strategize efforts for Palestine among Muslim countries.

Representatives from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s member countries are in Jakarta for the 19th Session of the PUIC Conference, which is being hosted by Indonesia’s House of Representatives from May 12-15.

Delegations have arrived from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, and Egypt, among other countries.

Discussions during the three-day event will cover Palestine and particularly Gaza, where 19 months of Israeli attacks have killed more than 52,000 Palestinians and destroyed much of the territory’s civilian infrastructure, while Tel Aviv continues to block humanitarian aid from entering the enclave. 

“I raised Palestine as one of the main topics during the opening session. And everyone agreed to continue fighting for Palestinian independence and to punish Zionist Israel for brutality and genocide,” Mardani Ali Sera, head of the Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, or BKSAP, said in a statement.

The focus on Palestine had been raised in the weeks leading up to the conference by Indonesian officials, who saw the meeting as an opportunity to coordinate collective action.

“We are all here to talk about the situation in Gaza, how we can help the people of Palestine in various aspects,” BKSAP deputy head Muhammad Husein Fadlulloh said.

“But what’s more important is how we can unite our strategies so that the international community, outside of OIC, will also support this fight.”

A staunch supporter of Palestine, the Indonesian government and its people see Palestinian statehood as being mandated by its own constitution, which calls for the abolition of colonialism.

Since Israel began its assault on Gaza, Indonesians have shown their support of Palestine through a series of mass demonstrations, organized boycotts and solidarity campaigns. 

Indonesian Culture Minister Fadli Zon, who hosted a cultural dinner with OIC member states ahead of the start of the conference, is among those calling for more action on Palestine, including a permanent ceasefire.

“Our efforts must also be intensified to champion Palestinian independence and (a) permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” he said in a speech on Sunday, addressing representatives of OIC countries.

“Collective steps to contribute to international peace and security is a necessity, not an option. We must promote the Islamic values of peace and equality, ensuring that the voice of the voiceless are heard, the right to self-determination is fulfilled and that cultural justice triumphs.”


After decades of service, Taiwan retires its last F-5 fighter jets

After decades of service, Taiwan retires its last F-5 fighter jets
Updated 21 sec ago
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After decades of service, Taiwan retires its last F-5 fighter jets

After decades of service, Taiwan retires its last F-5 fighter jets
HUALIEN, Taiwan: After decades in service, Taiwan’s Vietnam-era F-5 fighter jets are being retired as part of the island democracy’s transition to more advanced hardware.
To keep pace with increased threats from mainland China, Taiwan has been upgrading both its manned and unmanned aerial assets, including purchasing 66 of the latest generation F-16V fighters and upgrading existing aircraft to modern specifications.
China claims the island as its own territory and has never dropped its threat to invade since the sides split amid civil war in 1949.
The air force invited journalists on Friday to witness one last flyby by the F-5, which first entered service with Taiwan in 1965 and most of which have now been converted to trainers, reconnaissance planes or decoys.
The planes began moving into a backing role 30 years ago when Taiwan began acquiring more modern American F-16s, French Mirage 2000s and domestically developed Ching Kuos.
The F-5 is one of the world’s most widely produced jets, with Taiwan the largest operator at one point with 336, producing some 100 domestically. Dozens of countries still use them, including the US, which uses them as pretend opponents in training exercises.
The planes gained favor for their high speed and maneuverability, alongside their low cost and ease of maintenance. For Taiwan, they guarded the skies above the Taiwan Strait against mainland China’s Soviet and domestically built fighters.
Taiwan’s F-5s were based along the eastern coast, separated from China by both the 160 kilometer (100 mile)-wide Taiwan Strait and Taiwan’s formidable Central Mountain Range.

Rio to host BRICS summit wary of Trump

Rio to host BRICS summit wary of Trump
Updated 22 min 57 sec ago
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Rio to host BRICS summit wary of Trump

Rio to host BRICS summit wary of Trump
  • The city, with beefed-up security, will play host to leaders and diplomats from 11 emerging economies
  • Tensions in the Middle East, including Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, will weigh on the summit

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: A summit of BRICS nations will convene in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday and Monday, with members hoping to weigh in on global crises while tiptoeing around US President Donald Trump’s policies.

The city, with beefed-up security, will play host to leaders and diplomats from 11 emerging economies including China, India, Russia and South Africa, which represent nearly half of the world’s population and 40 percent of its GDP.

Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will have to navigate the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will miss the summit for the first time.

Beijing will instead be represented by its Prime Minister Li Qiang.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is facing a pending International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, will not travel to Brazil, but is set to participate via video link, according to the Kremlin.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, fresh from a 12-day conflict with Israel and a skirmish with the United States, will also be absent, as will his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, a Brazilian government source said.

Tensions in the Middle East, including Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, will weigh on the summit, as well as the grim anticipation of tariffs threatened by Trump due next week.

“We’re anticipating a summit with a cautious tone: it will be difficult to mention the United States by name in the final declaration,” Marta Fernandez, director of the BRICS Policy Center at Rio’s Pontifical Catholic University said.

China, for example, “is trying to adopt a restrained position on the Middle East,” Fernandez said, pointing out that Beijing was also in tricky tariff negotiations with Washington.

“This doesn’t seem to be the right time to provoke further friction” between the world’s two leading economies, the researcher said.

BRICS members did not issue a strong statement on the Iran-Israel conflict and subsequent US military strikes due to their “diverging” interests, according to Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

Brazil nevertheless hopes that countries can take a common stand at the summit, including on the most sensitive issues.

“BRICS (countries), throughout their history, have managed to speak with one voice on major international issues, and there’s no reason why that shouldn’t be the case this time on the subject of the Middle East,” Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said.

However, talks on finding an alternative to the dollar for trade between BRICS members are likely dead in the water.

For Fernandez, it is almost “forbidden” to mention the idea within the group since Trump threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on countries that challenge the dollar’s international dominance.

Brazil, which in 2030 will host the COP30 UN climate conference, also hopes to find unity on the fight against climate change.

Artificial intelligence and global governance reform will also be on the menu.

“The escalation of the Middle East conflict reinforces the urgency of the debate on the need to reform global governance and strengthen multilateralism,” said foreign minister Vieira.

Since 2023, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia have joined the BRICS, formed in 2009 as a counter-balance to leading Western economies.

But, as Fernandez points out, this expansion “makes it all the more difficult to build a strong consensus.”


A bill setting new limits on asylum-seekers passes in the Dutch parliament

A bill setting new limits on asylum-seekers passes in the Dutch parliament
Updated 28 min 48 sec ago
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A bill setting new limits on asylum-seekers passes in the Dutch parliament

A bill setting new limits on asylum-seekers passes in the Dutch parliament
  • The Dutch Red Cross has estimated 23,000 to 58,000 people live in the Netherlands without an official right to residence

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: A pair of bills cracking down on asylum-seekers wishing to settle in the Netherlands has passed in the Dutch parliament after wrangling and soul-searching by some lawmakers who feared the law would criminalize offering compassionate help to undocumented migrants.

The legislation cuts temporary asylum residency from five to three years, indefinitely suspends the issuance of new asylum residency permits and reins in family reunions for people who have been granted asylum. It passed in the lower house late Thursday evening but could still be rejected in the upper house.

The Dutch Red Cross has estimated 23,000 to 58,000 people live in the Netherlands without an official right to residence.

Taking tough measures to rein in migration was a policy cornerstone for the four-party coalition led by the Party for Freedom of anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders. The coalition collapsed last month after just 11 months in office, and migration is expected to be a key issue ahead of the snap election Oct. 29.

Wilders pulled the plug on the coalition saying it was taking too long to enact moves to rein in migration. His coalition partners rejected the criticism, saying they all backed the crackdown. His party currently holds a narrow lead in opinion polls over a center-left two-party bloc that recently agreed to a formal merger.

The opposition Christian Democrats withdrew their support for the legislation put to the vote Thursday over a late amendment that would criminalize people living in the Netherlands without a valid visa or asylum ruling — and would also criminalize people and organizations that help such undocumented migrants. The amendment was introduced by a member of Wilders’ party and passed narrowly because a small number of opposition lawmakers were not present for the vote.

The vote took place in the final session of parliament before lawmakers broke for the summer. The upper house will consider the legislation after it returns from the recess. If Christian Democrats in the upper chamber reject it, the legislation will be returned to the lower house.


Russia hammers Kyiv in largest missile and drone barrage since war in Ukraine began

Russia hammers Kyiv in largest missile and drone barrage since war in Ukraine began
Updated 58 min 23 sec ago
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Russia hammers Kyiv in largest missile and drone barrage since war in Ukraine began

Russia hammers Kyiv in largest missile and drone barrage since war in Ukraine began
  • Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine overnight, the country’s air force said
  • Ukrainian air defenses shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles

KYIV: Waves of drone and missile attacks targeted Kyiv overnight into Friday in the largest aerial attack since Russia’s war in Ukraine began, injuring 23 people and inflicting damage across multiple districts of the capital.

Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine overnight, the country’s air force said. The majority were Shahed drones, while Russia used 11 missiles in the attack.

Throughout the night, Associated Press journalists in Kyiv heard the constant buzzing of drones overhead and the sound of explosions and intense machine gun fire as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept the aerial assault.

Kyiv was the primary target of the attack. At least 23 people were injured, with 14 hospitalized, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles. Another 208 targets were lost from radar and presumed jammed.

Russia successfully hit eight locations with nine missiles and 63 drones. Debris from intercepted drones fell across at least 33 sites.

The attack came hours after President Donald Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and made his first public comments on his administration’s decision to pause some shipments of weapons to Ukraine.

That decision affects munitions, including Patriot missiles, the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile and shorter-range Stinger missiles. They are needed to counter incoming missiles and drones, and to bring down Russian aircraft.

It’s been less than a week since Russia’s previous largest aerial assault of the war. Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia fired 537 drones, decoys and 60 missiles in that attack.

Emergency services reported damage in at least five of the capital’s 10 districts. In Solomianskyi district, a five-story residential building was partially destroyed and the roof of a seven-story building caught fire. Fires also broke out at a warehouse, a garage complex and an auto repair facility.

In Sviatoshynskyi district, a strike hit a 14-story residential building, sparking a fire. Several vehicles also caught fire nearby. Blazes were also reported at non-residential facilities.

In Shevchenkivskyi district, an eight-story building came under attack, with the first floor sustaining damage. Falling debris was recorded in Darnytskyi and Holosiivskyi districts.

Ukraine’s national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said drone strikes damaged rail infrastructure in Kyiv.


Indonesian rescuers widen search for missing after ferry sinks

Indonesian rescuers widen search for missing after ferry sinks
Updated 04 July 2025
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Indonesian rescuers widen search for missing after ferry sinks

Indonesian rescuers widen search for missing after ferry sinks
  • As of Friday morning, 30 people were still missing after 29 were plucked from the water to safety
  • At least four survivors were found early on Thursday after saving themselves by climbing into the ferry’s lifeboat

Gilimanuk, Indonesia: Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers widened their search for dozens of missing people Friday after a ferry sank in rough seas on the way to the resort island of Bali, with six bodies recovered.

The ferry carrying at least 65 people, including passengers and crew, was making a five-kilometer (3.2-mile) crossing from eastern Java island to Bali when it tilted and sank in bad weather late Wednesday, witnesses and officials said.

As of Friday morning, 30 people were still missing after 29 were plucked from the water to safety.

Rescuers said one of the six found dead was a three-year-old boy.

Tearful survivors described their horror when the ship went down, including one man who lost his wife.

“I was joking around with my wife. And then... the ferry tilted. The accident was very fast,” Febriani, who like many Indonesians has one name, told AFP late Thursday.

“I resigned my fate... and asked God to save my wife. It turned out... my wife died but I survived,” said the 27-year-old, welling up with tears.

“I jumped with my wife. I managed to get back up but my wife slipped away.”

Rescuers carried out searches by sea and air on Friday, expanding their efforts along the coastlines of eastern Java and Bali, national search and rescue agency operations official Ribut Eko Suyatno told reporters.

“The land search rescue unit... we ask to comb through the Ketapang beach from north to south. Also likewise for Gilimanuk,” he said.

But as of Friday afternoon, no further victims had been found.

“From the communication that we received, it’s still zero (victims found) from the search,” Yudi, a captain of one of the deployed rescue vessels, told broadcaster Metro TV.

The ferry passage from Java’s Ketapang port to Gilimanuk port on Bali — one of the busiest crossings in the country — takes around one hour and is often used by people traveling between the islands with a car.

Local rescue officials said the KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya vessel sank 25 minutes into its journey.

At least 306 rescuers were deployed Friday for the search effort, the Java-based Surabaya search and rescue agency said.

The search was temporarily halted overnight and resumed around 8:00 am (0000 GMT) Friday in Bali.

Rescuers had deployed inflatable boats, larger rescue vessels and a helicopter to aid the search on Thursday, made up of dozens of personnel, including navy and police officers.

At least four survivors were found early on Thursday after saving themselves by climbing into the ferry’s lifeboat.

Initial search efforts were hampered by bad weather, with waves as high as 2.5 meters (8 feet) and strong winds.

The ferry’s manifest showed 53 passengers and 12 crew members but it is common in Indonesia for the actual number of passengers on a boat to differ from that document.

Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago nation of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather.

In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person.

In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world’s deepest lakes on Sumatra island.