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12 Wisatawan Asing Ditembak Taliban di Herat, Afghanistan

12 Wisatawan Asing Ditembak Taliban di Herat, Afghanistan
Jokowi Highlights Thorough Preparation for the New Normal Scenario Implementation
WHO Agrees to Launch Independent COVID-19 Investigation After Hotly Debated Issue
Moderna Says Early Coronavirus Vaccine Shows Promise to Develop Antibodies

Posted: 19 May 2020 05:56 AM PDT

Kelompok teror bersenjata di Afghanistan, Taliban pada hari Kamis (4/8) mengklaim bertanggung jawab atas penyergapan 12 wisatawan AS dan Eropa di provinsi Herat, Afghanistan barat, melukai enam wisatawan dan sopir Afghanistan mereka.

Seorang juru bicara pemberontak mengatakan, para pejuang Taliban menarget apa yang disebut "konvoi gabungan musuh" dan menyebut jumlah korban jauh lebih banyak, meskipun kelompok ini terkenal suka menyebarkan berita dengan angka korban lebih besar.

Sedikitnya enam turis asing dan sopir mereka mengalami luka-luka setelah konvoi kendaraan di Provinsi Herat, Afghanistan diserang kelompok bersenjata. Konvoi kendaraan tersebut berasal dari Provinsi Bamiyan menuju Herat.

Konvoi kendaraan tersebut berisi puluhan wisatawan. Otoritas setempat menuturkan, delapan warga Inggris, tiga warga Amerika Serikat (AS), dan satu warga Jerman termasuk dalam rombongan tersebut.

Seperti diberitakan Sky News, Kamis (4/8/2016), belum diketahui dengan pasti status kewarganegaraan dari para korban luka. Pasukan keamanan Afghanistan telah diterjunkan ke lokasi kejadian meski konvoi tersebut sudah mendapatkan pengawalan.

Kementerian Dalam Negeri Afghanistan menyebut para warga asing itu sebagai turis. Mereka disebut tengah dalam perjalanan dari Provinsi Bamiyan menuju Provinsi Herat saat diserang kelompok bersenjata tersebut.

Kementerian Luar Negeri Inggris langsung menerbitkan travel advise bagi warganya ke sebagian besar wilayah Afghanistan dan secara khusus ke Herat. Mereka diingatkan akan ancaman serangan teror dan aksi penculikan yang marak terjadi di Afghanistan.

Sementara Seorang juru bicara polisi provinsi, Jilani Farhad mengatakan kepada VOA, serangan itu terjadi di daerah Chishti Sharif tak lama setelah para wisatawan tiba dari provinsi Bamiyan di bagian tengah Afghanistan.

"Orang yang luka-luka berada dalam kondisi stabil termasuk seorang wanita," tambahnya, tanpa membahas kebangsaan para korban atau motif serangan itu. Namun laporan mengatakan, para wisatawan itu termasuk tiga orang Amerika, enam warga Inggris, seorang Jerman dan dua warga negara Skotlandia.

Herat berbatasan dengan Iran dan pemberontak Taliban aktif di beberapa distrik di kawasan itu. Sementara itu, sebuah helikopter Pakistan jatuh di provinsi pegunungan Logar, di Afghanistan.

Para pejabat lokal dan saksi mata mengatakan, helicopter MI-17 buatan Rusia terbakar tak lama setelah jatuh . Mereka menambahkan sekelompok orang bersenjata kemudian mendekati tempat itu dan membawa enam orang penumpangnya ke lokasi yang tidak diketahui.

Para pejabat Pakistan telah mengukuhkan bahwa helikopter itu melakukan pendaratan darurat di kawasan Afghanistan dekat perbatasan setelah lepas landas dari kota Peshawar. (voa)

Jokowi Highlights Thorough Preparation for the New Normal Scenario Implementation

Posted: 19 May 2020 05:56 AM PDT

JAKARTA, LELEMUKU.COM - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy has stated that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo underlined the importance of preparation in the implementation of the new normal scenario. The Government, Muhadjir said, will also loosen the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in order to increase or restore productivity.

"On the one hand, we want the COVID-19 pandemic can still be controlled, it will continue so until the discovery of the vaccines," Muhadjir said after a limited meeting, Monday (18/5).

The Coordinating Minister emphasized the need for a thorough study and cooperation with many parties to prepare for the stages of loosening PSBB. On the occasion, he also mentioned that the President also stressed the important roles of the lowest units of a social institution such as Neighborhood and Hamlet Associations as well as Customary Villages in the implementation.

"Based on reports from each province and regency/municipality, it can be inferred that the main force in COVID-19 handling lies on the lowest units," Muhadjir said.

The Government will also pay more attention to the smallest medical unit as the front row of the COVID-19 handling, such as Community Health Centers, family doctors, and polyclinics especially inpatient polyclinics.

The President, he said, also stated his directive to accelerate and simplify the distribution process of Cash Social Assistance. The Coordinating Ministry hoped that there will be a balanced meeting point between the Government's efforts to conduct social protection and the process of restoring economic activities. (Setkab)

WHO Agrees to Launch Independent COVID-19 Investigation After Hotly Debated Issue

Posted: 19 May 2020 05:54 AM PDT

NEW YORK, LELEMUKU.COM - The World Health Organization agreed Monday to launch an independent investigation of how it led the international effort to deal with COVID-19. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement at the U.N. agency's yearly General Assembly.

A coalition of WHO member countries hadcalled for such an investigation. Tedros said the examination would not seek to answer the hotly debated issue of where and how the virus came to be.

American President Donald Trump has claimed he has proof suggesting the coronavirus was created in a lab in China. China denies the accusation. The scientific community says all evidence to date shows that the virus jumped to humans from animals.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the WHO, claiming that it helped China hide the extent of the coronavirus spread. Several Republican Party lawmakers have called on Tedros to resign.

Earlier Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he supports calls for an investigation to learn how the coronavirus started and spread. But he argued for such action to start only after the worldwide health crisis is under control.

The new coronavirus was first publicly identified in China in late December. It has since spread around the world, killing more than 315,000 people and infecting almost 4.8 million.

At the meeting Monday, Xi said China has always been "transparent" about its knowledge of the virus. He also announced that his country would provide $2 billion for the fight againstCOVID-19 over two years.

Governments around the world have been enforcing stay-at-home orders to stop the spread of the virus. Manyalso have called on people to wear face coverings and stay physically distant from others when they must go out in public. Those measures have brought economies to a halt. On Monday, Japan became the latest country to report that its economy is in recession.

Governments, especially in Europe, are starting to ease restrictions after reporting progress in bringing infection and deaths rates down. Belgium on Monday permitted stores and museums to reopen. More students returned to schools.

International travel restrictions are still in place in many areas, but some popular sites are reopening, including the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, and Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

In India, a rise in new infections has led the government to extend its nationwide lockdown through the end of the month. The government reported more than 5,000 new cases and 157 deaths Monday.

Egypt is closing stores, beaches and parks during the holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Egypt also has established a nighttime curfew.

The United States is easing some restrictions. It leads the world in numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths, with about 1.5 million confirmed cases and 90,000 deaths. (VOA)

Moderna Says Early Coronavirus Vaccine Shows Promise to Develop Antibodies

Posted: 19 May 2020 05:50 AM PDT

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - American drug maker Moderna said Monday that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced antibodies in a small group of healthy people in an early trial.

The company said eight people who received two small amounts of its vaccine developed antibodies similar to those developed by people who have recovered from the disease.

The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases led the experiment, also called a trial. It involved 45 volunteers who received one or two shots of differing amounts of the vaccine.

Tal Zaks is the chief medical officer at Moderna. Based on early results of the trial, he said the vaccine "has the potential to prevent COVID-19 disease…." He also said the company now can better choose the vaccine amount needed for further experiments.

The testing involved three different amounts. Zaks said the two smaller amounts of vaccine seem safe and the larger amount caused some short-term side effects. Three study subjects developed "flu-like" conditions following a second shot of the large dose. Moderna said it plans to drop that amount for the next part of the trial.

Amesh Adalja is an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who was not involved in the study. He told Reuters that the findings are meaningful, but noted that they come from only eight people. "It was designed for safety. Not for efficacy," he said.

Moderna has been permitted to start a second part of human testing that will involve several hundreds of people. In April, the U.S. government gave the company $483 million for vaccine development. Last week, U.S. officials gave the vaccine special recognition to help speed the process for approval.

Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, said the company is hoping to start part three of the study in July. The company will try to find the lowest amount of vaccine necessary to protect people.

In May, Moderna and the biotechnology company Lonza agreed to work together over the next ten years to make a vaccine. The partnership could lead to the manufacture of 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine treatments a year.

There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for COVID-19. Almost 4.8 million people are confirmed to have had the virus. It is known to have killed about 320,000. However, experts think the numbers may be underreported.

The World Health Organization has listed more than 100 efforts to develop effective treatments and vaccines for the coronavirus. The list includes clinical trials in China, at the University of Oxford, and with American drug makers Pfizer, Inovio and Moderna.

Experts predict a safe and effective vaccine could take 12 to 18 months to develop. The results of Moderna's early trial have not been published. But the news lifted the company's stock prices and spread hope that a solution against the infectious disease might be close. (VOA)