Briefly

INDONESIA

EU urged to remove biodiesel import curbs

Indonesia urged the European Union on Monday to immediately scrap countervailing duties on imports of biodiesel, after the World Trade Organization backed several of its key claims in a complaint to the trade body. Indonesia had contended in its 2023 complaint that the duties levied by the European Union broke the trade body's rules. "We urge the EU to immediately revoke these countervailing import duties that are not WTO-compliant," Indonesian Trade Minister Budi Santoso said in a statement.

UNITED STATES

SpaceX postpones test flight of Starship rocket

SpaceX delayed a planned test flight for its Starship megarocket by 24 hours until Monday, saying it needed time to troubleshoot problems. The rocket had been scheduled to blast off on its tenth flight from the company's Starbase in southern Texas at 6:30 pm. However, around 15 minutes before liftoff, SpaceX scrubbed the flight. SpaceX said it had rescheduled the launch for "as soon as" the same time on Monday, though it cautioned that the timing was still "dynamic and likely to change".

VIETNAM

300,000 evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki nears

Vietnam evacuated tens of thousands of residents from coastal areas on Monday ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Kajiki, which is expected to lash the country's central belt with gales of around 140 kilometers per hour. Vietnam said on Sunday it plans to evacuate more than 300,000 people and has canceled over a dozen domestic flights. Residents in five coastal provinces will be relocated to schools and public buildings turned into temporary evacuation centers, authorities said, while national carrier Vietnam Airlines and VietJet Air announced the flight cancellations. The typhoon started as a weak tropical depression on Friday but grew into a powerful storm in less than two days.

Agencies - Xinhua