Indonesia''''s most active volcano erupts, flight alert issued

3/3/2020 - 5:30:12 PM

One of the most active volcanos in Indonesia, Mount Merapi, erupted earlier Tuesday (March 3), spewing a column of thick ash by up to six km high and posing as a potential to disturb flights, a senior official said.

The eruption of Mount Merapi in the main island of Java was detected two km from the crater. The volcano unleashed dangerous volcanic gas and hot clouds, head of the Indonesian Research and Technology Development for Geological Disaster Agency (BPPTKG) Hanik Humaida said.

Rains of ash and sand poured down villages three km from the crater, Humaida said, adding that the rains of ash fell in the northern areas about 10 km from the crater.

Planes are banned from passing the pathway around the volcano as a volcano observatory notice for aviation (VONA) has been put in place with red code, the highest level of alert, according to the official.

Residents are prohibited from having activities in the radius of three km from the crater, the official said.

The 2.930-meter-high Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia's 129 active volcanoes, has regularly erupted.

A total of 353 people were killed and about 350,000 others were forced to evacuate during its eruption from October to November in 2010.

Indonesia, a vast archipelagic nation, is prone to volcanic activities and earthquakes as it lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Source: NDO

Removing “bottlenecks” in global problems

The Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the world’s leading developed and emerging economies (G20) recently held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil emphasised the need to reform global governance institutions, especially the United Nations Security Council. The meeting is also an opportunity for G20 to find solutions to a series of hot issues facing the world, such as poverty, climate change, and conflict.

ASEAN FMs issue statement on maintaining, promoting stability in maritime sphere in Southeast Asia

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers on December 30 issued a statement on maintaining and promoting stability in the maritime sphere in Southeast Asia.

Optimistic signals of the world economy

The world economy has overcome a challenging year, but has proven more resilient than expected. The Financial Times (UK) commented that 2023 was a positive year for the world economy as the economic surprise index collated by Citigroup shew that actual data have underwhelmed economists’ predictions for much of the past months. These economic trends are the basis for optimism about the world economy in 2024.