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When Mount Ruang in Indonesia underwent multiple explosive eruptions last week, volcanic gases were flung so high they reached the atmosphere’s second layer, tens of thousands of feet above ground. The force of Mount Ruang’s eruptions this week ejected an ash plume tens of thousands of feet in the air and sent some volcanic gases more than 65,000 feet into the air, according to satellite estimates – about 25,000 feet higher than a commercial airplane will typically fly. The eruption’s potential impacts to weather and climate are starting to come into focus, even as the danger posed by the volcano...

At least 11,000 people were forced to evacuate after a volcano erupted in Indonesia. The government is encouraging residents to leave with fears that part of the volcano could break off into the ocean and trigger a tsunami.

A volcano erupted several times in Indonesia's outermost region Wednesday, with authorities raising the alert level to its highest point after the dome spewed a column of smoke more than a mile into the sky and forced hundreds to evacuate. Mount Ruang, a stratovolcano in North Sulawesi Province, first erupted at 9:45 pm on Tuesday (1345 GMT) and four times throughout Wednesday, the country's volcanology agency said. The alert level for the volcano, which has a peak of 725 meters above sea level, was then raised on Wednesday evening from three to four, the highest possible level in the four-tiered...

ROME — Pope Francis will visit Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, in September, the Vatican has announced. According to Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, the Vatican sent a letter to the Indonesian government confirming that Pope Francis will be present in Indonesia on Sept. 3, 2024. On Wednesday, Indonesian Secretary of State Pratikno said that the Foreign Ministry is working out details for a bilateral meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Pope Francis to be held when the 87-year-old pontiff visits the country in September.

The South China Sea has once again become a focal point of international attention following sudden clashes between coast guard vessels of the Philippines and China. As tensions rise, the involvement of global powers like the US and Japan adds further complexity to the situation, potentially pushing more nations to align against Beijing. Amid these escalating tensions, it becomes imperative for China to reconsider its assertive stance and respect the existing global order to avoid further international backlash The South China Sea (SCS) has once again come into focus following sudden skirmishes between the coast guard vessels of the Philippines...

A sensational science story which gripped the world last year claimed that the Gunung Padang site in West Java, Indonesia is the world’s oldest pyramid and could be more than 25,000 years old, but is there any truth in the claim? Stonehenge and the oldest major pyramids are just a few thousand years old, while the previous record holder, Turkey’s Gobekli Tepe stone monuments, are believed to be around 11,000 years old. However, researchers in a paper published in Archaeological Prospection late last year claim that the Gunung Padang pyramid could be more than twice the age of these ancient...

When a Chinese rocket malfunctioned shortly after launch in April 2020, destroying Indonesia's US$220 million (S$296 million) Nusantara-2 satellite, it was a blow to the archipelago's efforts to strengthen its communication networks. But it presented an opportunity for one man. Elon Musk — the owner of SpaceX, the world's most successful rocket launcher — seized on the failure to prevail over state-owned China Great Wall Industry Corp (CGWIC) as Jakarta's company of choice for putting satellites into space. The Chinese contractor had courted Indonesia — Southeast Asia's largest economy and a key space growth market — with cheap financing, promises...

(CNN) - A furnace explosion at a Chinese-owned nickel factory in Indonesia on Sunday has killed at least 13 workers and injured 38 others, officials say. The incident took place at a factory in the Morowali Industrial Park on the island of Sulawesi. The factory is operated by Chinese steel and nickel giant Tsingshan, which has stakes in Indonesia’s lucrative nickel mining industry and runs operations under its local arm, Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel (ITSS). Morowali police spokesperson Ipda Hamid told CNN affiliate CNN Indonesia that 13 people had died at the scene, with multiple victims being rushed to nearby...

The death toll from a volcano eruption in Indonesia has risen to 22 after nine more bodies were discovered, a search and rescue agency official said Tuesday. Mount Marapi on the island of Sumatra spewed an ash tower 9,800 feet — taller than the volcano itself — into the sky on Sunday. Hundreds of rescuers have worked for days to find missing hikers, which numbered 10 on Tuesday before the local rescue agency's announcement that most had been found, bringing the days-long search closer to an end. "Nine of 10 missing victims were found dead this afternoon and at the...

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia’s Marapi volcano in the West Sumatra province erupted on Sunday, sending a thick plume of toxic ash and smoke nearly 10,000 feet into the air and was accompanied by a deafening roar that could be heard for miles, according to the country’s disaster management agency. Indonesia’s National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure (BNPB) said in a news release that the nearly 9,500-foot volcano began erupting just before 3 p.m. local time Sunday, and volcanic ash rain from the eruption was reported to have occurred in the Nagari Lasi area of the Canduang District in West Sumatra’s Agam...

It is déjà vu for major oil producers, who are again considering steeper production cuts. It took only a month after the Hamas attacks on Israel unleashed a punishing war for oil prices to fall below their pre-Oct. 7 level. The steep drop in oil prices last week, with Brent crude briefly dropping to $77 per barrel, led to speculation that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers (OPEC+) will decide to cut production at its next meeting. OPEC’s last-minute decision to delay the meeting, now scheduled for Nov. 30, will only add to the speculation. U.S....

Scientists are celebrating a remarkable discovery -- the Attenborough Echidna can't be extinct, as they thought it was, because it was caught on freakin' camera!!! VIDEO AT LINK................ Check out the extremely rare find, captured on a remote camera placed by Oxford University researchers on an expedition to Indonesia. The footage shows the long-beaked creature just strolling in the woods. Dr. James Kempton told BBC News he and his whole team got the impressive footage on "the very last SD card that we looked at, from the very last camera that we collected, on the very last day of our...

A team of archaeologists, geophysicists, geologists, and paleontologists affiliated with multiple institutions in Indonesia has found evidence showing that Gunung Padang is the oldest known pyramid in the world. In their paper published in the journal Archaeological Prospection, the group describes their multi-year study of the cultural heritage site. Gunung Padang has for many years been considered a megalithic structure—it sits on top of an extinct volcano in West Java, Indonesia, and is considered by locals to be a sacred site. In 1998, it was declared to be a cultural heritage site. For many years there has been disagreement regarding...

With so many strong relationships with gay and bisexual men throughout his formative years, it seems altogether likely that Obama did not restrict “making love to men” just to his “imagination.” In 2012, Barack Obama famously made the cover of Newsweek magazine with the heading, “The First Gay President.” That headline, meant in jest, now seems more than a little prescient. Much publicity has been given in recent weeks to Barack Obama’s very real homosexual fantasies. These were communicated in a letter to girlfriend Alex McNear in 1982, when Obama was in his early twenties. These comments were first included...

Six Miss Universe Indonesia contestants have filed complaints against pageant organizers following this year's pageant. Mellisa Anggraeni, an attorney who is representing the women, claimed five of the contestants were asked to take off their tops for “body checks” two days before the final round of this year’s pageant on Aug. 3, according to Reuters and CNN. At a press conference on Tuesday, Anggraeni alleged organizers said this was so they could “examine any scars, cellulite or tattoos on their bodies,” the BBC reported. The women also claimed they were photographed topless while men were present, per the outlets. "I...

A Muslim cleric has been arrested on charges of blasphemy and hate speech in Indonesia after his decision to allow women to preach and pray beside men sparked a backlash in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. Panji Gumilang, 77, who runs the Al-Zaytun boarding school in the district of Indramayu in West Java, was arrested on Tuesday, Indonesian National Police official Djuhandhani Rahardjo told reporters outside its Criminal Investigation Agency in Jakarta. In the past, the school, home to roughly 5,000 students, has faced public backlash over its unorthodox practices like allowing men and women to pray alongside each other...

Indonesian police have brought blasphemy and hate speech charges against the head of a controversial Islamic boarding school, following public uproar over its teachings, including unorthodox treatment of women and use of Hebrew. Panji Gumilang, head of the Al-Zaytun school in conservative West Java province, was named a suspect by police on Tuesday (Aug 1), national police official Djuhandhani Rahardjo told reporters, and faces a maximum 10 years in prison if found guilt of blasphemy and hate speech. Founded in 1996 and home to roughly 5,000 students, the boarding school has caused a stir with practices like allowing men and...

Incidents of Muslim groups objecting to houses serving as worship places were reported from two places on Java island recentlyMuslim groups in Indonesia continue to prevent Christians from holding religious activities inside houses as they were yet to receive a government permit, which is difficult to obtain in the most populous Muslim-majority country. Disturbances occurred on June 18 at two places on the island of Java, the world's most populous island and home to nearly 56 percent of the Indonesian population, adding to the long list of cases of suppression of religious minorities in the Southeast Asian nation. In a...

It seems that hardly a day goes by without reports of another tourist offending local customs on Bali. There are bikini-clad yoginis doing ‘downward dog’ poses in temple gateways and half-naked hooligans arguing with traffic police over their lack of a crash-helmet. While the world asks what’s caused this sudden rush of inappropriate behaviour, travellers who know the island well are wondering why it’s taken so long for Balinese to stand up and say, “enough is enough!” In 1972 the iconic surf-movie Morning of the Earth showed a naked hippy teaching elderly Balinese fishermen how to smoke cannabis. Four centuries...

A growing number of countries are coming forward to join BRICS and accept the new currency for global trade. The South African ambassador Anil Sooklal hinted that the alliance could expand this year becoming BRICS+. The move could add pressure on the U.S. dollar as developing nations would end their reliance on the greenback. The global financial order could tilt from the West to the East creating a new multipolar economy. According to the latest report, the BRICS alliance has formally received applications from 25 countries to join the bloc. The 25 nations that expressed their interest to join are...