Day: September 10, 2024

Jakarta: Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano on the Indonesian island of Flores erupted again on Tuesday morning with local airports being temporarily closed.

According to the country’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG), Lewotobi Laki-Laki, standing as high as around 1,980 meters above sea level, threw ash up to 400 meters above its peak at around 8:00 local time.

The volcano, which is currently at Level 3 of 4, the country’s highest danger level for a volcano, has reportedly erupted six times over the past week.

Airports in the cities of Ende and Maumere were temporarily closed due to the increasing activities of the volcano.

The PVMBG has called on the public not to carry out any activities within a radius of 3 kilometers from the center of the eruption.

Source: The Namibia News Agency

Seoul: The top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) called for greater efforts for economic development and strengthening national defense on the occasion of the country’s 76th founding anniversary, state media reported on Tuesday.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, made the remarks during a National Day speech on Monday at the headquarters building of the WPK Central Committee in Pyongyang. He outlined a detailed state work plan based on a review of the country’s development so far this year, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The DPRK’s top leader said economic growth has trended up this year as the national economic sectors met their production targets “without fail.” The country’s light industry and urban management are also poised for further improvements, the KCNA said.

According to the report, during his speech, Kim also listed favorable agricultural production rates and expec
ted “fairly good harvests” for the rest of the year. He added that the DPRK’s military strength was due to critical national defense research and production achievements.

In his National Day address, the DPRK’s top leader also emphasized the need to boost national productivity by guiding key industries to meet their production targets. He also stressed the importance of the construction sector achieving this year’s plan, emphasizing “thoroughly” ensuring construction quality, and reminded the agricultural sector to meet this year’s farming goals while preparing for the next, according to KCNA.

It said Kim expressed heightened urgency to strengthen national defense capabilities given current security developments on the Korean Peninsula.

Noting the U.S.-led military alliances in the region have turned into “a nuclear-based military bloc,” posing a grave threat to the military security environment around the DPRK, Kim vowed the country would “take more important measures and make constant efforts to maintain
and further boost its military supremacy,” the KCNA reported.

Strong power means “a genuine peace and an absolute guarantee for the development of our state,” Kim was quoted by the KCNA as saying.

Source: The Namibia News Agency

Kuala lumpur: Malaysia’s manufacturing sector’s sales value rose 9.1 percent year on year to 157.1 billion ringgit (36.04 billion U.S. dollars) in July, marking the highest growth since February 2023, official data showed Tuesday.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the increase was driven largely by a double-digit growth of 16 percent in the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector.

This was followed by the sub-sector of electrical and electronics products (8.2 percent), and the petroleum chemical, rubber and plastic (6.2 percent).

On a month-to-month basis, the sales value grew by 0.6 percent from 156.1 billion ringgit in June.

Export-oriented industries which constituted 72.3 percent of the total sales value, stayed robust with a 9.4 percent growth in July.

Meanwhile, domestic-oriented industries strengthened at 8.4 percent. (1 ringgit equals 0.23 U.S. dollars)

Source: The Namibia News Agency

Carmelo Algaranaz and Miguel Terceros scored first-half goals as Bolivia secured a 2-1 away victory over Chile in their World Cup qualifier here on Tuesday.

The visitors opened the scoring at Estadio Nacional through Algaranaz, who finished coolly after Roberto Fernandez’s pass on the counterattack.

The hosts dominated possession but struggled to find a way past Bolivia’s low defensive line. That changed in the 39th minute when former Napoli and Valencia forward Eduardo Vargas capitalized on a slip from goalkeeper Carlos Lampe to slot the ball into an empty net.

But Bolivia quickly regained the lead through Terceros, who struck from close range after combining with Roberto Fernandez.

The visitors held on to secure their second consecutive victory and climb to eighth in the South American zone’s 10-team standings, just a point behind sixth-placed Venezuela.

Bolivia’s victory was soured, however, by an Achilles tendon injury to Lampe, who was forced off the pitch just before halftime.

“We hoped to be abl
e to get a point and knew that a victory would be difficult,” Bolivia manager Oscar Villegas told a news conference.

“We’re very happy with the outcome of the match but at the same time we’re sad for Carlos [Lampe]. He will need surgery and will likely need a long recovery period.”

The result marked Chile’s third consecutive qualifying defeat as they slumped to ninth in the group with just five points so far. Enditem

Source: The Namibia News Agency