An Indonesian volcano sent a new, powerful burst of hot ash high into the air early Friday, violently shaking homes and trees along the slopes and sending panicked villagers scurrying back to safety. "This was a big one!" said 37-year-old Anto Sembiring, who fled his coffee shop not far from the crater's mouth, joining hundreds of others gathered near Mount Sinabung's base.
An international maritime group urged Indonesia on Thursday to increase patrols in the South China Sea after pirates attacked nine vessels in less than three weeks. The International Maritime Bureau said pirates armed with guns and machetes had robbed tankers and bulk carriers of cash and other valuables in the attacks off the Indonesian islands of Mangkai, Anambas and Natuna.
President Benigno Aquino III is set to break tradition by having his first state visit outside the member-states Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and opting instead to go straight to the United States. ABS-CBN's TV Patrol reported that all post-1986 Philippine presidents, including President Aquino's mother Corazon Aquino, first visit neighboring countries in the ASEAN.
Villagers returned to their homes along the fertile slopes of an Indonesian volcano that spewed hot ash and smoke after laying dormant for more than four centuries — an eruption that caught scientists off-guard. Betta Tarigan, a 48-year-old farmer, piled into the back of a crowded pickup truck and headed up Mount Sinabung early Tuesday to check on his cattle and crops, all blanketed in heavy gray soot.
An Indonesian volcano that had been dormant for more than four centuries erupted for the second day in a row Monday, spewing out towering clouds of ash and forcing the evacuation of more than 21,000 people. Some airplanes had to be diverted because of poor visibility.
A week is a long time in politics, as they say, but in this internet-centric age, a week in the the web can be even longer. To keep up with what's happening in Asia, every Monday I recap my pick of Asia's key tech/digital news and articles from the previous week, while also including a round-up of the week's posts from this blog too.
Islamic hard-liners have launched a full-scale campaign in cyberspace seeking the release of Indonesia's best-known radical cleric. They are on Facebook, have set up their own websites, and hacked into the homepages of private companies.
A volcano in western Indonesia spewed hot lava and sand high into the sky early Sunday in its first eruption in 400 years. Government volcanologist Surono, who uses only one name, said Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province started rumbling a few days ago and the minor morning eruption has mostly stopped.
Will Hong Kong employers of foreign domestic helpers now favor Indonesians more than Filipinos? That is worrying many Filipino migrant workers, both in the territory and those back home hoping to get jobs in Hong Kong. As a result of the recent bus hostage tragedy in Manila, rumors are rife that some employers will even lay off their Filipina helpers out of anger.
Well, the image of “travelling in tour groups” has taken a severe battering of late. First, there was the Hong Kong tour guide rant at a group of Chinese tourists for not shopping enough, which makes you wonder how long these zero-commission tours should be allowed to continue. Then, we watched in horror as a bungled attempt to rescue a group of tourists from the Hong Thai bus in Manila unfolded before our very eyes this week.
Scientists using cutting-edge technology to explore waters off Indonesia were wowed by colorful and diverse images of marine life on the ocean floor — including plate-sized sea spiders and flower-like sponges that appear to be carnivorous. They predicted Thursday that as many as 40 new plant and animal species may have been discovered during the three-week expedition that ended Aug. 14.
Or as it talks especially in beauty contests, writes Jon Berthelsen, Asia Sentinel. While most of the 96 million residents of the Philippines seem to be tearing their hair out over the flubbed answer to a Miss Universe judge's question by Miss Philippines, the spectacularly endowed Maria Venus Raj, Indonesia has evaded the spotlight for a seemingly even more flubbed answer by its contestant, Qory Sandioriva, during a preliminary round.
Indonesia
