VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Region V Jayapura Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that 145 aftershocks were recorded until Tuesday at 7:50 a.m. local time (UTC +7) following a 4.9-magnitude quake on Monday (January 2) morning.

The local BMKG office head, Yustus Rumakiek, stated here on Tuesday that apart from weaker aftershocks, a strong 4-magnitude earthquake rattled the region at 7:40 a.m. local time.

The BMKG analysis showed that the earthquake's epicenter was located inland, some 13 kilometers northeast of Jayapura at a depth of eight kilometers, he said.

He explained that by assessing the epicenter location, hypocenter depth, and fault mechanism, earthquakes recorded in Jayapura could be classified as shallow quakes due to local fault movement below Jayapura.

Rumakiek also urged residents to maintain composure and not heed to information from untrustworthy sources.

"Avoid buildings damaged by the earthquake and ensure that your house could withstand the earthquake or have no damage that could jeopardize structural integrity before entering the house," the local office head remarked.

Meanwhile, the local Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) affirmed that the Monday earthquake caused damage to some structures in the region.

Papua Province BPBD's Command Centre and Operations Control Manager, Jonathan Koirewoa, informed ANTARA here Monday that damages reportedly occurred at some hotels and hospitals in Jayapura.

Damages were reported at Jayapura Horizon Hotel, Provita Hospital, Jayapura Mall, and Abepura Sunny Hotel, the official remarked while adding that structural damages caused to those buildings are cracks on walls, floors, and windows.

Papua Province's BPBD continues to pool more information from Jayapura City and Jayapura District BPBDs regarding the earthquake effects, Koirewoa stated.

Earthquakes regularly rock various parts of Indonesia due to the fact that the country lies on the Circum-Pacific Belt, also known as the Ring of Fire, where several tectonic plates meet and cause frequent volcanic and seismic activities. (Antaranews)

Britain said on Monday its 75-million-pound ($90.5 million) fund aimed at helping boost domestic production of nuclear fuel for power plants and cutting reliance on Russian uranium supplies was now open for applications.

The fund, announced in July, will award grants to businesses involved in uranium conversion, a key stage in the process of creating nuclear fuel from the metal. It will remain open for applications from Monday until Feb. 20.

Russia currently owns around 20% of global uranium conversion capacity.

"Record high global gas prices, caused by Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, have highlighted the need for more home-grown renewable energy, but also UK generated nuclear power – building more plants, and developing domestic fuel capability," Minister for Energy and Climate Graham Stuart said.

Up to 13 million pounds from the fund has already been awarded to the Springfields nuclear fuel manufacturing site in northwest England, the government said.

Energy supply has become a key focus since its invasion of Ukraine drove costs sharply higher. Planned additions to nuclear electricity generation capacity will reduce Britain's reliance on natural gas, which fuelled around 45% of generation in 2021.

Britain in November said it would become a 50% shareholder in the Sizewell C nuclear project by providing 700 million pounds in funding to the plant, which is planned for southeast England. (Reuters)

European Union government health officials will hold talks on Wednesday on a coordinated response to the surge in COVID-19 infections in China, the Swedish EU presidency said on Monday, after December talks concluded with no decisions on the matter.

At a similar meeting on Dec. 29, held online among over 100 representatives from EU governments, EU health agencies and the World Health Organisation, Italy urged the rest of the EU to follow its lead and test travellers from China for COVID, with Beijing poised to lift travel restrictions on Jan. 8.

But others in the 27-nation EU said they saw no need to do so despite China's decision to loosen its pandemic restrictions amid a wave of new infections.

"There is a scheduled Integrated Political Crisis Response meeting on Wednesday, January 4, for an update of the COVID-19 situation in China and to discuss possible EU measures to be taken in a coordinated way," a spokeswoman for the Swedish presidency of the EU said.

The European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a letter to EU governments on Dec. 29 they should consider immediately scaling up genomic sequencing of COVID-19 infections and monitoring of waste water, including at airports, to detect any new variants, given the surge in infections in China.

Kyriakides said the bloc should be "very vigilant" as reliable epidemiological and testing data for China were scarce, advising EU health ministers to assess their current practices on genomic sequencing of the coronavirus "as an immediate step".

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said last week it did not currently recommend measures on travellers from China.

It said the variants circulating in China were already in the European Union, that EU citizens had relatively high vaccination levels and the potential for imported infections was low compared to daily infections in the EU, with healthcare systems currently coping. (Reuters)

 For much of the global economy, 2023 is going to be a tough year as the main engines of global growth - the United States, Europe and China - all experience weakening activity, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Sunday.

The new year is going to be "tougher than the year we leave behind," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on the CBS Sunday morning news program "Face the Nation."

"Why? Because the three big economies - the U.S., EU and China - are all slowing down simultaneously," she said.

In October, the IMF cut its outlook for global economic growth in 2023, reflecting the continuing drag from the war in Ukraine as well as inflation pressures and the high interest rates engineered by central banks like the U.S. Federal Reserve aimed at bringing those price pressures to heel.

Since then, China has scrapped its zero-COVID policy and embarked on a chaotic reopening of its economy, though consumers there remain wary as coronavirus cases surge. In his first public comments since the change in policy, President Xi Jinping on Saturday called in a New Year's address for more effort and unity as China enters a "new phase."

"For the first time in 40 years, China's growth in 2022 is likely to be at or below global growth," Georgieva said.

Moreover, a "bushfire" of expected COVID infections there in the months ahead are likely to further hit its economy this year and drag on both regional and global growth, said Georgieva, who traveled to China on IMF business late last month.

"I was in China last week, in a bubble in a city where there is zero COVID," she said. "But that is not going to last once people start traveling."

"For the next couple of months, it would be tough for China, and the impact on Chinese growth would be negative, the impact on the region will be negative, the impact on global growth will be negative," she said.

In October's forecast, the IMF pegged Chinese gross domestic product growth last year at 3.2% - on par with the fund's global outlook for 2022. At that time, it also saw annual growth in China accelerating in 2023 to 4.4% while global activity slowed further.

Her comments, however, suggest another cut to both the China and global growth outlooks may be in the offing later this month when the IMF typically unveils updated forecasts during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

U.S. ECONOMY 'MOST RESILIENT'

Meanwhile, Georgieva said, the U.S. economy is standing apart and may avoid the outright contraction that is likely to afflict as much as a third of the world's economies.

The "U.S. is most resilient," she said, and it "may avoid recession. We see the labor market remaining quite strong."

But that fact on its own presents a risk because it may hamper the progress the Fed needs to make in bringing U.S. inflation back to its targeted level from the highest levels in four decades touched last year. Inflation showed signs of having passed its peak as 2022 ended, but by the Fed's preferred measure, it remains nearly three times its 2% target.

"This is ... a mixed blessing because if the labor market is very strong, the Fed may have to keep interest rates tighter for longer to bring inflation down," Georgieva said.

Last year, in the most aggressive policy tightening since the early 1980s, the Fed lifted its benchmark policy rate from near zero in March to the current range of 4.25% to 4.50%, and Fed officials last month projected it will breach the 5% mark in 2023, a level not seen since 2007.

Indeed, the U.S. job market will be a central focus for Fed officials who would like to see demand for labor slacken to help undercut price pressures. The first week of the new year brings a raft of key data on the employment front, including Friday's monthly nonfarm payrolls report, which is expected to show the U.S. economy minted another 200,000 jobs in December and the jobless rate remained at 3.7% - near the lowest since the 1960s. (Reuters)