VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's visit to her country's research station in Antarctica was upended by bad weather that forced the plane she was travelling in to turn back midflight on Tuesday.

The C130 Hercules military aircraft carrying Ardern encountered poor weather at McMurdo Sound in Antarctica, the location of several international research stations, according to a government statement.

The planned four-day trip was to mark the 65th anniversary of Scott Base, New Zealand's Antarctic research station.

"Safety is our number one focus when flying to the coldest, windiest, remotest place on Earth so this is not uncommon," a spokesperson for the government agency Antarctica New Zealand said.

The spokesperson did not say whether the trip would be attempted again once the weather clears.

New Zealand is one of seven countries, including Australia, France and Chile, with a territorial claim to Antarctica. (reuters)

Extreme weather events and rising temperatures could see 13.6% of the Philippines' economic output lost by 2040, inflicting a heavy toll on the country's poorest if it does not address climate change, a World Bank report said on Tuesday.

The report warned that temperatures in the Philippines will continue to rise and rainfall could become more intense due to climate change, putting at risk the country's ability to meet its development goals.

"Without action, climate change will impose substantial economic and human costs, affecting the poorest households the most," said Ndiamé Diop, World Bank country director for the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei at the launch of the report.

The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, topped this year's World Risk Index that assesses which populations are most at risk to earthquakes, cyclones, floods, droughts and sea-level rise.

Capital-intensive industries and the agriculture sector were likely to suffer most due to economic damage brought about by intense and more frequent extreme weather events, the Washington-based lender said.

The World Bank said in its report many actions do not require investments, such as ensuring that new construction does not occur in areas at risk of floods, storm surges or rising sea levels.

Support for renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, and for building smart cities, should be scaled up to mitigate the impact of climate change, the report said.

"Adaptation must be a priority for the Philippines," Diop said, adding these measures could reduce the economic losses from climate change by around two-thirds. (Reuters)

Russian coal exports to energy-hungry China have jumped by about a third this year but the supply boom is being constrained by transport infrastructure limitations, industry sources and officials said.

China is seeking coal supplies from overseas, in particular after recent COVID-19 outbreaks in the major coal mining regions of Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi forced many mines to close, while coal demand at power generation and heating sectors will soon pick up with the coming of winter.

The Kremlin plans to increase its energy supplies to Asia, China in particular, to offset a slump in exports to the West, which has imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia is the world's sixth-largest coal producer and one of top coal exporters, along with Indonesia and Australia. Its share of global coal exports reached 17% last year with supply of 223 million tonnes.

But now with more exports heading east towards Asia as opposed to west towards Europe, bottlenecks are appearing.

"Many of us were informed by the sellers that there will be delays on loading and arrivals, which causes trouble to our business," a Chinese coal trader said.

Another source said that some traders were simply told by sellers or miners that a coal shipment was cancelled due to the lack of rail capacity and could be delayed for weeks.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov has acknowledged the problem with infrastructure constraints, saying this month that the situation with coal exports and congestion on the rail system had not stabilised, though it was improving.

China's coal imports from Russia fell to 6.95 million tonnes last month, down from a peak of 8.54 million tonnes in August, according to China's customs data.

According to Russian transport industry sources, Russia has increased coal supplies to China by railways by about a third this year, to 27.6 million tonnes in the January-August period.

WINTER DEMAND

But the increase in cargo traffic has led to slower deliveries.

According to a Reuters analysis, it took about 12.6 days to deliver a coal cargo from fields in Siberia, such as Kuzbass, to Russia's Pacific ports in July-September, compared with 11.3 days on average in the same period last year.

On average, delivery time across Russia has increased by a fifth, or 1.4 days, according to Reuters analysis of railway data, and timings may increase in the winter due to the railway congestion and port capacity limitations.

"We would expect China's coal imports from Russia to decrease due to the cool weather, which will limit port loading, and the rail logistics cap will also help to put a lid on," the Chinese coal trader said.

Of Russia's total of 223 million tonnes of coal exports last year, 49 million tonnes were delivered to Europe, according to the Energy Ministry.

But Russia now expects its coal exports to decline in coming years due to the Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, and U.S., European Union and British embargos on Russian coal imports.

According to Russian government expectations, coal exports may fall by 22% this year and by a further 31% in 2023.

But at the same time, the rush of east-bound exports is getting bogged down.

"A lot of railcars accumulate, congestion is formed at port stations ... Turnaround times for railcars are increasing significantly. Shippers are looking for empty railcars," a Russian transport industry source said.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia plans to increase the capacity of its infrastructure, including that of its eastern ports, where capacity is expected to increase by between 55 million tonnes and 211 million tonnes per year by 2031 from 150 million tonnes now. (Reuters)

The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) urged Malaysia on Tuesday to stop deporting refugees back to Myanmar, saying it had received reports of hundreds of such cases over the past two months.

The deportations, which included former navy officers seeking asylum, expose those sent away to danger and are a violation of the international law on non-refoulement, according to UNHCR, referring to a law that protects refugees or asylum seekers from being deported.

"In the last two months alone, hundreds of Myanmar nationals are reported to have been sent back against their will by the authorities," UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told a Geneva press briefing. "People cannot be returned to places where they face threats to their life and liberty and face harm and danger."

The latest incident involving an asylum seeker being sent back to conflict-torn Myanmar occurred on Oct. 21, Mantoo added, despite intervention by the UNHCR with authorities.

She had no further information on what happened to the deportees upon arrival.

Myanmar's junta spokesman and Malaysia's home and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Myanmar's embassy in Malaysia previously said in a post on Facebook that 150 Myanmar nationals were deported by plane on Oct. 6 in cooperation with Malaysian immigration authorities. It did not mention that the group included former navy officers.

She had no further information on what happened to the deportees upon arrival.

Myanmar's junta spokesman and Malaysia's home and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Myanmar's embassy in Malaysia previously said in a post on Facebook that 150 Myanmar nationals were deported by plane on Oct. 6 in cooperation with Malaysian immigration authorities. It did not mention that the group included former navy officers.

Myanmar has been gripped by fighting since the army overthrew an elected government early last year. Resistance movements, some armed, have emerged across the country, which the military has countered with lethal force.

The junta has arrested thousands of people, including Nobel laureate and deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, along with many bureaucrats, students, journalists and others in an attempt to smother dissent.

So far, more than 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers, including many ethnic Rohingya Muslims, have fled to neighbouring Malaysia. (Reuters)