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International

Island volcano in Papua New Guinea erupts with ash, steam

SYDNEY (AP) — An island volcano in Papua New Guinea erupted again Sunday, sending plumes of steam and ash into the air.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from islands surrounding Kadovar Island off the South Pacific nation’s north coast since the volcano there began erupting on Jan. 5. Flights nearby have been canceled due to the risk posed by ash plumes and ships were warned to stay away from the island.

Experts warned last week that seismic activity beneath the volcano meant that a major eruption could be imminent.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has previously said state resources were being made available to support evacuations and he has warned northern coastal communities to be alert for possible tsunamis.

Kadovar is off the northern coast of New Guinea, the larger island that includes Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea sits on the “Ring of Fire,” a line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific that has frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Rocket launched in New Zealand

deploys commercial satellites

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A rocket launched from New Zealand on Sunday successfully reached orbit carrying small commercial satellites.

California-based company Rocket Lab said its Electron rocket, which carries only a small payload of about 150 kilograms (331 pounds), successfully deployed an earth imaging and two other satellites for weather and ship tracking after blastoff from the Mahia Peninsula on North Island’s east coast.

Company CEO and founder Peter Beck, a New Zealander, said the launch marks the beginning of a new era in commercial access to space. He said that deploying customer payloads on a second test flight “is almost unprecedented.”

The company last May reached space with its first test launch, only to abort the mission due to a communication glitch. It has official approval to conduct three test launches and sees an emerging market in delivering small devices, some as big as a smartphone, into orbit.

The satellites would be used for everything from monitoring crops to providing internet service.

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