News in Brief (2024-05-01)

Houthi missile damages ship in Red Sea
JERUSALEM, Apr 30: A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels damaged a ship in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, the latest assault in their campaign against shipping in the crucial maritime route. The attack happened off the coast of Mokha, Yemen, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The ship was damaged in the attack, the UKMTO said, though its crew was safe and heading to its next port of call. The agency urged vessels to exercise caution in the area. There was "an explosion in close proximity to a merchant vessel," the UKMTO said. "Vessel and crew are reported safe." — AP
Boy killed in London sword attack
LONDON, Apr 30: Police say a 13-year-old boy was killed in a sword attack in Hainault, east London, Tuesday morning. Five people were injured in total, including two police officers. The other victims are in hospital but are not thought to have life-threatening injuries. — BBC
Gun attack on Afghan mosque kills 6
KABUL, Apr 30: Six people were killed when a gunman stormed a mosque in western Afghanistan, a government spokesman said Tuesday. Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said that around 9:00 pm (1630 GMT) on Monday night, "an unknown armed person shot at civilian worshipers at a mosque in which six civilians were martyred" in the Guzara district of Herat province. — AFP
25 perish in Peru as bus plunges into ravine
LIMA, Apr 30: At least 25 people died and more than a dozen were injured when a bus plunged into a ravine from a mountain road in northern Peru, local authorities said Monday. Local official Olga Bobadilla told RPP radio the incident late Sunday happened on a potholed dirt road in the Andean region of Cajamarca, "and the bus fell into an abyss" some 200 meters (some 650 feet) deep. The toll was updated from an initial 23 to 25 later in the day. The bus with more than 50 passengers ended up on the edge of a river, and some of those on board were swept away by the water, municipal official Jaime Herrera said. Rescue workers and firefighters were at the scene of the crash, from where the injured have been evacuated to hospital. The Celendin municipality declared 48 hours of mourning as dozens of people, many crying, gathered at a police station near the accident scene, desperate for news of their loved ones. — AFP
Nominations open to succeed Scotland leader
EDINBURGH, Apr 30: The Scottish National Party (SNP) opened nominations Tuesday for a new leader, setting up a potentially fractious internal fight, after First Minister Humza Yousaf said he was quitting. Yousaf, 39, announced Monday he would resign once a successor has been chosen to lead the SNP and nation of 5.4 million people, which has a devolved government responsible for domestic policy areas. He had only been in the job for just over a year, but was forced out after ditching his junior coalition partners in a row over climate policy. — AFP
Indonesia volcano erupts, thousands evacuated
MANADO, Apr 30: Indonesia's remote Mount Ruang volcano erupted several times on Tuesday, authorities said, issuing the highest level of alert and ordering thousands of people to evacuate due to the threat of a tsunami from debris sliding into the sea. The country's volcanology agency had warned the threat from the volcano was not over after it erupted more than half a dozen times this month, sparking the evacuation of more than 6,000 people. Ruang, located in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province, erupted at around 01:15 am local time on Tuesday (1715 GMT Monday) and then twice more that morning, the volcanology agency said in a statement. The volcano sent a tower of ash more than five kilometres (3.1 miles) into the sky, it added, as well as a fiery column of lava. The national disaster agency BNPB estimated 11,000 to 12,000 people had to be relocated from near Ruang's crater, spokesman Abdul Muhari told a press conference. — AFP