JAKARTA, Apr 20: The threat from an Indonesian volcano that has erupted more than half a dozen times this week is not over, the archipelago's top volcanology official told AFP, as the crater belched another ash tower on Saturday. Mount Ruang, located in Indonesia's outermost region of North Sulawesi province, started erupting late Tuesday, prompting authorities to evacuate thousands on islands near the stratovolcano and closure of the nearest international airport. The volcano erupted again before midnight Friday and again on Saturday afternoon, spewing an ash column 250 metres (820 feet) above its peak, the latest of a wave of volcanic activity, the volcanology agency said. — AFP
Four dead in UAE, Dubai airport still disrupted after storm
ABU DHABI, Apr 20: Deaths from heavy rains earlier this week in the United Arab Emirates rose to four, authorities said on Friday, as well as flooding roads and jamming Dubai's international airport. The storm first hit Oman at the weekend, killing at least 20 people, before pounding the UAE on Tuesday with its heaviest rains in 75 years of records. Two Philippine women and one man died in their vehicles during flooding, the government in Manila said. An Emirati man in his 70s had also died when his vehicle was swept away by floods in the northern Ras Al Khaimah emirate. Scientists blame increasingly common extreme weather events, such as the rains in UAE and Oman, on human-led global warming. Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest and a hub for travel around the Middle East, was still struggling to clear a backlog of flights three days after the storm. — Reuters
Wider alert on contaminated J&J cough syrup 'likely': WHO
CAPTEOWN, Apr 20: The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email. Nigeria's regulator recalled a batch of Benylin syrup last Wednesday, having found a high level of diethylene glycol in the product during routine testing. The contaminant, alongside another closely related toxin, has been linked to the deaths of more than 300 children in Gambia, Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Cameroon since 2022, though there is no evidence that these incidents are linked with the new recalls. — Reuters
Mexican mayoral candidate
stabbed to death
MEXICO CITY, Apr 20: A mayoral candidate was murdered while meeting supporters in northeastern Mexico on Friday, authorities said-part of a wave of political violence ahead of June elections. A manhunt was launched for the attacker who stabbed Noe Ramos, according to the attorney general of violence-wracked Tamaulipas state, Irving Barrios. Ramos died of his wounds, state security spokesman Jorge Cuellar told Milenio television. According to local media, the centre-right candidate was walking through the streets to meet residents of the city of Mante when he was attacked by a man with a knife. Mexican politicians often fall victim to bloodshed connected to corruption and drug smuggling, particularly in the run-up to elections. — AFP
News in Brief (2024-04-21)
FE Team | Published: April 30, 2024 20:06:57
News in Brief (2024-04-21)
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