JAPAN
Volcano spews rocks 1km
Mount Otake in the southwest has erupted, flinging large rocks hundreds of meters from the crater and prompting the Meteorological Agency to raise its alert level, Kyodo news agency reported early yesterday. There were no immediate reports of injuries after the eruption of the volcano in Kagoshima prefecture, Kyodo added. The report said that the meteorological agency had raised its alert level to a three on a scale of five, meaning that people should not approach the crater. A first eruption reportedly took place just after 10pm on Tuesday, with a second near 3am yesterday. Kyodo said large rocks were projected “nearly 1km” from the crater.
UNITED STATES
Major nips again
President Joe Biden’s younger dog Major this week was involved in his second biting incident of the month, the White House said on Tuesday. The dog “nipped someone while on a walk” on Monday, said Michael LaRosa, press secretary to first lady Jill Biden, adding that the dog “is still adjusting to his new surroundings.” The individual was seen by the White House Medical Unit “out of an abundance of caution” and returned to work without injury, LaRosa added. The German shepherd only just returned to the White House last week, along with his sibling Champ, after causing a minor injury to an employee of the US Secret Service on March 8.
UNITED STATES
‘Voltwagen’ fools reporters
Journalists are used to being wary about odd pranksters pulling April Fool’s Day hoaxes, but few expect it from a multibillion-dollar corporation. Volkswagen on Tuesday said that it had put out a false news release saying that it had changed the name of its US subsidiary to “Voltswagen of America” in an attempt to be funny and promote a new electric utility vehicle. Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, USA Today, CNBC and the Washington Post, had reported the original press release as real news, some after being assured specifically that it was no joke. The deception even briefly lifted stock prices for the company, said the Wall Street Journal, which first revealed the deception by reaching an official at the company headquarters in Germany. “The Associated Press was repeatedly assured by Volkswagen that its US subsidiary planned a name change and reported that information, which we now know to be false,” company spokeswoman Lauren Easton said.
UNITED STATES
Mother bear gets sympathy
A mother bear caught on video trying to coax four rambunctious cubs across a busy Connecticut road had parents on the Internet nodding in sympathy. Hundreds of people responded to a four-minute video of the bear’s struggles on the Winchester Police Department’s Facebook page. Other videos of the bears also circulated online. “I never had four, but I still can relate. So glad the cars waited for them,” one mother from Sedona, Arizona, wrote. “The trials and tribulations of all mothers. Poor Momma,” another woman wrote. The video taken on Sunday shows the bear trying several times to get the cubs safely across Rowley Street, as a police cruiser blocks traffic. The mother bear would pick up one cub with her mouth and carry it to a grassy area, only to have another scamper back into the road. Police thanked motorists for being patient and keeping the bears safe, using the video as a springtime warning to drivers.
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
UNDAUNTED: Panama would not renew an agreement to participate in Beijing’s Belt and Road project, its president said, proposing technical-level talks with the US US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday threatened action against Panama without immediate changes to reduce Chinese influence on the canal, but the country’s leader insisted he was not afraid of a US invasion and offered talks. On his first trip overseas as the top US diplomat, Rubio took a guided tour of the canal, accompanied by its Panamanian administrator as a South Korean-affiliated oil tanker and Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship passed through the vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, Rubio was said to have had a firmer message in private, telling Panama that US President Donald Trump
Thousands gathered across New Zealand yesterday to celebrate the signing of the country’s founding document and some called for an end to government policies that critics say erode the rights promised to the indigenous Maori population. As the sun rose on the dawn service at Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between the British Crown and Maori chiefs in 1840, some community leaders called on the government to honor promises made 185 years ago. The call was repeated at peaceful rallies that drew several hundred people later in the day. “This government is attacking tangata whenua [indigenous people] on all
CHEER ON: Students were greeted by citizens who honked their car horns or offered them food and drinks, while taxi drivers said they would give marchers a lift home Hundreds of students protesting graft they blame for 15 deaths in a building collapse on Friday marched through Serbia to the northern city of Novi Sad, where they plan to block three Danube River bridges this weekend. They received a hero’s welcome from fellow students and thousands of local residents in Novi Said after arriving on foot in their two-day, 80km journey from Belgrade. A small red carpet was placed on one of the bridges across the Danube that the students crossed as they entered the city. The bridge blockade planned for yesterday is to mark three months since a huge concrete construction
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