RUSSIA
Volcano extremely active
The Shiveluch volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula has become extremely active, threatening a powerful eruption, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team said yesterday. “A growth of the lava dome continues, a strong fumaroles activity, an incandescence of the lava dome, explosions and hot avalanches accompanies this process,” the observatory said on its Web site. “Ash explosions up to 10-15km ... could occur at any time. Ongoing activity could affect international and low-flying aircraft.” State news agency RIA Novosti cited Alexei Ozerov, the director of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far East branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as saying that the dome of the volcano is very hot. “At night, the dome glows almost over its entire surface. Hot avalanches with a temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius roll down the slopes, pyroclastic flows descend. This state of the dome is observed, as a rule, before a powerful paroxysmal eruption.”
AFGHANISTAN
Nineteen lashed in northeast
Nineteen people were lashed for adultery, theft and running away from home, a Supreme Court official said yesterday. The announcement underscored the Taliban’s intention of sticking to their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah. It appeared to be the first official confirmation that lashings and floggings are being meted out since the Taliban seized power in August last year. Supreme Court official Abdul Rahim Rashid said that 10 men and nine women were lashed 39 times each in Taloqan in Takhar Province, on Nov. 11. He said the punishment took place in the presence of elders, academics and residents at the city’s main mosque after Friday prayers.
CHINA
Rare virus death reported
The government yesterday announced its first new death from COVID-19 in nearly half a year as strict new measures are imposed in Beijing and across the country to ward against new outbreaks. The death of the 87-year-old Beijing man was the first reported by the National Health Commission since May 26, bringing the total death toll to 5,227. The previous death was reported in Shanghai, which underwent a major surge in cases over the summer. In response to growing anger over lockdowns, the central city of Zhengzhou said yesterday it would no longer require a negative COVID-19 test from infants younger than three and other “special groups” seeking healthcare. The announcement came after a four-month-old girl died after having vomiting and diarrhea while in quarantine at a hotel in Zhengzhou. Reports said it took her father 11 hours to get help after healthcare workers refused to provide assistance and she finally was sent to a hospital 100km away.
JAPAN
Kishida to sack minister
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to sack Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Minoru Terada, Yomiuri reported yesterday, the third Cabinet minister to leave in less than a month. Kishida decided to oust Terada on Saturday given increasing pressure within his party to lessen the effects on the upcoming parliament session on the second extra budget for the fiscal year through March, Yomiuri said. Terada has come under fire for funding scandals and has acknowledged that one of his support groups had submitted a funding documentation ostensibly signed by a dead person.
AERIAL INCURSIONS: The incidents are a reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions go beyond Ukraine’s borders, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Two NATO members on Sunday said that Russian drones violated their airspace, as one reportedly flew into Romania during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day. A drone entered Romanian territory early on Sunday as Moscow struck “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube in Ukraine, the Romanian Ministry of National Defense said. It added that Bucharest had deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace and issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions. It also said investigations were underway of a potential “impact zone” in an uninhabited area along the Romanian-Ukrainian border. There
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
‘VERY DIRE’: This year’s drought, exacerbated by El Nino, is affecting 44 percent of Malawi’s crop area and up to 40 percent of its population of 20.4 million In the worst drought in southern Africa in a century, villagers in Malawi are digging for potentially poisonous wild yams to eat as their crops lie scorched in the fields. “Our situation is very dire, we are starving,” 76-year-old grandmother Manesi Levison said as she watched over a pot of bitter, orange wild yams that she says must cook for eight hours to remove the toxins. “Sometimes the kids go for two days without any food,” she said. Levison has 30 grandchildren under her care. Ten are huddled under the thatched roof of her home at Salima, near Lake Malawi, while she boils
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