Around the World briefs
By Associated Press
Indonesia’s Ruang volcano spews more hot clouds after eruption forces closure of schools, airports
MANADO, Indonesia | Indonesia’s Mount Ruang volcano spewed more hot clouds on Wednesday after an eruption the previous day forced the closure of schools and airports, pelted villages with volcanic debris and prompted hundreds of people to flee.
Seven airports, including Sam Ratulangi international airport in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, remained closed after Tuesday’s eruption, the second in two weeks. Schools were shut to protect children from volcanic ash.
The volcano is on tiny Ruang Island, part of the Sitaro islands chain.
The Indonesian geological agency urged people to stay at least 4 miles from the volcano’s crater. It warned people on nearby Tagulandang Island, the closest to the volcano, of possible super-heated volcanic clouds from a further eruption and a tsunami if the mountain’s volcanic dome collapses into the sea.
Video released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed about a hundred villagers from Tagulandang Island being evacuated on a navy ship. Hundreds of others were waiting at a local port to be evacuated.
Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said 11,000 to 12,000 people living within a 7-kilometer danger zone would be taken to government shelters.
Tuesday’s eruption darkened the sky and peppered several villages with ash, grit and rocks. No casualties were reported.
After Mount Ruang’s April 17 eruption, authorities warned that a subsequent eruption might collapse part of the volcano into the sea.
Ruang is among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelagic nation is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a series of fault lines stretching from the western coast of the Americas through Japan and Southeast Asia.
Two men are charged with cutting down famous 150-year-old tree near Hadrian’s Wall in England
LONDON | Two men have been charged with cutting down the beloved 50-year-old Sycamore Gap tree that toppled over on Hadrian’s Wall last year in northern England, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Daniel Graham, 38, and Adam Carruthers, 31, were charged with causing criminal damage and damaging the wall built in A.D. 122 by Emperor Hadrian to guard the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire.
They were ordered to appear in Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on May 15.
The sycamore’s majestic canopy between two hills made it a popular subject for landscape photographers. It became a destination on the path along the wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after being featured in Kevin Costner’s 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.”
The nighttime felling caused widespread outrage as police tried to find the culprits behind what they called a deliberate act of vandalism.
Northumbria Police Superintendent Kevin Waring called it “an incredibly sad day” when the tree was found. A hiker who was among the first people to see it lying on the ground expressed shock.
“It’s basically the iconic picture that everyone wants to see,” Alison Hawkins said at the time. “You can forgive nature doing it, but you can’t forgive that.”
Graham and Carruthers were arrested in October and released on bail. It took authorities more than six months to bring charges against them.
Det. Chief Inspector Rebecca Fenney said she recognized “the strength of feeling in the local community and further afield” but cautioned people against speculation or comment that could affect the criminal case.
The National Trust, which owns the land where the tree stood, said it will take up to three years to see if new growth sprouts from the sycamore’s stump.
The trust removed the tree and was hopeful that about a third of the seeds and cuttings it collected could later be planted.
To fend off tourists, a town in Japan is building a big screen blocking the view of Mount Fuji
FUJIKAWAGUCHIKO, Japan | The town of Fujikawaguchiko has had enough of tourists.
Known for a number of scenic photo spots that offer a near-perfect shot of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, the town on Tuesday began constructing a large black screen on a stretch of a sidewalk to block the view of the mountain. The reason: misbehaving foreign tourists.
“Kawaguchiko is a town built on tourism, and I welcome many visitors, and the town welcomes them too, but there are many things about their manners that are worrying,” said Michie Motomochi, owner of a cafe serving Japanese sweets “ohagi,” near the soon-to-be-blocked photo spot.
Motomochi mentioned littering, crossing the road with busy traffic, ignoring traffic lights, trespassing into private properties. She isn’t unhappy though — 80% of her customers are foreign visitors whose numbers have surged after a pandemic hiatus that kept Japan closed for about two years.
Her neighborhood suddenly became a popular spot about two years ago, apparently after a photo taken in a particular angle showing Mount Fuji in the background, as if sitting atop a local convenience store, became a social media sensation known as “Mt. Fuji Lawson,” town officials say.
The mostly foreign tourists have since crowded the small area, triggering a wave of concerns and complaints from residents about visitors blocking the narrow sidewalk, taking photos on the busy road or walking into neighbors’ properties, officials said.
In Europe, concerns over tourists overcrowding historic cities led Venice last week to launch a pilot program to charge day-trippers a 5-euro ($5.35) entry fee. Authorities hope it will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.
Fujikawaguchiko has tried other methods: signs urging visitors not to run into the road and to use the designated crosswalk in English, Chinese, Thai and Korean, and even hiring a security guard as crowd control. None worked.
The black mesh net, when completed in mid-May, will be 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) high and 20 meters (65.6 feet) long, and will almost completely block the view of Mount Fuji, officials said.
Dozens of tourists gathered Tuesday taking photos even though Mount Fuji was not in sight due to cloudy weather.
Anthony Hok, from France, thought the screen was an overreaction. “Too big solution for subject not as big, even if tourists are making trouble. Doesn’t look right to me,” he said. The 26-year-old suggested setting up road barriers for safety instead of blocking views for pictures.
But Helen Pull, a 34-year-old visitor from the U.K., was sympathetic to the local concern. While traveling in Japan in the past few weeks, she has seen tourism “really ramped up here in Japan from what we’ve seen.”
“I can see why people who live and work here might want to do something about that,” she said, noting many were taking pictures even when the mountain was not in the view. “That’s the power of the social media.”
Foreign visitors have flocked to Japan since the pandemic border restrictions were lifted, in part due to the weaker yen.
Last year, Japan had more than 25 million visitors, and the number this year is expected to surpass nearly 32 million, a record from 2019, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. And the government wants more tourists.
While the booming tourism has helped the industry, it has triggered complaints from residents in popular tourist destinations, such as Kyoto and Kamakura. In Kyoto, a famous geisha district recently decided to close some private-property alleys.
Locals are uncertain about what to do.
Motomochi said she cannot imagine how the black screen can help control the flow of people on the narrow pedestrian walk and the road next to it.
Yoshihiko Ogawa, who runs a more than half-century-old rice shop in the Fujikawaguchiko area, said the overcrowding worsened in the past few months, with tourists gathering from around 4-5 a.m. and talking loudly. He sometimes struggles to get his car in and out of garage.
“We’ve never thought we’d face a situation like this,” Ogawa said, adding he is unsure what the solution might be. “I suppose we all just need to get use to it.”
Tourists evacuated from
Kenya’s Maasai Mara reserve
amid flooding and heavy rains
NAIROBI, Kenya | Tourists were evacuated by air from Kenya’s Maasai Mara national reserve Wednesday after more than a dozen hotels, lodges and camps were flooded as heavy rains battered the country.
Tourist accommodation facilities were submerged after a river within the Maasai Mara broke its banks early Wednesday. The reserve, in southwestern Kenya, is a popular tourist destination because it features the annual wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania.
The Kenya Red Cross said it rescued more than 90 people. The Narok County government said it deployed two helicopters to carry out evacuations in the expansive conservation area.
More than 170 people have died across Kenya since mid-March when the rainy season started, causing flooding, landslides and destroying infrastructure. The Metrology Department has warned that more rain is expected this week.
On Wednesday, three major roads in the capital, Nairobi were temporarily closed due to flooding. The Kenya Red Cross rescued 11 people from a residential area — Kitengela — in the outskirts of Nairobi after their homes flooded overnight.
On Monday, a river broke through a clogged tunnel in Mai Mahiu area in western Kenya, sweeping houses away and damaging roads. The incident left 48 people dead and more than 80 others missing.
Search and rescue operations across the Mai Mahiu area are ongoing. President William Ruto on Tuesday ordered the military to join in the search.
Locals say rescue efforts have been slow due to lack of equipment to dig through the debris.
The government has urged people living in flood-prone areas to evacuate or be moved forcefully as water level in two major hydroelectric dams rise to a “historic high”.
—From AP reports
