Peruvian Towns Flooded After Tonga Volcano Eruption
PHOTO: PEOPLE AND VEHICLES IN FLOODED STREETS, SOUNDBITE FROM LOCAL RESIDENT, AFTERMATH OF RISE IN TIDES, SOUNDBITE FROM COASTAL SECURITY AUTHORITY
INTERNATIONAL: The shores of several Peruvian cities were flooded with sea water after a tsunami was triggered by a massive volcanic eruption off Tonga on Saturday, 15 January.
A footage shows people walking with water up to their knees in the city of Pisco, in southern Peru. Vehicles were also trapped in the flooded streets.
Despite many coastal towns such as Barranca and Paracas evacuated bathers from the beaches as a safety precaution, the Peruvian Tsunami Warning Centre has said the event did "not generate a tsunami on the Peruvian coast".
The Captain of the Supe del Barranco, Miguel Navarro says, the ports are definitely being closed as a precaution for the vessels. The closing of the ports means the they have raised red flags, that indicates that bathers must not enter the sea.
A satellite images has captured the volcanic eruption on Saturday as the explosion sent plumes of smoke into the air and about 19 and a half kilomteres above the sea level. The sky over Tonga was darkened by the ash.
The eruptions have triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific, with the United States and Japan urging people on their Pacific coastlines to stay away from the shores.
Australia has issued a marine tsunami warning for the New South Wales coastlines, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island, and has announced local beaches along the state's coast have been closed. A tsunami advisory was also issued in New Zealand.
The Kingdom of Tonga doesn’t often attract global attention, but a violent eruption of an underwater volcano on January 15 has spread shock waves, quite literally, around half the world.
British Man Took Hostages at Synagogue, Shot and Killed
PHOTO: Police were negotiating with a man believed to have taken people hostage at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, during a religious service on Saturday that was being broadcast online.
A man who took four hostages at a synagogue in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, has been identified by the FBI as British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, 44.
The man who interrupted a morning service in Colleyville on Saturday was shot and killed after a 10-hour standoff with police.
All of the hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel were freed unharmed.
US President Joe Biden has called the hostage-taking an "act of terror" and the UK has also condemned the attack.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has described it as an "act of terrorism and anti-Semitism", adding: "We stand with US in defending the rights and freedoms of our citizens against those who spread hate."
There is currently no indication that others were involved, the FBI in Dallas has confirmed. Police sources say that no explosive material was found on the attacker's body.
A brother of Malik Faisal Akram has issued a statement apologising to the victims and saying he had been suffering from "mental health issues".
Negotiators had spent hours talking to the assailant during the standoff.
Among the hostages was the synagogue's rabbi. One was released after six hours with the other three being led to safety by police several hours later.
The incident began at around 11:00 local time when police were called to the synagogue. People were evacuated from the area shortly after.
The attacker has gained initial access to the synagogue during the service by claiming to be a homeless man.
Government Spokesperson Wounded in Somalia’s Suicide Bomb Attack
PHOTO: VARIOUS OF VEHICLE IN AFTERMATH OF EXPLOSIONEMERGENCY WORKERS TAKING BODY OF BOMBER AWAY IN AN AMBULANCEINTERVIEW WITH A WITNESS AT THE SCENE
Somalia's government spokesperson was wounded on Sunday ,16 January in an explosion at a road junction set off by a suicide bomber in the capital Mogadishu, police and the national news agency have reported.
A witness at the scene has recalled that he saw government spokesman Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu lying on the ground after the blast. He has rushed to the scene and saw Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu government, injured, lying on the ground. A tuk tuk driver has carried Moalimuu and placed him in a car in which he was rushed to the hospital. His right arm was injured. A lot of shrapnel hit his body.
At the scene of the blast, the remains of the suicide bomber were scattered on the ground close to Moalimuu's four-wheel-drive vehicle with its back windows blown off.
The al Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, in comments on its Andalus radio station, has claimed responsibility for the attack on Moalimuu, who was reported to be in a stable condition in hospital.
Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble, where Moalimuu works, has called the bombing an "odious terrorist attack.”
Nasra Bashir Ali, state media special correspondent in Roble's office says that the bomber has actually targeted Moalimuu as he was passing in his vehicle, and fortunately, that his injuries were not life-threatening.
Al Shabaab frequently carries out gun and bomb attacks on Somali security and government targets, but also on civilians.
It aims to topple the U.N.-backed central government and impose its own harsh interpretation of Islamic law. It also carries out attacks on African Union peacekeeping troops.
