Phuket Gazette World News: Second bomb blast in Russia; Volcano in El Salvador; Aussie cyclone heads inland; Four journalists held in Egypt; China says Japan PM ‘shut door’

– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

At least 10 people were killed when a bomb blast ripped through a trolleybus on Monday in the second deadly attack in the Russian city of Volgograd in two days, law enforcement authorities said.

The explosion came a day after a suicide bomber killed at least 17 people in the main railway station of the southern city 40 days before Russia is to hold the Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

State TV footage showed the twisted, gutted remains of the blue-and-white trolleybus, its roof blown off and debris strewn around the street. Federal investigators said the blast was believed to have been a terrorist act.

The consecutive attacks underscored Russia’s vulnerability to militants and will raise fears of a concerted campaign of violence before the Olympics, which start on February 7 in Sochi, about 690 km southwest of Volgograd.

The Sochi Games are a major prestige project for President Vladimir Putin. Insurgents who want to carve an Islamic state out of southern Russia urged militants in a Web-posted video in July to use “maximum force” to prevent them from being held.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either of the attacks, which left dozens wounded in addition to the deaths. Authorities said 37 people were hospitalised after Sunday’s attack and 23 were reported wounded on Monday.

PHUKET: The Chaparrastique volcano in eastern El Salvador belched a column of hot ash high into the air on Sunday, frightening nearby residents and prompting authorities to order evacuations in the area.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in the San Miguel region, where the volcano is located and that is known for its coffee plantations.

Civil protection authorities said they would evacuate people from within three kilometres (1.9 miles) of the volcano and set up emergency shelters.

“The evacuations began almost right after the explosion,” said civil protection official Armando Vividor. He said some 5,000 people lived around the volcano.

The volcano, which is about 140 kilometres (86 miles) to the east of the capital, spewed ash over a wide area and the smell of sulphur hung over surrounding towns, according to reports on social media. Authorities recommended breathing through moist handkerchiefs.

Santos Osorio, a member of a local coffee growers union, said heavy ash was falling in the area and local coffee plantations would be checked for damage.

El Salvador’s crop has already been blighted by an outbreak of leaf rust that has reduced output in all five of Central America’s coffee producers.

El Salvador has 23 active volcanoes and the Chaparrastique volcano is considered one of the most active, with 26 eruptions in the last 500 years, the environment ministry said. In a 1976 eruption, lava gushed from the volcano and it shook violently in another event in 2010.

(Additional reporting by Hugo Sanchez; Editing by Eric Beech and Christopher Wilson)

PHUKET: Four Al Jazeera journalists have been arrested in Egypt, the station said on Monday, after the Interior Ministry accused the Qatar-based channel of broadcasting illegally from a hotel suite with a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Jazeera’s offices in Cairo have been closed since July 3 when they were raided by security forces hours after the army ousted the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi from the presidency.

Qatar was a strong financial backer of the Brotherhood’s rule and its relationship with Cairo has deteriorated in recent months as it vehemently opposes the army’s overthrow of Mursi and the crackdown on his movement that has followed.

“State security received information that a member of the (Brotherhood) used two suites in a Cairo hotel to hold meetings with other members of the organisation and turned the suites into a press centre,” the ministry said.

“(They) made live broadcasts of news that harms homeland security, spreading rumours and false news to Qatar’s Al Jazeera channel without permits.”

The Interior Ministry said a member of the Brotherhood and an Australian journalist who works for Al Jazeera were arrested and equipment was seized, including broadcast transmitters.

Al Jazeera said four journalists from its English news channel had been arrested, a correspondent, two producers and a cameraman.

Since Mursi was ousted, Egypt has faced some of its worst violence in decades, which the government has blamed on Islamic militants. It declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group last week and has arrested thousands of its members, including Mursi.

U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel expressed concern about developments in Egypt in a call on Sunday to Egyp

— Phuket Gazette Editors

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