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More People Are Evacuated After the Dramatic Eruption of an Indonesian Volcano 

Search and rescue boat is docked on the port of Tagulandang as Mount Ruang volcano spews volcanic ash in Sitaro Islands Regency, North Sulawesi province, Indonesia, April 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Search and rescue boat is docked on the port of Tagulandang as Mount Ruang volcano spews volcanic ash in Sitaro Islands Regency, North Sulawesi province, Indonesia, April 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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More People Are Evacuated After the Dramatic Eruption of an Indonesian Volcano 

Search and rescue boat is docked on the port of Tagulandang as Mount Ruang volcano spews volcanic ash in Sitaro Islands Regency, North Sulawesi province, Indonesia, April 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Search and rescue boat is docked on the port of Tagulandang as Mount Ruang volcano spews volcanic ash in Sitaro Islands Regency, North Sulawesi province, Indonesia, April 19, 2024. (Reuters)

More people living near an erupting volcano on Indonesia's Sulawesi Island were evacuated on Friday due to the dangers of spreading ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami.

An international airport in Manado city, which is located less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the erupting Mount Ruang, is still temporarily closed as volcanic ash was spewed into the air.

Satellite imagery from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency showed that the ash has spread to the west, northwest, northeast and southeast, covering Manado and North Minahasa, according to a statement from Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry.

“We are still monitoring developments in the eruption of Mount Ruang and coordinating with relevant stakeholders ... to anticipate the necessary actions to ensure flight safety, security and comfort,” said Ambar Suryoko, head of the regional airport authority.

More than 11,000 people were told to leave their homes and at least 1,000 have done so. A joint team from the local authorities is still combing the villages surrounding the volcano and evacuating the residents to safer areas by boat.

Officials worry that part of the volcano could collapse into the sea and cause a tsunami, as happened in an eruption there in 1871 eruption.

Houses, roads and other buildings in the affected areas were covered by gray volcanic ash. Many house roofs were also broken by the materials spewed from the eruption.

Mount Ruang saw at least five large eruptions Wednesday, causing the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation to issue its highest level of alert. People were ordered to stay at least 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the 725-meter (2,378-foot) mountain.

The observation from the agency on Friday said that white smoke is rising from the main crater with medium to thick intensity.

Tagulandang Island, east of the volcano, could be at risk if a collapse occurred. Its residents were among those being told to evacuate. Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency said residents will be relocated to Manado, a journey of six hours by boat.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, has 120 active volcanoes. It is prone to volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.

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Harvard Agrees to Pay $53 Mn after Morgue Manager Sold Body Parts

FILE PHOTO: Students walk past Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Reba Saldanha/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Students walk past Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Reba Saldanha/File Photo
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Harvard Agrees to Pay $53 Mn after Morgue Manager Sold Body Parts

FILE PHOTO: Students walk past Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Reba Saldanha/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Students walk past Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Reba Saldanha/File Photo

Harvard University has agreed to pay a $53 million settlement after its former morgue manager stole and sold body parts donated for scientific research, with a Boston court reportedly approving the plan on Tuesday.

Cedric Lodge, who managed the morgue at the prestigious Harvard Medical School before being fired in 2023, was sentenced to eight years in prison in December after pleading guilty to trafficking stolen remains.

Investigators said Lodge and his wife took body parts from the school "without the knowledge or permission of his employer, the donor, or the donor's family" and shipped them to buyers in other states since 2018.

According to AFP, Harvard University said in a letter on Monday that it will seek the court's permission to set up "two class action settlement funds totaling $53 million."

"We are grateful to be working together with the plaintiffs to move forward in a way that prioritizes support for families and the (organ donation program) and avoids prolonged litigation," read the letter co-signed by Harvard Medical School Dean George Daley and Bernard Chang, dean for medical education.

Lodge's violations "were despicable, abhorrent, and a flagrant betrayal of our values as a medical community," they said.

"We reaffirm our deep sorrow and empathy for the families of donors who may have been impacted."

A Boston state court judge gave preliminary approval to the settlement plan on Tuesday, US media reported.

Harvard said the process of distributing funds is expected to take several months.

Lodge's wife Denise was earlier sentenced to one year in prison.

Six other co-conspirators who bought remains from Lodge have also pleaded guilty and received sentences.

The Harvard Medical School will set up an annual financial aid scholarship starting in the 2027-28 academic year "in appreciation and in honor of all of our anatomical donors," the school said.

The settlement plan also includes a pledge by the school to provide a statement to the claimant families condemning Lodge's criminal acts, and to detail improvements made to the organ donation program.

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Chinese Space Program Pioneer Liu Jiyuan Dies at 93

Commuters ride past the Tiananmen Square in Beijing on August 18, 2026. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)
Commuters ride past the Tiananmen Square in Beijing on August 18, 2026. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)
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Chinese Space Program Pioneer Liu Jiyuan Dies at 93

Commuters ride past the Tiananmen Square in Beijing on August 18, 2026. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)
Commuters ride past the Tiananmen Square in Beijing on August 18, 2026. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)

A pioneer of China's aerospace program, Liu Jiyuan, died in Beijing aged 93 after an illness, the main space contractor said on Wednesday.

In a career of nearly four decades from 1960, Liu worked on, and ⁠led development of, ⁠control systems for China's first generation of strategic weapons and launch vehicles.

Born in 1933, Liu died ⁠on Monday due to illness, the contractor, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said.

The expert in missile and rocket control technology was deputy commander of the manned space program in 1992 before heading the ⁠newly ⁠set-up National Space Administration from 1993 until he retired in 1999.

His death follows the August 12 demise of Wang Xiji, who led the development of China's first sounding rocket.

Varieties

Italian Scientists Bet on Octopus to Fight Crab Invasion

Live blue crabs harvested by local fishermen in the Po river are seen in a waste bucket at Scardovari, Italy, northeast Italy, on June 26, 2026. (AFP)
Live blue crabs harvested by local fishermen in the Po river are seen in a waste bucket at Scardovari, Italy, northeast Italy, on June 26, 2026. (AFP)
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Italian Scientists Bet on Octopus to Fight Crab Invasion

Live blue crabs harvested by local fishermen in the Po river are seen in a waste bucket at Scardovari, Italy, northeast Italy, on June 26, 2026. (AFP)
Live blue crabs harvested by local fishermen in the Po river are seen in a waste bucket at Scardovari, Italy, northeast Italy, on June 26, 2026. (AFP)

From a fishing trawler in the Adriatic, Italian scientists gently release thousands of tiny octopuses in the hope of fighting an invasive crab species that has devastated local fisheries.

A team from the University of Bologna is betting that the common octopus can help contain the burgeoning population of blue crab -- a voracious crustacean that has ravaged shellfish production in the Adriatic.

"We chose the octopus because, in the wild, it is a formidable predator of crustaceans," Antonio Casalini, one of the researchers, told AFP.

Native to the North American Atlantic coast, blue crabs arrived in the Mediterranean decades ago, likely transported via ballast water from ships.

But their numbers have ballooned in recent years, with the government and fishing groups linking the boom to warming waters and climate change.

With sharp, blue-tinted claws that are particularly apt at prying open shells, they have wreaked havoc in Italy's northeast -- one of Europe's top clam producing regions.

Authorities in Bologna's Emilia-Romagna region said last year the species has caused almost 17 million euros ($20 million) in damages there since 2022.

Farming and fishing group Coldiretti has put the figure at about 200 million for the whole of Italy, with the northern Veneto region also badly affected.

"It eats everything including young clams lying on the seabed," said Davide Sanulli a fishermen and mussels farmer with thick eyebrows and grizzled hair, said of the crab.

In lagoon-like areas off the Po River delta "it has caused a massacre", added the 64-year-old, who is helping the university project.

Excellent swimmers and weighing up to one kilogram (2.2 pounds), the crabs have few natural predators -- something the researchers are hoping to change.

- Crab-eaters -

Launched last year and funded by the Emilia-Romagna region, the "Octo-Blu" project seeks to increase octopus numbers as a counterweight to the hard-shelled invaders.

The team breeds octopus hatchlings in white water tanks at a lab in the port town of Cesenatico.

When ready, the tiny invertebrates are scooped out by the thousands into a large plastic bag and taken out to sea, sometimes using Sanulli's rugged blue fishing boat.

The hatchlings are then released near underwater reefs where the group has laid cement-and-clay artificial dens to help the octopuses thrive.

Some 80,000 have been let out since June, an amount the research team is seeking to double by the end of August, hoping to see a few grow into fully developed octopuses.

"The idea is to establish a small community close to shore so that it can better combat the spread of the blue crab," said Casalini, an aquaculture technician.

The project has some clear drawbacks.

The common octopus is not prone to live in the sandy, warm waters typical of the lagoon areas where the blue crab is making the most damage, making its potential impact there negligible -- something the researchers are well aware of.

Other experts have suggested that seabass could be more effective at crab-fighting and the Bologna University team is also looking at eels, which are avid eaters of crustacean eggs, to complement the octopus's efforts.

Yet, if replicated, the pilot could still help limit blue crab numbers and the related impact on the Adriatic coast's marine environment, Casalini said.

"Blue crabs have an incredible reproductive potential and fertility rate," said Pietro Emmanuele, another University of Bologna researcher, noting a single crab lays millions of eggs, most of which hatch.

Although only some hatchlings reach adulthood, were an octopus to catch even a single female, it would make a difference, he said.