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Philippines' Taal Volcano Erupts

View of a forest fire with Cotopaxi volcano in the background in Latacunga, Cotopaxi Province, Ecuador, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Galo Paguay / AFP)
View of a forest fire with Cotopaxi volcano in the background in Latacunga, Cotopaxi Province, Ecuador, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Galo Paguay / AFP)
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Philippines' Taal Volcano Erupts

View of a forest fire with Cotopaxi volcano in the background in Latacunga, Cotopaxi Province, Ecuador, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Galo Paguay / AFP)
View of a forest fire with Cotopaxi volcano in the background in Latacunga, Cotopaxi Province, Ecuador, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Galo Paguay / AFP)

The Philippines' Taal Volcano near the capital region has erupted, the country's seismology agency said on Wednesday.
The agency did not immediately provide details on the extent of the eruption but said the alert level remained at the lowest on the scale.
Taal, located about 70 km (45 miles) south of central Manila, is one of the world's smallest active volcanoes and some of its previous eruptions have impacted the capital and air travel.
Despite standing at only 311 m (1,020-feet), it can be deadly and an eruption in 1911 killed more than 1,300 people, Reuters reported.
In January 2021, thousands of people were evacuated after it spewed a 1 km (0.62 mile) high plume of gas and steam.
A year earlier, the Taal volcano shot a column of ash and steam as high as 15 km into the sky, forcing more than 100,000 people to abandon their homes and triggered widespread disruption in the

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Australia Tells US Influencer: 'Leave Baby Wombat Alone'

Australia's Wombat Protection Society said the influencer "mishandled a wombat joey." AFP
Australia's Wombat Protection Society said the influencer "mishandled a wombat joey." AFP
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Australia Tells US Influencer: 'Leave Baby Wombat Alone'

Australia's Wombat Protection Society said the influencer "mishandled a wombat joey." AFP
Australia's Wombat Protection Society said the influencer "mishandled a wombat joey." AFP

Australia's top diplomat urged a visiting American influencer on Thursday to "leave the baby wombat alone", after a video appeared to show the woman pestering a young marsupial.

In a now-deleted video posted to Instagram this week, the woman can be seen picking up the hissing wild animal before declaring to the camera: "I caught a baby wombat".

The woman -- identified in Australian media as American outdoors influencer Sam Jones -- then places the wombat back on the side of the road, AFP reported.

The video riled wildlife experts and animal lovers alike -- and on Thursday, concern over it reached the top echelons of the Australian government.

"It looked pretty dreadful, didn't it?" Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong told Australia's Channel Seven.

"I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, look, leave the baby wombat alone."

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he was investigating if the woman had violated her visa.

"I can't wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don't expect she will return," he said in a statement.

Australia's Wombat Protection Society said the influencer "mishandled a wombat joey" in an "apparent snatch for social media likes".

"She then placed the vulnerable baby back onto a country road -- potentially putting it at risk of becoming roadkill."

Australia's rotund native wombats are among the world's biggest burrowing species, according to the national museum.

While some species are considered endangered, the common bare-nosed wombat is found along large swathes of southern and eastern Australia.