MANILA: A rumbling volcano in the central Philippines shot a huge column of ash into the sky on Saturday, prompting the official aviation agency to warn aircraft to stay away, authorities said.
Mount Kanlaon, located in the central island of Negros, launched a plume of whitish-grey ash about 1.5 km into the air, said Kenn John Veracruz of the official Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
The civil aviation office issued an advisory, saying “flights operating in the vicinity of the volcano are advised to avoid flying close to the summit as airborne ash from a sudden eruption can be hazardous to aircraft.”
The volcano, located about 510 km south of Manila, has been more active than usual since November, prompting the government to ban hikers from its slopes.
Veracruz said that so far the authorities had not detected any lava rising inside the 2.47-km high volcano but they were checking how far the ash was being scattered by the wind and whether it could affect nearby communities.
“It has been raining in recent days so there was likely water that built up inside the volcano and since the crater is hot, it built up the steam pressure,” causing the eruption of ash, Veracruz, a member of the institute’s volcano monitoring division, told AFP.
He added that it was possible the volcano could experience another ash eruption. The civil defense office said they had not received any reports of damage or people affected from the ashfall but that authorities remain on alert.
Central Philippines volcano spouts massive ash column
Central Philippines volcano spouts massive ash column
UN refugee agency chief: ‘Very difficult moment in history’
- According to his agency also known as UNHCR, there are 117.3 million forcibly displaced people around the world from 194 countries
ROME: The first refugee to lead the UN refugee agency has said that the world faces “a very difficult moment in history” and is appealing to a common humanity amid dramatic change.
Repression of immigrants is growing, and the funding to protect them is plummeting.
Without ever mentioning the Trump administration or its policies directly, Barham Salih said his office will have to be inventive to confront the crisis, which includes losing well over $1 billion in US support.
FASTFACT
There are 117.3 million forcibly displaced people around the world from 194 countries.
“Of course it’s a fight, undeniably so, but I think also I’m hopeful and confident that there is enough humanity out there to really enable us to do that,” said Salih, a former president of Iraq.
He was also adamant on the need to safeguard the 1951 refugee convention as the Trump administration campaigns for other governments to join it in upending a decades-old system and redefining asylum rules.
Salih, who took up his role as high commissioner for refugees on Jan. 1, described it as an international legal responsibility and a moral responsibility.
According to his agency also known as UNHCR, there are 117.3 million forcibly displaced people around the world from 194 countries. Salih’s challenge is supporting some 30 million refugees with significantly less funds.
In 2024 and 2025, funding from the US dropped from $2.1 billion to $800 million, and yet the country remains UNHCR’s largest donor.
“Resources made available to helping refugees are being constrained and limited in very, very significant way,” Salih said.
The Trump administration is also reviewing the US asylum system, suspending the refugee program in 2025 and setting a limit for entries to 7,500, mostly white South Africans — a historic low for refugee admittance since the program’s inception in 1980.
The Trump administration also has tightened immigration enforcement as part of its promise to increase deportations, while facing criticism for deportations to third countries and an uproar over two fatal shootings by federal officers and other deaths.
“We have to accept the need for adapting with a new environment in the world,” Salih said.
His agency is seeking to be more cost-effective, “to really deliver assistance to the people who need it, rather than be part of a system that sustains dependency on humanitarian assistance,” he added. Salih has already met Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. He said he was grateful for the support of the pontiff — the first pope from the US.
“The voice of the church and faith-based organizations in this endeavor is absolutely vital,” Salih said. “His moral support, his voice of the need for supporting refugees and what we do as UNHCR at this moment is very, very important.”
