Aircraft warned as volcano shoots ash

MANILA • A rumbling volcano in the central Philippines shot a huge column of ash into the sky yesterday, prompting the official aviation agency to warn aircraft to stay away.

Mount Kanlaon, located in the central island of Negros, launched a plume of ash about 1.5km into the air, said Mr Kenn John Veracruz of the official Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Sri Lankan refugees allowed to land in Aceh

LHOKNGA (Aceh) • Dozens of Sri Lankan migrants stranded on a boat off Indonesia were allowed to come ashore yesterday, easing a tense stand-off with the local authorities that drew international condemnation.

The 44 migrants, including many women and children, had been stuck on a boat off Aceh province for a week because the authorities in the western province refused to allow them to disembark.

But officials relented yesterday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE