GUATEMALA CITY: At least six people were killed and another 20 injured on Sunday when Guatemala’s Fuego volcano erupted violently, spewing a stream of red hot lava and belching a thick plume of black smoke and ash high into the sky.
“It’s a river of lava that overflowed its banks and affected the Rodeo village. There are injured, burned and dead people,” Sergio Cabanas, the general secretary of Guatemala’s Conred disaster agency, said on radio.
“We are evacuating and rescuing people and have reports of 20 wounded, six dead and disappeared,” said Cabanas.
The eruption also forced the Guatemala City’s La Aurora international airport to shut down its only runway.
The runway was closed due to the presence of volcanic ash and in order to guarantee passenger and aircraft safety, Guatemala’s civil aviation authority said in a Tweet.
The active volcano is located some 25 miles (40 km) southwest of the capital Guatemala City and is close to the colonial city of Antigua, popular with tourists and known for its coffee plantations.
Workers and guests were evacuated from the La Reunion golf club near Antigua. A video circulating on social media showed a black cloud of ash rising from just beyond the golf club. The lava river was running on the other side of the volcano.
The huge plumes of smoke that could be seen from various parts of the country and the ash that rained down in four of Guatemala’s departments caused some alarm among residents.
Officials initially asked residents to remain calm.
David de Leon, spokesman for the National Disaster Prevention Authority said a change in wind was to blame for the volcanic ash falling on parts of the city.
Volcano lava river runs into Guatemala village, several killed
Volcano lava river runs into Guatemala village, several killed
- The lava river was running on the other side of the volcano
- The active volcano is located some 25 miles (40 km) southwest of the capital Guatemala City
Iraq, US sign deal on projects including power plants
- Another MOU between Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity and US company UGT Renewables will establish solar energy project
DUBAI: Iraq and the United States signed on Wednesday a memorandum of understanding for projects in the Gulf country, including 24,000 megawatts of power plants, the Iraqi prime minister’s media office said.
Another MOU has been inked between Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity and US company UGT Renewables to establish an integrated solar energy project with a capacity of 3,000 MW, the media office said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump’s administration last month rescinded a sanctions waiver that since 2018 has allowed Iraq to pay Iran for electricity as Washington presses on with its “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, uses Iranian power imports to generate electricity and has been under pressure from the US to reduce its reliance on power and gas imports from Iran.
$170 million raised in Pakistan’s largest-ever IPO for Lucky Islamic Money Market Fund
- Lucky Investments says investors demonstrated “overwhelming confidence” in its first Shariah-compliant offering
- State Bank of Pakistan has set the target to increase the share of Islamic banking system to 35 percent by 2025
ISLAMABAD: Lucky Investments Limited said on Wednesday it had successfully raised Rs50 billion ($170 million) during the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of its debut fund, the Lucky Islamic Money Market Fund, the largest ever mutual fund launch in Pakistan.
The Fund had declared the launch of its IPO for April 9, inviting all interested investors to become part of a historic interest-free, Shariah-compliant Pakistan initiative, as per a notice issued by the company.
“This landmark achievement marks an extraordinary milestone in Pakistan’s financial sector, where investors nationwide demonstrated overwhelming confidence in the company’s first Shariah-compliant offering,” Lucky Investments said in a statement.
“The record-breaking subscription underscores robust demand for Islamic financial products and firmly positions Lucky Investments’ place as a promising new player in Pakistan’s Asset Management Industry.”
Lucky Investments, a subsidiary of Pakistan’s Lucky Group, focuses on investment and portfolio management across sectors like energy, real estate and manufacturing. Originally known as Interloop Asset Management Limited, the company was acquired by Yunus Brothers Group in December 2024 and rebranded as Lucky Investments Limited.
The company listed Lucky Islamic Money Market Fund as the first in a planned series of Shariah-compliant mutual funds set to be introduced by the company.
“We are profoundly grateful for the extraordinary trust placed in us by investors across Pakistan,” Lucky Investments Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Shoaib was quoted as saying in the statement.
“Breaking the national record with a Rs50 billion subscription in a single day is not just a milestone for Lucky Investments, but a testament to the growing strength of Islamic finance in our market.”
Shariah-compliant investments are gaining traction in Pakistan as investors seek ethical, faith-based financial solutions. Supported by a growing Islamic finance sector and regulatory backing from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the State Bank, the market continues to expand through mutual funds, sukuk, and Islamic banking products.
In 2024, Islamic banking in Pakistan held a significant market share, with assets and deposits accounting for approximately 19 percent and 24 percent of the overall banking industry, respectively, by the end of September.
The State Bank has set the target to increase the share of the Islamic banking system to 35 percent by 2025.
Sudan FM expresses disapproval at exclusion from UK conference for resolving country’s civil war
- Rapid Support Forces, who are locked in a deadly struggle with the Sudanese Armed Forces, have also been excluded from the conference
- UK, along with conference co-hosts Germany and France, is bringing together foreign ministers from nearly 20 countries
LONDON: Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ali Youssef has expressed his disapproval, via a letter to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, at his exclusion from a UK-hosted conference aimed at resolving the African country’s prolonged civil war.
The Rapid Support Forces, who are locked in a deadly struggle with the Sudanese Armed Forces, have also been excluded from the conference.
Instead, the UK, along with conference co-hosts Germany and France, is bringing together foreign ministers from nearly 20 countries, and organizations, in an attempt to establish a group that can drive the warring factions in Sudan closer towards peace.
The conference at Lancaster House in London on April 15 comes on the second anniversary of the start of a civil war that has led to the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, but has been persistently left at the bottom of the global list of diplomatic priorities. Half of Sudan’s population are judged to be desperately short of food, with 11 million people internally displaced.
The initiative holds risks for Lammy, since it may require him to place pressure on some of the UK’s Middle Eastern allies to make good on their promises to no longer arm the warring parties.
A harsh spotlight is also very likely to fall in London on the impact of USAID cuts on the provision of humanitarian aid in Sudan as well as the withdrawal of funding by the US from academic groups that have been monitoring war crimes and the build-up of famine.
NGOs such as Human Rights Watch are also urging the ministerial conference to emphasize the importance of civilian protection, independent of a ceasefire.
At an event previewing the conference, Kate Ferguson, the co-director of the NGO Protection Approaches, said: “The conference comes at a critical moment for civilians in Sudan as areas of control under various armed forces rapidly evolve and civilians face an increasing spectrum of varied attack.”
She added: “A new vehicle is needed to take forward civilian protection. This is a moment here to create something new that is desperately needed — whether that is a coalition of conscience or a contact group.”
Ferguson added that “citizens were facing an unimaginable triple threat of armed conflict, identity-based atrocity crimes and humanitarian catastrophe.”
Pakistanis divided as Afghan migrants face expulsion under new policy
- Pakistan has asked all “illegal foreigners” and Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave or face deportation from April 1
- Move is part of larger deportation drive that began in November 2023 and has seen over 900,000 Afghans expelled
ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan intensifies its campaign to expel thousands of Afghan migrants, opinions in Islamabad remain divided, according to interviews with residents.
Earlier this year, Pakistan’s interior ministry asked all “illegal foreigners” and holders of Afghan Citizen Cards — a document launched in 2017 to grant temporary legal status to Afghan refugees — to leave the country before Mar. 31, warning that they would otherwise be deported from April 1. The move is part of a larger repatriation drive of foreign citizens that began in November 2023, with over 900,000 Afghans expelled from Pakistan since.
While 19-year-old student Rubab Iffat called the deportations “not right,” others like teacher Pervaiz Akhtar supported the government’s decision, saying Afghans were against Pakistan and were behind terror attacks in the country. The government in Kabul denies Afghanistan is to blame for Pakistan’s security problems.
“Even on social media, they [Afghans] are against Pakistan ... They make their living here, but they are against us,” Akhtar said.
“If you look overall, even locally, if you ask someone what Afghans say about us, they are against our country. Terrorism is also being carried out from there [Afghanistan] so it is justified that they leave. And they should go by all means, their country is Afghanistan.”
But Iffat said the government was not “doing the right thing” by expelling Afghans:
“Because they have been living here [Pakistan] for a long time and their home is here now, their children are studying here, so this is their country too. They should be given the same rights as us.”
Meanwhile, Afghanistan-bound trucks have been piling up outside Pakistan migrant camps as pressure to leave mounts.
In a migrant camp in the southwestern border town of Chaman, Afghan migrant Ismail prepared to return to his home country, leaving behind an “unfinished” life after a decade in Pakistan.
“I had a stable job, I had found stability,” he said, standing in front of rows of loaded trucks bound for Afghanistan. “Then the government told us we had to leave.”
Ghulam Hazrat said he had to leave behind his house and business and in the days leading up to leaving Karachi where he has lived for years, he had faced harassment from police.
“We were harassed every day. They didn’t even spare us on the streets and threw us straight into jail,” Hazrat added.
“Because of all this, we became very desperate and decided to leave Karachi [for Afghanistan].”
King Salman receives message from Liberian President Joseph Boakai
- The spoken communication addressed the relationship between their countries and ways in which cooperation might be enhanced
RIYADH: King Salman of Saudi Arabia received a message from Liberian President Joseph Boakai on Wednesday. The spoken communication focused on relations between their countries and ways in which cooperation might be strengthened, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Liberia’s foreign minister, Sara Beysolow Nyant, delivered the message for the king to the Saudi deputy foreign minister, Waleed Al-Khuraiji, in Riyadh. During their meeting they discussed regional and international issues of common interest, the SPA added.
