News Briefs
GOMA, Congo
Volcano erupts in eastern Congo, destroying 14 villages
Associated Press
A volcano in eastern Congo erupted yesterday, sending out plumes of ash and three rivers of lava that destroyed 14 villages near the border with Rwanda.
The sky around Mount Nyiragongo began glowing red, and ash fell on the nearby town of Goma before dawn yesterday. Three lava flows were then detected, two coming down the mountain's east side and one down the west.
Thousands of people were left homeless when the lava destroyed their villages. Most fled to Goma, 30 miles south of the volcano, while hundreds of others tried to enter neighboring Rwanda, but were turned away by border guards.
There were no reports of casualties or injuries.
Two of the lava flows had stalled by nightfall, but one was still flowing toward the airport. Airport officials ordered all planes to fly out after the lava came within a half-mile of the runway.
One of the eastern flows cut the main road heading north to Butembo, before stalling short of the Rwandan border. The other main road, heading south to Bukavu, was threatened by the western flow.
Goma-based U.N. information officer Carine Moraemcy said lava destroyed Mugerwa village, from where smoke and ash are visible.
"The village is completely destroyed, banana plantations are blazing, it is so spectacular," she said. The lava was flowing at 5 feet per minute, she added.
Pierre Ramazani, an aid worker with the French aid group Medecins du Monde, or Doctors of the World, said he saw hundreds of people walking on the roads, carrying only pans and mattresses.
Lindsey Davis, spokeswoman for the World Food Program in Nairobi, Kenya, said U.N. and other aid agencies were meeting to decide what could be done to help people displaced by the eruption.
The Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira volcanoes, about 13 miles and 25 miles northeast of Goma, are the only two active volcanoes in the region. They have erupted occasionally since 1979.
NEW YORK
Future of Egyptian man accused of faking pilot status in hands of jury
Associated Press
Jurors deliberated for a second day yesterday in the case of an Egyptian man who flew to Kennedy International Airport in mid-September with a fake pilot's uniform and license.
Wael Abdel Rahman Kishk is accused of lying to investigators and carrying forged documents, including a fake Federal Aviation Administration document giving him medical clearance to fly. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
Kishk held a valid U.S. visa when he was stopped by immigration agents Sept. 19.
But in closing arguments, prosecutor Dwight Holton told jurors Kishk repeatedly lied to authorities about his plan to attend aviation school and insisted he was bound for business school before admitting he wanted to train as a pilot.
Defense attorney Michael Schneider told the jury the FAA document was nothing more than a crude forgery, full of misspellings, which his client crafted to impress a girlfriend.
"If he intended to pass it off as genuine, wouldn't he have proofread it?" the lawyer said.
The government has conceded it has no evidence Kishk was party to the terrorist plot. But prosecutors argue that he appeared to fit the profile of the men who turned jetliners into weapons of mass destruction on Sept. 11, making his crimes more serious.
DOUGLAS
Man wanted on sex charges nabbed at Arizona-Mexico border
Associated Press
A man sought on sex charges by authorities in Arizona and California was arrested as he attempted to cross the Mexican border in Douglas, authorities said yesterday.
U.S. Customs inspectors at the Douglas port of entry took Gilberto Solomon into custody after a records check showed he had three outstanding warrants.
Authorities said one warrant was issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for sexual offense and another warrant from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona charged Solomon with sexual assault and failure to register as a sex offender.
Solomon, 31, was also sought by police in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa on a failure-to-appear warrant.
