MANILA -- The Philippine authorities on Sunday raised the alert status of Bulusan volcano in Sorsogon province to Alert Level 1, signaling low-level unrest.
In an advisory, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the volcano has recorded 475 volcanic earthquakes since March 15. Most of these were weak volcano-tectonic earthquakes that are associated with rock fracturing at shallow depths beneath the volcano edifice. (Philippines-Bulusan Volcano)
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TOKYO -- One of the two Japanese nationals who were detained in Iran was released, Japan's foreign minister said Sunday.
Speaking on a TV program, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the person who had been detained since June was released last Wednesday and got on a plane from Azerbaijan, bound for Japan. (Japan-Iran-Detainee)
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KABUL -- More than 3 million Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland Afghanistan over the past one year, spokesman for the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation Abdul Mutalib Haqqani said.
"A total of 3,114,107 refugees had returned to their country Afghanistan from Iran, Pakistan and Turkiye in the year 1404 (in Persian calendar, which started from March 20, 2025 and ended on March 20, 2026. The year 1405 started on March 21, 2026)," the official Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA) quoted Haqqani on Saturday night as saying. (Afghanistan-Refugees)
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DHAKA -- At least 12 people were killed and about 20 others injured when a train collided with a passenger bus at a level crossing in Bangladesh's Cumilla district early Sunday, local police said.
The accident occurred at around 3:00 a.m. local time in the Padua Bazar area of Sadar South Upazila, when a Chattogram-bound mail train rammed into the bus as it was crossing the railway tracks, police officials said. (Bangladesh-Train-Bus Collision) ■
