There are some 1,350 potentially active volcanoes around the world, many located around the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’.
We explain Tonga’s volcano eruption and tsunami in maps and charts aje.io/rpd22c
Tonga is still cut off from the world two days after an underwater volcano erupted – triggering tsunami alerts across the Pacific.
Despite no reports of deaths or injuries so far, a full assessment is not yet possible with communication lines down aje.io/rpd22c
While the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano has erupted regularly over the past few years, there has been nothing like this most recent eruption.
Early data suggests it was the biggest eruption since Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines over 30 years ago aje.io/rpd22c
Where are the world’s volcanoes?
Many are located along a 40,000km (25,000-mile) arc along the Pacific known as the “Ring of Fire”, which is also where about 90% of all earthquakes occur.
Tonga is home to several volcanoes, all along the Ring of Fire aje.io/rpd22c
How do underwater volcanoes erupt?
There are about 1 million undersea volcanoes – and most are extinct.
During an eruption, hot magma forces the oceanic crust open. This can lead to tsunamis – a series of ocean waves caused by the displacement of water aje.io/rpd22c
A 1.2-metre wave swept ashore in Tonga's capital as locals reported fleeing to higher ground.
Tsunami warnings were issued across the Pacific, including in Samoa, Australia, Japan, Hawaii, Chile and the US Pacific coast aje.io/rpd22c
Read more about Tonga’s volcano eruption and tsunami here ⤵️ aje.io/rpd22c
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Save the Children reports that thousands of missing Palestinian children are trapped under rubble, buried in unmarked graves, harmed by explosives, detained by Israeli forces, or lost in the chaos of the war on Gaza.
Israel’s top court has ordered the government to provide information about conditions inside the military facility Sde Teiman, where Palestinians from Gaza are detained.
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An Israeli air attack on a home in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in northern Gaza has killed at least four Palestinians and injured 14 more, the Wafa news agency reports.
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Alexandra Saieh, head of humanitarian policy and advocacy at Save the Children, has told Al Jazeera that “Gaza is witnessing the worst levels of malnutrition, of child malnutrition especially, worldwide right now.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has denounced far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for threatening to dissolve Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if he were to accept President Biden’s new ceasefire deal.
On May 29, South Africans will head to the polls to vote in national and provincial elections to elect a new National Assembly, which will choose the president for the next 5 years.
Here’s a guide to the elections and major political parties ⤵️
South Africa follows a proportional voting system where parties and candidates compete for 400 seats in the National Assembly.
For the first time, independent candidates will compete in the elections with voters given three ballots instead of two.
Who is in South Africa’s current National Assembly?
South Africa’s lower house of parliament currently includes 14 political parties represented by 400 members, allocated proportionally based on the votes each party received in the 2019 elections.
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US Senator Bernie Sanders warned the US that if it ignores “crimes against humanity” being committed in Gaza, it will not have the credibility to criticise “the actions of any country, no matter how terrible.”