Keshav Agarwal Times of India Tue, 23 Dec 2025 12:07 UTC
Locals in Bahraich said wolves have been roaming the area for weeks.
A three-year-old child was mauled to death by a stray wolf after being dragged out of his home in Rasulpur village under Fakarpur police station limits in Bahraich early on Monday, marking the 13th such incident in the district since Sept.
The victim, Anshu, was carrying milk inside the house when the wolf attacked. His mother, Nankai Devi, was engaged in household work nearby. Hearing her screams, villagers rushed to the spot, but dense fog hampered rescue efforts and the animal escaped.
Police and forest department teams launched a search operation, and after nearly six hours, the child's body was found in a sugarcane field about a kilometre from the house. Forest officials said the wolf had consumed both of the child's legs. The body was sent for post-mortem.
Villagers said Anshu's father, Ram Manohar, works in Punjab, while his mother lives in Rasulpur with their five children. "She has now lost one of her children," locals said.
Two ash emissions was recorded at the summit crater of Kanlaon Volcano on Monday, Dec 22, 2025. - Screenshot of timelapse footages of Phivolcs/Facebook
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council advised the public Monday (Dec 22) night, to be cautious of possible ashfall emitted by Kanlaon Volcano.
Kanlaon Volcano spewed ash four times on Monday from 9.01am to 9.20am, 10.29am to 11.07am, 4.05pm to 6.02pm, and 8.31pm to 9.10pm, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported.
It said the ash emission at 4.05pm persisted for nearly two hours with the ash plume rising 900 meters above the summit.
Thin ash may have affected communities in La Carlota and Bago cities and Murcia, Negros Occidental, Phivolcs said.
Three people are missing after the vehicle they were travelling in was washed away in Longacres Drive in Amanzimtoti, south of Durban, on Sunday night.
The search for the three continues after heavy rain battered the KwaZulu-Natal south coast on Sunday, leaving a trail of disruptions.
A heavy storm swept across parts of the south coast and inland, leaving flooded roads and waterlogged shopping centres in its wake.
The hardest-hit was Margate, where heavy rain pounded the area for several hours, with videos and images circulating on social media showing sections of Shelly Centre in Shelly Beach underwater.
Shocking mud eruption at Yellowstone's black diamond pool
"Kablooey!"
That's the word U.S. Geological Survey volcanic experts used to describe a muddy eruption at Black Diamond Pool in Yellowstone National Park on Saturday morning.
Video shared by the USGS on social media shows mud spraying up and out from the pool just before 9:23 a.m. in Biscuit Basin about midway between park favorites Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic.
Other recent eruptions have mostly been audible and not visible, because they happened either at night or when the camera was obscured by ice.
The agency said the Black Diamond Pool was previously the site of a hydrothermal explosion, in July 2024, that sent rocks and mud flying hundreds of feet high and damaged a boardwalk. It prompted the closure of the area to visitors due to the damage and the potential for additional hazardous activity.
So-called dirty eruptions reaching up to 40 feet (about 12 meters) have occurred sporadically since then.
Man - animal conflict in the Uttarakhand hills continues unabated, with a bear on Monday attempting to drag away a schoolboy from his classroom—its second attack at the same school.
Although the child was rescued due to the swift action of teachers and students, the incident has triggered widespread fear across the Chamoli district. The government has since deployed escorts for school-going children.
In a startling incident on Monday morning in the Pokhari hill area of Chamoli, a bear lifted a Class VI student of Harishankar Junior High School from his classroom and rushed toward the nearby forest.
However, the prompt and courageous response of teachers and students forced the bear to drop the child. The boy, identified as Aarav, sustained multiple claw injuries and was found in nearby bushes.
School staff members, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in a video that panic broke out as soon as the bear was spotted roaming inside the campus. Although doors of classrooms were shut immediately, the ferocious animal began banging on them.
Georgia Diebelius Mirror Sun, 21 Dec 2025 17:53 UTC
A huge volcano has sent an enormous 3,937ft column of ash into the air after erupting six times in one day.
Mount Semeru, in East Java, Indonesia, has been on a high level active alert for several years
Mount Semeru, in East Java, Indonesia, has been on a high level active alert for several years. The eruption has left torrents of mud flowing through towns, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Massive mudslides have been seen flowing through the streets, taking huge chunks of debris along with them. The eruption happened at around 5.45am local time this morning, with plumes of 1,200 metres seen above the summit.
The volcano, which lies on the border between the Lumajang and Malang regions, is currently on a Level III alert status, according to the state-run Antara News. The outlet said the volcano erupted six times on Sunday morning.
"An eruption occurred on December 21, 2025, at 5.45am local time, with an observed column height of 1,200 metres above the summit," said Mount Semeru Observation Post Office, Liswanto, in Lumajang. People have now been warned by the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation to stay 13km away from the volcano.
A strong 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Papua New Guinea region on Monday, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The quake occurred at 1031GMT, at Goroka, capital of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, at a depth of 110 kilometers (68 miles), USGS said.
The German Research Center for Geosciences initially reported the magnitude of the quake as 6.6, and later reduced it to 6.4.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, and no tsunami warning was issued.
The elephant herd from Jharkhand crossing a road in Raibania.
In yet another incident of man-animal conflict in Jharkhand, 35-year-old man, Loknath Munda, was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Karma Sugiya Khira Beda area of Ramgarh on Friday.
This is the fifth such death in the last three days in Ramgarh itself, as four people were trampled to death by the herd of elephants in Ghatto OP area on Thursday.
Those who lost their lives on Thursday, include Amit Rajwar (33), Amul Mahto (35), Parvati Devi (40) and Savitri Devi (45).
According to officials, a herd of 42 elephants, divided into 6-7 separate groups, is active in this area, which is on a rampage, causing loss of life and property in the area.
Ramgarh DFO Nitish Kumar informed that 'Hamar Haathi' app provides information about the location of elephants within a radius of approximately 10 kilometers. He also appealed to people to move to a safe place if they receive information about elephants being in the area and to refrain from disturbing the elephants or taking photos or videos of them.
Notably, as per official data, more than 1270 people were killed in the last 18 years due to elephant attacks across Jharkhand.
Comment: Also pertinent: Four killed as herd of 42 elephants goes on rampage in Ramgarh District, Jharkhand, India