Three Dead, 17 Missing After Mount Dukono Eruption in Indonesia

An eruption of Mount Dukono in the eastern island of Halmahera killed at least three people on May 8, 2026, including at least three Singaporeans, according to Indonesia’s national disaster management agency and Basarnas. Five people were injured and 17 others were still being searched for after the blast, which shot an ash cloud six miles into the air.

Seven climbers descended Mount Dukono safely.

Those still missing are believed to have been climbing in an area of Mount Dukono declared off-limits to visitors last month after monitoring showed increased activity. Rescue efforts continued mostly on foot as rough terrain prohibited vehicle access to parts of the slope.

Erlichson Pasaribu, a police chief, said local residents understand the dangers and do not climb while many foreign tourists seek to create content.

“Local residents understand and don’t want to climb,” Pasaribu stated. ” Joint search and rescue teams worked to evacuate victims from North Halmahera in Maluku Province. In unrelated news, 74-year-old singer Bonnie Tyler was placed into an induced coma after emergency intestinal surgery in Portugal.

She was admitted to hospital near her home in Faro on Wednesday and was recuperating on May 7, 2026. Born Gaynor Hopkins in Neath, South Wales, Tyler had a hit with Total Eclipse of the Heart in 1983 that spent four weeks at number one. Tyler represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013 and finished 19th out of 26.

She was awarded an MBE in 2023 for services to music. An update requested privacy while she received treatment. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham’s allies have been offering peerages to MPs willing to stand aside so he can return to Westminster, multiple sources told The i Paper.

Andy Burnham is the Mayor of Greater Manchester. The moves are intended to position him for any leadership challenge which may come after the local elections. In January, Labour’s National Executive Committee blocked Andy Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election.

Labour is forecast to lose up to 2,000 council seats across England. The local election results are likely to pile further pressure on Sir Keir Starmer. A Starmer-supporting MP said the detail of results in the North West does not help Burnham.

“The detail of results doesn’t really help him,” the MP stated. The MP added that Burnham might have a poll bounce in the immediate aftermath but would face the same decisions as current prime minister. Compass, a think-tank supportive of Burnham, rejected the analysis that losses to Reform UK mean Labour should not tack left.

The think-tank highlighted comments from elections expert Professor Sir John Curtice that Labour may lose seats to Reform because it is losing votes to the Greens while Conservatives lose votes to Reform. 5 percent of appeals submitted to Parking on Private Land Appeals last year resulted in cancellation of the fine.

A total of 107,202 appeals were submitted to Popla, the first time the figure exceeded 100,000.

Of those, 39,522 appeals were uncontested by the operator while 14,578 were contested but Popla ruled in favour of the driver. Greece has suspended EES checks for UK holidaymakers until at least September after queues of three hours or more at the border.

The new European border system was launched last month and requires non-EU citizens to have a facial scan and fingerprints taken to enter the Schengen Area.

Airports in Portugal, France and Italy have initiated temporary pauses while Belgium has postponed introducing EES. Eating 170g per day of legumes like beans, lentils or chickpeas reduces risk of high blood pressure, according to a British Medical Journal study of 12 previous studies. Eating a portion of legumes and soy each day led to a 28-30 percent reduction in risk of high blood pressure.

Those on this diet had up to 19 percent less risk than those eating the least of these products.