A volcanic eruption has begun on the Reykjanes peninsula in south-western Iceland, according to the country’s meteorological office, shortly after authorities evacuated the nearby town of Grindavík.
“An eruption has started near Sundhnúkagígar,north of Grindavík,” the Icelandic meteorological office said in a statement on Wednesday, almost three weeks after the end of a previous eruption that started on 16 March.
“The eruption plumes reach a height of at least 50 metres,” it added.
The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, Iceland’s biggest tourist attraction, said it had evacuated its facilities.
The eruption was the fifth to occur on the peninsula since December.
The meteorological office noted “intense earthquake activity” before Wednesday’s eruption.
It also reported the accumulation of 20m cubic metres of molten rock in the magma chamber below Svartsengi, where a power plant is located that supplies electricity and water to about 30,000 people on the peninsula.
The Svartsengi plant was evacuated and has largely been run remotely since the first eruption in the region in December. Barriers have been built to protect it.
Most of the 4,000 residents of Grindavík were permanently evacuated in November, before the eruptions that occurred from December until March.
Lava flowed into the streets of Grindavík during the January eruption, engulfing three homes. But a few residents had returned to live in neighbourhoods less at risk from lava flow.
On Monday evening, the meteorological office had said that “about 400 earthquakes” had been measured in the past seven days near the Sundhnúkagígar crater row.
Until March 2021, the Reykjanes peninsula had not experienced an eruption for 800 years. Volcanologists believe a new era of seismic activity has begun in the region.
Votes are being counted after what is seen as South Africa's most closely fought elections since the African National Congress (ANC) came to power 30 years ago.
Long lines snaked outside polling stations across the country.
One electoral official in Johannesburg told the BBC the queues were reminiscent of the historic 1994 election, when black people could vote for the first time, and which saw Nelson Mandela become president.
Many people were still waiting to vote when polls officially closed at 2100 local time (1900 GMT) but the electoral commission said they would all be allowed to cast their ballots.
The first results will start to trickle in on Thursday morning and final results are expected over the weekend.
The ANC has lost support due to anger over high levels of corruption, crime and unemployment. Opinion polls suggest it could lose its majority in parliament.
Sifiso Buthelezi, who voted in Johannesburg's Joubert Park - the biggest polling station in South Africa - told the BBC: "Freedom is great but we need to tackle corruption."
Change has been a recurring sentiment, especially among young voters.
Ayanda Hlekwane, one of South Africa's "born-free" generation, meaning he was born after 1994, said despite having three degrees he still doesn't have a job.
“I’m working on my PhD proposal so that I go back to study in case I don’t get a job,” he tells the BBC in Durban.
But Mr Hlekwane said he was optimistic that things would change.
A record 70 parties and 11 independents were running, with South Africans voting for a new parliament and nine provincial legislatures.
Analysts say this shows that many people are disillusioned with the ANC.
"We are entering the next phase of our democracy, and it is going to be a big transition," political analyst Richard Calland told the BBC.
"We will either become a more competitive and mature democracy, or our politics will become more fractured."
The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has signed a pact with 10 other parties, agreeing to form a coalition government if they get enough votes to dislodge the ANC from power.
But this is highly unlikely, with the ANC expected to remain the biggest party, putting it in pole position to lead a coalition if its support does drop below 50%.
It got 57.5% of the vote in the last election compared to the DA's 21%.
South Africans do not directly vote for a president. Instead they vote for members of parliament who will then go on to elect the president.
So current President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to remain in power.
This video can not be played
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Former President Jacob Zuma caused a major shock when he announced in December that he was abandoning the ANC to campaign for a new party, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), which translates as Spear of the Nation.
Although he has been barred from running for parliament because of a conviction for contempt of court, his name still appeared on the ballot paper as MK leader.
The MK is expected to do especially well in Mr Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal, where tensions have been high, with some incidents of violence reported during the campaign.
Police and the army have been deployed to polling stations across the country to ensure that voting takes place peacefully, and that ballot papers are not stolen.
More than 27 million people were registered to cast their ballots, with women making up 55%, according to statistics released by the electoral commission.
In terms of age group, voter registration was highest among those who are 30 to 39 years old. They make up almost seven million of the 26.7 million voters.
The youth could sway this election in their favour.
Artist Njabulo Hlophe, 28, said young people in South Africa tend to get marginalised but, "this is as much our country as our parents... they're leaving it to us, so someone that really cares about the young people is someone I’m really looking at".
Support for the ANC is expected to be higher among the older generation.
One 89-year-old woman, Elayne Dykman, told the BBC in Durban she hoped that young people in South Africa did not take their vote for granted.
Additional reporting by Anne Soy in Durban and Barbara Plett Usher in Soweto
South Africans have started voting in the most competitive election since the end of apartheid, with polls suggesting the ruling party could lose its majority.
The African National Congress (ANC) first swept to power under leader Nelson Mandela in the country's first multi-racial election in 1994 and has won a majority in the six elections since.
But its vote share has steadily declined since the high of 70% in 2004 and the party could get less than 50% this year, according to polls.
In this case, the ANC would remain the largest party, which means it could enter into a formal coalition with other parties or gain support on a vote-by-vote basis in exchange for concessions.
South Africa's constitution does not lay out how a coalition could work, but if the ANC has the largest share of the vote, President Cyril Ramaphosa will likely remain in office.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:12
South Africans vote in key election
Voter dissatisfaction over high rates of unemployment, frequent power blackouts and corruption in party ranks lies behind the ANC's gradual fall from grace.
"The people we've spoken to today are very aware of the power of their vote," Sky News Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir says, reporting from Johannesburg.
"They've seen the change it's brought in the past and they're hoping it can help with soaring unemployment, high inequality and the crime that has ridden their neighbourhood and the country."
Advertisement
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:27
South Africa's most-tightly contested election
Although South Africans have on average become richer during the ANC's three decades in power - average incomes have been on a downward trend since 2011.
Crime is also a huge problem, with one person murdered in South Africa every 20 minutes in the last three months of 2023 and more than 130 people raped every day over the same period.
More than 27 million South Africans are registered to vote at about 23,000 polling stations.
Voters will elect provincial assemblies in each of the country's nine provinces, and a new national parliament that will then choose the next president. Final results are expected by Sunday.
Among opposition parties vying for power is the pro-business Democratic Alliance, which has formed an alliance with several smaller parties to try to broaden its appeal.
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The Economic Freedom Fighters want to nationalise mines and seize land from white farmers to address disparities, while former president Jacob Zuma is backing a new party called uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), named after the ANC's former armed wing.
By law, South Africa's electoral commission has seven days in which to announce full results, but normally releases partial results within hours of the polling stations closing.
Voters have their say in crucial elections
Around the corner from the street where Nelson Mandela rented a room when he first moved to Johannesburg in 1941, a white canopy voting tent blocks the road.
It is a public holiday but many of the men and women lining up in Alexandra are voting early before they head to their jobs - many of them working in nearby factories that don't afford them the luxury to vote and rest.
Alexandra is one of the oldest black townships in the country and it's densely packed houses and shacks have survived several demolition threats during the Apartheid era.
The community here has since endured the worst of bad democratic governance. Rubbish litters the streets and crime has thrived during regular power cuts.
On the other side of the voting tent, an excited first time voter hopes for change for the next generation - "the future is in my hands", says Lethabo.
Further up, waiting to cast her ballot, a fifty-one year old is deeply unhappy with the state of her neighbourhood and the country. "They need to fix the roads, they need to collect the rubbish, they need to do more." She voted in 1994 and says she hasn't seen the change she voted for.
In the shadow of Sandton, called the richest square mile in Africa, the residents of Alexandra are voting for a change that translates into their everyday life.
They tell us they are voting for safety, for jobs and renewal. One that was promised in a 300 million dollar urban regeneration in 2001 that never materialised.
Thirty years on, Black South Africans want to reap the dividends of liberation.
Today's summations are notable not for the knockout punches or unexpected surprises, but their length.
Closing arguments from the prosecution's Joshua Steinglass will take the session well into the evening
It's just after 17:00 local time, and Steinglass might have hours to go until he is finished (according to his earlier estimate).
We asked some legal experts if this is normal. At least one says, not really.
"It is unusual for a defendant’s closing argument to go nearly three hours and also unusual for the prosecution to go 4.5 hours," says Mitchell Epner, a white collar lawyer in New York.
He believes that while the defence may have lost the jury at points, "the prosecution is telling a coherent story, so it is less likely to lose the attention of the jury".
"But," he adds "It is exhausting to listen closely for this long."
Former Brooklyn prosecutor Julie Rendelman told us when summations get into the fourth and fifth hour, you are "likely going to start to lose jurors".
"This is particularly true when the most significant parts of the summation are towards the end when the jurors can barely stay awake," Rendelman says.
Satellite images have revealed the scale of Friday’s devastating landslide in Papua New Guinea, as thousands more residents were told to evacuate as fears grow that a second landslide is looming.
The images show the huge damage inflicted on a village in the remote province of Enga, which PNG’s National Disaster Centre said buried an estimated 2,000 people. The satellite pictures show mountains of debris covering buildings and blocking roads, which officials have said is hampering relief efforts.
Relief teams have been trickling into the difficult-to-access northern region since Friday, though officials said the odds of finding survivors were slim.
“The landslide area is very unstable. When we’re up there, we’re regularly hearing big explosions where the mountain is, there is still rocks and debris coming down,” Enga province disaster committee chairperson Sandis Tsaka told Reuters.
“The landslide is still active, as people are digging through the rocks, more is still coming down.”
A state of emergency has been declared across the disaster zone and a neighbouring area, with a combined population of between 4,500 and 8,000, although not all have been ordered to evacuate yet, Tsaka said.
International aid organisations said they were are working to send food, water and evacuation shelters to the region, but are facing challenges due to the remote location.
“This is an incredibly inaccessible part of Papua New Guinea and it’s a really challenging process for everyone involved,” Australia’s Pacific minister, Pat Conroy, said, as Canberra promised to send technical experts and $2.5m in initial aid.
“I’m advised access can only be achieved through helicopters, so the search and recovery efforts are very, very, challenging,” he told ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday.
Conroy described the situation as “incredibly grim”, adding that the true extent of the disaster wasn’t yet known.
The head of the International Organisation for Migration in PNG, Serhan Aktoprak, said conditions on the ground were hampering rescue and aid efforts. Rocks were still falling from the mountain, soil was cracking and water was flowing under the debris, he said.
Survivors have been hesitant to allow heavy machinery to be used in rescue efforts, because they do not want the bodies of their relatives harmed, said Aktoprak.
“We’re just hoping that in the remaining short window of time we have, we can at least contribute to the relief efforts in saving some more lives,” Aktoprak said. “But unfortunately, [time] is not on our side.”
Local residents have said they fear that the economic impact caused by the destruction of infrastructure like roads, could compound the effects of the disaster.
“The landslide hit our community hard. This road is our lifeline, our connection to the outside world for trade and supplies, and now it’s gone,” said Oscar Fredrick, a resident from the Tumundan Maup checkpoint.
Many of the small farms and food gardens that sustain the population were destroyed, as well as much of the local livestock. Three streams that residents rely on for drinking water were also buried by the landslide.
“Prices will skyrocket, essentials like fuel will become scarce,” another local resident said, saying that they fear a secondary, longer-term impact from the disaster. “We need our government to step in, to rebuild not just the road but our lives.”
Aktoprak said an estimated 6,000 people have been affected by the disaster so far. If survivors end up moving to urban areas, “this will trigger additional economic and social problems”.
PNG’s minister for defence, Dr Billy Joseph said the government was committed to rebuilding communities and bolstering disaster preparedness. “Our primary focus is on continuing relief and recovery exercises,” he said.
The Australian Associated Press and the Associated Press contributed to this report
The southern Gazan city of Rafah has become "hell on Earth", the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said.
According to the Hamas-controlled health ministry, at least 45 people were killed in a tent camp after an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, described by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a "tragic mistake".
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA, said some of the agency's staff are "unaccounted for" and "many" civilians have been injured.
"Children and women living in tented plastic makeshift shelters are among the killed," he said, adding others were "reportedly burnt to death".
"The images from last night are testament to how Rafah has turned into hell on Earth."
Mr Lazzarini's remarks came before several Israeli tanks reached Rafah's city centre on Tuesday.
The tanks have been spotted near Al-Awda mosque, a central Rafah landmark, as survivors continue to reveal what they witnessed during the deadly strike over the weekend.
Some said families were about to sleep when the strike hit the Tel al Sultan neighbourhood, where thousands were sheltering after Israel began a ground offensive in the east of Rafah.
Image:The strike took place in Tel al Sultan neighbourhood of western Rafah
"We were praying... getting our children's beds ready to sleep. There was nothing unusual, then we heard a very loud noise… fire erupted around us," said Palestinian mother Umm Mohamed Al-Attar.
Advertisement
"All the children started screaming... the sound was terrifying, we felt like the metal was about to collapse on us, and shrapnel fell into the rooms."
More than half of the dead were women, children, and elderly people, health officials in Gaza said, adding that because of the severe burns suffered by some of the injured, the number of dead was likely to rise.
A Red Cross field hospital operating in Rafah saw a "very high influx" of injured Palestinians.
Image:Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians. Pic: Reuters
William Schomburg, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Gaza, told Sky News their hospital received patients with "horrific injuries".
"We're talking about very heavy shrapnel wounds. We're talking about severe burns as well as blast trauma injuries," he said.
"Our team conducted several operations, including, tragically, some amputations."
The Red Cross field hospital has only been up and running for a few weeks, but Mr Schomberg said there was a risk of it becoming "overloaded very quickly" if Israel continues operations in Rafah.
Image:Children look into a vehicle carrying the bodies of Palestinians killed in the strike. Pic: Reuters
In a speech in parliament, Mr Netanyahu said the strike was not meant to cause civilian casualties.
"In Rafah, we already evacuated about one million non-combatant residents and despite our utmost effort not to harm non-combatants, something unfortunately went tragically wrong," he said.
The Israel Defence Forces had earlier said the strike was against "legitimate targets" with "precise munitions" and on the basis of "precise intelligence" - adding the incident was "under review".
Israel says it wants to root out Hamas fighters holed up in Rafah and rescue hostages it says are being held in the area.
Medics in Gaza said a further Israeli airstrike on a house in Rafah on Monday has killed seven people, with several others wounded.
The US urged Israel to take more care to protect civilians, but stopped short of calling for a halt to the Rafah incursion, while French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "outraged".
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the International Court of Justice ruling must be respected.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
At least 23 people have died across four states after a series of destructive storms and tornadoes swept through central and southern US states over the Memorial Day weekend, with severe weather warnings still continuing for some states into Tuesday.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced in a press conference on Monday that four people had died throughout the state as a direct result of the deadly storms, as well as one critical injury, saying that the weather has also caused “massive damage to homes and businesses.”
However, this number rose to five after he added in an update on social media that another person, a 54-year-old Man in Caldwell County, had died from a heart attack while cutting up fallen trees as a result of the storm.
The other storm victims included a 67-year-old woman in Mercer County, a 62-year-old woman in Hardin County, a 48-year-old woman in Hopkins County and a 34-year-old man in Jefferson County, the governor said.
Deaths have also been reported in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas and the severe weather left a trail of destroyed homes, businesses and power outages.
More than 400,000 residents across seven states were left without power as of Monday night. At least 11 tornadoes were counted passing through the affected states a day earlier.
Destroyed homes are seen after a deadly tornado rolled through the previous night, Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Valley View, Texas (AP)
Weather warnings for large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes continued to be issued for areas of central and eastern America on Monday as storm systems move towards the Gulf Coast and East Coast, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.
The NWS has predicted that severe thunderstorms may form over Texas again on Tuesday, with wind gusts potentially reaching or exceeding 120 km/h.
Monday saw Texas experience record-high temperatures after an excessive heat warning was issued, with areas such as Del Rio being scorched with an extreme 112F degrees, tying as the third hottest day recorded in the region, the NWS said.
Other areas of the Lone Star State saw record degrees between 95F and 98F, while Florida was also hit with a record-breaking 97F in Miami, Florida for two days in a row.
The NWS said that through Tuesday, South Texas and southern Florida should continue to expect sweltering heat over the next few days, as well as widespread strong thunderstorms continuing to impact various areas of Texas, that could bring flash flooding, damaging wind gusts and very large hail.
Damaged cars and buildings after a tornado hit the day before, Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Valley View, Texas (AP)
As the deadly thunderstorms approached the East Coast on Monday, New York City was put under a flood advisory on Monday, as the region was expected to see between half and in and an inch of rain, as well as being under a severe thunderstorm watch until the evening.
Heavy rain is expected to continue to pummel the east coast into Tuesday morning in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, the weather authorities said, as well as the potential for severe thunderstorms to start to move and develop across the eastern part of the country.
The thunderstorms disrupted travel on Monday at JFK International Airport on Monday, after all flight activity was grounded for over an hour due to the severe weather.
President Joe Biden sent his condolences to the families of people who died in the storms. He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) is on the ground conducting damage assessments and he has contacted governors to see what federal support they might need.
At least eight people have so far died as a result of the extreme storms in Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a news conference on Sunday evening.
A man views damage at First Baptist Church near downtown, Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Claremore, Oklahoma (AP)
One of the victims suffered from a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who died after their oxygen concentrator stopped working in a power outage. Another victim died from a heart attack while another was killed when a tree or a branch hit a trailer, they added.
Meanwhile in Oklahoma, at least two people were killed in Mayes County after a tornado ripped through the northeast part of the state.
Thunderstorms and tornados ripping through the centre of the country has left devestation in their wake from multiple deaths and destruction to buildings, as well as power outages across Memorial Day weekend.
In Texas, multiple tornados were reported throughout the state with one plowing through Cooke County on Saturday night – approximately 50 miles north of Dallas – leaving seven people dead.
The sheriff confirmed that a two-year-old and a five-year-old were among the dead. The victims also included three other family members who were found in a home near Valley View – a rural community close to the Oklahoma border.
“It’s just a trail of debris left. The devastation is pretty severe,” Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington told The Associated Press.
A man surveys damage to a neighbor's home after a deadly tornado rolled through, Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Valley View, Texas (AP)
Approximately 60 to 80 people also suffered non-life threatening injuries when an AP Travel Stop and Shell station alongside I-35 collapsed on them, after they had taken shelter in the building from the storm.
In Texas, more than 200 homes and other buildings were destroyed, with more than 100 others damaged – numbers that are expected to rise.
In Colorado, a lightning strike killed a farmer and 34 of his cows.
A rare tornado watch, which was labelled as a “particularly dangerous situation” by the Storm Prediction Center, was in effect for parts of Illinois, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and western Kentucky on Sunday and damaging winds, thunderstorms and two-inch hail pounded areas of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky.
A Popeyes location is damaged from the storm at a shopping centre May 26, 2024, in Rogers, Arkansas (AP)
Hard-hit states have also been hammered by power outages, according to PowerOutage.us, with more than 160,000 customers without power in Kentucky alone as of Monday afternoon, however as of Tuesday, this has now been reduced to just under 82,000 people.
Areas of Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia and North Carolina were under a tornado watch until 11pm local time on Sunday, the National Weather Service said, with wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour and ping-pong-ball-sized hail also possible.
As the destructive storms move into Tuesday and Wednesday, the National Weather Service continue to send out warnings to residents across Texas and across the northern and central High Planes into Wednesday afternoon.
