World briefs

US Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano destroyed 26 homes and spewed lava hundreds of feet into the air, leaving evacuated residents unsure how long they might be displaced.

EAST TIMOR Independence hero Xanana Gusmao has called on supporters not to be provoked after campaigning for next weekend’s elections was marred by violence. 

RUSSIA Vladimir Putin took the oath of office yesterday for his fourth term as Russian president, promising to pursue an economic agenda that would boost living standards across the country.

YEMEN Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Shiite rebels targeted the presidency building in the heart of the Yemeni capital yesterday, leaving at least six people dead and 30 wounded, according to health officials.

SOUTH SUDAN’s fractious ruling party has reunited for the first time since civil war broke out in 2013. The political opposition dissolved and rejoined the ruling party.

GERMANY A man has been arrested after punching the new mayor of Germany’s southwestern city of Freiburg as he was celebrating his election win. The independent candidate suffered a broken nose, a broken tooth and bruises.

FRANCE A powerful French union is vowing to push ahead with strikes that have hobbled nationwide train services, even as signs of a possible compromise emerged in talks with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

LEBANON The Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its political allies made significant gains in the parliamentary elections in Lebanon while the main Western-backed faction lost a third of its seats, according to preliminary results.

MEXICO’s largest media company has severed ties with a prominent journalist after he came under fire for retweeting a message seen as inciting violence against the country’s front-running presidential candidate.

EL SALVADOR A swarm of earthquakes shook southern El Salvador, damaging nearly 200 homes and touching off small landslides, but there were no reports of serious injuries or deaths.