October 12, 1995
Web posted at: 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT)
TOKYO (CNN) -- Call it a case of Rip Van Volcano. After lying relatively dormant for 257 years, a volcano in southwestern Japan rumbled back to life with a bluster of smoke and ash, Japan's Meteorological Agency reported Thursday.
The agency issued an alert to people living in the region of Mount Hosho, some 500 miles southwest of Tokyo. "No one ever imagined the mountain would ever really blow," local official Mikio Hongo told The Associated Press.
Hongo said a "loud whoosh" emanated from the 5,084-foot mountain Wednesday evening. A few hours later, ash scattered over nearby homes and pastures. By Thursday, smoke billowed from the waking behemoth.
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres will meet yet again on Sunday, when they'll try to iron out difficulties in implementing the freshly minted West Bank accord.
The release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails caused last-minute snags before the initialing of the long-awaited accord and continues to stir controversy.
The original agreement stipulated that all Palestinian female prisoners would be freed, but Israel has refused to release several reportedly involved in the murders of Jews.
Thursday, Arafat wrote to Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, insisting that all women prisoners be freed without exception and demanding a specific timetable for the redeployment of Israeli Defense Forces from West Bank Palestinian population centers.
HONG KONG (CNN) -- Bearing riot shields and tear gas, Hong Kong authorities stormed a Vietnamese detention center and clashed with rioting boat people scheduled for deportation.
The Vietnamese had set fires to the camp and thrown stones in protest against the impending forced repatriation. More than 300 prison officers were called in to defuse the riots.
Twelve of the officers, two policemen and three Vietnamese were injured in the melee.
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