> JAKARTA. Huge ash cloud as Indonesia?s Mount Soputan erupts

Mount Soputan volcano on the northern tip of Indonesia?s Sulawesi island has erupted, throwing columns of ash 1,000 metres into the air, an official said yesterday. Saut Simatupang, of Indonesia?s Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, said that the eruption did not appear to pose an immediate threat to residents, although ash had reached the nearest town. ?From the data that we have, it is only spraying ash without other volcanic material,? he said by telephone. ?It is not so dangerous but we suggest people wear a mask so they will not suffer from respiratory problems.? The nearest village to Soputan, 2,175 km northeast of the capital Jakarta, is located 11 km from its crater. In August, Soputan also spewed ash and rocks, although Simatupang said that a few days ago the volcano was calm. A local official said that no evacuation had been ordered. Indonesia has the highest number of active volcanoes in any country, sitting on a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire?.

> CANBERRA. Well you don?t see something like this every day

An Australian barmaid has been fined for crushing beer cans between her bare breasts while an off-duty colleague has been fined for hanging spoons from her friend?s nipples, police said recently.

Police in Western Australia said the 31-year old barmaid pleaded guilty in the local magistrate?s court to twice exposing her breasts to patrons at the Premier Hotel in Pinjarra, south of the state capital, Perth.

The woman ?is alleged to have also crushed beer cans between her breasts during one of the offences,? in breach of hotel licensing laws, police from the Peel district of Western Australia said in a statement. The barmaid and the hotel manager were both fined A$1,000 (around Rs 29 000), while an off-duty barmaid was fined A$500 for helping to hang spoons from the woman?s nipples, police said. ?It sends a clear message to all licensees in Peel that we will not tolerate this type of behavior in our licensed premises,? local police superintendent David Parkinson said.

> AMSTERDAM.. Town changes street name over Viagrajibe

The Dutch town of Breda has decided to rename a new street that was to have been called St. Fiacrius court after people started calling it Viagra court. The town council changed the street?s name to ?Hofhage? after people about to move into a planned housing development there complained about the negative associations of living in a street with a name that sounds like the popular impotence drug.

> TOKYO. Official mulls ?more tranquil? executions

Japanese Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said on the day before he wanted to consider more ?tranquil? methods of execution. Japan generally executes several convicts a year, always by hanging. ?I am fully aware that death by hanging is written in the criminal code,? Hatoyama said after a parliamentary committee meeting, ?Kyodo news agency? said. ?A square part of the floor opens up and they fall with a thud,? he said. ?I honestly wonder if there isn?t a more tranquil way of doing this,? ?Kyodo? quoted him as adding. It was not clear what other methods he was considering.

> CHICAGO. 9/11 firefighters had inhaled corticosteroids

As New York City firefighters struggled to find survivors in the haze and rubble of the World Trade Center collapse, the fire department?s chief doctor was thinking about how to keep them safe from toxins in the air. Dr. David Prezant devised a plan to offer inhaled corticosteroids -? the kind used to prevent asthma attacks -? to the city?s firefighters in the hopes they might prevent lung damage.