News In Brief

Guatemala sentences ex-congress president to 30 years
AP, Guatemala City
A Guatemalan court on Monday sentenced the former president of the country’s congress to more than 30 years in prison for acts of corruption.
Pedro Muadi was sentenced for money laundering, illegal association and embezzlement. Prosecutors said he hired people who didn’t work and whose salaries were instead funneled to businesses in which he was the majority shareholder.

US envoy salutes anti-Putin rally in Moscow
AFP, Washington
A US envoy on Monday hailed the thousands of Russians who took to the streets to criticize President Vladimir Putin, saying they showed bravery.
Russia’s opposition called the rally in central Moscow on Saturday, the fifth anniversary of the assassination of leading liberal Boris Nemtsov, to warn Putin not to try to stay in power indefinitely.

National weather service confirms tornado near Nashville
AP, Nashville
At least two tornadoes touched down early Tuesday in central Tennessee, including one that caused damage near downtown Nashville. The tornado near downtown reportedly stayed on the ground into Hermitage, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of the city.
“Our community has been impacted significantly,” the Mt. Juliet Police Department tweeted early Tuesday. Multiple homes were damaged and multiple injuries were reported, the department said.”

Erupting Indonesian volcano spews
massive ash cloud
AFP, Solo
Indonesia’s most active volcano Mount Merapi erupted Tuesday, shooting a massive ash cloud some 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) in the air which coated nearby communities with grey dust and forced an airport closure.
Ash mixed with sand rained down on towns as far as 10 kilometres (six miles) from the belching crater near Indonesia’s cultural capital Yogyakarta. “There was a thundering noise for at least five minutes and I could see the ash clouds from my house,” Jarmaji, a resident of Boyolali regency, told AFP.