1. Thousands stranded as Bali volcano alert raised

Indonesia raised its warning for Bali’s Mount Agung volcano to the top level four alert on Monday, closed the holiday island’s airport and told residents around the mountain to immediately evacuate, warning of an “imminent*” risk of a larger eruption*.

Bali’s airport was closed for 24 hours from Monday morning, disrupting 445 flights and some 59,000 passengers, due to the eruption and the presence of volcanic ash* from Agung, but local officials said the closure could be extended.

2. Opposition takes lead in Honduras vote

A left-right coalition led by a flamboyant* TV host took a surprise lead in the Honduran presidential election, initial results showed on Monday, upsetting forecasts that the crime-fighting, U.S.-allied incumbent* would comfortably win.

With 57 percent of ballot boxes counted, Salvador Nasralla was ahead with an almost 5-point margin at 45 percent, according to the first official results, released nearly 10 hours after voting ended. “I am the new president-elect of Honduras,” Nasralla, 64, wrote on Twitter after the results were announced.

3. Nepal goes to the polls for historic vote

Millions of Nepalis headed to the polls on Sunday for a historic election billed as a turning point for the Himalayan nation, hoping to end the ruinous instability that has plagued the country since the end of a bloody civil war a decade ago.

The two-phase elections for national and provincial parliaments are the first under a new post-war constitution born out of a peace deal that ended a 10-year insurgency in 2006 and set the country on a path from monarchy* to democracy.

4. Mnangagwa sworn in as Zimbabwe’s president

Zimbabwe’s recently fired vice president was sworn in on Friday as the country’s new leader, after Robert Mugabe announced his stunning resignation during impeachment proceedings against him.

The focus has turned to Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s longtime deputy who was pushed aside earlier this month as unpopular first lady Grace Mugabe positioned herself to replace him and succeed her husband.

5. Elephants used to clear protected habitat in India

Indian police on Monday took the unusual step of using elephants in an attempt to evict* hundreds of people living illegally in a protected forest area in the country’s remote northeast.

Police used bulldozers and the elephants in a show of force, and the forest dwellers responded by hurling* rocks. Police commissioner Hiren Nath said five protesters were injured in a scuffle*.(SD-Agencies)