Over 30 Feared Dead in Sudden and Devastating Japanese Volcano Eruption

Japan’s Mount Ontake volcano erupted without warning on Saturday, sending plumes of heavy, toxic volcanic ash and rock into the air, and causing embers to fall nearly two miles from its crater.

So far, 12 victims have been retrieved from the mountain, identified, and confirmed dead. Today, Nagano Prefecture Police said that 24 bodies remain on the slopes of the volcano, bringing the suspected death toll to at least 36.

More than 500 rescuers returned to the scene today. It is not yet clear how the victims died, but asphyxiation from poisonous gases is common in eruptions of this kind. This helicopter footage shows the ongoing rescue mission.

$30 Million Bounty Offered for MH17 Attackers as Ukraine Turmoil Continues

A German company is offering a $30 million bounty for the identities of the individuals responsible for downing Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine this summer.

Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine are suspected of firing surface-to-air missiles at the civilian aircraft, which crashed July 17 while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board. A preliminary report carried out by Dutch investigators said that the crash was the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that struck the Boeing plane from the outside.

Video Shows Florida Police Arresting a 90-Year-Old Man for Feeding the Homeless

Police in Fort Lauderdale, Florida arrested a 90-year-old man last weekend for feeding homeless people — an act of charity he’s been doing regularly for the past 23 years.

At least four police cruisers and a half dozen uniformed cops were waiting for Arnold Abbott and two pastors when they arrived at a local Florida park Sunday afternoon to distribute food to more than 100 homeless and hungry people, according to the Broward-Palm Beach New Times. Abbot, the founder of the service organization Love Thy Neighbor, managed to dole out four meals before he was placed in handcuffs and issued a summons.

Video Shows Antares Rocket Exploding Six Seconds After Liftoff in Virginia

An unmanned Antares rocket ferrying supplies to the International Space Station exploded Tuesday just six seconds after liftoff at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops, Virginia. No personnel were near the rocket when it exploded, and no injuries have been reported by NASA.

The Antares rocket appeared to abruptly lose upward momentum after it launched, falling back toward the ground before exploding in mid-air.

The Antares — a medium-lift rocket — was carrying a Cygnus spacecraft packed with about 5,000 pounds of cargo to take to the International Space Station. NASA confirmed at 6:45pm ET that all personnel were accounted for. Officials on NASA TV reported significant property and vehicle damage.

Gunman and Victim Identified in Ottawa Shooting

One of the two people killed in the shootout in Ottawa this morning has been identified by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as Nathan Cirillo, a 24-year old Canadian soldier from Hamilton.

Ottawa police had confirmed at a press conference earlier this afternoon that two people died in the incidents early today, but did not identify either, only saying that a soldier had been killed and “a male suspect has also been confirmed deceased.”

US officials later told CBS News the name of the dead Ottawa shooting suspect is Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, a Canadian born in 1982.

After Latest Blunder, Privacy Watchdog Chief Calls Uber ‘Out of Control’

At a private dinner Friday night, Emil Michael, Uber’s senior vice president of business, suggested that the company should hire a team of journalists and opposition researchers to counter bad press and even attack members of the media that criticize the company.

Michael, who previously worked for Klout, the website and mobile app that uses social media analytics to rank users according to online social influence, suggested spending “a million dollars” on this team, which would look into “your personal lives, your families.” Michael made the statements in front of a crowd of influential New Yorkers at Manhattan’s Waverly Inn last week.

Michael specifically mentioned that such a plan could be used to spread personal details about the life of Sarah Lacy, the editor-in-chief of PandoDaily, a Silicon Valley website whose coverage of Uber has been far from positive.

A Law Designed to Target Coke Lords Is Screwing Over Legal Pot Companies

Voters in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C. headed to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to legalize sales of recreational marijuana.

But would-be weed entrepreneurs in the states might be disappointed to learn that a federal tax law designed to target coke lords in the ’80s is eating into the profits of legal pot merchants across the country.

“This is one of the most critical issues facing the industry today because it directly affects the bottom line of anyone who cultivates or sells medical or recreational marijuana,” said Taylor West, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, an association of more than 750 cannabis-related businesses across the United States. “It results in businesses paying effective tax rates of 70 to 85 percent when they should be only paying 30 or 40 percent.

Islamic State Video Is Latest in Worldwide Propaganda War

The Islamic State’s media machine took to the web again on Tuesday with the release of a high-production Hollywood-style trailer for an upcoming movie entitled Flames of War.

The 52-second clip was issued in response to President Barack Obama’s vow to “degrade and ultimately destroy [the Islamic State],” and shows flames engulfing footage of the White House and Obama, as well as images of US forces in Iraq — despite Obama ruling out putting “boots on the ground” last week.

US Airstrikes Target the Islamic State’s Seized Syrian Oilfields

At least 19 people were killed on the third day of a US-led air campaign targeting the Islamic State in Syria. Strikes focused on one of the group’s main revenue streams — the region’s captured oil fields.

Activists say that the attacks, made by the US along with five Arab allies, led to the release at least 150 people from a prison in their powerbase of Raqqa in northern Syria, as the militant group feared more strikes, according to the Associated Press.

At least 14 militants were killed in the attacks, which hit four oil installations and three oil fields near the town of Mayadeen in the east of the country. This information came from the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which gathers reports from a network of activists on the ground, and was confirmed by two local activist groups.

Venezuelan Government Announces Disarmament Plan — Again

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro launched a nationwide disarmament program in Caracas over the weekend as the head of state tried to cap the alarming rates of violence endemic in his country, which has the second-highest homicide rate in the world behind Honduras.

The plan, announced on September 20 — International Day of Peace — will see the Venezuelan government establish a $47 million fund to help establish 60 centers where citizens can voluntarily surrender their firearms.

Despite passing a law last June to restrict gun sales only to members of the military and security forces, effectively outlawing civilian possession of guns — being caught with a firearm in Venezuela can land you with up to 20 years in prison — firearms are still a major cause of death in the country.