SPD takes narrow lead in post-Merkel vote Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader and top candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz holds a bouquet of flowers at their party leadership meeting in Berlin, Germany, on Monday. Germany braced for a period of political unpredictability on Monday after the SPD narrowly won a general election but faced a rival claim to power from outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative camp.Xinhua Coastal areas locked down in Spain Eruption and tremors around the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Spain’s La Palma slowed to a near halt on Monday morning, researchers said, while authorities locked down coastal villages in anticipation of the lava reaching the sea. The apparent lull does not mean the eruption has ended though, Stavros Meteltidis, a volcanologist with Spain’s National Geographic Institute, told the Antena3 television With activity at the eruption site easing, authorities turned their attention to coastal areas where the superheated lava flow is expected to hit the Atlantic Ocean, likely triggering clouds of toxic gas and explosions. US passenger train derailment kills 3 A passenger train with over 100 people on board derailed in the northern U.S. state of Montana on Saturday afternoon, killing at least three people and injuring multiple others, local media reported. Seven cars on the train, Empire Builder 7/27, derailed at about 4 p.m. local time near Joplin, according to Amtrak. The rail line confirmed there were injuries in the accident, but offered no more details. Amtrak is a passenger railroad service company operating many passenger rail routes in the United States. The three deaths were confirmed by the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department. Officials did not say how many total were injured. There were approximately 146 passengers and 16 crew members on board the train, Amtrak said. The train was traveling from Chicago to Seattle. Ukraine passes law on oligarchs Ukraine’s parliament passed a law on Thursday to order “oligarchs” to register and stay out of politics, a day after an attempt to kill a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which officials said could have been a response to the reform. The law, which passed at the first reading in July, is meant to define what an oligarch is and says those who fall under the criteria are forbidden from financing political parties or taking part in privatizations. It had to be voted on twice and must now be approved by the president to come into force. Thursday’s vote was carried with 279 votes in the 450-seat parliament. Search resumes for Brian Laundrie There has been national focus in the United States over the last few days on the unfolding story of Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old U.S. woman whose death was ruled a homicide last week, nearly a month after she was last seen on a cross-country road trip with her now-missing boyfriend, Brian Laundrie. Ron Desantis, governor of Florida, the United States, has directed all state agencies to assist federal and local law enforcement in the search for Laundrie. The search for the 23-year-old is centered around North Port where investigators said he returned to his home September 1 without his fiancee, but driving her 2012 Ford Transit. She was found dead in Wyoming. French envoy to return to US The U.S. and French presidents moved to mend ties last week, with France agreeing to send its ambassador back to Washington and the White House acknowledging it erred in brokering a deal for Australia to buy U.S. instead of French submarines without consulting Paris. In a joint statement issued after U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone for 30 minutes, the two leaders agreed to launch in-depth consultations to rebuild trust, and to meet in Europe at the end of October.(SD-Agencies) | 