HONOLULU: Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted anew before dawn Thursday, shooting a steely gray plume of ash about 30,000 feet (9,100 meters) into the sky that began raining down on a nearby town.
The explosion at the mountain summit came shortly after 4 a.m. following two weeks of volcanic activity that sent lava flows into neighborhoods and destroyed at least 26 homes.
The eruption probably lasted only a few minutes, and the ash accumulations were minimal, with only trace amounts expected near the volcano, said Mike Poland, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey.
Some people in the community closest to the volcano slept through the blast, said Kanani Aton, a spokeswoman for Hawaii County Civil Defense, who spoke to relatives and friends in the town called Volcano.
At least one person who was wake heard nothing. Epic Lava tour operator John Tarson is an early-riser and said he only learned about the eruption because he received an alert on his phone.
Tarson said the ash plume looked different than others he’s witnessed because of its sheer height. A video he shared on Facebook showed a towering column of ash reaching into a hazy sky.
“What I noticed is the plume was just rising straight into the air, and it was not tipping in any direction,” he said.
“We’ve been expecting this, and a lot of people are going to see it and get excited and scared,” he added.
Authorities cautioned that wind could carry the ash as far as Hilo. The National Weather Service issued an ash advisory until noon. Several schools closed because of the risk of elevated levels of sulfur dioxide, a volcanic gas.
Robert Hughes owns the Aloha Junction Bed and Breakfast, about a mile and a half from the crater. He said he did not hear anything either and is in an area that did not get any ash.
So far, he said, Thursday has been a “nice rainy day.”
His business has been hit hard by fears of the volcano, once an attraction for visitors. He said he’s lost hundreds of reservations and had just three guests Thursday instead of the 12 to 14 he has typically served.
One of the guests was a news reporter. The other two were from Italy.
“In the old days, people used to love to come see the volcano. They’d even take their little postcards, burn one corner in the lava flow, mail then off, stuff like that,” he said. “Now they’re acting like it’s all super-dangerous and everything, but it just kind oozes out.”
The crater sits within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which has been closed since May 11 because of the risk of a more violent eruption.
Officials have said the eruption isn’t likely to be dangerous as long as people stay out of the closed park.
Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. An eruption in 1924 killed one person and sent rocks, ash and dust into the air for 17 days.
Scientists warned on May 9 that a drop in the lava lake at the summit might create conditions for an explosion that could fling ash and refrigerator-sized boulders into the air.
Geologists predicted such a blast would mostly release trapped steam from flash-heated groundwater. Communities a mile or two away could be showered by pea-size fragments or dusted with nontoxic ash, they said.
The volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983. It’s one of five volcanoes on Hawaii’s Big Island, and the only one currently erupting.
Hawaii volcano erupts anew, sends huge ash plume into sky
Hawaii volcano erupts anew, sends huge ash plume into sky
- Some people in the community closest to the volcano slept through the blast
- The eruption probably lasted only a few minutes, and the ash accumulations were minimal
Carney says new govt will ‘relentlessly’ protect Canada sovereignty
Carney replied the Canada “won’t be for sale, ever“
OTTAWA: Canada’s new government will relentlessly protect the nation’s sovereignty as it works to redefine fraught relations with the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday as his cabinet was sworn in.
Carney’s election win two weeks ago was largely defined by threats from President Donald Trump, whose trade war and repeated talk of annexing the United States’ northern neighbor upended Canadian politics.
Carney, a former central banker with experience leading through major financial crises, convinced enough voters that he was the right choice to take on Trump, whose tariffs on imported autos and other goods have already cost Canadian jobs.
“Canadians elected this new government with a strong mandate to define a new economic and security relationship with the United States,” Carney said in a statement before his new ministers took their oaths.
Addressing reporters after the ceremony, with a cabinet of Liberal Party loyalists assembled behind him, Carney said his “government will work relentlessly to keep Canada secure as a sovereign nation.”
Trump discussed absorbing Canada into the United States on several occasions in his first Oval Office meeting with Carney last week.
The president insisted it would be a “wonderful marriage” if Canada agreed to his repeated calls to become the 51st US state.
Carney replied the Canada “won’t be for sale, ever,” and referenced the deep hostility among Canadians toward the prospect of a political union with the United States.
Carney’s cabinet retains several key figures involved in negotiating with the Trump administration over tariffs, although some job titles have shifted.
Dominic LeBlanc, who has dealt directly with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in recent weeks, has been named the minister responsible for Canada-US trade.
Former foreign minister Melanie Joly has been moved to industry minister, with Anita Anand replacing her as Canada’s top diplomat.
Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is keeping his post.
Since taking over from Justin Trudeau on March 14 as prime minister, Carney has tried to create distance from the previous Liberal regime, which became deeply unpopular over its decade in power.
His cabinet includes Trudeau allies, but also brings in new faces.
Evan Solomon, a prominent former journalist entering parliament for the first time, has been named minister for artificial intelligence, a new post nodding at Carney’s pledge to transform Canada’s economy.
Carney said his cabinet will be focused on a “core mission,” which is “to create the strongest economy in the G7.”
He promised to act fast on a middle class tax cut and remove inter-provincial trade barriers by Canada Day, on July 1, a move some economist believe could soften the impact of Trump’s tariffs.
Carney had a lucrative career as an investment banker before serving as the governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England.
He is a political novice who will be new to parliament when the House of Commons reconvenes on May 27, opening with a throne speech by King Charles III, the head of state in Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth.
But Carney assured voters his experience in the private sector and as a central banker will help him rebuild Canada’s economy, a message that resonated with voters.
Opinion polls showed the Liberals trailing the Conservatives by more than 20 points at the start of the year, but Carney’s replacing Trudeau, combined with Trump’s threats, sparked an unprecedented comeback.
The Liberals fell just short of the 172 seats needed for majority control of Parliament, but with 170 confirmed wins they will be in a strong position to pass legislation.
Sweden detains suspected spy, TV reports diplomat in custody
- The suspect had been posted to a number of embassies around the world
- SAPO was investigating a potential connection between the suspect and the resignation of the government’s national security adviser last week
STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s security service has detained a Swedish diplomat on suspicion of espionage, public television SVT reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified sources.
The security service (SAPO) said it had detained a person on suspicion of spying after an operation in the Stockholm area in the last few days, but declined to give further information.
“It is correct that we have a case where the suspicion is spying,” SAPO spokesperson Karin Lutz told Reuters. “One person has been taken into custody.”
SVT said the suspect had been posted to a number of embassies around the world and that SAPO was investigating a potential connection between the suspect and the resignation of the government’s national security adviser last week.
A security service spokesperson said SAPO had noted the media report but declined to comment further.
“The investigation is at an early stage and we cannot say anything due to secrecy considerations,” the spokesperson said.
Tobias Thyberg, a foreign service veteran who in previous roles served as ambassador to both Ukraine and Afghanistan, resigned a day after being named as national security adviser.
Thyberg is not suspect in a crime, SVT said. Thyberg’s predecessor stepped down in January and was then charged with negligent handling of classified information.
Anton Strand, the lawyer appointed to defend the person in custody, told newspaper Aftonbladet his client denied wrong-doing and had filed a criminal complaint against the police over the arrest. He did not immediately respond to Reuters’ attempts to reach him by phone and email.
Swedish authorities have fretted in recent years about increasing threats from both foreign powers like Russia, China and Iran and groups engaging in actions ranging from violent attacks and hybrid warfare to corporate espionage.
In March, SAPO warned that foreign powers are operating in ways that threaten security, using hybrid activities to destabilize Sweden and Europe.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told SVT the government had been informed of SAPO’s operation and the person in custody was suspected “on reasonable grounds” of espionage. Reasonable grounds is the lower of two grades of suspicion in Sweden.
“The investigation has to be carried out and I don’t want to preempt it,” Strommer said in a statement to SVT.
Man in jail for nearly four decades for murder acquitted by London court
- Peter Sullivan was sentenced to life in 1987 for the murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall
- “Our client Peter Sullivan is the longest-serving victim of a miscarriage of justice in the UK,” said his lawyer
LONDON: A man who has spent nearly 40 years in jail for murder had his conviction overturned by a London court on Tuesday after advancements in DNA testing techniques cast doubt on his guilt.
Peter Sullivan, believed to be the victim of the longest miscarriage of justice in Britain, was sentenced to life in 1987 for the murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall, who was found dead after leaving her place of work in the northwest England town of Bebington, close to Liverpool, the previous year.
He applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission — an independent body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice — in 2021, raising concerns about his police interviews, bite-mark evidence presented in his trial, and what was said to be the murder weapon, the commission said in a statement.
The commission then obtained DNA information from samples taken at the time of the offense and found that the profile did not match that of Sullivan. His case was then sent to London’s Court of Appeal, which quashed the conviction on Tuesday based on the new evidence.
“This is an unprecedented and historic moment. Our client Peter Sullivan is the longest-serving victim of a miscarriage of justice in the UK,” his lawyer told reporters outside the court.
Reading a message from Sullivan, the lawyer said: “What happened to me was very wrong, but it does not detract or minimize that all of this happened off the back of a heinous and most terrible loss of life.”
Sullivan had applied to the CCRC questioning DNA evidence in 2008, but forensic experts advised at the time that any further testing would be very unlikely to produce a DNA profile.
The techniques used in the testing that led to his case being referred were not available at the time of his first application, the CCRC said.
Merseyside Police, which reopened the investigation in 2023, said there was no match for the DNA identified on the national DNA database, adding that they were committed to doing “everything within our power” to find to whom it belonged.
“The truth shall set you free ... As we advance toward resolving the wrongs done to me, I am not angry, I am not bitter,” Sullivan said in his message.
Over 84,000 people affected by Somalia floods since mid-April: UN
- “Since mid-April, flash floods caused by heavy seasonal rains have killed 17 people and affected over 84,000 people in several areas,” OCHA said
- “Critical infrastructure has been damaged“
NAIROBI: More than 84,000 people have been affected by flash floods in Somalia since mid-April, the United Nations said Tuesday, leaving at least 17 people killed.
The Horn of Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, and extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent and intense.
“Since mid-April, flash floods caused by heavy seasonal rains have killed 17 people and affected over 84,000 people in several areas,” UN humanitarian agency OCHA said.
The figure includes people who have displaced, lost shelter, now have a lack of access to humanitarian assistance, or suffer water shortages.
Jubaland, Hirshabelle, South West, Galmudug, Puntland states and Banadir region — which includes capital Mogadishu — were most impacted, OCHA said, leaving more than 8,100 people displaced.
“Critical infrastructure has been damaged,” it added, noting that water points had been submerged and almost 200 latrines were destroyed.
It comes just days after torrential rain in southeastern Banadir killed at least nine people and affected approximately 24,600 others.
“The rains significantly impacted internally displaced people,” OCHA said, citing local authorities.
According to the UN report, meteorologists have warned that more rain is expected in the coming days across southern and central Somalia.
Somalia was hit by intense floods in 2023. More than 100 people were killed and over a million displaced after severe flooding caused by torrential rains linked to the El Nino weather pattern.
Harvard loses another $450 million in grants in escalating battle with Trump administration
- A federal antisemitism task force said Harvard will lose grants from eight federal agencies
- Harvard has faced escalating sanctions from the White House after becoming the first US university to openly defy the government’s demands to limit pro-Palestinian activism
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration is cutting another $450 million in grants to Harvard University a day after the Ivy League school pushed back against government allegations that it’s a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism.
In a letter to Harvard on Tuesday, a federal antisemitism task force said Harvard will lose grants from eight federal agencies in addition to $2.2 billion that was previously frozen by the Trump administration.
The letter said Harvard has become a “breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination” and faces a “steep, uphill battle” to reclaim its legacy as a place of academic excellence.
“There is a dark problem on Harvard’s campus, and by prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support,” the letter said.
It was signed by officials at the Education Department, Health and Human Services and the General Services Administration.
University officials did not immediately provide comment on the letter.
Harvard has faced escalating sanctions from the White House after becoming the first US university to openly defy the government’s demands to limit pro-Palestinian activism and end diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Trump, a Republican, has said he wants Harvard to lose its tax-exempt status, and the Department of Homeland Security has threatened to revoke the school’s eligibility to host foreign students.
Last week, the Education Department said Harvard will receive no new federal grants until it meets the government’s demands.
The Trump administration has demanded Harvard make broad leadership changes, revise its admissions policies and audit its faculty and student body to ensure the campus is home to many viewpoints.
The demands are part of a pressure campaign targeting several other high-profile universities. The administration has cut off money to colleges including Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, seeking compliance with Trump’s agenda.
Harvard is suing to block the federal funding freeze.
Harvard President Alan Garber disputed the government’s allegations in a Monday letter, saying Harvard is nonpartisan and has taken steps to root out antisemitism on campus. He insisted that Harvard is in compliance with the law, calling the federal sanctions an “unlawful attempt to control fundamental aspects of our university’s operations.”
The government’s letter on Tuesday said Harvard has repeatedly failed to address racial discrimination and antisemitism on campus. It cited the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision striking down Harvard’s use of race in the admissions process, along with a recent internal report at Harvard detailing cases of antisemitic harassment.
___ Collin Binkley has covered Harvard for nearly a decade — most of the time living half a mile from its campus.
