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Hawaii faces new threat from volcano - gassy, glassy laze

By Terray Sylvester PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) - Hawaii residents dealing with Kilauea's volcanic eruption faced a potentially deadly new challenge on Sunday as lava that reached the Pacific Ocean threatened to send up laze, a hazardous mix of glass particles and noxious gas. The new challenge came when a stream of lava from the volcano cut through Highway 137 on the south coast of Hawaii's Big Island late on Saturday and then poured into the sea, authorities said. The mix of erupting lava, which can reach 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,093 degrees Celsius), and sea water could send up plumes of laze, a mix of hydrochloric acid, steam and volcanic glass particles, Hawaii County Civil Defense said in a statement.

Spurned advances provoked Texas school shooting, victim's mother says

A teenage boy who shot and killed eight students and two teachers during a gun rampage at a Houston-area high school had been spurned by one of his victims after making aggressive advances, her mother told a newspaper. Sadie Rodriguez, the mother of Shana Fisher, 16, told the Los Angeles Times that her daughter rejected four months of aggressive advances from Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, who is in jail charged with murdering 10 people early on Friday at the high school in Santa Fe. If true, it would be the second school shooting in recent months driven by such rejection.

A Noah's Ark of animals rescued from Hawaii lava

When hundreds of residents of Hawaii's Big Island fled their homes after the Kilauea volcano erupted, some left behind not only most of their belongings, but also their beloved pets. In the two weeks since fountains of lava and poisonous gas spewed from the volcano, volunteers have made heroic efforts to retrieve a veritable Noah's Ark of dogs and cats, geese and ducks, cows and goats, horses, cattle and exotic birds. Many were reuniting with their owners at evacuation shelters.

Texas shooting suspect seems 'weirdly nonemotional,' lawyer says

By Erwin Seba SANTA FE, Texas (Reuters) - The 17-year-old student who authorities said killed 10 people when he opened fire in an art class in his Houston-area high school appeared "weirdly nonemotional" on the morning after the rampage, one of his lawyers said on Saturday. The teenager, identified by law enforcement as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, has been charged with capital murder and is being held without bail in Santa Fe, Texas, where authorities said he went on a shooting spree shortly before 8 a.m. on Friday. For graphic on timeline of major mass shootings in the United States since 2007 click https://tmsnrt.rs/2LfKug6 Nicholas Poehl, one of two lawyers hired by the suspect's parents to represent him, told Reuters he had spent a total of one hour with Pagourtzis on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Hawaii lava flow engulfs more homes as ash plume ascends

By Terray Sylvester PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) - New, fast-moving lava poured from the flank of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano on Saturday, destroying four more homes on the Big Island after a second explosive eruption shot a nearly two-mile-high (10,000 foot) ash plume from the crater. Molten rock from two huge cracks formed a single channel and traveled 1,000 feet in under an hour, twice the speed of previous flows of older lava that have torn through homes, roads and tropical forest for over two weeks, the County of Hawaii's Civil Defense Agency said. The new lava, which is flowing east underground from the sinking lava lake at Kilauea's summit, is expected to create more voluminous flows that travel further, threatening homes and a coastal road that is a key exit route for around 2,000 residents.

Melania Trump returns to White House after kidney procedure

President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, returned to the White House on Saturday after undergoing a surgical procedure this week to treat a benign kidney condition, her office said. The first lady, 48, had been recovering at Walter Reed medical center since Monday, when she underwent an embolization procedure to treat the kidney condition. Spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement that Melania Trump returned to the White House on Saturday morning.

Two weeks on, Hawaii residents look for "normalcy" amid ash, lava

By Terray Sylvester PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) - Two weeks after fountains of lava and poisonous gas from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano forced hundreds of people to flee their homes in the middle of the night, things were only getting worse for residents on Friday after another eruption. As Kilauea oozed lava from 22 fissures on its eastern flank, residents of Pahoa on the Big Island, some wearing ash masks, hunkered down in shelters and waited for an expected resumption of major eruptions. "We're all trying to establish or find some normalcy in our lives knowing that we're on an active volcano that's very active right now," said Cindy Hartman, a dietician at Hilo Medical Center.

"Born to kill" Texas shooter a quiet teenager in trench coat

He was a quiet Texas teenager who danced with his Greek church group and played football. On Friday, authorities said, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis put on a trenchcoat, walked into an art class at his high school in Santa Fe, near Houston, and shot nine fellow students and a teacher dead. There were no red flags beforehand to indicate that Pagourtzis was headed for trouble, Governor Greg Abbott said.

Diana's favorite flowers adorn her son's wedding chapel

White roses - the favorite flowers of Prince Harry's late mother Diana - arched over the organ loft and West Door of St George's chapel, where he will marry American actress Meghan Markle on Saturday. London florist Philippa Craddock used roses, peonies and foxgloves, set against beech, birch and hornbeam branches, many of them gathered from the gardens and parkland of the Crown Estate and Windsor Great Park, the royal family's press office said. "One of the things that has been very important in this brief to me is to make sure we're sourcing locally and that the designs reflect the landscape that's around Windsor Castle, that's what we're looking to do in the chapel," Craddock said in a statement.

'Loner' student shoots and kills 10 at Texas school

A 17-year-old student dressed in a trench coat and armed with a shotgun and pistol opened fire at his high school outside Houston on Friday, killing nine students and a teacher, before surrendering to officers, authorities said. Santa Fe High School, southeast of Houston, joined a long list of U.S. campuses where students and faculty have been killed in a spray of gunfire. The Texas shooting stoked the nation's long-running debate over firearms ownership and came about three months after 17 teens and educators were fatally shot in Parkland, Florida.

'Quiet' student shoots and kills 10 at Texas school: authorities

By Liz Hampton and Erwin Seba SANTA FE, Texas (Reuters) - A 17-year-old student armed with a shotgun and pistol opened fire at his Texas high school on Friday, killing nine fellow students and a teacher, authorities said, in an attack with eerie echoes of the massacre at a Florida high school in February. Students said the gunman, identified by law enforcement as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, opened fire in an art class at Santa Fe High School shortly before 8 a.m. Students and staff fled after seeing classmates wounded and a fire alarm triggered a full evacuation.

Accused Texas high school gunman described as bullied loner in a trench coat

The teen accused of killing 10 people in a mass shooting at his Texas high school on Friday was described by fellow students as a quiet loner who played football but kept to himself and was reportedly the victim of some bullying. The suspect, identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was a junior at Santa Fe High School near Houston. Classmates remembered he often wore a trench coat, similar to the garment authorities said the assailant used to conceal the two firearms he carried into the school.

'DO SOMETHING,' Parkland survivors urge action after Texas school shooting

Survivors of the high school massacre in Parkland, Florida, vowed support on Friday for Texas students caught up in the latest deadly school shooting, saying tighter gun laws were needed to stop further bloodshed. Students at Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles (48 km) outside Houston, were among the thousands across the country who staged a walkout in April to protest congressional inaction after 17 students and staff members were killed by a former student on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

Gunman shouting anti-Trump slogans arrested at Miami resort

By Zachary Fagenson DORAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A gunman railing against U.S. President Donald Trump opened fire in one of the Republican's Florida golf resorts early on Friday, exchanging gunshots with Miami police who wounded and arrested him, officials said. Neither Trump nor any of his immediate family members were at the Trump National Doral Miami at the time, according to the Secret Service. The golf club is about 70 miles (113 km) south of the Palm Beach resort that Trump has visited regularly during his term.

Puerto Rico power grid braces for hurricane season

By Jessica Resnick-Ault and Nick Brown NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. federal agency tasked with restoring electricity to Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria hit the Caribbean last year, is leaving the island though thousands still have no power heading into the next hurricane season starting next month. Only a last-minute request from the governor of the island, bemoaning the "fragile state" of the power grid, managed to keep most of the generators brought by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Puerto Rican soil for another six months. The remaining generators might help keep the lights on for hospitals or police stations if the island gets hit again during the coming hurricane season, which begins June 1.

Hawaii volcano spews 6 mile-high plume of ash, could blow again

By Terray Sylvester PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) - Hawaii's Kilauea volcano spewed ash nearly six miles (9 km) into the sky on Thursday and scientists warned this could be the first in a string of more violent explosive eruptions with the next possibly occurring within hours. "This has relieved pressure temporarily," U.S. Geological Survey geologist Michelle Coombs told a news conference in Hilo. "We may have additional larger, powerful events." Residents of the Big Island were warned to take shelter from the ash as toxic gas levels spiked in a small southeast area where lava has burst from the ground during the two-week eruption.

Two dead, 43 injured in New Jersey school bus torn apart in crash

A student and a teacher were killed and 43 others injured when a school bus with preteens on a field trip collided with a dump truck on a New Jersey highway on Thursday, ripping the bus apart and leaving students dangling by seat belts, officials said. The crash occurred about 10:20 a.m. in Mount Olive Township in northern New Jersey's Morris County, Governor Phil Murphy told a news conference. The bus was carrying 38 students and seven adults, including the driver.

Some Republicans see progress on 'Dreamer' immigration deal

Republicans in the U.S. Congress who are pushing for action on immigration legislation said on Thursday they were getting closer to an agreement on a bill that President Donald Trump could support. "I think we've had better discussions in the last 48 hours than in the last 48 months," said Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus. Meadows was referring to negotiations with both the White House and centrist House Republicans on a bill that would address the future of young immigrants known as "Dreamers" who were brought to the United States illegally when they were children.

Two dead, 43 injured in New Jersey school bus, dump truck crash

By Elly Park MORRISTOWN, N.J. (Reuters) - A student and a teacher were killed and 43 others injured on Thursday when a school bus of 5th graders on a field trip collided with a dump truck on a New Jersey highway, officials said. The crash occurred at about 10:20 a.m. in Mount Olive Township in northern New Jersey's Morris County, Governor Phil Murphy told a news conference. "Some patients are in critical condition and currently undergoing surgery, so please keep everybody in your prayers," Murphy said.

Hawaii volcano erupts in 6-mile-high plume, 'ash fallout' alert

By Terray Sylvester PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) - Hawaii's Kilauea volcano spewed ash nearly six miles (30,000 feet/9 km) into the air on Thursday and scientists warned this could be the first of a string of explosive eruptions in the crater. "This has relieved pressure temporarily," U.S. Geological Survey geologist Michelle Coombs told a news conference in Hilo. "We may have additional larger, powerful events." Residents of the Big Island were warned to take shelter from the ash as toxic gas levels spiked in a small southeast area where lava has burst from the ground during the two-week eruption, authorities said.

Hawaii community clings to life in shadow of fiery volcano

By Terray Sylvester PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) - When magma first began spouting like a demonic lawn sprinkler from a fissure near Mark Clawson's Hawaii home, it was exciting. "It's gotten oppressive," said Clawson, 64, a semi-retired plumber who has lived in the area for 15 years and grows fruit and macadamia nuts on his lush property. "I'm ready for it to be over." About every 10 minutes, the fissure shoots jets of steam and smoke 20 to 30 feet (7 to 9 m) high, whining like a fighter jet.

Trump fails to halt 'Apprentice' contestant's defamation lawsuit

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York state appeals court on Thursday denied U.S. President Donald Trump's bid to halt a defamation lawsuit by a former contestant on his reality TV show "The Apprentice" who accused him of making unwanted sexual advances. In a one-page order, the Appellate Division in Manhattan did not explain why it refused to stay the lawsuit by Summer Zervos while the president appeals a March 20 lower court ruling that allowed the California restaurateur to pursue her case.

Wild foods foraging tours help gatherers see beyond 'green wall'

A dozen wild food foragers listened intently to botanist Hayden Stebbins in an upstate New York field, entrusting him to steer them clear of the poisonings and arrests that have plagued others across the United States. Plucking a dandelion he said could be consumed from blossom to root, Stebbins said the purpose of his foraging tours is to reveal the scrumptious, nutritious and no-cost edibles in your own backyard as well as to connect participants with nature. "To most people, when they're walking through the world, plants just form this green background, this green wall," said Stebbins.

'Ballistic blocks' shoot from Hawaii volcano, may mark start of violent eruptions

By Terray Sylvester VOLCANO, Hawaii (Reuters) - "Ballistic blocks" the size of microwave ovens shot from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano on Wednesday in what may be the start of explosive eruptions that could spew huge ash plumes and hurl smaller rocks for miles (km), the U.S. Geological Survey said. Such eruptions, last seen nearly a century ago, have been a looming threat since Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, erupted nearly two weeks ago. Explosions in Kilauea's crater sparked an aviation red alert due to risks the ash plume could blow into aircraft routes and damage jet engines.

Texas executes man dubbed 'Lovers' Lane' killer for 2003 murder

Texas executed an inmate on Wednesday dubbed the "Lovers' Lane" killer who was convicted of a 2003 ambush in which he tried to rob a man in a parked car on a remote road in San Antonio and then fatally shot him. Juan Castillo, 37, was put to death by lethal injection at the state's death chamber in Huntsville, a prisons official said. It was the 11th execution this year in the United States and the sixth in Texas, which has executed more inmates than any other state since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.