Eruption at Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano sends lava shooting 1,000 feet in air
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(HAWAII) — Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano is erupting again in spectacular fashion, sending lava shooting 1,000 feet into the sky, according to the United States Geological Survey.
On Friday morning, “Episode 26” of the ongoing eruption at Halemaʻumaʻu — the pit crater within Kīlauea Caldera at the summit of the volcano — spewed lava fountains that reached massive heights, according to the USGS’sHawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Episode 26 was preceded by small, sporadic spattering and lava overflows, according to the USGS.
Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world and located on the Big Island, has been especially active in the last several months, erupting dozens of times since December.
In May, Kilauea also spewed leva more than 1,000 feet. On June 11, eruptions at Kilauea measured at more than 330 feet, according to the USGS.
The current eruption began at 1:40 a.m. local time, with lava fountains and flows erupting from the north vent, according to the USGS.
The eruption is flowing into a remote area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Flows have been confined to the Halemaʻumaʻu crater and the southwest side of Kaluapele, Kīlauea’s summit caldera.
The USGS issued a volcano watch – known as a code orange – which means that an eruption is either likely or occurring but with no, or minor, ash.
Volcanic gas emissions and tephra — fragments of rock, minerals and glass — from the lava fountain may be distributed south of the caldera, due to the winds blowing from the north, the USGS said.
Other hazards include Pele’s hair — strands of volcanic glass often produced by lava fountaining activity — crater wall instability ground cracking and rockfalls.
Kīlauea’scaldera rim surroundingHalemaʻumaʻucrater has been closed to the public since 2007 due to such hazards.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Boston has blocked the Trump administration from attempting to dismantle the Department of Education.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun issued a preliminary injunction Thursday that bars the Trump administration from firing half the Department of Education’s workforce.
The order from Judge Joun — a Biden appointee — also prohibits the Department of Education from transferring the management of federal student loans to the Small Business Administration.
The decision marks the first time a federal judge has determined the Trump administration’s sweeping changes to the Department of Education are unlawful.
For now, the order puts a stop to the Trump administration’s effort to fire more than 2,000 Department of Education employees, transfer federal student loan obligations, and otherwise implement the president’s March 20 executive order to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education.”
A group that includes several state attorneys general, schools, and nonprofits challenged Trump’s efforts to reduce the size of the Department of Education last month, arguing the president cannot unilaterally shut down a federal department created by Congress.
Lawyers for the Trump administration argued that the efforts to reduce the Department of Education would make it more efficient, and were separate from Trump’s vow to abolish the department.
Judge Joun was unconvinced. His decision offered a blistering assessment of the Trump administration’s claim that recent changes to the Department of Education are to improve efficiency, rather than carry out Trump’s vow to abolish the Department outright.
“The idea that Defendants’ actions are merely a ‘reorganization’ is plainly not true,” he wrote.
The changes imposed by Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Judge Joun wrote, “effectively impossible for the Department to carry out its statutorily mandated functions.”
Though Trump has the authority to remove executive officers, the president does not have the power to dismantle entire federal departments outright, he wrote. He also cast doubt on the claim that the legislative effort to abolish the Department of Education was separate from his executive actions.
“Not only is there no evidence that Defendants are pursuing a ‘legislative goal’ or otherwise working with Congress to reach a resolution, but there is also no evidence that the RIF has actually made the Department more efficient. Rather, the record is replete with evidence of the opposite,” the judge wrote, referring to the “reduction in force” firings.
“Consolidated Plaintiffs have demonstrated that the Department will not be able to carry out its statutory functions — and in some cases, is already unable to do so — and Defendants have proffered no evidence to the contrary,” he wrote.
Extensive fire damage to the Pennsylvania Governor’s Mansion and Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence / Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images
(HARRISBURG, Pa.) — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence as a possible antisemitic hate crime.
“While the local district attorney has not yet filed hate-crime charges, he acknowledged that Governor Shapiro’s religion appears to have factored into the suspect’s decisions,” Schumer wrote in a letter to Bondi on Thursday. “Our federal authorities must bring the full weight of our civil-rights laws to bear in examining this matter. No person or public official should be targeted because of their faith, and no community should wonder whether such acts will be met with silence.”
“I appreciate your strong condemnation of the attack and urge you to ensure that the federal government does everything in its power to pursue justice and uphold the fundamental values of religious freedom and public safety,” Schumer added. “I look forward to your response and to the Justice Department’s continued vigilance in the face of antisemitic violence.”
The fire at the governor’s residence was reported at about 2 a.m. ET Sunday and the family was safely evacuated. The attack occurred hours after the Shapiro family hosted more than two dozen people for the first night of Passover.
Investigators have not released a motive, but search warrants provide the most direct indication of why suspect Cody Balmer allegedly hopped a fence at the governor’s mansion, broke windows and hurled inside Molotov cocktails police said he made from beer bottles and gasoline.
Balmer, 38, called 911 less than an hour after the attack, identified himself and told the call-taker that he will not take part in Shapiro’s plans “for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” a search warrant said. Balmer added that Shapiro needed to “stop having my friends killed.”
“Our people have been put through too much by that monster,” Balmer said, according to the document.
After turning himself in, Balmer allegedly told police he would have attacked Shapiro with a hammer if he happened upon the governor inside the residence, according to court documents.
Balmer faces eight criminal charges, including attempted murder, terrorism and aggravated arson. Prosecutors at this time have not invoked a hate crime law, which in Pennsylvania is known as ethnic intimidation.
Attorney General Pam Bondi strongly condemned the attack in remarks at the Department of Justice on Wednesday, but she declined to label the act “domestic terrorism” or commit to opening a separate federal case against the suspect.
“It is absolutely horrific what happened to him,” Bondi said. “We have been praying for Josh, for his family. Those photos, it was horrible. I firmly believe that they wanted to kill him. … We are working with state authorities to do — it’s now a pending investigation — anything we can to help convict the person that did this and keep them behind bars as long as possible.”
Bondi did not answer a direct question from a reporter about whether she would label the action “domestic terrorism,” as she has repeatedly described the wave of attacks carried out on Teslas and dealerships around the country in recent months.
“Prosecutors will ultimately determine what motivated this,” Shapiro told reporters at the opening of a new Hershey’s Chocolate processing facility in Hershey, Pennsylvania. “The district attorney and the Department of Justice can comment on that further.”
When asked by a reporter if he wants hate crime charges filed, Shapiro said that’s a decision for the district attorney and the Department of Justice.
Dr. Pinsak Suraswadi, the Director General of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources conducts a survey on reefs affected by coral bleaching on May 07, 2024 in Trat, Thailand. (Photo by Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The world’s coral reefs are in the midst of the fourth and largest global bleaching event in recorded history, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced this week.
The grim milestone was recorded between January 2023 and April 2025, with the agency documenting that bleaching-level heat stress has impacted 83.7% of the world’s coral reef area.
The impacted reefs span at least 83 countries and territories, the agency said.
Since early 2023, mass bleaching of coral reefs has been confirmed in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian ocean basins, including parts of Florida and the coastline of the United States, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Australia, the South Pacific, the Persian Gulf, coasts of East Africa and Indonesia, according to NOAA.
The agency deemed this ongoing bleaching event “the biggest to date,” noting that the previous record was set with 68.2% of reefs affected during the third-largest bleaching period, between 2014 and 2017.
The first and second global coral bleaching events occurred in 1998 and 2010, respectively, according to the agency.
Bleaching occurs when warmer ocean temperatures cause the expulsion of algae that live in the coral tissue. This leaves the coral completely white, known as coral bleaching. Coral bleaching does not necessarily mean corals will die, according to NOAA, which noted that corals can recuperate if the strain on their ecosystems is reduced.
At a local level, storms, disease, sediments and changes in salinity can cause corals to bleach; however, mass bleaching, when several varieties of coral reefs are bleached, is largely caused by increased sea temperatures, according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
