New Zealand planning retrieval of bodies on volcanic island

WHAKATANE, New Zealand (AP) — A team of eight New Zealand military specialists will land on a small volcanic island just after first light Friday to attempt to retrieve the bodies of eight victims of an eruption that claimed eight other lives. New Zealand police said late Thursday the recovery attempt will...

Volcanoes an ever-present, if usually distant danger

The eruption of an island volcano in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty killed up to 16 people, injured dozens and prevented rescuers from retrieving the bodies of eight victims believed to be on the island. A famed tourist attraction, White Island is one of several active volcanoes in New Zealand and one of the...

New Zealand volcano vents steam, death toll now at 16

WHAKATANE, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand medical staff were continuing to work around the clock Thursday treating severely burned survivors of a volcanic eruption as police announced two more victims had died in hospitals, bringing the death toll to 16. The enormity of the task facing doctors in burn...

Flooded farmers face growing dilemma in warming world

CRESCENT, Iowa (AP) — Frogs, carp and bugs thrived all summer in murky floodwaters where Gene Walter should have planted corn and soybeans. Last year’s ruined crop spilled from metal storage bins that burst nine months ago when the Missouri River surged through two levees near his southwest Iowa...

New Zealand releases 9 names of volcano victims

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Police released on Wednesday the names of nine people missing in New Zealand's volcano disaster. They are seven Australian tourists who made a day trip to White Island from a cruise ship that had left Sydney a few days earlier and two tour guides from New Zealand. Police said...

Rescuer describes horror of New Zealand's silent eruption

WHAKATANE, New Zealand (AP) — The eruption was so silent that Lillani Hopkins didn't hear it over the hum of the boat’s engines. She didn't turn around until her dad whacked her. Then she saw it. Huge clouds of ash and steam shooting into the sky. She was so excited, she grabbed her phone out of her...

Authorities in New Zealand say two more people have died from the volcano eruption, raising the death toll to 16

Italy urges donor conference for quake-struck Albania

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Italy's foreign minister on Wednesday urged an international donors' conference to raise funds for Albania following last month's earthquake that flattened buildings and killed 51 people. Luigi di Maio also pledged further aid from Italy, saying Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte...

Warren pushes back against more moderate path to White House

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Pushing back against fellow Democrats who advocate a more moderate path to the White House, Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday her party will lose the 2020 presidential election if it settles for an agenda that's “business as usual” and only “nibbles around the...

Increased activity on New Zealand volcano stymies recovery

WHAKATANE, New Zealand (AP) — Experts said geothermal activity on a New Zealand volcanic island increased significantly on Wednesday, dealing a blow to relatives waiting for crews to recover the bodies that remain there following a deadly eruption two days earlier. Volcanic tremors rose in the morning,...