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Akilisi Pohiva, the prime minister of Tonga, died today at 10:00 a.m. Tongan time (2100 UTC, yesterday) at the age of 78. Pohiva, who had been Tonga's prime minister since his election in 2014, was evacuated Wednesday afternoon from Tonga's capital, Nukuʻalofa, to a hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, with pneumonia. ABC reported that Pohiva received medical treatment in New Zealand for problems with his liver this year. In the wake of Pohiva's death, Tonga's parliament, the Legislative Assembly, was suspended indefinitely according to local me

On Thursday, the journal Science published a report by a team from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa (UH Mānoa) and the University of Southern California (USC), saying the eruption of the Kīlauea volcano last year has been followed by a dramatic increase in the population of phytoplankton, also called green algae, in the waters surrounding the island. Study co-author and geochemist Seth John remarked in a press release, "There was no reason for us to expect that an algae bloom like this would happen [...] Lava doesn't contain any nitrate." A

On Wednesday, Carrie Lam, the chief executive of Hong Kong, announced that her government will officially withdraw a proposed bill that would have allowed China to extradite accused criminals from Hong Kong to be tried under the mainland's criminal justice system. This was one of the five demands of the protesters, sometimes numbering in the millions, who have filled downtown streets since early this June. "The government will fully withdraw the bill in order to fully allay public concerns," Lam said in a televised announcement. Lam also agree

As the slow-moving tropical cyclone known as Hurricane Dorian finally cleared the Bahamas yesterday, the level of destruction left in its wake began to emerge. Dorian made its initial landfall as a Category 5 hurricane in the Abaco Islands on Sunday. Its wind speeds reached 185 mph (~295 km/h), tied for the strongest sustained winds at landfalling on record, according to the National Hurricane Center. After landfall, the speed at which Dorian moved slowed down dramatically, resulting in a very long stay over the island of Grand Bahama. In a th

A deadly boat fire earlier this week near Santa Cruz Island off the coast of California, United States, resulted in the death of all 33 passengers. The boat, Conception, which caught fire overnight in open seas, carried 33 passengers and six crew members. Five people, who were all crew, were rescued while the rest are presumed dead. The Conception was a 75 ft (~23 m) long commercial boat on a three-day voyage for underwater diving with Monday being the Labor Day holiday. The fire started some time after 3 a.m. local time {1000 UTC) Monday. "T

Yesterday, the United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth II announced she will comply with the request of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend Parliament for parts of September and October. Critics from across Britain's political spectrum have claimed this is a move by Johnson to foil opposition to his plans for a no-deal Brexit by October 31. Per the request, Parliament would meet briefly in early September and then not reconvene until October 14, two weeks before the current Brexit deadline. According to Johnson, this break will allow him to devel

Leon van Biljon, owner of Mahala View Lion Lodge near Pretoria, South Africa, was killed by his lions on Tuesday. Van Biljon, reportedly often referred to as "The Lion Man", had been in the lions' area attempting to mend a fence at the time, according to local news media. Mahala View Lion Lodge formerly billed itself as home to three lions: Rambo, Katryn and Nakita. It is one of over two hundred lion lodges in South Africa, which collectively house and breed more than six thousand lions, scientists report, a population larger than that of wild

Yesterday, what organizers estimated at 1.7 million Hongkongers, about a quarter of the city's population, marched from downtown Victoria Park toward the Central district, despite both pouring rain and police disapproval in the eleventh week of pro-Democracy protests against Chinese government encroachment on Hong Kong's rights and freedoms. The Civil Human Rights Front had sent the police a plan for yesterday's march, which they rejected, approving only a gathering in Victoria Park. Protesters started at the park, Causeway Bay, and Tin Hau e

John Hickenlooper, who was a candidate in the Democratic primaries for the 2020 United States presidential election, ended his campaign yesterday. Hickenlooper made his official announcement via a YouTube video in which he thanked his supporters. According to reports, Hickenlooper was polling so low nationally, he was in danger of not qualifying for the next round of televised debates. Reports citing sources within the Democratic Party have indicated Hickenlooper was actively encouraged to drop out in favor of a run for a seat in the United St

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico issued a ruling finding in favor of a lawsuit filed by the Puerto Rico Senate on Sunday against Pedro Pierluisi over his claim to the governorship. Pierluisi was sworn in last week following the August 2 resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevares due to a texting scandal. Following the ruling, Secretary of Justice Wanda Vázquez Garced was sworn in as Puerto Rico's governor at 5:00 p.m. (2100 UTC) in the Supreme Court. The opinion of the Court, released on Wednesday, read in part, Governor

Ricardo Rosselló Nevares, Puerto Rico's governor, announced his resignation shortly before midnight Wednesday night in an internet video broadcast to the U.S. island territory. Rosselló said he is to leave office next month on August 2 at 5 p.m. local time (2100 UTC). His announcement followed two weeks of protests in the capital, San Juan, over offensive messages about public officials and others. In his resignation speech, Rosselló said, Protesters called for Rosselló's resignation after revelations he and his staffers sent anti-homosexual

{ "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": {}, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -79.887222, 40.296389 ] } } ] } Early Saturday morning, somewhat after midnight, police in Clairton, Pennsylvania, in the eastern United States, responded to multiple reports of a shooting at a graduation party. Police said over a hundred people attended the party, located in Allegheny County, four of whom were injured in the shooting