ARMENIAN PROTEST LEADER URGES HALT
ARMENIA» The opposition YEREVAN, lawmaker who has led weeks of mass demonstrations called Wednesday for the protests to take a break after a surprising move by the ruling party appeared to clear the way for him to become prime minister. On a fast-moving day of turmoil that began with crowds blocking roads, railways and the airport in the capital, the head of the ruling Republican Party’s faction in parliament said it would vote May 8 for any prime minister candidate nominated by a third of the body’s 105 members. That effectively promised the job to Nikol Pashinian, just one day after parliament rejected him.
No survivors in crash of Puerto Rican military plane.
GA.» Authorities say SAVANNAH, that, to their knowledge, there are no survivors after a cargo plane carrying nine members of the Puerto Rican Air National Guard crashed on a highway in Georgia.
The crew was flying the C-130 into retirement Wednesday when it plunged onto a highway on the outskirts of Savannah.
A sheriff’s spokeswoman, Gena Bilbo, for Effingham County said “miraculously” the plane didn’t hit any cars or homes.
Passengers heard window popping on Southwest plane.
CLEVELAND» Passengers on a Southwest Airlines plane first heard a loud pop then scurried away when they saw a jagged crack in a window that forced the jet to land in Cleveland on Wednesday.
Some on board immediately thought back to two weeks ago when a jet engine blew apart and broke a window in a deadly accident aboard another Southwest flight.
There were no reports of injuries after Flight 957 heading from Chicago to New Jersey landed safely Wednesday after making an abrupt turn toward Cleveland while over Lake Erie, according to tracking data from Flight.
“It made you nervous because something like this just happened,” said passenger Paul Upshaw of Chicago, who was about two seats from the window.
“We didn’t know if it was going to crack open.”
Dozens of quakes rattle Hawaii volcano; eruption possible.
HONOLULU» Dozens of earthquakes were rattling Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano on Wednesday as underground magma moved into a new area east of the Puu Oo vent.
Officials with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the increased activity is associated with the collapse of the crater floor at Puu Oo, which is an open vent below Kilauea’s summit crater and lava lake.
There were about 50 small quakes detected in the area on Wednesday morning alone.
Scientists say the activity could trigger a new eruption and people are being told to stay away.
USGS is sending two ground crews into the area Wednesday to install new monitoring equipment.
Death toll in Central African Republic’s capital rises to 19.