HONOLULU (AP) - The Latest on the slowing of Kilauea volcano's eruption (all times local):Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is taking advantage of a lull in Kilauea's eruption to assess damage to the park. Slowing activity at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is prompting scientists to downgrade their alert level for the mountain. The U.S. Geological Survey said Friday it issued a "watch" for Kilauea's ground hazards. The agency has maintained a "warning" alert for Kilauea since May 3, when cracks began shooting...

This was acknowledged at a meeting of Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, who have set up shop in Bangladesh, with top Bangladeshi officials in Colombo on Thursday. Sri Lankan speakers at the "Ayubowan Bangladesh" (Long Live Bangladesh) event held under the aegis of the NDB Investment Banking Quarter of Sri Lanka and the Bangladesh High Commission gushed about Bangladesh’s  friendly government; its pleasant and eager-to-help bureaucrats;  its techno-savvy white collar workers; and its cooperative and reasonably priced labour. The Sri Lankan speakers...

The body of the green sea turtle has completely decomposed – but the plastic netting remains in tact months later. The picture of the turtle is taken from the upcoming environmental film Blue, which will be shown at the Ocean Film Festival UK & Ireland Tour. Rosie Fuller, 36, tour coordinator, said: 'These pictures show the horrific effects of plastic pollution and ghost nets on marine life and the world's oceans. This follows research showing that more than five trillion plastic...

Thousands of dead fish have washed up on a popular Florida beach as a toxic algae bloom plagues the Gulf Coast, killing tourism and wildlife. The algae bloom known as Red Tide has spread throughout the Gulf of Mexico, drifting through the water since in October. The algae turns the water toxic for marine life, and in recent weeks beachgoers have been horrified to find turtles, large fish like goliath grouper and even manatees wash up dead. In places like...

A surprising result of the research was that Porto, Portugal's second city, proved to be cheaper than two fast-emerging Eastern European capitals, Bratislava, Slovakia (£203) and Ljubljana, Slovenia (£217). Third-placed in the Unsung Cities League, Porto's prices (£184) were also a third lower than in Lisbon (£275) and eight per cent less than in Athens (£200), making it the cheapest city in Western Europe. The price gap between Europe's two closest capital cities is over £159 or 44 per cent....

Nationals leader Michael McCormack will declare his party owes nothing to big business in a speech aimed at rallying the troops before a generation-defining election. Mr McCormack will address the party's federal council in Canberra on Saturday for first time since becoming leader in February. The deputy prime minister is set to draw the battlelines for the next federal election, due by May, with lower power prices and tax relief for small businesses top priorities. Mr McCormack will take aim...

CAIRO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Mahmoud Aouni has always wanted to make the haj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, an important religious duty for all Muslims, but says he might never be able to do so now because of Egypt's economic woes. Even wealthier pilgrims are now finding the journey more difficult after Saudi Arabia and Egypt both imposed additional fees for Muslims repeating the lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the 'umrah', within three...

Hotel owners in Ibiza say they fear the party resort of San Antonia is 'finished' after a string of deaths this summer. Tourism chiefs are being urged to plan a major change of image of San Antonio to make sure holidaymakers return in the years ahead. On Sunday, a British expat died after falling from an apartment block in San Antonio, the same building where another 26-year-old Brit fell from last year. Local newspaper Diario de Ibiza says local business...

The Catania plant is likely to begin producing state-of-the-art solar panels next year, after trial runs in the coming months. It involves adding a new, microscopic layer of silicon to solar cells, increasing their ability to gather sunlight and convert it into electricity. Enel expects that panels made in the first year will be able to convert around 20 percent of sunlight to energy, which is toward the higher end of industry averages.

In between, Mr Clifford kept up an inventive stream of Carry On-style innuendo in their email messages. Because Mr Clifford, 47, is a senior councillor and his lover was a junior official at the same local authority. In one, Mr Clifford – an elected Labour councillor and the cabinet member for leisure, culture and tourism – had joked about his lover being ‘punished’ while calling himself ‘very, very naughty’. The standards committee was told the five-month relationship began last summer...