Alcatraz Reopens for Indoor Tours after Yearlong Closure

People look out at the views of the skyline and bay from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, Monday, March 15, 2021. (AP)
People look out at the views of the skyline and bay from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, Monday, March 15, 2021. (AP)
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Alcatraz Reopens for Indoor Tours after Yearlong Closure

People look out at the views of the skyline and bay from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, Monday, March 15, 2021. (AP)
People look out at the views of the skyline and bay from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, Monday, March 15, 2021. (AP)

Alcatraz, the historic island prison off San Francisco, opened up Monday for a limited number of indoor tours, which had been off-limits for more than a year due to the pandemic.

Face masks and social distancing are still required at the island, which once housed Al Capone and George “Machine Gun" Kelly. Ferries to Alcatraz are operating at 25% capacity, carrying about 150 passengers instead of the usual 600.

Access to the infamous cell house will also be limited only to visitors who sign up for the audio tour in advance.

Safety modifications have been made throughout the island including social distancing markers, increased cleanings and hand sanitizing stations.

Food service will not be available on the ferries or on the island.

In August, the popular tourist destination opened to an outdoor-only experience, to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Alcatraz usually hosts up to 5,000 tourists a day. For now, that number will be reduced to about a thousand.



Europe's Oldest Lake Settlement Uncovered in Albania

A drone view shows archaeologists diving in the lake of Ohrid to uncover objects, in the village of Lin, Albania, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Fatos Bytyci
A drone view shows archaeologists diving in the lake of Ohrid to uncover objects, in the village of Lin, Albania, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Fatos Bytyci
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Europe's Oldest Lake Settlement Uncovered in Albania

A drone view shows archaeologists diving in the lake of Ohrid to uncover objects, in the village of Lin, Albania, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Fatos Bytyci
A drone view shows archaeologists diving in the lake of Ohrid to uncover objects, in the village of Lin, Albania, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Fatos Bytyci

Archaeologists working on the shores of Ohrid Lake in Albania are convinced they have uncovered the oldest human settlement built on a European lake, finding evidence of an organized hunting and farming community living up to 8,000 years ago. The team, from Switzerland and Albania, spends hours each day about three meters (9.8 feet) underwater, painstakingly retrieving wooden stilts that supported houses.

The are also collecting bones of domesticated and wild animals, copper objects and ceramics, featuring detailed carvings.

Albert Hafner, from the University of Bern, said similar settlements have been found in Alpine and Mediterranean regions, but the settlements in the village of Lin are half a millennium older, dating back between 6,000 and 8,000 years.

"Because it is under water, the organic material is well-preserved and this allows us to find out what these people have been eating, what they have been planting," Hafner said.

Multiple studies show that Lake Ohrid, shared by North Macedonia and Albania, is the oldest lake in Europe, at over one million years.

The age of the findings is determined through radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology, which measures annual growth rings in trees. More than one thousand wood samples have been collected from the site, which may have hosted several hundred people.

It is believed to cover around six hectares, but so far, only about 1% has been excavated after six years of work.

Hafner said findings show that people who lived on the lake helped to spread agriculture and livestock to other parts of Europe.

"They were still doing hunting and collecting things but the stable income for the nutrition was coming from the agriculture," he said.

Albanian archaeologist Adrian Anastasi said it could take decades to fully explore the area.

"(By) the way they had lived, eaten, hunted, fished and by the way the architecture was used to build their settlement we can say they were very smart for that time," Anastasi said.