Volcanic Ash Cloud Closes Airport in La Palma

La Palma airport was briefly shut on September 25 after a thick cloud of black ash forced airlines to cancel flights. JORGE GUERRERO AFP/File
La Palma airport was briefly shut on September 25 after a thick cloud of black ash forced airlines to cancel flights. JORGE GUERRERO AFP/File
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Volcanic Ash Cloud Closes Airport in La Palma

La Palma airport was briefly shut on September 25 after a thick cloud of black ash forced airlines to cancel flights. JORGE GUERRERO AFP/File
La Palma airport was briefly shut on September 25 after a thick cloud of black ash forced airlines to cancel flights. JORGE GUERRERO AFP/File

Clouds of thick ash from the erupting volcano on La Palma on Thursday forced the island's airport to close for the second time since the September 19 eruption, Spain's airport authority said.

"The airport is not in operation at the moment," an AENA spokeswoman told AFP, saying "some cleaning work needs to be done" on the runways before it would reopen.

But the closure "may not last very long" she added.

On Wednesday evening, local airline Binter had said it was cancelling all flights in and out of La Palma, one of Spain's Canary Islands archipelago in the Atlantic, just off the northwestern coast of Africa.

"This suspension will last until conditions improve and we can fly safely," Binter tweeted, with rival airline CanaryFly also suspending flights.

The airport was briefly shut on September 25 after a thick cloud of black ash forced airlines to cancel flights.

Although it was reopened a day later, flights did not resume until September 29.



China Blasts US Arms Sale to Taiwan, Lai's US Transit

FILE PHOTO: Flags of US and China are seen in this illustration picture taken August 2, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Flags of US and China are seen in this illustration picture taken August 2, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
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China Blasts US Arms Sale to Taiwan, Lai's US Transit

FILE PHOTO: Flags of US and China are seen in this illustration picture taken August 2, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Flags of US and China are seen in this illustration picture taken August 2, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo

China vowed "resolute countermeasures" on Sunday to a recently approved US arms sale to Taiwan, and complained to the US for arranging for the democratically governed island's president to transit through US territory.
The US State Department approved the potential sale, worth an estimated $385 million, of spare parts and support for F-16 jets and radars to Taiwan, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The sale was announced hours before Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te left on a visit to Taipei's three diplomatic allies in the Pacific, with stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam.
The sale sends "a wrong signal" to Taiwan independence forces and undermines US-China relations, China's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said in a separate statement that it firmly opposes any official exchanges between the US and Taiwan and "strongly condemns" the US for arranging the transit.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and the most important issue in its relations with Washington, strongly dislikes Lai, calling him a "separatist".
The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei, to the constant anger of Beijing.
Taiwan rejects China's claims of sovereignty.