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Spain Declares Canaries Volcano Eruption Officially Over

Lava pours out of a volcano in the Cumbre Vieja national park at El Paso, on the Canary Island of La Palma, September 19, 2021, in this screen grab taken from a video. FORTA/Handout via REUTERS
Lava pours out of a volcano in the Cumbre Vieja national park at El Paso, on the Canary Island of La Palma, September 19, 2021, in this screen grab taken from a video. FORTA/Handout via REUTERS
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Spain Declares Canaries Volcano Eruption Officially Over

Lava pours out of a volcano in the Cumbre Vieja national park at El Paso, on the Canary Island of La Palma, September 19, 2021, in this screen grab taken from a video. FORTA/Handout via REUTERS
Lava pours out of a volcano in the Cumbre Vieja national park at El Paso, on the Canary Island of La Palma, September 19, 2021, in this screen grab taken from a video. FORTA/Handout via REUTERS

The eruption of a volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma that destroyed hundreds of homes and large swathes of farmland has ended, officials said Saturday over three months after it began.

The announcement follows 10 days of low-level activity from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the tiny isle, part of the Canary Islands which lie off Africa's northwest coast.

No injuries or deaths have been directly linked to the eruption, which began on September 19, spewing rivers of molten rock and sending ash plume containing toxic gases into the air.

But it destroyed 1,345 homes, mainly on the western side of La Palma, as well as schools, churches, health centers and farm irrigation infrastructure.

Dramatic footage from the first days of the eruption have been repeatedly aired on Spanish TV, showing a cloud of dense smoke engulfing the bell tower of a church before it collapsed.

The slow-moving lava has covered 1,250 hectares of land as it made its way to the Atlantic, much of it banana plantations, La Palma's main livelihood along with tourism.

The eruption -- which was accompanied by frequent earthquakes -- is the first in La Palma since 1971 and the longest on record on the island of around 83,000 people.

About 7,000 people have been evacuated from their homes, with many given just minutes to pack their belongings.

The damage from the eruption could exceed 900 million euros ($1.0 billion), according to regional officials.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who visited La Palma several times during the eruption and has pledged to help La Palma rebuild after the disaster, described the news as "the best Christmas present."

"We will continue working together, all the institutions, to relaunch the wonderful island of La Palma and repair the damage caused," Sanchez tweeted on Saturday.

His government has so far promised 225 million euros in aid funding to recovery efforts, including buying temporary housing and providing financial assistance to people who lost their jobs.

Experts have warned it will take several years to clean up the land destroyed by the lava and remove huge amounts of ash from buildings and roads.

Soldiers from an emergency unit have been removing ash from rooftops throughout the eruption to prevent buildings from collapsing.

The volcano will continue to release toxic gases for a long spell, which could pose a threat to the population. The lava will also take a long time to cool to a safe level.

"The end of the eruption doesn't mean to say there's no longer any danger," said Julio Perez, a director of the Canary emergency volcanic response.

"The risks and dangers persist," he told a news conference.

Many locals have complained that state aid has been slow in coming, with some already mulling moving away from the island known as "La Island bonita" -- "The Beautiful Island" -- for its lush landscape.

"I may have to leave and look for something else on another island, because public institutions are not up to the challenge of this disaster," Victor Manuel, a 50-year-old banana farmer, told AFP recently.

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Varieties

Lion, Bear Kept as Pets in Albania Find New Homes in German Wildlife Sanctuaries

In this photo, released on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025 by Four Paws, veterinarians prepare Erion, a three-year-old lion for its transportation from Tirana to Germany after its illegal keeping in Albania. (Four Paws via AP)
In this photo, released on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025 by Four Paws, veterinarians prepare Erion, a three-year-old lion for its transportation from Tirana to Germany after its illegal keeping in Albania. (Four Paws via AP)
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Lion, Bear Kept as Pets in Albania Find New Homes in German Wildlife Sanctuaries

In this photo, released on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025 by Four Paws, veterinarians prepare Erion, a three-year-old lion for its transportation from Tirana to Germany after its illegal keeping in Albania. (Four Paws via AP)
In this photo, released on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025 by Four Paws, veterinarians prepare Erion, a three-year-old lion for its transportation from Tirana to Germany after its illegal keeping in Albania. (Four Paws via AP)

A lion and bear rescued from captivity in northern Albania arrived in animal sanctuaries in Germany in early December after authorities in Tirana discovered they were being illegally kept as pets on a private estate.

Erion, a 3-year-old lion, and Flora, a 2-year-old bear, are now both starting a new life.

“We are very happy that the authorities confiscated the animals and that we now have the chance to bring them to Germany, where they can start over and live in species-appropriate conditions,” said Magdalena Scherk-Trettin, a senior project manager responsible for rescues at the international animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS.

A team from FOUR PAWS carried out the rescue after Albania’s National Forestry Agency located the lion based on videos posted on TikTok by its owner.

Neither authorities nor the organization have named the person who was keeping them as pets.

Veterinarians administered anesthesia before the animals were loaded into crates for their long trip to new homes. On Dec. 13, they ended a 70-hour journey through several European countries, with Erion now housed in a wild animal sanctuary in southeast Germany and Flora in a bear sanctuary in the north of the country, FOUR PAWS said.

The organization said both animals had been in poor condition.

“An initial visual check determined that Flora is malnourished and has dental issues, so her recovery plan is already underway,” the organization said.

And when Erion was rescued, his mane had fallen out, for reasons that the veterinarians have not yet been able to determine, it said.

Despite the challenging journey, the rescue was worth it, said Scherk-Trettin. “We are delighted to see these animals begin their new lives.”

Illegal wildlife trade remains a systemic problem in Albania and across the region, where bears in particular, as well as exotic animals, are kept in cages at restaurants or on private properties with little or no expert care.

Erion's and Flora's origins remain unclear. FOUR PAWS said it believes the lion is a victim of illegal wildlife trafficking, while the bear was likely poached from the wild.

“The rescue highlights Albania’s urgent need to tackle illegal wildlife trade and private keeping,” The Associated Press quoted the organization as saying in a statement.

Weak legislation, legal loopholes and poor enforcement have contributed to the widespread private captivity and trade of wild animals in Albania, according to FOUR PAWS, which estimates that more than 60 big cats are still being kept in poor conditions in Albania.

Albanian law allows for individuals or organizations to keep specimens of wild animals if they were born in captivity – for example in a zoo or a specialized facility. Non-native species born outside of Albania can also be kept if documents can be provided proving they were acquired from specialized breeding and trade centers.

Sajmir Shehu, a project manager at Four Paws, said the law lacks a stringent framework based on which organizations like his could prevent wild animals being kept in captivity.

The law also allows for animals to be confiscated if welfare or veterinary standards are not met, but imposes no sanctions on the owners of exotic pets.

Varieties

Saturn's Moon Titan May Not Have a Buried Ocean as Long Suspected, New Study Suggests

This image made by the Cassini spacecraft and provided by NASA on March 12, 2006, shows two of Saturn's moons, the small Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, with Saturn's A and F rings stretching across the frame. (NASA via AP)
This image made by the Cassini spacecraft and provided by NASA on March 12, 2006, shows two of Saturn's moons, the small Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, with Saturn's A and F rings stretching across the frame. (NASA via AP)
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Saturn's Moon Titan May Not Have a Buried Ocean as Long Suspected, New Study Suggests

This image made by the Cassini spacecraft and provided by NASA on March 12, 2006, shows two of Saturn's moons, the small Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, with Saturn's A and F rings stretching across the frame. (NASA via AP)
This image made by the Cassini spacecraft and provided by NASA on March 12, 2006, shows two of Saturn's moons, the small Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, with Saturn's A and F rings stretching across the frame. (NASA via AP)

Saturn's giant moon Titan may not have a vast underground ocean after all.

Titan instead may hold deep layers of ice and slush more akin to Earth’s polar seas, with pockets of melted water where life could possibly survive and even thrive, scientists reported Wednesday.

The team led by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory challenged the decade-long assumption of a buried global ocean at Titan after taking a fresh look at observations made years ago by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft around Saturn.

They stress that no one has found any signs of life at Titan, the solar system’s second largest moon spanning 3,200 miles (5,150 kilometers) and brimming with lakes of liquid methane on its frosty surface, The AP news reported.

But with the latest findings suggesting a slushy, near-melting environment, “there is strong justification for continued optimism regarding the potential for extraterrestrial life,” said the University of Washington’s Baptiste Journaux, who took part in the study published in the journal Nature.

As to what form of life that might be, possibly strictly microscopic, “nature has repeatedly demonstrated far greater creativity than the most imaginative scientists," he said in an email.

JPL’s Flavio Petricca, the lead author, said Titan’s ocean may have frozen in the past and is currently melting, or its hydrosphere might be evolving toward complete freezing.

Computer models suggest these layers of ice, slush and water extend to a depth of more than 340 miles (550 kilometers). The outer ice shell is thought to be about 100 miles (170 kilometers) deep, covering layers of slush and pools of water that could go down another 250 miles (400 kilometers). This water could be as warm as 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius).

Because Titan is tidally locked, the same side of the moon faces Saturn all the time, just like our own moon and Earth. Saturn’s gravitational pull is so intense that it deforms the moon’s surface, creating bulges as high as 30 feet (10 meters) when the two bodies are closest.

Through improved data processing, Petricca and his team managed to measure the timing between the peak gravitational tug and the rising of Titan’s surface. If the moon held a wet ocean, the effect would be immediate, Petricca said, but a 15-hour gap was detected, indicating an interior of slushy ice with pockets of liquid water. Computer modeling of Titan’s orientation in space supported their theory.

Sapienza University of Rome’s Luciano Iess, whose previous studies using Cassini data indicated a hidden ocean at Titan, is not convinced by the latest findings.

While “certainly intriguing and will stimulate renewed discussion ... at present, the available evidence looks certainly not sufficient to exclude Titan from the family of ocean worlds," Iess said in an email.

NASA’s planned Dragonfly mission — featuring a helicopter-type craft due to launch to Titan later this decade — is expected to provide more clarity on the moon’s innards. Journaux is part of that team.

Saturn leads the solar system’s moon inventory with 274. Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is just a little larger than Titan, with a possible underground ocean. Other suspected water worlds include Saturn’s Enceladus and Jupiter’s Europa, both of which are believed to have geysers of water erupting from their frozen crusts.

Launched in 1997, Cassini reached Saturn in 2004, orbiting the ringed planet and flying past its moons until deliberately plunging through Saturn’s atmosphere in 2017.

Varieties

Catch the Ursid Meteor Shower as it Peaks just before Christmas

People look up to the sky from an observatory near the village of Avren, Bulgaria, Aug. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Petar Petrov, File)
People look up to the sky from an observatory near the village of Avren, Bulgaria, Aug. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Petar Petrov, File)
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Catch the Ursid Meteor Shower as it Peaks just before Christmas

People look up to the sky from an observatory near the village of Avren, Bulgaria, Aug. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Petar Petrov, File)
People look up to the sky from an observatory near the village of Avren, Bulgaria, Aug. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Petar Petrov, File)

The last major meteor shower of the year, known as the Ursids, peaks soon, bringing glowing streaks to nighttime and early morning skies. Compared to other meteor showers, it's more subdued, but experts say it's still worth a glimpse.

Meteor showers happen when space rocks hit Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds and burn up, gaining fiery tails — the end of a “shooting star.” Random meteors are visible from Earth on any given clear night, but more predictable meteor showers happen yearly when Earth passes through streams of cosmic leftovers from comets or asteroids, Reuters reported.

The Ursids peak Sunday night into Monday morning and will be visible until Dec. 26 from the Northern Hemisphere. Skygazers usually see five to 10 meteors per hour during the height and there's a possibility for outbursts of up to 25 meteors per hour, according to the American Meteor Society.

How active a shower will appear from Earth depends on the amount of debris and the moon's brightness, which can blot out glowing meteors. The Ursids feature less space debris than other showers like the Geminids, but the narrow crescent moon won't be much of an obstacle when they peak.

No special equipment is needed to view a meteor shower. To see the Ursids, which hail from a comet called 8P/Tuttle, bundle up and get away from city lights.

“The darker your sky, the better the shower is going to be,” said astronomer Peter Brown with Western University in Canada.

The meteors can be seen over the whole sky, but all the streaks will seem to come from a central point near a constellation for which the shower is named. In this case, that's the constellation Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Dipper.

Once it gets dark, avoid bright lights from cellphones, which will make it harder for your eyes to adjust.