Ash from eruption of Mt. Etna closes Catania airport in Sicily

July 9, 2011 – SICILY – A southern Italian airport was on Saturday closed due to ash from Mount Etna, forcing traffic to be diverted to Palermo, the ANSA news agency said. Catania airport on the east coast of the island of Sicily was not expected to re-open before Sunday morning while the runway was cleared, the report said. The volcano, which currently does not present any risk to local residents, spewed lava on to its southeastern slopes on Saturday afternoon and winds carried the ash further afield. Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe at 3,295 metres (10,810 feet). The last eruption was in May. A massive flood of meltwater from Iceland’s Myrdalsjoekull glacier, meanwhile, has raised fears of an eruption from the powerful Katla volcano there. -MSN

July 10, 2011 – SEOUL, (Yonhap) — At least eight people were killed and four were missing after torrential rains hit southern parts of South Korea over the weekend, emergency officials said Sunday. Since Friday, as much as 40 centimeters of rain has fallen in South Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces, leaving tens of thousands of hectares of farmland submerged and nearly 90 homes flooded. On Sunday, two old women, aged 92 and 86, were killed in a mountain hermitage near Boseong, 397 kilometers southwest of Seoul, hit by a rain-triggered landslide. A 68-year-old woman and two of her grandchildren were killed on Saturday when a landslide destroyed their home in Miryang, a city 386 km southeast of Seoul. Authorities also said a 72-year-old woman was found dead near the destroyed house, after being swept away in the floods. In Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang province, a 73-year-old woman was found dead, apparently a victim of a flash flood, and emergency crews are trying to find another elderly woman in the same region. Also on Saturday, a 20-year-old man drowned in a stream near Cheongwon, some 120 km south of Seoul. –Yonhap News