Mount Etna, one of the world's most active volcanoes, belched smoke and ashes in a new eruption on Tuesday, but Italian authorities said it posed no danger to the surrounding villages. Estimating that the eruption from Etna's southeastern crater began late Tuesday afternoon, Branco insisted that the latest burst of activity was "not at all worrying". Nevertheless, with small stones and ashes raining down, authorities decided to close Catania's international airport. Images showed a spectacular rose-coloured plume of ashes above the snow-capped summit, but the cloud had largely dissipated by nightfall, while lava flows continued to glow. |