Mount Etna

Red-hot lava destroyed a cable car station and surged over man-made barriers Tuesday, drawing closer to a popular tourist complex halfway up Mt. Etna. A flow of lava nearly 500 feet wide overran two walls of earth and rock erected to protect the complex--a hostel and a cluster of restaurants and souvenir stands--and was about 165 feet away.

With Mt. Etna belching plumes of flame and ash, workers relentlessly bulldozed dirt and volcanic rock into 10-foot walls Friday, hoping to prevent lava from swallowing a string of souvenir shops and a cable-car base. The work became more frantic after the flow from Europe's most active volcano burned a wooden warehouse Friday morning, just hours after it poured over a protective embankment and across an empty parking lot.

Sicily's Mt. Etna, Europe's most active volcano, erupted Wednesday, forcing emergency services workers to build up defenses against a lava flow moving at 500 feet an hour. After days of tremors, lava spewed out of a new fissure in the volcano early Wednesday at a height of 6,900 feet. Ash and smoke have been billowing out of Etna and over eastern Sicily for the last five days. One man needed hospital treatment after he was hit by a rock thrown out of the volcano.

A series of earthquakes rocked this island Tuesday, leaving hundreds of families temporarily homeless as Mt. Etna spewed lava and ash for a third day running. The Italian government declared a state of emergency for the volcano area, and the Defense Ministry sent in 1,000 soldiers. A ship equipped with a medical clinic was positioned off the city of Catania.

Mt. Etna spewed columns of ash that blackened skies as far away as Africa on Monday as lava streamed down its slopes. The magma set a pine forest on fire and led officials to divert flights to the other side of this Italian island. The air was thick and dirty over eastern Sicily, and on Malta, an island 125 miles south of the volcano, ash blackened parked cars and dirtied laundry hanging from balconies.

Rivers of lava poured down Mt. Etna on Sunday, engulfing small buildings and threatening a mountain lodge after a series of earthquakes awakened Europe's highest and most active volcano. Pine trees caught fire as the heat of the lava engulfed them, and the stench of sulfur filled the air as cracks opened up in the ground, witnesses said.

Lava and black ash spewed Monday from Mount Etna for a second day during the eruption of Europe's highest active volcano. There was no immediate danger to nearby residents, officials said.

China is increasing train fares by an average of 54%, a move that, paradoxically, may benefit foreign travelers, who will no longer have to pay significantly higher ticket prices than Chinese passengers. Up to now, official policy has been to force foreigners to pay a great deal more than Chinese citizens for the same ticket.

Smoke from forest fires on Indonesia's island of Sumatra began wafting over several southern Thai provinces, sparking fears that an environmental disaster similar to the one that occurred in the region several years ago may be looming. The smoke, which originated from blazes used by farmers to clear land, has also spread to western Borneo and Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur. Tropical Cyclones Typhoon Utor brushed Taiwan and roared ashore on mainland China near Hong Kong.

Crocodiles and snakes crawled into neighborhoods and streets in the flood-ravaged city of Villahermosa on Mexico's Gulf Coast, looking for places to rest and sun themselves. Witnesses reported that the crocodiles have even occasionally blocked traffic. The reptiles have been forced out of their usual habitats by the severe flooding and mudslides that struck vast areas of southeastern Mexico last month, killing at least 381 people.