Ash Cloud Disrupts Flights Again

However, the government said there was a chance the cloud could still be affecting Spain next week.

Ash Cloud

The government said over 400 flights would be cancelled, leaving almost 40,000 people stuck in airports stretching from La Coruna in the northwest to Barcelona in the northeast.

Most flights between Europe and North America are being diverted because of the ash cloud’s latest drifting, officials at Eurocontrol, the agency that co-ordinates aviation safety in Europe, said.

Flights are being rerouted north and south of the 2,000km long cloud.

The Spanish national airport management agency (Aena) said the airports affected were Barcelona, Girona, Sabadell, Bilbao, San Sebastian, Vitoria, Zaragoza, Huesca, Pamplona, Logrono, Santiago, La Coruna, Vigo, Asturias, Santander, Leon, Valladolid, Burgos and Salamanca.

Airspace across Europe was closed down for up to a week last month after the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, but was reopened after emergency talks between European governments, airlines and regulators.

Credit: http://english.aljazeera.net

8.8 earthquake shakes Chile

On Saturday, Feb. 27, a massive earthquake hit the coast of Chile at 3:34 a.m. and caused a tsunami that came in three waves and surged over 200 meters high, according to an article on nydailynews.com.

As of Tuesday, 795 people were reported dead and over 1.5 million homes damaged or destroyed after the 8.8-magnitude quake shook the earth. This number is likely to grow as search-and-rescue teams discover more bodies in collapsed buildings and rubble, according to an article on cnn.com.

Japan and Hawaii were both put on high alert in fear of the tsunami, but the surges that reached the islands were smaller than expected, according to an article on nydailynews.com. On the Chilean island of Juan Fernandez the tsunami washed away villages and destroyed houses, yet no tsunami warning was issued to this or any other coastal area. On Monday, the Chilean defense minister, Francisco Vidal said the navy made the mistake, according to an article on theepochtimes.com

We have here an actual video taken with a cellphone of the moment that the earthquake was happening. This guys where driving their car and they started feeling a terrible shaking…

For more information, see the following Video, directly from FOX News:

Blue Moon and Lunar Eclipse New Year’s Eve

A blue moon only happens every two and a half years. We will have one New Year’s Eve night while sky watchers in Europe, Asia and Africa will see a partial lunar eclipse. A blue moon and a lunar eclipse happening at the same time is very rare. The last time we had a blue moon on New Year’s Eve was in 1990.

China Executes Briton

Akmal Shaikh was caught carrying over four pounds of heroin at the Urumqi Diwopu International Airport two years ago. He was convicted of the charges. Shaikh appealed claiming mental health problems. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was disappointed that his appeals for clemency were not approved and sends his condolences to Shaikh’s family.

Flight 253 Averted Terrorist Bombing

On Christmas Day flight 253 left from Amsterdam to Detroit with a potential terrorist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab whose name was added to the possible terrorist connections list. His name was not on the no-fly list, however, which meant no flags went up when he paid in cash for a plane ticket and did not check any bags.