Mount Etna erupts with smoke and ash; airport closed but no village danger

On a February afternoon in Sicily, Mount Etna — Europe's tallest active volcano and a presence that has shaped this island for half a million years — reminded the world once more that the earth beneath us is never entirely still. Ash and small stones fell across Catania, prompting the closure of its international airport, while scientists and emergency services responded not with alarm but with the practiced calm of those who have learned to live in conversation with an ancient and restless mountain. The eruption was, by all expert accounts, unremarkable in its danger — yet remarkable, as alwa