The skies turned black across southern Chile and Argentina as one of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanoes belched out a heavy blanket of ash, the first eruption in half a century.

One of the volcanoes in the Caulle Cordon of southern Chile erupted violently, billowing smoke and ash high into the sky and prompting more than 3,500 people living nearby to evacuate.

A volcanic ash "supremo" was appointed yesterday.

We pedants love dying in the last ditch, and the more futile the resistance the more we love it. Some people, for instance, insist passionately that "decimate" must be used only in its original and "correct" meaning. But do we really need a word that means "kill one in 10"?

We have a suggestion for the BBC and Sky News: now might be a wise time to invest in some key man insurance. Drinks company Diageo is sponsoring a five-a-side football tournament next Wednesday featuring 18 teams of journalists. In the first round, the BBC's team, including business editor Robert Peston, are down to play Sky News, whose team features Pesto's arch rival, business editor Mark Kleinman. Can the pair get through the game without kicking lumps out of each other? And who'll win the race, once the final whistle is blown, to reveal exclusively the final score?

Scientists believe the interior of the Moon is very similar to that of Earth, with an abundance of water below its surface

Scientists have released photographs of what they believe are volcanic glass particles from Iceland which fell on Scotland this week.

Willie Walsh and Michael O'Leary have spent the week arguing it is safe to fly. They are wrong

Airline passengers breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday as a gap in the ash cloud from Iceland's latest volcanic eruption allowed almost disruption-free travel.

High levels of volcanic ash could return to the UK on Friday just as the bank holiday weekend getaway begins, forecasters have warned.

I just heard someone on the radio say that, if I booked a package holiday, I would be looked after whatever happened with the volcanic-ash cloud from Iceland. From what I heard about last year's event, I'm not sure he's right. Is he?