MOUNT ETNA, Italy (AP) — Guides who take tourists to enjoy the striking views of Sicily’s Mount Etna are up in arms over tougher restrictions imposed by local authorities after a round of eruptions at the giant volcano in recent weeks.
Authorities in the city of Catania have suspended or restricted excursions to see the volcano's lava flows, prompting guides to go on strike for the first time in decades and leaving disgruntled tourists with fewer options to see the spectacle up close.
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Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Dozens of the guides demonstrated Wednesday in front of Mount Etna’s lava flow gate, calling the new restrictions excessive and saying the lava flows are slow-moving enough to be viewed safely as has been done in the past.
“These measures effectively nullify the role of guides, stripping them of their skills, function, and professional responsibility,” a statement by the guides’ regional board said.
The lava flows are especially spectacular after sunset, but under the new rules, excursions are allowed only until dusk and can go no closer than 200 meters (660 feet) to the lava flow. Also, a previously existing limit of 10 people per group is being vigorously enforced, including with drones.
Mount Etna is Europe’s most active volcano and the continent’s largest. It attracts hikers and backpackers to its slopes, while less adventurous tourists can take it in from a distance, most stunningly from the Ionian Sea.
At 3,350 meters (almost 10,990 feet) tall and 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) wide, the Sicilian giant frequently offers a front-row seat to nature’s power. Last June, a massive eruption forced tourists to flee the volcano after a plume of high-temperature gases, ash and rock several kilometers high billowed into the air above them.
The latest restrictions were adopted after Mount Etna started a round of eruptions on Christmas Eve.
The most advanced lava front reached 1,360 meters (4,460 feet) above sea level, before stopping and entering a cooling phase after a journey of approximately 3.4 kilometers (about 2 miles), local authorities said. The lava flow poses no danger to nearby residential areas, volcanologists say.
Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology confirmed this week that Mount Etna’s eruption is ongoing, but said the lava fronts are cooling and not advancing further.
“This is a lava flow that is descending very slowly on an area that is now also flat or semi-flat,” said Dario Teri, 43, a member of Sicily’s association of alpine and volcano guides who participated in Wednesday’s protest.
The guides, who are expected to continue their strike in the coming days, hope to come to a compromise with authorities that can protect their profession while also ensuring the safety of visitors.
Claudia Mancini, a 32-year-old tourist, said she came from Palermo for an excursion with a guide at Mount Etna.
“Unfortunately, we got the bad news of the cancelling of all activity,” Mancini said, adding that she sympathized with the guides over a situation that ”is not making anyone happy.”
Zampano reported from Rome.
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal immigration agents shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland on Thursday, a day after an officer fatally shot a woman in Minnesota, authorities said.
The shooting drew hundreds of protesters to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at night, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield vowed to investigate “whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority” and refer criminal charges to the prosecutor's office if warranted.
The Department of Homeland Security said the vehicle's passenger was “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who was involved in a recent shooting in the city. When agents identified themselves to the occupants during a “targeted vehicle stop” in the afternoon, the driver tried to run them over, the department said in a statement.
“Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot,” it said. “The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene.”
There was no immediate independent corroboration of that account or of any gang affiliation of the vehicle's occupants. During prior shootings involving agents from President Donald Trump's immigration crackdowns in U.S. cities, including the fatal one Wednesday in Minneapolis, video evidence has cast doubt on the administration's characterizations of what prompted the shootings.
Trump and his allies have consistently blamed the Tren de Aragua gang for being at the root of violence and drug dealing in some U.S. cities.
The Portland shooting escalates tensions in a city that has long had a contentious relationship with Trump, including due to his recent failed effort to deploy National Guard troops there. The city saw long-running nightly protests outside the ICE building.
According to the Portland Police bureau, officers initially responded to a report of a shooting outside Adventist Health hospital at 2:18 p.m. Thursday.
A few minutes later, police received information that a man who had been shot was asking for help in a residential area a couple of miles away. Officers went there and found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds. Officers determined that they were injured in the shooting with federal agents, police said.
Their conditions were not immediately known. Portland police said officers applied a tourniquet to one of them.
City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney said during a meeting that “as far as we know, both of these individuals are still alive, and we are hoping for more positive updates throughout the afternoon.”
At a nighttime news conference, Police Chief Bob Day said the FBI was leading the investigation and he had no details about the events that led to the shooting.
Mayor Keith Wilson and the City Council called on ICE to end all operations in Oregon’s largest city until a full investigation is completed.
“We stand united as elected officials in saying that we cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” they said in a statement. “Portland is not a ‘training ground’ for militarized agents, and the ‘full force’ threatened by the administration has deadly consequences.”
Wilson also suggested at a news conference that he does not necessarily believe the federal government's account of the shooting: “There was a time we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”
Democratic State Sen. Kayse Jama, who lives near where it took place, said Oregon is a welcoming state — but he told federal agents to leave.
“You are not welcome,” Jama said. “You need to get the hell out of Oregon.”
The city officials said “federal militarization undermines effective, community‑based public safety, and it runs counter to the values that define our region. We’ll use every legal and legislative tool available to protect our residents’ civil and human rights.”
They urged residents to show up with “calm and purpose during this difficult time.”
Several dozen people gathered in the evening near the scene where police found the wounded people.
“It’s just been chaos,” said one, Anjalyssa Jones. “The community is trying to get answers.”
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, urged protesters to remain peaceful.
“Trump wants to generate riots,” he said on the social platform X. “Don’t take the bait.”
Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.
A protester yells at a Portland police officer outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Protesters and law enforcement stand outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A protester yells at a Portland police officer outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A security guard stands at the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez, center, speaks to the media following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
FILE - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seal during a news conference June 28, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
