MADRID: Authorities on the Spanish island of La Palma on Tuesday lifted a lockdown order affecting 3,000 people, imposed for fear lava from an erupting volcano could release toxic gases as it hit the sea.
Red-hot lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which has been erupting since September 19, on Monday began sliding down a cliff into the Atlantic Ocean.
Soldiers were deployed to measure air quality in the area and residents of three nearby coastal towns were told to stay inside with doors and windows shut, as wind blew the fumes inland.
But on Tuesday the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca) lifted the confinement order “after confirming that the arrival of the lava flow did not affect residents,” local emergency services said on Twitter.
This is the third time that a lava flow has reached the Atlantic Ocean since the volcano began erupting two months ago, covering large areas with ash.
All flights to and from La Palma’s airport were canceled on Tuesday for the second straight day because of the ash.
Residents of La Palma’s capital, Santa Cruz, were on Monday advised to wear high-filtration FFP2 masks outdoors for the first time since the eruption, to protect against high concentrations of sulfur dioxide.
Most of the island of around 85,000 people, part of the Canary Islands archipelago off northwestern Africa, has been unaffected by the eruption, with the lava flow concentrated on the western side.
The molten rock has covered 1,065 hectares (2,630 acres) and destroyed nearly 1,500 buildings, mainly homes, according to Copernicus, the European Union’s satellite monitoring service.
Provisional damage was estimated on Friday at nearly 900 million euros ($1 billion), according to the regional government.
Lockdown order lifted on Spanish volcano isle
https://arab.news/mq2d9
Lockdown order lifted on Spanish volcano isle
- Red-hot lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Monday began sliding down a cliff into the Atlantic Ocean
- Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan on Tuesday lifted the confinement order
SpaceX acquires xAI in record-setting deal as Musk looks to unify AI and space ambitions
- The deal is the biggest M&A transaction of all time
- Deal values xAI at $250 billion, SpaceX at $1 trillion
Elon Musk said on Monday that SpaceX has acquired his artificial-intelligence startup xAI in a record-setting deal that unifies Musk’s AI and space ambitions by combining the rocket-and-satellite company with the maker of the Grok chatbot. The deal, first reported by Reuters last week, represents one of the most ambitious tie-ups in the technology sector yet, combining a space-and-defense contractor with a fast-growing AI developer whose costs are largely driven by chips, data centers and energy. It could also bolster SpaceX’s data-center ambitions as Musk competes with rivals like Alphabet’s Google, Meta, Amazon-backed Anthropic and OpenAI in the AI sector.
The transaction values SpaceX at $1 trillion, and xAI at $250 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“This marks not just the next chapter, but the next book in SpaceX and xAI’s mission: scaling to make a sentient sun to understand the Universe and extend the light of consciousness to the stars!” Musk said. The purchase of xAI sets a new record for the world’s largest M&A deal, a distinction held for more than 25 years when Vodafone bought Germany’s Mannesmann in a hostile takeover valued at $203 billion in 2000, according to data compiled by LSEG. The combined company of SpaceX and xAI is expected to price shares at about $527 each, another person familiar with the matter said. SpaceX was already the world’s most valuable privately held company, last valued at $800 billion in a recent insider share sale. XAI was last valued at $230 billion in November, according to the Wall Street Journal. The merger comes as the space company plans a blockbuster public offering this year that could value it at over $1.5 trillion, two people familiar with the matter said.
SpaceX, xAI and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The deal further consolidates Musk’s far-flung business empire and fortunes into a tighter, mutually reinforcing ecosystem – what some investors and analysts informally call the “Muskonomy” – which already includes Tesla, brain-chip maker Neuralink and tunnel firm the Boring Company. The world’s richest man has a history of merging his ventures together. Musk folded social media platform X into xAI through a share swap last year, giving the AI startup access to the platform’s data and distribution. In 2016, he used Tesla’s stock to buy his solar-energy company SolarCity.
The agreement could draw scrutiny from regulators and investors over governance, valuation and conflicts of interest given Musk’s overlapping leadership roles across multiple firms, as well as the potential movement of engineers, proprietary technology and contracts between entities.
SpaceX also holds billions of dollars in federal contracts with NASA, the Department of Defense and intelligence agencies, which all have some authority to review M&A transactions for national security and other risks.
