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Scientists record large marine predators thriving inside an active underwater volcano that is thought hostile to complex life. Image: National Geographic Youtube

In 2015, a scientific expedition to one of the most volatile underwater volcanoes on Earth produced a finding few researchers expected to see on their monitors: sharks swimming calmly inside the crater.

Researchers made the discovery at Kavachi, a submarine volcano near the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean.

Kavachi is known for frequent eruptions that eject lava, ash, and highly acidic water. It is widely regarded as an environment where complex marine life should not be able to survive.

Yet footage captured during the expedition showed hammerhead sharks, silky sharks and a stingray moving through the volcano’s interior, apparently unaffected by conditions considered hostile to most fish.

A routine mission, and an unexpected sight

The expedition was led by ocean engineer Brennan Phillips, who travelled to Kavachi with a team to investigate hydrothermal activity.

At the time of their visit, the volcano was not actively erupting, allowing researchers to deploy instruments directly into the crater.

Among those instruments was a deep-sea camera, lowered into the volcano to record conditions below the surface. After roughly an hour, the camera was retrieved and its footage reviewed.

What the team saw surprised them immediately. “Not only were silky sharks spotted in the area, but hammerheads too,”

Phillips said, adding that the animals appeared “completely unfazed” by the hot, acidic waters inside the volcano.

The footage also captured a stingray, which the researchers speculated may have been sheltering inside a small cave-like feature within the caldera.

A stingray glides through Kavachi’s volcanic crater, filmed amid hot, acidic waters by deep-sea camera/National Geographic Youtube

“This volcano conflicts with what we know.”

Kavachi’s crater is a caldera, a large depression formed when a volcano’s magma chamber empties. During eruptions, the site releases superheated, acidic water, volcanic gases and rock fragments into the surrounding ocean.

For Phillips, the presence of large marine predators inside such an environment ran counter to established assumptions. “

The idea of there being large animals like sharks hanging out and living inside the caldera of this volcano conflicts with what we know about Kavachi,” he said. “Which is that it erupts, but when it’s erupting, there’s no way anything could live in there.”

Hammerhead and silky sharks were found in Kavachi’s caldera, seemingly unfazed by heat, acidity, and eruptive risk. Image: National Geographic Youtube

He added, “So to see large animals like these sharks that are living and could potentially die at any moment, it brings up lots of questions.

Do they leave? Do they have some sort of sign that it’s about to erupt? Do they blow up sky-high in little bits?”

A volcano nicknamed ‘Sharkcano’

National Geographic later released the footage, quickly garnering global attention. Kavachi became informally known as “Sharkcano”, a nickname that reflected both the surprise of the discovery and the extreme nature of the environment.

Seven years after the original expedition, NASA’s satellite imagery captured Kavachi erupting again, showing the volcano sending lava, ash, sulphur, and acidic water into the surrounding sea.

The eruption followed earlier documented events in 2007 and 2014. It remains unknown whether the sharks and other animals seen in the crater survived these eruptions.

Returning with robots

Because of the danger posed by Kavachi’s eruptions, follow-up research relied on robotic equipment rather than human divers.

Phillips later returned to the site with Alistair Grinham of the University of Queensland and Matthew Dunbabin of the Queensland University of Technology, using low-cost robotic systems designed to withstand—and be sacrificed for—extreme conditions.

Dunbabin said, “Your systems probably won’t survive an explosion, no matter how well-built or costly.”

The robots, small enough to fit into carry-on luggage, were treated as expendable. Sensors recorded surface pH drops, water temperatures up to ten degrees higher than normal, and confirmed that Kavachi is a strong greenhouse gas emitter.

“One unexpected result was that the eruption forced fresh material from the vent to be embedded in the robot itself,” Dunbabin said. “This means we have a unique way of collecting physical rock samples.”

Why sharks can survive, for now

Phillips acknowledged that, based on known biology, Kavachi should not support animal life beyond microorganisms. “

There are several reasons why there shouldn’t be anything living in there except maybe bacteria,” he said. “It’s scorching and acidic. It’s very turbid. None of these things are good for fish.”

Yet the sharks were observed “darting in and out between the clouds of the plume” during periods between eruptions.

Whether the animals possess behavioural adaptations, heightened sensitivity to volcanic activity, or physiological tolerance for extreme conditions remains unresolved.

Experts have suggested that studying these sharks could help scientists understand how marine species respond to extreme environmental stress, including rising ocean temperatures.

Some researchers have proposed that the sharks may have developed physiological adaptations that allow them to tolerate Kavachi’s hot, acidic conditions.

though no definitive conclusions have yet been reached,. As Phillips put it, “That’s a lingering question mark.”

The Metropolitan and Greater Manchester police forces have said they will arrest people holding placards and chanting ‘Globalise the Intifada’ – an Arabic word for rebellion.

In a statement after Sunday’s mass shooting on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, he said, “Violent acts have occurred; the context has changed – words have meaning and consequences. We will act decisively and make arrests.”

Both forces also cited the Manchester synagogue attack in October.

Britain’s chief rabbi described the decision as “an important step towards challenging the hateful rhetoric seen on our streets, which has inspired acts of violence and terror.”

Police forces said,

We know the community is concerned about placards and chants such as ‘Globalisation of the Intifada’ and those using them in future protests or in a targeted manner should expect action from ‘both forces’.”

“Frontline officers will be briefed on this enhanced approach. We will also exercise our powers under the Public Order Act, particularly in the vicinity of London synagogues during services, according to the statement.

We have increased visible patrols and protective security measures around synagogues, schools, and community sites in London and Greater Manchester.

15 people were killed and dozens more injured in the Bondi attack on Sunday, which targeted Australia’s Jewish community at an event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah.

Two people died in a knife attack on Oct. 2 at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.

Criticising the police forces’ decision on Wednesday, Ben Jamal, director of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, described the move as “another low in the political repression of protests for Palestinian rights.”

He said the police did not consult with the coalition organising the major protests in London or representative groups of the Palestinian community in Britain “before making this far-reaching statement on our rights”.

Mr Jamal said, “The horrific massacre in Sydney, Australia, should not be used as justification to further suppress the fundamental democratic rights of freedom of protest and expression in this country.”

In support of the statement, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said, “We strongly welcome this necessary intervention.”

The board said, “We have long warned that people chanting slogans such as ‘Globalisation of the Intifada’ are inciting violence, and we have been making the case for stronger enforcement regarding this slogan with all levels of government for some time now.”

Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, said police chiefs were now waking up “after two years of repeatedly pretending to globalise the intifada”.

In a statement, he said that “banning this one chant is a useless symbolic measure” and added, “It is hard to see how they could possibly enforce this ban.”

The Jewish Voice for Liberation—which describes itself as standing up for the rights of Jews and Palestinians—said it did not believe the response was appropriate.

The group said it has almost never encountered any anti-Semitism in response to the demonstrations and said its community has “always been welcomed”, adding that “protests in London and elsewhere have not attacked synagogues or Jewish schools”.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced in parliament on Wednesday that his government has increased funding for Jewish security by £28 million.

“I’m pleased to do it, but I’m sad to do it,” he said, adding that he has ordered a review of protest and hate crime laws.

He was responding to a question from Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who said antisemitism was real and “poisonous” and “we must all work together to stamp it out”.

The term ‘intifada’ came into popular use in 1987 during the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Some have interpreted the term as a call for violence against Jewish people.

Others have said it is a call for peaceful resistance to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and actions in Gaza.

The company behind the technology that enables more accurate decision-making in international cricket has admitted its mistake that cost England a crucial Australian wicket in the latest Ashes clash.

Australia’s Alex Carey was 72 when he faced a ball from Josh Tongue, which was caught by Jamie Smith, prompting an immediate appeal from the England team.

He believed that the ball had made contact with Carey’s bat before the catch. But an investigation using Snico technology – designed to provide umpires with the evidence they need in such cases – concluded otherwise.

So Carrie was saved and Was successful in scoring 106 runs In the first innings of a Test match that England cannot lose if they want to remain in the highly anticipated competition, the Ashes series with Australia.

But then, in a press conference after the first day of the Test match in Adelaide, Carey admitted that he thought he had actually made contact and edged the ball, meaning he should have been out.

He suggested there was “a little bit of contribution,” and he admitted that he had cashed in “a little bit of luck.”

The snicko uses microphones on the stumps to capture sound to determine whether the bat has contacted the ball.

The technology revealed a clear increase in noise on the ball in question. However, TV umpire Chris Gaffney immediately ruled it was not out, as the snicker spike was visible before the ball reached the bat.

However, after Carey’s confession on Wednesday, BBG Sports, the owner of Snicko, acknowledged an error and took responsibility.

The company admitted that the audio was incorrectly recorded from the stump mic at the bowler’s end instead of the batsman’s mic, which resulted in a delay that caused the audio spike and the still images to be out of sync.

Given that Alex Carey admitted that he had hit the ball,

BBG Sports said, “Given that Alex Carey admitted that he had hit the ball, the only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that the Snicko operator at the time may have selected the wrong stump mic for audio processing.”

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Carey scored his crucial century and added 76 more runs to Australia’s total of 326 for eight before he was eventually dismissed.

England appear to have lost faith in the Snicko system – the first Test in Perth saw Jamie Smith dismissed in a similar situation, where the picture once again appeared out of sync with the audio reading. England uses a different technology called UltraEdge for home matches.

Their Australian bowling coach, David Secker, expressed his frustration in the visiting dressing room and proposed taking the matter up with the match referee.

“I don’t think we’ve done anything about it yet,” he said. “After today, maybe it could go a little further.”

“The boys were quite confident that Carey hit the ball.” I think Snicko’s calibration is out of whack and that’s probably been the case for the series as well. There are certain aspects of the game that cannot be accurately measured. At that stage, it was a very important decision.

“There have been concerns about it throughout the series. We shouldn’t be talking about it after a day’s play; it should be better than that. These things hurt, but you get over it. In this day and age, you would think the technology is good enough to catch things like this.”

Paddy Power Betfair is to pay £2m for acting too slowly on concerning customer behaviours, including one player who staked £86,000 over 16 days and another who placed 300 bets in eight hours.

The Gambling Commission found social responsibility failures in a review of the firm last year and said some customer interactions “fell far short”.

John Pierce, the watchdog’s director of enforcement, said the £2m settlement reflected the seriousness of the case.

Betting firms must have systems and processes to monitor activity and identify worrying behaviours, but Paddy Power Betfair’s were found to be lacking in some cases.

The commission said, “The velocity of spend, increasing deposits, overnight gambling, and changing betting patterns did not appear to be identified by the licensees or acted upon until the next day.”

The firm failed to intervene fast enough despite a customer betting £86,000 and losing £6,000 over 16 days, with a manual review only starting when the losses mounted.

It also didn’t promptly identify another gambler who went on a 17-day spree, including one session of seven hours and 46 minutes in which they put up £20,000 in more than 300 bets.

Another gambler deposited £25,000 over 25 days before being interacted with, according to the commission’s statement.

“Operators must ensure systems to identify and address harm work effectively and at the right time,” said Mr Pierce.

“Over-reliance on automation and failure to intervene when clear harm indicators are present exposes consumers to unnecessary risk.”

The commission described the £2m as “a payment in lieu of a financial penalty”.

However, it said the firm had quickly instigated a plan to fix the failings and fully cooperated with the investigation.

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In 2023, the commission also fined Paddy Power and Betfair £490,000 for sending messages to the phones of vulnerable customers who had asked to be excluded.

A spokesperson for Flutter Entertainment – which owns Paddy Power Betfair – said it takes safer gambling responsibilities “incredibly seriously” and has industry-leading safeguards.

“Customer safety is our number one priority and there is no suggestion that any of the customers reviewed by the Gambling Commission experienced any harm,” the spokesperson said.

“Our controls have evolved significantly and we recently introduced a next-generation customer safety platform, with the vast majority of checks now happening in real time.

“As such, we are confident that the issues highlighted by the commission in its public statement would not be repeated today.”

In yet another incident of hate crime against religious minorities in India, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar removed the hijab (veil) of a newly recruited Muslim doctor during an official event on Monday, drawing widespread criticism worldwide.

The shameful incident took place at “Samvad”, the CM’s secretariat, where appointment letters were being handed over to newly recruited doctors, The Indian Express reported.

When the hijab-clad woman went to collect her job letter, the CM, 75, looked at her and asked, “What is this?”

Then, he bent a little and pulled her hijab down.

Meanwhile, the flustered appointee was hastily pulled aside by an official standing near the stage.

The shocking incident triggered a wave of anguish among minorities in the country and drew strong criticism from the opposition parties, especially the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Reacting to the video, the Congress accused Kumar of inappropriate conduct towards the woman official, calling it a “vile act”.

In a post on X, the party said, “This is Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Look at his shamelessness—a female doctor had come to collect her appointment letter, and Nitish Kumar pulled off her hijab. A man occupying the highest position in Bihar is openly indulging in such a vile act.”

The RJD questioned Kumar’s mental health.

“What has happened to Nitish ji? His mental state has now reached a completely pitiable condition,” the party said in a post on X.

In India, hate crimes against religious minorities have alarmingly increased during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Last month, a US report recommended designating India as a country of “special concern” due to religious prejudice and serious violations of religious freedom.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, in its report, exposed religious discrimination in India and extremist policies of the RSS and the BJP’s Hindutva agenda.

The report revealed that Modi and the BJP had implemented discriminatory policies against minorities in line with the Hindutva ideology.

The report highlighted violent acts against minorities, particularly Muslims and Sikhs.

It added that the BJP, as the political wing of the RSS, promotes Hindu nationalism.

The RSS has been involved for decades in violent acts against minorities, particularly Muslims and Sikhs.

• The epicentre of the earthquake was about 85 km north of the Panjgur district.
• Some panicked residents went out as a precaution.
• There were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.

Panjgur: An earthquake of 3.3 magnitude hit parts of Panjgur in Balochistan early on Wednesday, with its epicentre about 85 kilometres north of the district.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department’s National Seismological Monitoring Center (NSMC) said the earthquake’s magnitude was measured at 3.3 and it was recorded at a depth of 12 kilometres.

It said the epicentre of the earthquake was about 85 kilometres north of the district headquarters.

Residents reported feeling brief aftershocks, prompting some to evacuate as a precaution. However, officials said there were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage after the earthquake.

The earthquake had a moderate magnitude of 5.2.

A moderate earthquake of 5.2 magnitude struck Karachi and parts of Balochistan in the early hours of 15 December, causing panic among citizens.

NSMC said the epicentre of the earthquake was at Sonmiani in Balochistan at a depth of 12 kilometres, and its epicentre was about 87 kilometres from Karachi.

Earthquake tremors were felt in Hub, Winder and Gadani in Balochistan.

On December 14, an earthquake of 3.2 magnitude hit Sibi City and surrounding areas in Balochistan, with its epicentre 53 kilometres away from the city, while on December 3, mild tremors were felt in Khuzdar and Sibi districts.

A magnitude 3.3 earthquake struck Khuzdar at a depth of 15 km, with its epicentre about 80 km southwest of the city, while a magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck Sibi at a depth of 10 km, with its epicentre about 50 km southwest of Sibi.

Some parts of the province had earlier faced mild tremors in November also.

On November 8, PMD’s seismic centre reported that tremors, with a magnitude of 5.0, hit Ziarat and surrounding areas.

The epicentre of the earthquake was reported to be 67 kilometres northeast of Quetta.

The last major earthquake in Ziarat occurred in 2008, killing more than 200 people and injuring about 500.

Entire villages were destroyed, and hundreds of homes and government buildings were reduced to rubble, forcing more than 15,000 people from their homes.

The country has long been vulnerable to natural disasters, from the 2005 northern earthquake that killed 73,000 people to the devastating 1935 earthquake in Quetta that took nearly 30,000 lives.

Balochistan province sits along a massive seismic hotspot, where the Indian Plate pushes against the Eurasian Plate.

As the country’s largest province, it has a very small population, making rescue and relief operations particularly difficult.