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A once long-dormant volcano in Iceland is erupting again and impacting activity in a populated region nearby.

The volcano, on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland, began erupting at Sundhnukar on Wednesday night and peaked at about 2 a.m. local time Thursday, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office. It has prompted evacuations at the Blue Lagoon, an iconic tourist destination, and the nearby town of Grindavik.

West Iceland's volcano is a rift activity volcano, which involves the earth being pulled apart in two different directions through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, rather than a cone erupting magma through a central pipe, Thomas Algeo, a professor of earth sciences at the University of Cincinnati, told ABC News. The style of eruption is "much less dangerous, because most of the activity involves slow moving basaltic lava flows," he added.

"It's a style of volcanic activity that is effusive, slow flowing, not violently eruptive, like would be the case with a subduction zone volcanic system" Algeo said.

The fissure that was created on Wednesday night stretched about 1.8 miles long, according to the country's meteorological office. This is the volcano's seventh eruption this year, according to Iceland's Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.

These types of eruptions are "spectacular" sights, because once a fissure opens up, a large supply of magma oozes out, Tobias Fischer, director of the Volatiles Laboratory at the University of New Mexico, told ABC News.

The eruption activity is "typical" for these types of systems, said Shawn Willsey, a geology professor College of Southern Idaho who has been conducting livestream tours using drones above the lava flows on YouTube. Once the lava erupts, the pressure is relieved and magma starts to fill into the shallow storage zone below -- repressurizing the system and setting the stage for the next eruption, Willsey said.

"It's known that this region goes through these episodes where there are a lot of these eruptions," said Fischer, who has flown drones into eruption gas clouds to collect samples and analyze the composition of the carbon for his research.

By Thursday afternoon, the lava had reached the parking lot of the Blue Lagoon and consumed a service building, The Associated Press reported. There is no danger to the area, and the flights out of the Keflavik International Airport have not been affected, according to the civil protection agency.

Gas emitted from the eruption is expected to move south and out to sea, according to emergency officials.

Video taken from Grindavik show rivers of fast-moving lava flowing from the rift zones, where the lava can be seen spewing from the ground.

The ongoing eruption is "significantly smaller" than the eruption that took place in August, according to the meteorological agency.

Iceland is known as a "hot spot" for volcanic activity, Algeo said.

There are 32 active volcano systems in the region spread across three rift zones spread to the north, south and west -- all part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a mountain range that mostly runs down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

But in Iceland, the mountain range comes above the ocean certain due to "an excessively high production of magma in that area," Algeo said.

Iceland's western rift zone, also known as the Reykjanes-Langjökull rift zone, was active prior to the 13th century. These types of eruptions tend to have every 1,000 or so years, Fischer said,

"The big question is, is this going to continue on for centuries?" Willsey said.

In 2021, the volcano in western Iceland became active again. There have been 10 eruptions since there, seven of which have occurred in 2024, according to Icelandic officials said.

During the last 800 years, the majority of volcanic activity were in the north and east volcanic zones -- both lightly populated regions, Algeo said. But western Iceland, which includes the capital of Reykjavik, is highly populated.

"They were in a nice little valley up in the mountains, and so that lava was pretty well contained," Willsey said, adding that lava in those regions are "tourist-friendly" eruptions that can be enjoyed with little threat.

The recent eruptions in western Iceland have damaged infrastructure and property and forced residents to relocate, according to AP.

Previous eruptions throughout history have caused destruction in Iceland, Algeo said.

A large eruption that took place in 1783, known as the Laki eruption, is one of the worst in recorded history. It spewed so much toxic volcanic gasses across the landscape that it killed off most of the local farm animals and reduced the harvest, leading to starvation for about 25% of the population, Algeo said.

Eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula in December 2023 triggered toxic gas warnings, causing emergency managers to fear that the pollution would spread to the capital.

A disruptive eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in 2010 disrupted trans-Atlantic air travel for months due to ash being spewed into the air.

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(LONDON )-- As Jahanzeb Wesa fled toward the Pakistani border in the middle of the night, he wondered if his career defending human rights would help protect him now that he was a refugee himself.

A 28-year-old Afghan journalist and women's rights advocate, Wesa said he was attacked by a Taliban fighter while covering a women's rights protest just after the fall of Kabul in August 2021. If he didn't make it across the border, he said, he knew he would likely be killed.

"We worked for 20 years for a better future for Afghanistan," he recalled thinking. "Why did we lose everything?"

But arriving in a new country brought no sense of safety.

Following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, some Afghan journalists said they have been in limbo waiting for humanitarian visas while living in exile in Pakistan, where they fled across the shared border when Kabul fell.

The Taliban's violent suppression of criticism, along with draconian crackdowns on women's rights, meant journalists who stayed in Afghanistan were at constant risk of being detained, tortured, disappeared or killed.

In Pakistan, unable to legally work and threatened with deportation through government ultimatums and face-to-face interactions, some Afghan journalists applied for visas from countries that promised to help Afghan refugees.

Almost three years later, many said they still have not received a decision.

In the meantime, their prospects in Pakistan are dire, several told ABC News.

Life in Pakistan

Several Afghan journalists living in Pakistan told ABC News that their fear of deportation is omnipresent.

Khatera, a journalist from northern Afghanistan who asked ABC News not to publish her last name for her safety, fled to Pakistan in April 2022 after the Taliban raided her newsroom, destroying radios and TVs.

"After that," she said, "everything was a nightmare."

Like many Afghan journalists in Pakistan, Khatera arrived on a tourist visa she had to renew every six months through a private travel agent. Visa renewals were sometimes denied without reason, and officials often asked for bribes, she said.

The Pakistani government did not reply to a request for comment.

Housing, health care and transportation in Pakistan can be prohibitively expensive for Afghans, whose tourist visas don't allow them to work. Many rely on depleting savings, support from family members, or under-the-table jobs, according to those who spoke to ABC News. Given the economic strain, the biannual visa fee and the corresponding bribes present significant burdens, they said.

But not having proper documentation can bring serious consequences. "Anywhere you're going, the police are asking about your valid documents," said Khatera. They sometimes conduct nighttime home check-ins and try to deport those who can't provide valid papers, she said.

Those disruptions to daily life don't appear to be unique to journalists. A 2023 Human Rights Watch report declared a "humanitarian crisis" of Pakistani authorities committing widespread abuses, including mass detentions and property seizures, against Afghans in Pakistan. Over a month and a half, the report said, Pakistani authorities deported 20,000 Afghans and coerced over 350,000 more to leave on their own.

Afghan journalists regularly receive death threats from the regime at home over social media, Wesa said. "If I'm deported to Afghanistan," he said, "the Taliban is waiting for me."

"No journalist has been condemned to torture, disappearance, or death by the government of Afghanistan," said a spokesperson for the Taliban-run Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that "all citizens of the country are equal in the eyes of the law regardless of their position and profession."

Some journalists said they also face a widespread mental health crisis. Rahman, an Afghan journalist who asked ABC News to use his middle name due to what he described as ongoing threats from the Taliban, struggles with worsening depression and anxiety. He said he fears for himself and his family, still in Kabul.

"It's daily mental torture," he said.

An endless wait

The conditions in Pakistan have spurred many Afghan journalists to apply for humanitarian visas from the U.S., Australia, the U.K. and other European countries. Yet, some have not heard back for about three years.

Wesa applied for an Australian humanitarian visa on Jan. 4, 2022, six months after he arrived in Pakistan. He supplemented his application with support letters from Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International and other nongovernmental organizations stating his life was at risk, he told ABC News.

More than two years after filing his initial application, he has received a confirmation of receipt but no further updates, he said.

A departmental spokesperson from the Australian Department of Home Affairs said they "expect it will take at least 6 years from the date of receipt for processing to commence on [the applications] lodged in 2022, 2023, or 2024."

"We will wait – there is no other way," Wesa said in response. "I hope they help us as soon as possible."

"Day by day, I'm faced with depression and health issues," he said. "My only hope is that Australia will save my life."

Rahman, who reported on women's rights in Afghanistan, is saving up to apply for a family visa from Australia, where his fiancée lives. The process costs over $9,000. He said he believes a humanitarian visa application will not receive a response.

Requests for help from the French embassy and the U.N. have also yielded no results, he said.

"I believe these countries have always been for freedom and for democracy. They can help out," he said. "I just wonder why it takes such a long time."

Khatera applied for a visa from the Swiss embassy. It took a year and a half to receive the file number, she said. She was told she needed close relatives in the country, but otherwise, they would likely not be able to help.

"I'm getting depression," she said. "I'm just trying to fight."

Every Afghan journalist in exile interviewed by ABC News said they continue to receive threats from the Taliban over social media and fear for their lives every day.

The Taliban denied sending the threats, saying "the government and officials of Afghanistan have not threatened any journalists."

Broken promises

Afghan journalists waiting in worsening conditions for responses to their visa applications said they feel that Western countries have broken their promises to help Afghan refugees.

The United States expanded a resettlement program for Afghan refugees in 2021 to include journalists and humanitarian workers who had helped the United States. However, as of 2023, The Associated Press reported that only a small portion of applicants had been resettled.

The U.S. State Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The Afghan Pro Bono Initiative, a partnership providing free legal representation to Afghan refugees, published a 2023 report entitled "Two Years of Empty Promises." The report found that the U.K. resettlement programs for Afghan refugees were fraught with delays, understaffing, administrative hurdles, narrow eligibility and technical issues.

Earlier this year, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other NGOs called on Western countries to adopt prima facie refugee status for Afghan women and girls, which would grant refugee status without the need for individual assessments, potentially streamlining the application process and decreasing lengthy wait times.

Despite the dragging wait times and the pervasive hopelessness, many of the 170 Afghan journalists in exile in Pakistan continue to speak out against the Taliban.

Wesa's X account includes frequent posts about Afghanistan -- legal updates, protest videos and women singing to resist what they describe as draconian Taliban policies.

"In any country, I will stand for Afghan women," he said. "I will risk my life for them."

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(LONDON and KYIV) -- Russia on Thursday launched what officials in Kyiv said was an intercontinental ballistic missile toward southeastern Ukraine, but a U.S. official told ABC News that Russia launched "an experimental medium-range ballistic missile against Ukraine" near Dnipro.

The official said the United States briefed Ukraine and other close allies and partners in recent days on Russia's possible use of this weapon in order to help them prepare. According to the official, Russia likely only possesses "a handful" of these experimental missiles.

Two U.S. officials previously told ABC News it was not an ICBM but instead an intermediate-range ballistic missile, or IRBM.

The launch raises the prospect of nuclear weapons; IRBMs or ICBMs can both be equipped with nuclear warheads. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that the ballistic missile Russia fired at Dnipro contained MIRVs, or multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, meaning it had multiple warheads that hit the target. MIRV technology is used in ICBMs to use multiple nuclear warheads atop the missile so they can strike multiple targets. The missile used Thursday did not carry nuclear warheads.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in remarks Thursday following the missile launch, said Russia has the right to use its weapons against the military facilities of countries employing their weapons against Russia.

"We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military objects of those countries that allow to use their own weapons against our objects. In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in a mirror manner," Putin said.

Putin said Russia used "one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems" in an attack on Ukraine, adding that it was a "ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic equipment" and that the "test was successful."

Russia warned the U.S. 30 minutes before the launch of its new "Oreshnik" missile against targets in Dnipro, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news outlet TASS.

The Kremlin announced earlier this week that Putin had updated the country's nuclear doctrine, a move that lowered the bar for Russia to respond with nuclear weapons. Russian ICBMs are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, although it appeared the missile fired on Thursday was not equipped with one.

Ukraine's military was "95% sure" the strike on Thursday was with an ICBM, a Ukrainian official told ABC News, but added that they were still examining the missile parts on the ground and had not yet reached a final conclusion.

"Today it was a new Russian missile. All the parameters: speed, altitude -- match those of an intercontinental ballistic missile," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media. "All expert evaluations are underway."

The Ukrainian Air Force announced Thursday morning it had tracked the launch of the ICBM, along with six additional missiles, all of which were targeting the Dnipro region. The ICBM appeared to have been launched from the Astrahan region, in Russia's southwest, Ukrainian military officials said.

All of the missiles were launched in about two hours, beginning at about 5 a.m. local time, Ukraine said.

All were targeted at businesses and critical infrastructure, but only the missile that Ukraine identified as an ICBM struck the city, Ukraine said. The six other missiles were shot down. There were no reports of casualties or significant damage, officials said.

The U.S. officials said the assessment of the launch, the type of missile and warhead, and the damage in Dnipro was continuing. The distance from what Ukraine said was the launch point to the strike location in Dnipro is about 600 miles, a distance shorter than what an ICBM would be expected to travel.

Two experts told ABC News the projectile, seen in video circulating online, looks likely to be "a ballistic missile with MIRV-ed capabilities."

The launch of an ICBM, if confirmed as such, would arrive amid concerns that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could further escalate. This week, Ukraine's military for the first time launched U.S.-made ATACMS missiles toward targets within Russia, days after U.S. President Joe Biden allowed for such use of the long-range weapons.

Putin, in his remarks Thursday, blamed the U.S. for escalating the conflict, saying: "I would like to emphasize once again that it was not Russia, but the United States that destroyed the international security system. And by continuing to fight, cling to their hegemony, they are pushing the whole world into a global conflict."

Kyiv on Tuesday launched six of the ATACMS at targets within Russian territory, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Zelenskyy said he would not confirm if Ukraine had used ATACMS to conduct a strike on an ammunition depot in the Bryansk region of Russia, but said Ukraine has ATACMS and "will use all of these" against Russia.

Within hours of Russia announcing it had struck down five of the ATACMS on Tuesday, the Kremlin announced that Putin had updated the country's nuclear doctrine.

Following that warning, Ukraine on Wednesday fired long-range British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia for the first time, a Ukrainian military unit involved in the operation told ABC News. At least 10 of those missiles hit an estate in the village of Marino, the unit said.

They were targeting a command post where North Korean army generals and officers were present, the unit said. More than 10,000 North Korean troops are said to be operating alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region.

Ukraine's 413th Separate Unmanned Systems Battalion, which helped provide fire control for the strikes, told ABC News that there was intelligence showing high-ranking North Koreans were present.

Zelenskyy cast the Russian strike on Thursday as a result of Russia and its leader being "terrified."

"Obviously, Putin is terrified when normal life simply exists next to him. When people simply have dignity. When a country simply wants to be and has the right to be independent," Zelenskyy said. "Putin is doing whatever it takes to prevent his neighbor from breaking free of his grasp."

ABC News' Joe Simonetti, Lauren Minore, Yulia Drozd, Natasha Popova, Tanya Stukalova and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.

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