Iceland volcano ash hits European flights again

Iceland's Eyjafjoell volcano spewed more ash on Tuesday than in recent days, but the level remained much lower than when the eruption began three weeks ago, an Icelandic geophysicist told AFP."The plume has increased. It is black ... There is more ash in the plume and it is (rising) higher," Sigrun Hreinsdottir of the University of Iceland in Reykjavik said Wednesday.Ireland reimposed a partial ban on flights early Wednesday as the cloud of volcanic ash drifted south from Iceland, while flight restrictions were also imposed in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

SANTIAGO, Chile — Chile says seismic activity is dropping at a volcano on the border with Argentina but officials are maintaining a red alert as a precaution. Chile’s emergency office ONEMI issued the highest alert Sunday in the Biobio region after it registered high seismic activity Saturday night at the Copahue volcano and an ash cloud billowing almost 1.5 kilometres high. The volcano began spewing ash and gas Saturday.