The airports of Santiago de Compostela, La Coruna, Vigo Asturias, Santander, Burgos, Valladolid, Salamanca and Leon were affected by the closure which was set to last until 2 p.m. (1200 GMT), the aviation authority AENA said.

The cloud of ash arrived overnight and is affecting part of Portugal as well.

According to the Meteorological Institute in London Saturday, the ash cloud could linger over northern Spain through Sunday and spread eastwards towards the Mediterranean region and Italy.

Friday, Iceland's Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management reported that volcano under the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier, 120 km south-east of Reykjavik, was again spewing increased amounts of ash.

In the preceding days the volcano was 'producing less lava and more volcanic ash', agency spokesman Agust Gunnar Gylfason said.

Aircraft engine components must perform under extreme conditions. They must rotate more than 1,000 times in a single second, withstanding temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius and extreme pressures.

At the same time, they should be as lightweight as possible and yet satisfy the most stringent standards for safety.

Given all of these factors, the tasks of developing and servicing aircraft engines pose major challenges for engineers.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) in Aachen, Germany, use selective laser melting (SLM).

With this method, the part can be built up, layer by layer, on a building platform using a powder-based material. In essence, this process is comparable to that of a computer printer, except that it takes place in three dimensions.

Based on computer-generated design data for the planned part, the metal powder is applied to the appropriate areas of the substrate and then immediately melted into place with a high-power laser beam.

'With this process we can not only make perfect repairs to damaged engine parts but also build complete components that cannot be produced using conventional methods such as milling or casting,' said Konrad Wissenbach of ILT.

In the future, this will mean savings of up to 50 percent of the material required, and at least 40 percent of repair costs, said an ILT release.

Wissenbach is coordinator of the 6.5 million euro, EU-sponsored FANTASIA project - an acronym standing for 'flexible and near-net-shaped generative manufacturing chains and repair techniques for complex shaped aero engine parts'.

The project will conclude at the end of May. ILT researchers briefed the world of experts on the findings the project has generated at the 8th International Laser Technology Congress AKL'10 May 5-7 in Germany.

Pakistan's fielding nightmare began during the disastrous tour of Australia earlier this year and touched a new low when they dropped five catches to go down to England in the Super Eights.

'I will soon set up an academy for youngsters with the main aim of providing quality fielders to the national side,' the maverick pacer said on a TV show Saturday.

He said he would seek former captain Rashid Latif's assistance before establishing the academy.

'Rashid is already running academies and I would take his advice and help to set up an academy for youngsters,' he added.

The pacer said Pakistan's performance was falling due to sloppy fielding. Otherwise the team has all the quality of beating world class teams like Australia and South Africa.

'Fielding has become a concern for the team and it must be improved,' he said.

Akhtar also stressed the need for a quality fielding coach for Pakistan.

The fast bowler also defended Shahid Afridi whose captaincy is under criticism following two defeats in the ongoing world Twenty20.

'Shahid is a new captain, he should be given time, it is too early to raise (questions) on his captaincy,' he said.

Healthcare workers and general public could face risks by inhaling various components of crude oil such as benzene, toluene and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, all of which may cause cancer, the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) said.

Crude oil also contains mercury and lead, both of which can be dangerous if inhaled or swallowed, the group said in a statement.

Short-term effects include skin and respiratory problems while longer-term risks are uncertain, the NRDC said.

It said some people living along the coast were already reporting headaches, nausea, coughing and throat irritation.

'There are significant health risks associated with this oil spill, and the risks aren't just to wildlife, they are also to humans,' Gina Solomon, a senior scientist with the NRDC, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

The immediate worry, said Solomon, is what are called volatile organic compounds, which include chemicals like benzene that can be released in vapour form from the oil floating in the water.

'These chemicals can cause acute health effects such as headache, nausea, vomiting, cough, dizziness. The chemicals can also cause longer-term effects, including the potential for miscarriage or low birth weight in pregnant women and risk of cancer over the longer term,' he said.

Since the BP offshore oil-rig explosion April 20, at least 200,000 gallons of oil a day have been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico.

The home ministry has asked police to act strictly to curb crimes by activists or face disciplinary measures. On the radar in particular is the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the ruling party's student wing.

The instruction follows directions from the Prime Minister's Office to contain unruly BCL activists, The Daily Star reported Saturday.

A judicial magistrate's court in Barisal town Thursday rejected the bail prayers of 18 BCL leaders and activists arrested in connection with factional clashes in a polytechnic in which 11 people were injured, New Age reported.

There have been numerous media reports of ruling party cadres snatching tender forms for business deals, threatening officials, molesting girl students and engaging in pitched battles in university campuses.

The home ministry has asked police officials to act professionally and warned them of disciplinary actions if they fail.

It is now said that the singer could have lived for more years if he had not refused to get a surgery done for his persistent constipation problem.

Doctor George Nick Nichopoulos was with the singer when he died and believes his refusal to deal with the problem killed him.

'We didn't realise until the autopsy that his constipation was as bad. We found stool in his colon which had been there for four or five months because of the poor mobility of the bowel,' femalefirst.co.uk quoted a doctor as saying.

'He would get embarrassed. He'd have accidents onstage. He'd have to change clothes and come back because of the way we were trying to treat his constipation,' he added.

According to Nichopoulos, Elvis suffered from a hereditary condition called bowel paralysis. His autopsy revealed his colon was five to six inches in diameter, compared to the usual two to three inches.

'People think I'm grungy now - and I know that I'm being photographed!' femalefirst.co.uk quoted her as saying.

Kristen admits she enjoys being choosy during fashion shoots. 'I'm fine when I'm chilling with my hair and makeup crew - I like choosing what I am going to wear.'

'An Education' actress Carey Mulligan and 'Juno' star Ellen Page are also reportedly keen to take on the lead role in the new version of the film based on the novel by Swedish author Stiegg Larsson.

However, director David Fincher is said to be unsure whether he wants to cast an established star or an unknown actress.

'David is not sure if he wants to go with an actress of any note or go with an unknown. David's process is very specific and private. He's looking for authenticity and a degree of fierceness and believability capable of delivering the intensity that the part on the page calls for,' contactmusic.com quoted a source as saying.

Actor Brad Pitt is believed to have been offered the male lead in the film.

The proposed Terrorist Expatriation Act would authorise the State Department to revoke citizenship of anyone who supports Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups or who helps in attacks against the US or its allies.

Identical bills were introduced this week in the House and Senate.

'We're fighting an enemy who doesn't wear the uniform of a conventional army or follow the law of war,' said Senator Joseph Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, who co-sponsored the Senate bill with Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts.

'Those who join such groups join our enemy and should be deprived of the rights and privileges of US citizenship and the ability to use their American passports as tools of terror.'

The bill would expand a 1940 federal law that authorises the State Department to strip Americans of their citizenship.

Under the 1940 law, Americans could lose citizenship for serving in the military of a country at war with the US, for treason or for voting in another nation's elections.

However, they can contest their loss of citizenship in court.

The Supreme Court narrowed the authority of the 1940 law by ruling Americans could lose citizenship only if they renounce it.

The 1967 ruling involved the case of a naturalised American born in Poland who voted in an Israeli election. The State Department took away his citizenship but he won it back in the Supreme Court.

The proposed act is likely to face a legal challenge if Congress approves it. Civil rights activists have warned of possible conflicts with the constitution's right of equal protection for American citizens.

From the Obama administration, only Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has so far promised to 'take a hard look' at the proposed legislation.

'Clearly, US citizenship is a privilege. It is not a right... And people who are serving foreign powers - or in this case, foreign terrorists - are clearly in violation, in my personal opinion, of that oath which they swore when they became citizens,' she said during a press conference. 'So we're going to take a hard look at this.'