FBI Raids El Cajon Home of Suburban 'Suicide Kit' Seller

Sharlotte Hydorn, the San Diego County woman who sells so-called suicide kits out of her home, describes a federal raid on her home earlier this week and explains that she just wants to give terminally ill patients the chance to die at home peacefully.

“You can embarrass me and say that I’m murderous and I’m making suicide kits and I’m killing people,” Hydron said Thursday from the yard of her home in unincorporated El Cajon. “Good luck to you in your last days, honey.”

On Wednesday, federal agents served this search warrant at Hydorn's home and seized materials used to make so-called suicide kits that she began marketing in 2002.

The 91-year old widow said agents with guns served a warrant Wednesday and searched the home for evidence in the investigation of mail fraud, wire fraud, tax evasion, the sale of adulterated material and mis-branded medical devices.

Agents took several computers, letters and other paperwork and a special sewing machine Hydorn said.

Activists have long argued about a person's right to take his or her life, and what exactly it means to assist. In the late 1990s, Michigan doctor Jack Kevorkian brought the debate into American homes by airing his assist of a suicide on "60 Minutes." Now that debate, and its ethical implications, is being rekindled by the increasing use of helium hood kits.

"Until recently nobody would have thought, 'Gosh, we have to define the word assisting,' because it was just kind of, like, duh," said Rita Marker, executive director of Patients Rights Council. "But now someone says, what does assisting really mean?"

In 1994, Oregon became the first state to enact a law that lets terminally ill people end their lives with a physician's assistance, with voters approving the policy twice. Physician-assisted suicide is also legal in Washington and Montana. Oregon law mandates multiple doctor consultations and looks at possible psychological evaluation before such a suicide can happen. The state says 65 Oregonians took their lives under the law in 2010.

Neighbors and friends, however, said she is not motivated by money. They noted she was driven to start the business following her husband’s protracted battle with cancer, before his death in the 1970s.

Jim Christensen, who lives next door to Hydorn, said he believes she sells the kits out of compassion.

He saw the FBI raid as overstepping. “To me, it’s not the government’s business to poke its nose into this issue … It should be up to the individual how they die and the way they go out.”

He and others in the neighborhood, set in a hilly, unincorporated area of El Cajon, near Fuerte Elementary School, said they only learned the full scope of Hydorn’s business in recent weeks.

“She just seemed like a nice lady who was enjoying retirement,” said resident Frank Obregón.

The kit is promoted online and sold under the name of Hydorn’s company, The Gladd Group. Orders are handled through a Rancho San Diego business address.

Derek Humphry, who wrote the book “Final Exit,” a how-to guide for the terminally ill, recently said he believes Hydorn is the only person in nation who sells such a kit.

Medical ethicists and others say Hydorn has no way of knowing if her customers are terminally ill. Many may suffer from depression and need a therapist.

Two weeks ago, Hydorn told the San Diego Union-Tribune in an interview that she is not 'a death merchant,' claiming that the bags are solely meant to be used by terminally ill people.

“I’m not killing people. This is my chance to try to help them,” she said.

Earlier this month, the state Senate in Oregon voted to crack down on companies selling plastic hoods or other items that could aid in suicide.

State Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene) sponsored the legislation after reading about the suicide of Nick Klonoski, whose mother and father are both U.S. district court judges. Klonoski killed himself more than four months ago using one of Hydorn’s kits, which he bought online. Klonoski’s family said at a Senate hearing last month that he was not terminally ill.

Union and Patrick to resume negotiations

SYDNEY — Australian wharves were returning to normal Friday, after dock workers called off work bans that had prompted some port operations to shut down and had threatened to hurt exporters.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) said employees at Sydney's port Botany had gone back to work Friday and those in Brisbane would return later in the day. Workers in Fremantle were to vote on the matter later Friday.

The development comes after Patrick Stevedores decided to shut down ports where the union had imposed work restrictions, which included bans on overtime and which were to last about one week.

The dispute follows months of negotiations over pay and safety conditions.

"Patrick has chosen to escalate this dispute by unilaterally closing down its container terminals, which was never intended by the MUA," the union's national secretary Paddy Crumlin said.

The MUA said it would consult with Patrick to resolve the dispute.

"Patrick owns the decision to shut down the ports but in any event the union has determined that work should resume in an effort to undo the damage of Patrick's decisions," MUA deputy national Secretary Mick Doleman said.

We've rejected their written offer for arbitration earlier this week, we're inviting them back to the negotiating table," the spokesman told AAP.

"We're certainly optimistic that they'll be back at the negotiating table, we would think hopefully next week.

The MUA had planned a week of work restrictions in the three states from Wednesday after negotiations over a pay dispute stalled.

But the action was called off after Patrick refused to pay its workers for the work restriction days and denied them access to the wharfs.

Union officials met with members on Friday morning to encourage them to return to work, with national secretary Paddy Crumlin describing it as "a tough sell".

"They have been hurt at the way the company treated them in the media, and are frustrated and angry," Mr Crumlin told AAP.

Mr Crumlin also accused Patrick of running "megaphone diplomacy" and blamed the breakdown in negotiations on new management.

A spokeswoman for Patrick said that any agreement reached would need to include productivity offsets.

"We've been negotiating now for eight months, there's been in excess of 25 meetings, we are hopeful and optimistic that (we) will reach an outcome," the spokeswoman said.

"At this point we believe that the company and Maritime Union obviously remain some way apart."

The union has not accepted Patrick's offer of a four per cent pay rise over three years with an additional one per cent annually if "internationally recognised safety, productivity and efficiency targets" are met.

The work bans commenced on Australian wharves Wednesday, and an industry body said it had already begun to slow down some container ships or force them to consider diverting to New Zealand.

Shipping Australia said disruption on the docks could not have come at a worse time given exporters were already battling against a soaring Aussie dollar and given economic uncertainty in Europe and Japan.

G8 summit to pledge £12bn for Arab spring states

Arab transition to democracy are to be offered as much as £12bn in aid, loans and debt relief as a result of pledges being compiled at the G8 group of nations summit on Friday. The money will come from international financial institutions and members of the G8.

Leaders of both Egypt and Tunisia, the two chief recipients of the aid, will speak to leaders of the G8, currently chaired by the French on the second day of its summit in Deauville, and stress that they need money urgently to ensure their shift to democracy is smooth and not hampered by economic crisis.

Both countries have been severely hit by falling economic growth, high inflation, high youth unemployment and loss of tourism, on which both depend. Tunisia has been especially hit by the continuing war in neighbouring Libya.

Tunisia, the electoral commission is insisting elections are deferred from the summer to October to allow more time to prepare a workable electoral roll, a move that is disputed by the interim government.

Egypt, some of the groups responsible for the initial protests that led to the overthrow of Mubarak in February are calling for a second day of rage in Cairo on Friday to protest at the way in which the army appears to be dominating the transition process. Many groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, have warned against further demonstrations.

The £12bn ($20bn) figure, although impressive-sounding, will have to be examined carefully to see how much represents grants as opposed to loans. The money will predominantly come from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the US and the EU. Both the UK and France have offered bilateral sums: France offered Egypt up to $250m a year in development aid on Thursday and David Cameron set aside £110m over four years for political and economic development.

Britain and France have agreed to send ground attack helicopters to the region in a move that will intensify the attacks on the Libyan regime's command and control sites. Britain will send as many as eight Apache helicopters. Sarkozy has tried to persuade the US to deploy A-10 attack aircraft and AC-130 gunships in Libya.

The draft declaration by the G8 will urge Muammar Gaddafi to declare a ceasefire and agree to a political solution, officials said. The Arab Union meeting this week also called for a ceasefire, but did not call for Gaddafi to stand aside.

Russia's ambassador to France, Alexander Orlov, said the Nato coalition has gone too far.

Mladic due back in Belgrade court

EU’s most wanted war crimes fugitive was arrested on Thursday in a northern Serbian village after 16 years on the run. The Bosnian Serb wartime army commander is facing international war crimes charges, including the slaughter of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica during Bosnia’s 1992—95 war.

Thursday’s extradition hearing was adjourned due to what Mladic’s lawyer claimed was his poor health.

Serbian war crimes prosecutors claim the health issue appears to be Mladic’s tactic to delay his extradition to the U.N. tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands.

“What’s important is that his identity has been established,” said deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric. “It now depends on his defense whether they will launch appeals, but a maximum deadline for his extradition is a week.”

Meanwhile, a photo portrait of Mladic during his arrest in the village of Lazarevo, 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Belgrade, was obtained by The Associated Press. It shows him looking much older than in 2002 when he was last seen in Belgrade.

Mladic is alleged to have led the forces that attacked the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, a UN-declared safe area, in the summer of 1995. In early July that year, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were executed by Serbian forces, and the town's women and children were driven out of the area. Mladic has been on the run since 1995, when he was indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

The arrest of Mladic, the most-wanted man in Europe for the alleged massacre of thousands of Muslim men and boys, was announced Thursday by Serbian President Boris Tadic.

The extradition process began that day, but Mladic's lawyer said the judge cut short the questioning because the suspect's "poor physical state" left him unable to communicate.

The BBC has reported that doctors are assessing whether Mladic is well enough to attend his scheduled hearing.

Serbian war crimes prosecutors said the health issue is only a delaying tactic.

What's important is that his identity has been established," said deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric. "It now depends on his defense whether they will launch appeals, but a maximum deadline for his extradition is a week.

Broadcast of live betting odds:Australian sports gambling promotion threat

Meeting of state and federal ministers in Canberra agreed that the promotion of live odds during the broadcast of sport events had to be curtailed.

Governments are concerned that promotion, including commentary by sporting role models, is becoming insidious in live sports coverage," the Select Council on Gambling Reform stated in their communique following the talks.

Under the plan, which has backing from the responsible ministers at the state and federal levels, broadcasters would not be able to promote live odds and gaming websites. The arrangement will cover all sports with the exception of horse racing, which has been excluded due to its long-standing connection with the pastime.

Senator Stephen Conroy, the communications minister, said that the Government would discuss the proposed rules with broadcasters, with a particular focus on how the restrictions would operate.

"The particular concern of all the ministers was the practice by commentators reading out odds and encouraging people to get on," he said.

Conroy said that the government did not wish to override existing commercial arrangements between broadcasters and betting agencies. Networks will have twelve months to alter their practices voluntarily; otherwise, the Government will introduce retrospective legislation to ban the activity.

The peak body representing commercial free-to-air networks, Free TV Australia, said in a statement that it would negotiate over the terms of the ban. But the body's chief executive Julie Flynn insisted that any proposal must also cover other forms of media.

During cricket broadcasts, for example, commentators which include former Australian captains break away from ball-by-ball coverage to give up-to-date odds from a gambling agency to reflect the current state of the match.

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"We are concerned that this can significantly influence vulnerable and young people and normalize gambling behaviour," the statement said.

If the gambling industry and television networks do not voluntarily halt such promotion by the end of June next year, legislation to ban it will be introduced to parliament. The proposed restrictions will apply to all sports with the exception of horse racing.

The Australian government also announced a review of existing online gambling laws.

Senator Stephen Conroy, the government minister for broadband, communications and the digital economy, said there would be no new contracts allowed for in-game betting, including odds on scoreboards at sporting events.

Commonwealth wants the measure compulsory while the states want a voluntary system, and some want compensation for lost tax revenue system.

Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin foreshadowed a constitutional showdown on the issue.

Ms Macklin said that in February it had been made "very clear" the Commonwealth had constitutional power to legislate on the issue and override the states.

She said legislation will be drafted in conjunction with independent Andrew Wilkie, who has made mandatory limits a condition of his support for the minority government, for operation by 2014.

"I would prefer to get an agreement with the states and territories and I do think today is a very significant step forward," Ms Macklin said after a meeting of the Council of Australian Governments.

"It is the first time all of us - the states, the territories, and the Commonwealth - have agreed that pre-commitment technology is a very helpful tool for people who are gambling on the poker machine.''

Victorian Gaming Minister Michael O'Brien said after the talks his state would install the technology needed for pre-commitment on all poker machines, but make its use voluntary.

"Ministers noted that members do not agree on whether such technology should be used on a voluntary or mandatory basis," the council's communique stated.

"Ministers asked senior officials to do further work on developing the required functionality for pre-commitment and a timetable for implementation.

A Bogut adds $25,000 to reward for finding missing Jesse Densley

Member of the public spotted Jesse near Champion St in Williamstown, where he had been staying in a disused building with other people since Tuesday.

He was taken to the Royal Chidren’s Hospital for treatment.

Jesse’s father, Jody, said he and wife Michelle rushed to the police station when told the 15-year-old had been found.

"We got here in about 15 seconds,’’ he said.

Asked if a $50,000 reward for information about their son, posted by Mr Densley's former employer the Lew family and basketballer Andrew Bogut, was still valid, the relieved father said: "Yeah, absolutely.’’

"I would like to especially thank the Lew family, Rose and Solomon Lew. Previous employers of mine I’ve had no contact with for 18 years and without hesitation they put up the first $25,000.

Jesse was last seen by a friend at North Williamstown train station about 8.30am on Tuesday.

He was later captured on CCTV getting off a train at Cheltenham station before boarding a return service to Newport.

Despite several unsuccessful leads, neither police nor Jesse's parents have any idea where he went next.

Jody and Michelle Densley offered a $25,000 reward this morning as the search entered its fourth day.

The figure was then matched by Bogut after the Milwaukee Bucks star heard Mr Densley's pleas on radio.

Today he was taken to Williamstown Police Station where he was united with his relieved family, and waved to reporters before being taken by ambulance to the Royal Children’s Hospital for assessment.

It is understood Jesse was spotted by another boy who called Triple 0.

Ms Densley told Radio 3AW that she was “beside herself” at the discovery.

And despite his visit to hospital, she was confident it was "nothing a good wash and feed won't fix".

The discovery brings to an end an agonising search that included emotional public pleas from his parents.

As late as this morning, Mr Densley and Jesse's mother Michelle said they had no idea where their son was.

Mr Densley said he hoped the money would impel more people to help.

"It's only going to take one person to find Jess," Mr Densley said.

"He's going to be alone I guess. We have have no idea where he is. If we did, we would be looking."

Jesse, who has been suffering depression, has not contacted friends or logged into his Facebook account since his disappearance.

He is described as Caucasian, about 185cm tall and medium build with blond shoulder-length hair.

He was last seen wearing a grey Rip Curl hoodie with a blue panel on the chest.

Police are urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or to visit www.crimestoppers.com.au – or call 000.

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Nathan Tinkler hits a billion on the rich list

Gina Rinehart has topped off a dramatic 12 months by sweeping to top place on the BRW Rich 200 list with a fortune of $10.3 billion.

It is the first time any member of the Rich 200 has broken through the magical $10 billion mark and underlines the dramatic impact the mining boom has had on the ranks of Australia's wealthy.

Rinehart was well ahead of the surprise second place on the list Ivan Glasenberg, the South African-born, Swiss-based chief executive of Glencore. His wealth was estimated at $8.8 billion courtesy of last week's float of the world's biggest commodity trader.

Andrew Forrest, the head of Fortescue Metals Group, was in third place with a fortune of $6.18 billion, while Anthony Pratt, who succeeded his late father as head of packaging giant Visy Industries, was in fourth with $5.18 billion.

Clive Palmer – who is set to list his coal company Resourcehouse on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the next few weeks – was ranked fifth with a fortune of $5.05 billion.

While Gina Rinehart has never been far from the headlines in the last 12 months thanks to her strident opposition to the Government's mining tax and her surprise investments in media companies Ten Network and Fairfax Media, the sheer size of the increase in her fortune is staggering.

Not only is she the first woman in the list's 28-year history to lead it, but she also made the biggest fortune ever to be recorded by the BRW Rich 200, with her wealth more than doubling from $4.75 billion last year.

Overall, the rich list gained a 23 per cent rise in wealth to $167.25 billion, and five new billionaires took the total to 35.

Most appearances on this year's list were self-made, with only 17 per cent inheriting their wealth. The number of women in the list remained at 15 in line with last year, BRW said.

Harold Camping: Judgment Day Did Actually Happen Saturday

As crestfallen followers of a California preacher who foresaw the world's end strained to find meaning in their lives, Harold Camping revised his apocalyptic prophecy Monday, saying he was off by five months and the Earth actually will be obliterated on Oct. 21.

Camping, who predicted that 200 million Christians would be taken to heaven Saturday before global cataclysm struck the planet, said he felt so terrible when his doomsday message did not come true that he left home and took refuge in a motel with his wife. His independent ministry, Family Radio International, spent millions -- some of it from donations made by followers -- on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the Judgment Day message.

Follower Jeff Hopkins also spent a good deal of his own retirement savings on gas money to power his car so people would see its ominous lighted sign showcasing Camping's May 21 warning. As the appointed day drew nearer, Hopkins started making the 100-mile round trip from Long Island to New York City twice a day, spending at least $15 on gas each trip.

Camping did admit to at least one mistake: that he'd been reading the Bible with a factual mindset, rather than a spiritual one, which is why he'd misinterpreted Saturday's events.

"On May 21, this last weekend, this is where the spiritual aspect of it really comes through," said Camping. "God again brought judgment on the world. We didn't see any difference but God brought Judgment Day to bear upon the whole world. The whole world is under Judgment Day and it will continue right up until Oct. 21, 2011 and by that time the whole world will be destroyed."

So, in other words, even though Harold Camping was wrong, he was actually still right. You just don't know it, because you aren't Harold Camping.

Afghanistan mission 'succeeding' despite soldier's death

HUNDREDS of ex-servicemen stood together, backs straight, in perfect silence. None of them knew Sergeant Brett Wood, but all were familiar with the pain of loss.

During a minute's silence to mark the death of the 24th Digger in Afghanistan and the wounding of five others, there were some who called for the government to pull Australian troops out of an ''unwinnable'' conflict.

Australian forces, it was learnt yesterday, have killed about 1500 insurgents in the past 12 months, during some of the most vicious fighting seen by the military since the Vietnam War.

We can't win there, the mob we're fighting are willing to use women and children in battle: they will do anything,'' said Bob Cunningham, 63, at yesterday's Congress of Returned Servicemen's Leagues at Rooty Hill.

''In Afghanistan you don't know who or where the enemy is but you know they've got no morals and we're Australian, so we have to fight fair.''

'But progress is being made in Afghanistan and we are there for all of the right reasons - we are there to ensure that Afghanistan does not again become a safe haven for terrorists.

One of Sergeant Wood's fellow soldiers suffered life-threatening wounds and another serious injuries from the same blast. Another three Australian soldiers were injured in a separate firefight on Monday, but they were expected to be discharged from hospital at the Australian base in Tarin Kowt last night.

Defence Force chief Angus Houston yesterday described Sergeant Wood as a ''magnificent'' soldier who was on his third deployment to Afghanistan, having previously served in Iraq, East Timor and Bougainville.

Paul Twining's son, David, was Sergeant Wood's best friend until David was killed in a car accident in 2001, just three days after returning from service in East Timor. The two met the day they both joined the army and the pair became best friends. ''After losing our son, every time you'd hear about something overseas you'd always hope it wasn't Brett, but unfortunately you have in the back of your mind that one day it might happen,'' Mr Twining said.

Sergeant Wood's death came as a former Taliban commander reportedly said insurgents in Oruzgan were laying down their arms to concentrate on harvesting opium.

Australia's stated aim is to train the 4th Brigade of the Afghan National Army to allow it to assume responsibility for security in the province.

However, over the Australian summer, allied troops in Oruzgan have pushed further out from Tarin Kowt, taking territory and Taliban arms caches, and killing and capturing insurgent leaders ahead of the ''fighting season''.

With these successes, the Department of Defence and the government appear to have broadened their definition of progress.

''We are in places in Oruzgan we've never been before,'' Air Chief Marshal Houston, said yesterday.

Body found in car in Melbourne dam

Police this afternoon announced the death was not being treated as suspicious and officers were investigating a possible car accident after the discovery of a hatchback in a dam this morning.

Body found in a car thought to have been submerged in a dam for four months could be that of a missing Geelong man.

Farmers draining a dam on a Werribee South property found the car with the body inside on Monday morning.

Police are investigating whether the vehicle ended up in the water after an accident.

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They believe the dead man could be a 46-year-old from Corio who has been missing since January.

"The death is currently not being treated as suspicious and police are looking at a number of factors, including a possible vehicle collision," a police statement said.

Police have not named the person but in January they issued an appeal to help locate 46-year-old Ismet Toprak after he failed to turn up for work in Werribee South.

His wife last saw the father of four leaving his home in the Geelong suburb of Corio about 4.30am on January 12.

But he failed to arrive for work at a broccoli and cauliflower farm in Werribee South.

In January, police and relatives said it was extremely out of character for Mr Toprak, described as a hard worker and family oriented, not to be in contact with his family and friends.

Mr Toprak's brother Huseyin Toprak flew to Melbourne from Turkey to support the family, who migrated to southwestern Victoria in the late 1990s. Their extended family remains in Turkey.

Police at the time said Mr Ismet Toprak reportedly had been upset by his wife's long battle with cancer but remained committed to his family, and usually called his wife every half hour to check how she was.

It's understood the car was covered in algae, indicating it had been in the dam for some time, and that a section of barbed wire fence had been knocked down near the site.

Aussie man busted for drugs in Bali

DENPASAR, Indonesia, May 23, 2011 (AFP) - - Indonesian police on Monday said they had arrested an Australian man with a small amount of methamphetamine and two ecstasy pills on the resort island of Bali.

Ricky Shane Rawson, 49, of Melbourne, could face up to 20 years in jail if convicted of possession of illegal drugs, police said.

He was arrested Saturday at a villa in Seminyak, north of Kuta beach. Police said Rawson was in Bali on holiday.

"At this stage we suspect that he is only an addict, not a distributor," a police officer told reporters.

The chief of the drug squad in Denpasar, Ambariady, said Rawson was arrested on Saturday at a villa where he was staying in the upmarket area of Seminyak.

"He's an Australian citizen who was caught in an operation, called Operation Antique, and carried out by Denpasar police," he said.

He added that police were still investigating the source of the alleged drugs.

Police allege Rawson was caught with a small bag of methamphetamine and two ecstasy pills.

He is expected to be charged with drugs possession, which carries a penalty of between four and 20 years' jail.

Woman can use dead husband's sperm

Sydney woman has won her battle to be able to use her dead husband's frozen sperm to try to have their baby.

Justice Robert Allan Hulme ruled in the NSW Supreme Court that Jocelyn Edwards is entitled to possession of the sperm recovered from the body of her late husband, Mark Edwards.

"Although there is no direct evidence, the clear and only inference is that she desires to have a child with the aid of assisted reproductive treatment," the judge said.

Ms Edwards, 40, married her husband in 2005 and after she had not fallen pregnant, they discussed fertility treatment and assisted reproductive technology and attended a clinic in early August 2010.

The couple expressed a preference for IVF and were to return on August 6 for discussions and to sign consent forms to commence treatment.

"Tragically, at about 12.15pm on 5 August, Mr Edwards was fatally injured in a workplace accident," the judge said.

The next morning a judge made orders allowing the posthumous extraction of sperm from Mr Edwards and this has been held at a laboratory pending the court case

Volcano ash may reach France, Spain

Eruption of Iceland's most active volcano is unlikely to cause a repeat of last year's major disruption to air traffic, an expert said, despite the island having to shut its main airport and maybe closing its airspace. The Grimsvotn volcano burst into life on Saturday in what experts said was a stronger eruption than its last outbreak in 2004. The plume from the volcano shot 20km into the sky, forming a huge, bubbling mass which seeped above the clouds high over the North Atlantic island.

Experts have said it will probably not cause the same kind of disruption as when Eyjafjallajokull erupted last April, grounding European airlines for days, as its eruptions tend to be smaller and the particles from it less likely to disperse so far into the atmosphere.

Authorities halted flights then due to fears that dust and ash would get into aircraft engines and cause accidents after the cloud was blown into European air traffic lanes.

Europe's air traffic control organisation said, "There is currently no impact on European or transatlantic flights and the situation is expected to remain so for the next 24 hours."

"Aircraft operators are constantly being informed of the evolving situation," the Brussels-based organisation said.

The Isavia civil aviation authority said it had decided to shut the island's main airport, which is about 30 miles from capital city Reykjavik.

"The ash distribution forecast over the next six hours shows that the ash from the volcano will spread over Iceland today, leading to the closure of most Icelandic airports as the day goes on," it said.

Isavia on Saturday imposed a flight ban of 120 nautical miles around the area. Grimsvotn lies under the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland, the largest glacier in Europe.

When it last erupted in 2004 transatlantic flights had to be re-routed south of Iceland, but no airports were closed.

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Icelandic volcano ash could enter UK airspace

Safety experts have warned that ash from an erupting Icelandic volcano that closed the country's airspace may blow across large swathes of western Europe, raising fears of new flight chaos.

Air safety officials said ash from the Grimsvotn eruption may reach north Scotland by Tuesday before sweeping across Britain to hit France and Spain two days later, as experts said the impact should not be as far-reaching as 2010 when a similar event caused widespread flight cancellations.

Ash deposits were sprinkled over the capital Reykjavik on Sunday, some 400 kilometres to the west of the volcano which spewed a cloud about 20 kilometres into the sky.

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Residents living near to Grimsvotn said the skies had turned black in an eerie echo of last year's eruption of the smaller Eyjafjoell volcano which led to the biggest global airspace shutdown since World War II.

"It's just black outside, and you can hardly tell it is supposed to be bright daylight," Bjorgvin Hardarsson, a farmer at Hunbakkar Farm in the nearby village of Kirkjubaejarklaustur said by phone.

"It's been very dark. You'd think it was night," agreed Vilhelm Tunnarsson, a photographer for local Icelandic media staying at a nearby hotel, adding at times he had been unable to see 30 centimetres in front of him.

At the moment if the volcano continues to erupt to the same level it has been, and is now, the UK could be at risk of seeing volcanic ash later this week," said Helen Chivers, Met Office spokeswoman. "Quite when and how much we can't really define at the moment."

Chivers said the weather situation is set to be different to last year, with the wind direction set to change continuously.

She added: "If it moves in the way that we're currently looking, with the eruption continuing the way it is, then if the UK is at risk later this week, then France and Spain could be as well."

While the ash has grounded aircraft in Iceland, it is not anticipated that it will have a similar impact in the rest of Europe.

Dr Dave McGarvie, volcanologist at the Open University, said that the amount of ash reaching the UK "is likely to be less than in the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption", and said the last two times Grimsvotn erupted it did not affect UK air travel.

"In addition, the experience gained from the 2010 eruption, especially by the Met Office, the airline industry, and the engine manufacturers, should mean less disruption to travellers."

The April eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, in south-east Iceland, caused the worst disruption to international air travel since 9/11. Flights across Europe were cancelled for six-days stranding tens of thousands of people and was estimated to have cost airlines £130m a day.

Eurocontrol, the Europe-wide air traffic control network, said in a statement: "There is currently no impact on European or transatlantic flights and the situation is expected to remain so for the next 24 hours. Aircraft operators are constantly being kept informed of the evolving situation.