World/Nation Briefs May 10, 2010

'Mountain to climb' for UK parties to reach deal

LONDON - The two parties that could form Britain's next government held hours of closed-door talks Sunday without reaching a power-sharing deal, and there are fears that the political uncertainty could stoke market jitters when trading reopens Monday.Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have a "mountain to climb" on issues including electoral reform, a senior member of the Liberal Democrats said. The Liberal Democrats want Britain to shed a system that gave them just 9 percent of the seats in Parliament after they won 23 percent of the popular vote, but if Conservatives give in it could leave them at the smaller party's mercy in future elections.

The divide could offer an opening for Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party to stay in power through a coalition with the Liberal Democrats and some smaller parties.Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg met with Conservative leader David Cameron on Sunday night, after meeting Brown during the afternoon for what a Liberal Democrat party spokesman said was an "amicable discussion."

A deal must be brokered soon to calm financial market anxieties about Britain's economic stability.

Obama: Education a responsibility of all Americans

HAMPTON, Va. - President Barack Obama, addressing graduates at historically black Hampton University on Sunday, said that it is the responsibility of all Americans to offer every child the type of education that will make them competitive in an economy in which just a high school diploma is no longer enough.Obama told the nearly 1,100 graduates assembled in the university's sun-splashed Armstrong Stadium that they have the added responsibility of being role models and mentors in their communities.

Obama said education can help them manage the uncertainties of a 21st century economy.For much of the last century, a high school diploma "was a ticket to a solid middle-class life," he said. But no more, as jobs today often require at least a bachelor's degree - or higher. To that end, Obama is pouring tens of billions of dollars into K-12 and higher education with an eye on raising standards and building the future workforce.

Ash from Iceland's volcano shuts European airports GENEVA - Airlines canceled hundreds of flights across Europe and added hours to trans-Atlantic journeys Sunday as planes were diverted around a large plume of ash spewed by an Icelandic volcano and stretching from Greenland to Portugal.

So far, the weekend cancellations have been a fraction of the flights nixed two weeks ago when jittery European air traffic authorities closed down much of the continent's airspace for fear the volcano's abrasive ash could harm jet engines. But the possibility loomed of continuing eruption, and rising costs to airlines from ongoing disruption.The bulk of the cloud, measuring 2,100 miles long and 1,400 miles wide, stretched over the North Atlantic, according to the Irish Aviation Authority. It ordered Ireland's five westernmost airports to close Sunday afternoon but allowed the country's three biggest airports in Dublin, Shannon and Cork to stay open.Airlines diverted their trans-Atlantic traffic north and south of the cloud, causing congestion as planes tried to squeeze through remaining routes. Some connections were canceled entirely because of an offshoot of the main cloud that was snaking its way from Portugal through Spain, southern France and northern Italy, then up to Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria.

- The Associated Press