Ash forces countries to miss EU talks

China, Japan and Russia and five other Asian nations are missing finance talks with the European Union in Madrid after a volcanic ash cloud grounded flights across Europe. Only 10 out of 18 nations due to come to the talks managed to send a delegation – and four of those were counting on local embassy officials to represent finance ministers. French and German ministers also skipped home early, reportedly taking a flight to Marseilles, one of the few French airports till open.