NATION IN BRIEF : ALASKA : Travel Resumes as Volcano Calms

Redoubt Volcano simmered down and Alaskans worked to return their lives to normal after a week of disruptions caused by the volcano’s ash. As the ash cleared, airlines struggled to move stranded holiday travelers by Christmas. But resumed flights came too late for a traveling menagerie of exotic African animals. Dozens of the animals, grounded in Anchorage and forgotten for four days when ash forced down their flight to Tokyo, were being nursed in an airline warehouse, but some had died and others were too sick to travel, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported. The Alaska Volcano Observatory said the volcano continued to tremble with small earthquakes, but no new eruptions were reported.