ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP & staff) — The Asuncion zoo is desperately seeking a mate for Coco, the last known male of his species left in Paraguay.

Coco is an endangered hyacinth macaw, known in Paraguayan Spanish as a “papagayo azul.” Scientists estimated several years ago that only 6,500 were left in the wild, mostly in an area of neighboring Brazil that is quickly losing natural habitat for the birds.

Capturing and exporting the Macaws is illegal and Coco was sent to the zoo eight years ago after authorities broke up a gang of animal traffickers. Only recently did a DNA test show he’s male, zoo veterinarian Cristiane Rainner said in an interview.

To avoid mixing species, the zoo has had to keep him apart from other Macaws, which has left him lonely and a bit bored, Rainner said.

“He’s quite sociable, although he’s only learned to say ‘Hello.’ But when he hears the cumbia he dances,” Rainner said. “The hyacinth macaw is a beauty, but if it doesn’t reproduce, that’ll be it. Coco is a male and his life expectancy is 80 years.”

Coco, who has a yellow circle around his eyes that sets off the rest of his blue feathers, is known to scientists as Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus. It’s more or less a cousin to “Blu,” the Spix’s macaw that stars in the animated movie “Rio.” That species, Cyanopsitta spixii, is all blue and even more endangered than the hyacinth macaw.

But like the bird in the movie, scientists hope to find Coco a mate to rebuild the species.

Because international laws against animal trafficking are now so strict, few institutions in other countries are willing to lend the Paraguay zoo a female, and doing so would require approval from international species protection officials in Geneva, Switzerland, said Cristina Morales, protected species director for the environmental group Birds of Paraguay.

“The ideal is to keep looking for a match in Paraguay,” she said.

There are at least two other known hyacinth macaws in captivity in Paraguay, but without DNA tests, it is impossible to know if they are female, and the owners have been reluctant to cooperate, in part because the mating process can take some time, and be a bit rough on females, Rainner said.

Even though some say it’s been a massive overreaction by badly prepared safety regulators — one airline even claims the official scientific findings are simply wrong — hundreds of flights were canceled Tuesday as winds blew the cloud of ash from the Grimsvotn volcano over Scotland. Experts say that particles in the ash could stall jet engines and sandblast planes’ windows.

The only comfort for frustrated passengers and airlines is that officials in Iceland said the amount of ash being released by the volcano was decreasing, and officials don’t expect the disruption to be as bad as last year, when millions were stranded after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano.

Nonetheless, British authorities said concentrations of ash in the skies over Scotland were high.

“All the data we are receiving confirms our forecasts, that there is high-density ash over Scotland,” said Barry Grommett, spokesman for Britain’s weather agency.

But Irish budget airline Ryanair challenged the results, saying it had sent its own airplane into Scottish airspace and found no ash in the atmosphere.

“Exactly as we predicted, we encountered absolutely no problems, Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary told The Associated Press. “There’s no cloud over Scotland. There’s no dusting of ash on the airframe or the wings. The airspace over Scotland should never have been restricted in the first place.”

Nonetheless, Ryanair was forced by Irish authorities to cancel all 68 flights in and out of Scotland for the rest of Tuesday. Seven other airlines — most of them regional carriers — also grounded their Scottish flights.

In Edinburgh, several hundred passengers faced either a patient wait or overnight stays in the city.

“I’ve been told I’ll get home tomorrow, but who knows,” said Kgeld Westh, an architect from Copenhagen. He was heading to a hotel in Edinburgh after his flight was canceled.

Among the crowds at the airport were soccer fans heading to Dublin for the international match between Scotland and Ireland.

“If all else fails we’ll make our way by train and ferry,” said Gary Clark, from Hamilton near Glasgow wearing a kilt and a Scotland shirt.

The main international body representing carriers, the International Air Transport Association, complained to the British government about the way it had handled the issue, saying it should have had Cessna planes ready to carry out tests, instead of relying on the weather service.

U.K. airspace was not closed, but some airlines would rather not take risks and were willing to follow official advice. EasyJet had 113 cancelations Tuesday in and out of Scotland, Newcastle and Northern Ireland. British Airways grounded 92 flights in total, and Dutch airline KLM canceled a total of 42 flights. Declan Kearney, spokesman for Aer Lingus, said it had canceled 22 flights between Ireland and Scotland.

“We take the advice given to us,” he said. “We have no reason to question the advice being given to us by the aviation authorities at this time. We need to accept what the experts in this area are telling us.”

The Grimsvotn volcano began erupting on Saturday, sending clouds of ash high into the air. The amount of ash spewing from the volcano tapered off dramatically on Tuesday, however, said Elin Jonasdottir, a forecaster at Iceland’s meteorological office. She added that because the plume has decreased in height — it’s now at about 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) — the ash won’t travel far and will most likely fall to the ground near its source.

The ash cloud forced President Barack Obama to shorten a visit to Ireland on Monday, and has raised fears of a repeat of huge travel disruptions in Europe last year.

Last year, European aviation authorities closed vast swaths of European airspace as soon as they detected the presence of even a small amount of volcanic ash in the atmosphere. This year, they are trying a more sophisticated approach.

Aviation authorities will give airlines information detailed information about the location and density of ash clouds. Any airline that wants to fly through the ash cloud can do so, if it can convince its own national aviation regulators it is safe to do so.

The closures are already affecting travel plans across Europe. Officials at Spanish soccer team Barcelona, which plans to travel to London on Thursday for Saturday’s Champions League final against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, say they are monitoring the ash cloud disruption and could change their departure date.

In Ireland, a couple who were due to fly to Edinburgh for a friend’s wedding were told their flight had been canceled. Anne and Damien Farrell decided on the spot to reclaim the car they’d just parked in Dublin Airport’s long-term parking lot, drive the 100 miles (160 kilometers) north to Belfast, and take the ferry to the Scottish port of Stranraer.

“Fortunately we have a day of lead-in time before the wedding party gets going, otherwise we’d be up a certain creek without a paddle,” said Damien Farrell, 29.

Bridging such differences about how the Internet could or should be more regulated took center stage Tuesday at an “e-G8″ meeting aimed to parlay the digital world’s growing economic clout into a cohesive message for world leaders at the Group of Eight summit later this week in Normandy.

The two-day Paris gathering has brought together Internet and media world gurus such as Google Inc. executive chairman Eric Schmidt, News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. And the discussion includes issues such as protecting children from “evil stuff” on line, preventing illegal downloading of copyrighted materials and shielding Facebook users from unsolicited invitations.

The e-G8 comes amid concerns in the industry that some countries — including several in Europe such as France — have taken measures or enacted laws that could curb Internet freedoms.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, kicking off the conference, said governments need to lay down and enforce rules in the digital world — even as they need to foster creativity and economic growth with the Internet.

It’s unclear whether he’ll win over digital executives with this argument, or whether the G-8 summit — which doesn’t include countries such as China, a major source of online activity and online regulation — will agree on a single policy going forward.

Sarkozy said he faced mistrust over his push for the “e-G8″ when Japan’s earthquake, fiscal troubles in Europe, and the Arab world revolutions are likely to dominate the G-8 summit in Deauville on Thursday and Friday. Conflicting visions about the Internet — notably about how regulated it should be — has pitted companies such as Amazon.com and Google against governments about how to protect privacy and copyrights online.

“We need to hear your aspirations, your needs,” Sarkozy told hundreds of business executives, creative minds and journalists at Tuileries Gardens in Paris. “You need to hear our limits, our red lines.”

Policymakers such as Sarkozy say the blistering pace of growth has often left regulators behind. He said a “balance” needed to be struck to prevent misuse of the Internet — such as to protect children online — while boosting its potential as a driver for economic growth.

While praising the executives, he said regulatory curbs are needed.

“Don’t let the revolution that you’ve begun threaten everyone’s basic right to a private life and full autonomy,” said Sarkozy. “Full transparency … sooner or later runs into the very principle of individual freedom.”

Google’s Schmidt said technological changes have led to a “shift in power” toward individuals — whether to illegally release secret documents or transfer copyrighted material, or rally against their repressive regimes.

“My own opinion is that most governments are having trouble with that shift in power,” he said. “So rather than sort of complaining about it, which is what everybody does, why don’t we see if we can harness it?”

During an e-G8 panel talk, Schmidt said: “You want to tread lightly on regulating brand new, innovative industries. … Clearly you need some level of regulation for the evil stuff. But I would be careful about overregulating the Internet.

“I cannot imagine any delegate in this conference (who) would want Internet growth to be significantly slowed by a government that slows it down because of some stupid rule that they put in place,” he said.

Last week, the U.N.’s independent expert on freedom of speech said governments that curtail users’ access to the Internet are violating a basic human right — regardless of the justification.

Britain last year joined France by announcing it would cut off Internet access to people who illegally download copyright-protected material. The French government has so far issued only warnings under the “three strikes” formula for possible penalties.

Privacy concerns have also raised hackles in Europe.

In January, Facebook and German officials reached a deal over unsolicited invitations sent to nonmembers of the social networking site through its “Friend Finder” feature — which allows Facebook to send email invitations to potential users through current members’ address books.

The feature came under fire in Germany for violating privacy laws by allowing unauthorized access to information of third parties. The agreement allows Facebook members more control over the email addresses they share.

Johannes Caspar, a data protection official in Hamburg who negotiated the deal for the Germans, said American laws under which Facebook operates tend to be more laissez-faire than those of Europe about privacy issues.

He said Facebook has cooperated with German investigations about possible privacy law violations, and the onus now is on Europe “to make things clearer” about the rules companies face on the continent.

SANAA, Yemen (AP & staff) — Fighters from Yemen’s most powerful tribes fired on government buildings and soldiers retaliated with intense shelling Tuesday as the uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh threatened to become a militia-led revolt after street protests and Arab mediation failed.

Tribal leaders say at least seven militiamen were killed, but the full death toll was not immediately known as the heart of Yemen’s capital was turned into a no man’s land with heavy gunfire, mortar rounds and apparent artillery fire from government forces.

Both sides traded blame for triggering the latest violence, further deepening the rifts and suggesting Yemen could be stumbling toward a potentially bloody showdown between well-armed tribal militias and pro-Saleh troops.

A statement by opposition groups accused Saleh of “dragging the country to chaos.” The Interior Ministry, in turn, blamed the “bloodshed” on Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, the head of Yemen’s largest tribe, called the Hashid.

Saleh has refused to step down despite three months of nearly nonstop protests calling for an end to his 32-year rule. He also snubbed attempts by Arab neighbors to negotiate his exit.

But the decision by al-Ahmar’s tribe and others to take up arms sharply alters the balance.

Yemen’s tribes are considered essential allies for any government to survive. Al-Ahmar and others had abandoned Saleh two months ago even though he is, too, a member of the Hashid clan. But the tribes decided to keep their weapons in check even as government forces fired on street demonstrations in attacks that have claimed more than 150 lives.

Now, however, the battles that began Monday may significantly increase pressure on Saleh’s regime — either by encouraging more clan leaders to join the fight or pushing more military officials to abandon the government.

“The defection of Sheik al-Ahmar was a very harsh blow because any ruler in Yemen survives only though tribal support,” said Faris al-Saqqaf, a political analyst at the independent Future Research Center in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. “Saleh is slapping al-Ahmar in the face just as al-Ahmar slapped him in the face and he wants revenge.”

Tuesday’s clashes broke out after government forces tried to storm al-Ahmar’s compound in Sanaa’s Hassaba district, an area that includes government ministries and the headquarters of Saleh’s ruling party.

Hundreds of tribal fighters came to al-Ahmar’s aid and pushed back government troops to take control of strategic points around the district, setting up roadblocks on streets flooded by water mains blasted by mortar shells. Militiamen also used chains to seal the doors of the ruling party headquarters and several ministries.

A senior military official in Sanaa told The Associated Press that sending forces to al-Ahmar’s house was meant to “break the will of the tribes, but so far it’s failed.”

Saleh’s forces took up positions inside the interior ministry, which came under sustained attacked from tribal forces. A rocket-propelled grenade punched a hole in the building, where smoke rose from the opening.

Government forces then struck back.

Mortar barrages targeted al-Ahmar’s compound and other villas belonging to family members. Later, what appeared to be several artillery shells slammed into al-Ahmar’s home, injuring at least three tribal leaders including the chief mediator with the government, said one of the militiamen, Yehia Mansour Abu Isbaa.

He also indicated the casualty toll could be higher.

“I saw destruction, body parts … bloodied clothes and lots of smoke,” he told the AP.

Dahan al-Qouhet, a tribal leader, said that at least five fighters were killed in the mortar strikes, and two others were killed in other clashes.

That would bring the overall death toll to at least 14 over two days of fighting, according to tribal chiefs and medical officials.

“This is not an attack on al-Ahmar and his family only, but on all the tribes in Yemen,” said Faisal Manaa, a leader of the Bakeel, another powerful tribe. “We will not remain silent. We are warning the regime if it doesn’t withdraw its troops, we will be launching in a comprehensive and fierce war with them.”

The escalating clashes came after Saleh refused to sign a U.S.-backed deal, mediated by Gulf Arab neighbors, that offered immunity from prosecution under a timetable to step down within 30 days and transfer power to his vice president.

Although the tribal fighters seemed to tighten their grip in central Sanaa, government troops are still strong in other parts of the capital. Saleh’s forces — backed by his son’s well-trained and equipped Republican Guards — are concentrated in the southern part of the capital, where the presidential palace and military camps are located.

PARIS (AP & Staff) — Iran’s government has protested to the Cannes Film Festival over its decision to ban director Lars von Trier for saying he sympathized with Adolf Hitler.

Iran’s semiofficial FARS news agency said Tuesday that deputy culture minister Javad Shamaqdari had written to festival president Gilles Jacob saying Cannes had smirched its history and rendered its claims to defend free speech “a meaningless slogan.”

The Iranian regime has jailed several filmmakers or banned them from making movies for supporting the country’s reform movement.

Cannes declared von Trier “persona non grata” last week after he told reporters that while Hitler “did some wrong things,” he could “sympathize with him a little bit.”

He later apologized and said it was a joke gone wrong.

In response to the Iranian letter, von Trier said Tuesday that his remarks were “unintelligent, ambiguous and needlessly hurtful.”

Von Trier was not allowed to attend Cannes’ awards ceremony on Sunday, where Kirsten Dunst was named best actress for her role in his film “Melancholia.”

This year’s Cannes festival included films by two Iranian directors, Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, who have been jailed by the country’s Islamic regime.

Both have been sentenced to six years in jail and banned from filmmaking for 20 years on charges that include “making propaganda” against the ruling system.

Rasoulof’s “Be Omid e Didar” (“Goodbye”) won a prize at Cannes, but the director was not allowed to travel to France to accept it.

The spies did not just rig hidden cameras. They posted taunting screen text, an eerie soundtrack and even an adults-only rating before slapping the intimate footage on the Internet, unleashing a sex scandal that could benefit the government in elections next month.

The slick smear campaign stunned a hardline nationalist party that was struggling for relevance as a self-declared guardian of Islamic values, pure Turkish identity and the sanctity of the family. It forced the resignations of 10 lawmakers in the Nationalist Action Party, which won 14 percent of the vote in the last general election in 2007.

If the party, known by its Turkish acronym MHP, falls below a vote threshold of 10 percent on June 12, it will lose a place in parliament and many of its seats will go to the likely winner, the two-term ruling party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Such an outcome could have a big impact in Turkey, where Erdogan seeks a two-thirds majority in the 550-seat parliament that would let his party replace a military-era constitution with relative ease. The government says it stands for democracy and European-style reforms, but some commentators judge it increasingly averse to consensus or criticism.

The ruling Justice and Development Party, which has Islamic roots, now has 331 seats. The Nationalist Action Party has 72.

The mysterious group behind the videos urged the ouster of the MHP leadership, whose chief, Devlet Bahceli, served as deputy prime minister in a coalition government a decade ago and has shifted the once-extremist party toward the political mainstream.

“If you have at least a little bit of shame, or devotion to the cause, you should all resign, everybody from head to toe in the management, so that this cherished cause will not suffer further because of you,” said an on-screen ultimatum. It described each implicated politician as a “scumbag.”

On the face of it, the message suggests the work of party insiders, possibly those who prefer a near-mystical, unrelenting nationalism that has lost resonance as Turkey becomes richer and more open. Speculation about the culprits has also turned on supporters of the government, which vehemently denies involvement, and an alleged gang of coup plotters with shadowy links to state agencies.

One prominent MHP member even accused President Barack Obama of orchestrating the scandal. If his logic was not entirely clear, it fit a tradition of conspiracy theories blaming the United States, which has low popularity ratings in Turkey.

, head of the top appeals court, said only that an “organization” was responsible, acknowledging the operation’s sophistication.

The videos, many of which have been removed from the Internet by Turkish authorities, show men resembling half a dozen of the politicians with women in nondescript rooms that appear to serve only as the anonymous settings for trysts. In one scene, a man and a woman cuddle, then disrobe briskly at opposite ends of a sofa and walk off-screen, presumably to a bedroom.

Some scenes are preceded by names of the politicians, whose resignations were taken as tacit acknowledgment that they had been caught in the act, as well as brief data on their partners. They allegedly include a 16-year-old girl and a Russian prostitute.

One video shows men identified as lawmakers Metin Cobanoglu and Recai Yildirim with female partners. Yildirim describes a typical right-wing voter, his own constituency, as “someone with no principles, a round hole, goes in any direction,” and muses on his relaxed work ethic.

“I wake up whenever I want, at 10 or 12, go to work at 1 p.m., or 3 p.m. Or I do not go at all,” he says. “Nobody tells me when I should go to work, or something of that sort. I am the boss of my own job. If I do not go, nothing happens.”

The overhead angle of the concealed camera is often askew, creating a discordant effect. It is amplified by doleful, operatic music paired with recorded sex acts. An “18+” stamp is added, a tribute to the morality issues at stake.

Prosecutors are investigating. Turkish law protects an individual’s privacy, but also holds lawmakers to ethical standards.

Ruling party lawmakers, who once tried to make adultery illegal, described the scheme as “ugly,” but could not resist barbed remarks on the campaign trail. This month, Erdogan made a not-so-subtle reference to “genelev,” which literally means “general house” in Turkish but is a common phrase for brothel.

“The women are not their wives, why would that be their privacy?” the prime minister said. “It is not private, it is very, very general. It is a general indecency.”