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Crews work to contain gas pipeline spill in Washington state

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:56 GMT

CONWAY, Wash. (AP) — Responders set up a containment boom after a gasoline spill from the weekend failure of part of a pipeline in northwest Washington state, but federal regulators reported no signs Tuesday of any fuel reaching the Skagit River.About 25,660 gallons (97,100 liters) of gasoline spilled after a small tube leading from the main Olympic Pipeline to a pressure-check valve failed on Sunday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release.The EPA said responders placed an absorbent boom downstream of the spill in Hill Ditch and Bulson Creek, which support salmon and other wildlife and which flow into the Skagit River.There was no sign the fuel had reached the Skagit, the EPA said, and no injuries to wildlife had been observed. The spill prompted the precautionary closure of an elementary school on Monday, but it reopened Tuesday. Air quality monitoring indicated there was no risk to public health, according to the EPA.The Olympic Pipeline is operated by the...

ExxonMobil says it will stay in Guyana for the long term despite territorial dispute with Venezuela

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:56 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Oil giant ExxonMobil says it will keep ramping up production in offshore Guyana despite the escalation of a territorial dispute with neighboring Venezuela, which claims that oil-rich region as its own.In a brief statement posted Monday on Facebook, ExxonMobil Guyana said it was reaffirming its “long-term commitment to Guyana” as tensions grow between the two South American countries that share a border.“We are not going anywhere – our focus remains on developing the resources efficiently and responsibly, per our agreement with the Guyanese government,” the company wrote.Earlier this month, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro proposed that companies operating in the vast Essequibo region in Guyana, that is rich with minerals and located near massive oil deposits, should withdraw their operations within three months.His government also is seeking to ban companies operating in Guyana from doing so in his country.Venezuelan lawmakers are currently debating a bi...

Greg Fergus will need to pay fine, apologize to stay on as House Speaker: NDP

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:56 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal New Democrats say they won’t be calling for House Speaker Greg Fergus to resign over a video that was shown at a partisan event, but they do endorse a call for him to be disciplined.NDP House leader Peter Julian says Fergus will need to apologize for his actions again and pay a fine — though he would not say how steep that could be. The video played at a recent party convention saw Fergus paying tribute to the outgoing interim leader of the Ontario Liberals while wearing his ceremonial Speaker’s robes.Fergus apologized Monday to the procedure and House affairs committee, which is set to report back to the House of Commons this week about whether he should be sanctioned.Fergus told MPs he didn’t know where the video would be played, but the Bloc Québécois and Conservatives have argued he cannot be impartial and he needs to resign. Julian told reporters today it’s not uncommon for the Speaker to have the support of only about half of MPs in...

Tunisia opposition figure Issa denounces military prosecution as creating fear about civil freedoms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:56 GMT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A prominent opposition figure on trial in Tunisia on charges of undermining state security warned Tuesday that efforts to prosecute her are sowing fear about civil rights and liberties.Chaima Issa, a leader in the coalition of parties opposed to President Kais Saied, spoke to journalists outside a military court despite a gag order. She criticized the charges as politically motivated before walking into the military court hearing.“People are afraid when they hear those close to power calling us traitors or terrorists, when our purpose is to change things peacefully,” she said.To government critics, her case encapsulates growing fears about democratic backsliding in Tunisia under Saied.Prosecutors have accused Issa of “plotting against state security” and jailed her as part of a wave of arrests targeting opposition figures. She faces a potentially lengthy prison sentence.Critics of the president have increasingly faced prosecution and arrests. More than 20...

Nebraska prosecutors charge man with murder in fatal stabbing of small town priest inside rectory

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:56 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska prosecutors have charged a man with first-degree murder, burglary and weapons charges Tuesday in the fatal weekend stabbing of a Catholic priest who authorities say was attacked during a break-in at the rectory where he lived next door to his church in the small town of Fort Calhoun.Kierre L. Williams, 43, was charged Tuesday with killing the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell on Sunday morning. He was arrested inside Gutgsell’s home Sunday morning just minutes after the priest called 911 to report the break-in. Gutgsell was rushed to an Omaha hospital where he died.Court documents say Gutgsell was bleeding profusely from wounds on his face, hands and back, and he yelled “Help me” when the first sheriff’s deputy arrived and identified himself.The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Williams is from Sioux City, Iowa, which is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Fort Calhoun. The Nebraska town of about 1,000 residents is located about 16 miles (26 k...

UN warns nearly 50 million people could face hunger next year in West and Central Africa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:56 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United Nations warned on Tuesday that hunger could surge across West and Central Africa next year, primarily driven by violence in the conflict-riddled region. Nearly 50 million people could face food insecurity and more than 2.5 million will be on the brink of starvation, said officials from the U.N., the Food and Agriculture Organization, regional and other groups as they presented the findings in Senegal’s capital, Dakar.The report is compiled by regional governments, the U.N. and aid groups. While climate change and inflation are contributing factors, the main driver of food insecurity is increasing violence, particularly across the Central Sahel — the vast expanse below the Sahara Desert — which has been hardest hit. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have had five coups in three years, which has led to increased jihadi attacks linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The militants were already operating in the area and have capitalized on the politic...

Voting closes in Egypt’s presidential elections, with el-Sissi almost certain to win a third term

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:56 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Voting closed on Tuesday in Egypt’s presidential election that is almost certain to see President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi secure a third term.The election has been overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, a conflict on Egypt’s eastern border that threatens to expand into wider regional turmoil.Voting began Sunday. According to a timetable published by the National Election Authority, the results will be announced on Dec. 18.El-Sissi, who has been president for over nine years, faces no serious challenger. The three other candidates include Farid Zahran, head of the opposition Social Democratic Party; Abdel-Sanad Yamama, chairman of the Wafd Party; and Hazem Omar, head of the Republican People’s Party.More than 67 million Egyptians were eligible to vote, with the turnout yet to be announced. As of noon Monday, 45% of the eligible electorate had cast their ballots, the National Election Authority said.A runoff is set for Jan. 8-10 if no candidate secures more tha...

CTV National News appoints Heather Butts as new weekend anchor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:56 GMT

TORONTO — Heather Butts has been named the new weekend anchor for CTV National News.Currently the television news program’s Toronto correspondent, Butts will take on the role previously held by Sandie Rinaldo, who has been CTV National News’ weekend anchor for over 35 years.Rinaldo now anchors the early evening edition of CTV National News on weekdays at 5:30 p.m. ET.Butts has almost 15 years of national breaking news experience and has covered several major stories for CTV in recent years, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the 2022 mass stabbing at James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan.Since joining the CTV News team in 2014, Butts has held several roles, from anchor to reporter to morning host at local stations across Canada.Butts says in a statement that it’s “an honour” to take over the weekend anchor desk and follow in the footsteps of Rinaldo.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2023.The Canadian Press

Packed hospitals, treacherous roads, harried parents: Newborns in Gaza face steeper odds of survival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:56 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The birth of their daughter should have marked the beginning of a joyful chapter for the young Palestinian couple. Instead, the devastating war in Gaza, now in its third month, has turned childbirth and parenthood into a time of worry and fear for Salim and Israa al-Jamala.First, they endured a perilous journey, dodging missile fire, to reach a maternity ward. And now, the couple is sheltering with their newborn in the partially tented courtyard of another hospital where they can’t care properly for their now 3-week-old daughter, her mother’s namesake.His wife’s breast milk is not sufficient because she cannot eat enough as a result of widespread food shortages, said the 29-year-old Salim, rocking baby Israa, swaddled in blankets in a crib cobbled together from wood scraps. Baby formula and medicine for the infant’s persistent cough are not available and in any case not affordable.The war, triggered by a deadly Oct. 7 Hamas as...

102 African migrants detained traveling by bus in southern Mexico; 3 smugglers arrested

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:56 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities detained two buses carrying 102 migrants from African nations in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca on Tuesday morning, according to Mexico’s immigration agency.Three suspected people smugglers traveling with the convoy were also arrested.The majority of the migrants came from the West African nations of Senegal and Guinea, as well as six from Djibouti, two from Congo and one from Mauritania.Authorities did not say how the migrants are thought to have arrived in Mexico, but African migrants have been known to use Nicaragua as a transit point to reach the U.S., because of the country’s lax visa requirements.In the past month Mexican authorities have claimed to “rescue” or “locate” hundreds of migrants from houses, vehicles, and a trailer box. With a few exceptions, experts said the rescues are more accurately characterized as arrests.“They are almost 100% apprehensions,” said Ari Sawyer, a border researcher at Human Rights Watch, who likened the...