U.S. gas prices down a penny in 2 weeks
CAMARILLO, Calif. – The average price of gasoline has dropped a penny over the past two weeks to $2.82 a gallon.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that the current average sits 76 cents below the year-ago price.
The cheapest price recorded in the continental United States was $2.33 a gallon in Birmingham, Alabama.
The highest was $4.13 a gallon in Los Angeles. Lundberg says California saw huge wholesale price hikes during a brief supply shortage. She says supplies are flowing again and pump prices are poised to drop in the Golden State.
The national average price of diesel was down 6 cents over the same period to $2.86 a gallon.
GOP rebukes Cruz over attacks on peer
WASHINGTON – Senior Senate Republicans lined up Sunday to rebuke Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for harshly criticizing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, an extraordinary display of intraparty division played out live on the Senate floor.
As the Senate met for a rare Sunday session, Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and John Cornyn of Texas each rose to counter a stunning floor speech Cruz gave on Friday accusing McConnell, R-Ky., of lying. Hatch called for civility.
None of them mentioned Cruz by name but the target of their remarks could not have been clearer. The drama was triggered as the Senate took a step toward reviving the federal Export-Import Bank, which is viewed by Cruz and many conservatives as a form of corporate welfare.
Cruz said he agreed with Hatch’s calls for civility but declared, “Speaking the truth about actions is entirely consistent with civility.”
Suicide truck bomb at Somali hotel, kills 9
MOGADISHU, Somalia – A suicide bomber rammed a truck rigged with explosives into the blast walls around one of Mogadishu’s most secure hotels, severely damaging the building and killing nine people including a Chinese diplomat, Somalia’s foreign minister said Sunday.
Abdisalam Omer told The Associated Press by phone from Djibouti that a Kenyan diplomat was also wounded in the attack.
The attack was claimed by the al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabab group and also wounded some 20 people. The walled, luxury Jazeera Hotel is considered the most secure in Somalia’s capital and is frequented by diplomats, foreigners and visiting heads of state.
While blast destroyed at least eight rooms and stunned the residents of the Somali capital, it wasn’t as bad as it might have been because the truck, which contained a ton of explosives, was stopped at the blast walls outside the hotel.
Associated Press
