Hundreds attend SeaWorld meeting

LONG BEACH, Calif.– Protesters and supporters filled a meeting room Thursday where a California commission was considering a vast expansion to the tanks that SeaWorld uses to hold killer whales in San Diego.

The commission that regulates land and water use along the California coast took up the issue of the $100 million expansion, which animal rights activists fear would pave the way for breeding more of the animals in captivity – something they say is cruel no matter the size of the tanks.

The 500 people who packed the meeting room included SeaWorld supporters wearing blue and white shirts and holding signs saying, “Educate, Inspire, Conserve,” and critics waving signs saying “Vote no on SeaWorld Tanks” and “SeaWorld hurts Orcas.”

Hajj stampede toll nearly doubles

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The crush and stampede last month outside of Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca killed at least 1,399 people during the hajj pilgrimage, a new tally Thursday showed, 630 more than the kingdom’s official toll.

The Associated Press count of the dead from the worst tragedy to strike the hajj in a quarter-century comes as Saudi Arabia faces threats ranging from an Islamic State insurgency, a war in Yemen against Shiite rebels and weakening global oil prices.

Any disaster at the hajj, a pillar of Islamic faith, could be seen as a blow to the kingdom’s cherished stewardship of Islam’s holiest sites. This season saw two, including the Sept. 11 collapse of a crane at Mecca’s Grand Mosque that killed 111 people.

Associated Press