California: Gas prices near record level

Gasoline supply problems in California contributed to a 5 cent per gallon increase in the national average over the past two weeks, an industry analyst said.

The average weighted price for gas, including all grades and taxes, was about $1.75 per gallon Friday, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations nationwide. That is within 2 cents of $1.77, the record high recorded by the survey on May 18, 2001.

But not all consumers were paying that much; some parts of the country enjoyed stability while California’s pump prices jumped almost 14 cents from Feb. 21 to March 7.

The Lundberg Survey originates in Camarillo.

Philippines: Gunmen seize bus, kill 1

Suspected Muslim separatist rebels seized a bus today in the southern Philippines, and one passenger was killed before the gunmen escaped, authorities said.

The bus was traveling between Cotabato City and Davao on the southern island of Mindanao when about 200 gunmen fired on the vehicle and forced about 40 passengers into a nearby school, said Mayor Farida Malingco of nearby Pikit town.

Officials at the scene said the gunmen introduced themselves as rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and robbed the passengers of mobile phones, money and other belongings.

Last week, suspected members of the same rebel group killed 21 people and injured more than 100 in a bomb blast at Davao airport, the nation’s worst terrorist attack in three years. The group has been fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines for three decades.

New Zealand: Stranded U.S. workers rescued from Antarctica

Fifty Americans who faced being trapped on Antarctica for six winter months were evacuated today by a New Zealand military plane, an air force official said.

The emergency mission came a week after U.S. flights to Antarctica ended for the winter as round-the-clock darkness descended on the frozen continent.

The Americans were delayed from leaving Antarctica after thick ice prevented their fuel tanker ship from reaching the Antarctic coast to deliver supplies to the American and New Zealand bases on the Ross Sea coast. Workers had to run a hose three miles over the ice to fuel base tanks.

Temperatures hovered around minus 24 as the Americans boarded the New Zealand Air Force Hercules for their 16-hour flight to Christchurch, Air Force spokeswoman Julie Bishop said.