CAMARILLO, Calif. — A national survey shows consumers across the nation are paying an average of 1.5 cents a gallon more for gasoline than they were three weeks ago.
The average price of regular gasoline at self-serve stations was $4.11 a gallon on Friday. Midgrade was $4.24 a gallon and premium went for $4.35. That’s according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations nationwide, released Sunday.
The survey showed the average U.S. price for gas is $1.05 higher than it was a year ago.
The cheapest gas was in Tucson, Ariz., where the price for regular was $3.82 a gallon.
San Francisco ranked the nation’s highest for gas prices: $4.53 a gallon for regular. Prices rose slightly in all regions across the country, except the western states, where they were down.
Two senators taking trip with Obama
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama expects to be accompanied on his battlefront tours of Iraq and Afghanistan by two fellow senators who are military veterans and often mentioned as potential running mates. Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., are experts on foreign policy, Obama told reporters while flying to California late Saturday. Hagel served as an Army sergeant in Vietnam and was twice wounded in 1968, earning two Purple Hearts. Reed, a West Point graduate, was an Army Ranger and paratrooper.
Pennsylvania: The Dalai Lama defends Islam as peaceful religion
The Dalai Lama said Sunday that “it’s totally wrong, unfair” to call Islam a violent religion. The Tibetan spiritual leader, appearing at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, offered a defense of Islam in response to a question about the rise of violent religious fundamentalism. He added that he has made a point of reaching out to Muslims since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Bermuda: Tropical Storm Bertha kicks up surf
Tropical Storm Bertha produced deadly surf as far away as New Jersey on Sunday and threatened to lash Bermuda with rain and high winds. The storm may have played a role in the deaths of three swimmers along the New Jersey coast, where the U.S. National Weather Service said Bertha created tricky waves and currents. The storm’s center is expected to pass to the east of Bermuda in the next 24 to 48 hours, generating large swells and high surf. Bertha’s outer bands could dump 2 to 4 inches of rain, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Meanwhile, in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Elida swirled about 345 miles southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico, and was headed farther out to sea, the hurricane center said.
S. Korea: Talks suggestion prompted by tourist’s shooting
A ruling party leader in South Korea proposed holding parliamentary talks with North Korea to resolve tension caused by the shooting death of a female tourist near a mountain resort in the North. Relations between the Koreas have worsened after a North Korean solider fatally shot Park Wang-ja, the 53-year-old South Korean tourist, Friday near the North’s Diamond Mountain resort. South Korea has criticized the North for killing an innocent civilian, calling on the North to allow an inquiry by the South. The North, however, has refused to cooperate in any probe, saying the victim ignored a soldier’s warning and tried to run away. On Sunday, North Korea’s main newspaper also rejected a recent proposal by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to resume stalled reconciliation talks.
Australia: Pope may apologize for clergy abuse
Pope Benedict XVI has raised expectations he will apologize directly to victims of past clergy sexual abuse while he is in Australia this week for a Roman Catholic gathering of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. The leader of the church told reporters during a 20-hour flight to Australia for a nine-day visit starting Sunday that he would do everything possible to achieve “healing and reconciliation with the victims” of maltreatment by priests. Benedict arrived in Sydney later in the day.
Jamaica: ‘Rambo’ hangs up gun
A feared police commander known as “Rambo,” who led a commando-style team accused of multiple killings across Jamaica, retired Saturday and said he plans to pursue an acting career. Reneto Adams, 59, considered effective but ruthless as commander of an elite, anti-crime unit, is a media sensation in this Caribbean nation. Jamaicans often ask for his autograph, and local musicians have compared him in song to Rambo, Saddam Hussein and Dirty Harry. He made his TV debut this year in the soap opera “Royal Palm Estate.” The Crime Management Unit that Adams headed was created in 2000 to combat rising violence in Kingston. A local rights group, Families Against State Terrorism, has linked his team to at least 40 extrajudicial killings. It was disbanded in 2003.
From Herald news services
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