Average US gas price jumps 7 cents

Average US gas price jumps 7 cents

CAMARILLO, Calif.

The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline jumped 7 cents nationally over the past two weeks to $2.58.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the spike is a result of several factors, including higher oil prices.

The price is 32 cents above where it was a year ago.

Sen. Paul recovers from broken ribs

FRANKFORT, Ky.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul was recovering Sunday from five broken ribs after he was assaulted by a neighbor who tackled him from behind at the senator’s Kentucky home, officials said.

Senior Adviser Doug Stafford said it is unclear when the Republican will return to work since he is in considerable pain and has difficulty getting around, including flying. Stafford said this type of injury is marked by severe pain that can last for weeks to months.

The Bowling Green Daily News reported that an arrest warrant said Paul told police his neighbor came on his property and tackled him from behind Friday, forcing him to the ground. He had trouble breathing because of a rib injury, the warrant said.

Police arrested 59-year-old Rene Boucher on Saturday and charged him with misdemeanor fourth-degree assault with a minor injury.

Ryan: Insurance mandate part of talks

WASHINGTON

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Republicans are discussing whether their tax plan should include a repeal of the Obama health law’s requirement that people have insurance coverage or face a penalty, a step pushed by President Donald Trump but seen by some GOP lawmakers as possibly imperiling a much-needed legislative victory.

It would be another shot at further undermining the Affordable Care Act after repeated failures by the GOP-led Congress to repeal and replace the law, as Trump has demanded and Republicans promised would happen after President Barack Obama left office and Republicans ran Washington.

The House Ways and Means Committee was set to begin work on the tax rewrite today, with the goal of full House consideration next week.

Yemen ports closed; attack leaves 17 dead

SANAA, Yemen

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen closed off the land, sea and air ports to the Arab world’s poorest country early Monday after a rebel-fired ballistic missile targeted Riyadh, blaming the launch on Iran and warning it could be “considered as an act of war.”

The coalition’s statement ramps up tensions between the ultraconservative Sunni kingdom and its Shiite rival Iran, both of which have interests in Yemen’s yearslong conflict. The bloodshed continued Sunday as an Islamic State-claimed militant attack in Aden killed at least 17 people.

Hundreds arrested in Moscow protest

MOSCOW

Hundreds of people were arrested in the center of Moscow while trying to gather Sunday for an unauthorized demonstration called by an extreme nationalist group.

The arrests at Manezh Square, adjacent to the Kremlin, came two days after Russia’s domestic security agency said it had arrested some of the group’s members. They are suspected of planning to firebomb administrative buildings.

The group, called Artpodgotovka, was declared an extremist group by a Russian court last week. Its exiled leader, Vyacheslav Maltsev, had called for protests to force President Vladimir Putin’s resignation.

Associated Press