Price of gas up nearly 12 cents

The Nation

Gas goes up: The average national price of gasoline rose nearly 12 cents in the past three weeks, marking the first price increase after six months of steady decreases, oil-industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday. The average price of regular gasoline Friday was $1.78 a gallon. The nation's lowest price was $1.34 in Billings, Mont.; the highest was $2.32 in Anchorage, Alaska.

Senator bowing out: Ohio Sen. George Voinovich has told associates he intends to retire next year rather than seek a new term, party officials said Sunday night. He is the fourth Republican to make departure plans since the Democratic landslide in November.

Jewish wedding disrupted: A Long Island, N.Y., waiter who shocked guests at a Jewish wedding Jan. 4 by playing a recording of a crowd chanting in Arabic has pleaded not guilty to felony harassment. Stephen Buttafuoco, 23, said he was playing the recording for a coworker and was unaware it was being amplified at the Woodbury Jewish Center.

Peanut-butter recall: Ohio distributor King Nut Companies says it has recalled two brands of its peanut butter after an open container tested positive for salmonella bacteria. Federal health officials said the company's King Nut and Parnell's Pride brands had not been conclusively linked to a recent national salmonella outbreak.

The World

Ferry sinks: Rocky seas hindered rescuers today as they searched for nearly 250 people missing and feared dead after a ferry capsized Sunday off Indonesia's Sulawesi island as it traveled from the western port of Parepare to Samarinda on the Indonesian half of Borneo island. At least 22 people, including four crew members, were rescued from the sea by fishermen Sunday.

Hero father dies: Fire officials say a father rescued three of his children from their burning house in Manila's Chinatown district early today, then went back for his remaining son and died with the 12-year-old in his arms.

Fiji flooding: Flooding has left six people dead and sent thousands seeking emergency shelter in Fiji, where more severe rain storms are expected in coming days, officials said today.

Odds & Ends

Eastwood movie: Clint Eastwood's movie "Gran Torino" earned $29 million in ticket sales in its first weekend of wide release, the best movie opening of his career, according to studio estimates released Sunday, beating the wedding comedy "Bride Wars," in second with $21.5 million and the horror film "The Unborn" with $21.1 million. The family dog movie "Marley & Me" that topped the box office the last two weekends fell to fourth with $11.4 million.

Fergie ties knot: Singer-actress Fergie, whose real name is Stacy Ferguson, married actor Josh Duhamel Saturday in Malibu.

Passages

Rob Gauntlett, 21, the youngest Briton to scale Mount Everest when he was 19, died climbing Mont Blanc in France, the police said Sunday.

Cardinal Pio Laghi, 86, a longtime Vatican diplomat who went to the United States to try to dissuade President Bush from launching the 2003 invasion of Iraq, died Saturday in Rome.

Don Callender, 81, an entrepreneur who sold the pies that his mother baked, helping make Marie Callender's a household name, died Wednesday in Newport Beach, Calif., of injuries he suffered in a fall in 2007.

Today in history

1915: The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.

1948: The Supreme Court ruled that state law schools could not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race.

1959: Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records (originally called Tamla Records) in Detroit.

Today's Birthdays

Actress Luise Rainer, 99. Singer Glenn Yarborough, 79. The Amazing Kreskin, 74. Former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier, 65. Radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, 58. Actress Kirstie Alley, 58. Radio personality Howard Stern, 55. Broadcast journalist Christiane Amanpour, 51. Actor Oliver Platt, 49. Singer Melanie Chisholm (Spice Girls), 35. R&B singer Amerie, 29.

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