40,000 people under evacuation

orders for a chemical tank leak

About 40,000 people are under evacuation orders, and schools have shut down in Southern California due to a hazardous chemical leak.

Officials say a storage tank began leaking methyl methacrylate, a chemical used in making plastic parts. The tank overheated Thursday at an aerospace plastics facility in Garden Grove, where evacuations were initially ordered.

Officials expanded evacuation orders Friday to include parts of Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster after failing to stop the leak overnight.

The tank was holding between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons of the chemical at the GKN Aerospace facility, which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft.

Trump’s Justice Department scrubs news releases on Jan. 6 defendants

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

The department says the information about the prosecutions is “partisan propaganda.”

The purge of news releases documenting criminal charges, convictions and sentencings is the latest step by the Trump administration to dramatically rewrite the history of the Capitol assault, critics say.

On that day more than five years ago, hundreds of supporters of Republican President Donald Trump stormed the building in an effort to halt the congressional certification of his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

High-rise under construction in

Philippines collapses, leaving 1 dead

ANGELES, Philippines — A nine-story building under construction in a city north of the Philippine capital has collapsed, leaving at least one Malaysian tourist dead and 21 workers trapped.

Officials said the building fell before dawn on Sunday. Two trapped workers have been located alive but can’t be immediately rescued.

At least 24 workers managed to escape or were rescued after the building crumbled. The collapse occurred in a crowded neighborhood near a former U.S. Air Force base.

Nearly 200 police officers are assisting in the rescue efforts, which will continue until everyone is accounted for, according to regional police director Brig. Gen. Jess Mendez

British navy plans mine-clearing

operation in Strait of Hormuz

ABOARD THE RFA LYME BAY (AP) — The United Kingdom.’s Royal Navy is preparing for a potential mine-clearing operation in the Strait of Hormuz.

But it’s not clear when it will be deployed. The U.K. says a peace deal needs to be reached first. Iran’s chokehold on the strait has crippled international shipping and sent energy prices soaring since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28.

U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized the U.K. for not sufficiently supporting the United States’ war effort. Trump said Saturday that a deal with Iran has been “largely negotiated” after calls with Israel and other allies in the region.

The Associated Press