San Francisco told to stop taking some water during drought

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Regulators on Friday told San Francisco to stop taking some of the river water it routinely stores in the Hetch Hetchy reservoir.

However, the city is far from having its taps run dry during the drought.

Officials said the cutback orders don't apply to water already stored in the reservoir system, which has enough water to last through two more dry years.

The State Water Resources Control Board ordered the cutback in its latest round of notices informing agencies, corporations and individuals holding water rights that waterways are too dry to meet demand in the drought.

San Francisco depends on snow in the Sierra Nevada melting into the Tuolumne River to supply its drinking water, but the snowpack has largely vanished during the fourth year of the drought.

The city has several century-old claims to the river, including one established when the mayor famously nailed a notice on a tree in 1902. It's not clear how much water San Francisco diverts from the river for storage under the cuts ordered Friday.

The Hetch Hetchy reservoir is located 160 miles from the city in the Sierra Nevada and supplies 2.5 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area.

San Francisco gets 85 percent of its water from the reservoir. The densely packed city with few lawns is among the most water frugal in California, with residents using an average of 45 gallons each a day.

Recovery crew reaches remote site of plane crash in Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska - A recovery crew on Friday reached a remote site in southeast Alaska where a sightseeing plane crashed, killing all nine people aboard.

Chris John of the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad said the aircraft was sitting at a steep angle and three members from his organization had to secure it so they could safely work to recover the bodies.

Eight cruise ship passengers and the pilot died when the DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter turboprop went down Thursday in Misty Fjords National Monument near Ketchikan.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation.

The identities of those on the plane were being withheld while authorities worked to notify their families. Their remains will be taken to the state medical examiner's office in Anchorage.

Hawaii approves emergency ban on sea cucumber harvest

HONOLULU - The Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources has approved an emergency ban on the possession of sea cucumbers amid reports that people are harvesting the animals in large quantities for commercial purposes.

The department said in a statement Friday that the ban will be in place for 120 days while an investigation continues. Gov. David Ige is expected to sign the emergency administrative rules, according to the statement.

The results of the investigation will likely lead to permanent regulations for harvesting sea cucumbers, which are highly prized for medicine and food in some countries. Those regulations would also need to be approved by the governor.

Dozens killed in deadly attacks in three locations around globe

SOUSSE, Tunisia - A young man pulled a Kalashnikov from a beach umbrella and sprayed gunfire at European sunbathers at a Tunisian resort, killing at least 38 people - one of three deadly attacks Friday from Europe to North Africa to the Middle East that followed a call to violence by Islamic State extremists.

The shootings in the Tunisian resort of Sousse happened at about the same time as a bombing at a Shiite mosque in Kuwait and an attack on a U.S.-owned factory in France that included a beheading. It was unclear if the violence was linked but it came days after the IS militants urged their followers "to make Ramadan a month of calamities for the nonbelievers." In all, the assailants killed at least 65 people.

The SITE Intelligence Group reported later that the IS claimed credit for the Tunisia attack on its Twitter account and identified the gunman as Abu Yahya al-Qayrawani.

The attack in Tunisia, the country's worst ever, comes just months after the March 18 massacre at the national Bardo museum in Tunis that killed 22 people, again mostly tourists, and has called into question the newly elected government's ability to protect the country.

"Once again, cowardly and traitorous hands have struck Tunisia, targeting its security and that of its children and visitors," President Beji Caid Essebsi told reporters at the RIU Imperial Marhaba hotel, near the beach rampage site.

Philippines officials: China island-building in full swing

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines - China is pressing ahead with the construction of artificial islands on at least two reefs that are also claimed by the Philippines in an increasingly tense territorial dispute, Filipino officials said, despite Beijing's pronouncement that some work would end soon.

Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon of Kalayaan islands, which are under Philippine control, said Friday he saw Chinese construction in full swing with many dredgers and huge cranes visible when he flew last week near Subi Reef.

It's one of at least seven reefs and atolls in the South China Sea where the U.S. and the Philippines have expressed concern that China's island-building could be used to base military planes and navy ships to intimidate other claimants, reinforce China's claim over virtually the entire area and threaten freedom of navigation in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

"It's full-blast construction. It's massive and incredible," Bito-onon told The Associated Press, adding that it was evident it would take months before the Chinese complete the work.

In the mid portion of the emerging man-made island, a 1.9-mile-long landfill is taking the shape of a runway, he said.

- The Associated Press