By JACK DURA, Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A fatigue crack in the Keystone Pipeline led to an oil spill in North Dakota earlier this year that released thousands of barrels of oil onto farmland, according to the pipeline operator.

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In a quarterly report released Thursday, South Bow said initial findings show, “the failure resulted from a fatigue crack that originated along the pipe’s manufactured long-seam weld.” A fatigue crack develops from stress over time. A mechanical and metallurgical analysis found the pipe and welds met industry standards, the company said.

Spill-related costs total around $55 million, which the company said it expects to recover through insurance early next year. Through September, South Bow had received about $16 million in reimbursements from its insurance policies.

The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration ordered several corrective actions after the spill. The federal government shutdown delayed the release of a third-party “root cause analysis,” South Bow said.

It’s unclear when those findings will come. A South Bow spokesperson said PHMSA is leading that process and “out of respect for the process, we can’t speak for them.”

The spill occurred April 8. An employee at the rural site about 60 miles southwest of Fargo heard a “mechanical bang” and shut down the pipeline within two minutes, a state official has said.

An estimated 3,500 barrels or 147,000 gallons of oil spilled in a field near Fort Ransom, a small town in a forested area with outdoor recreation and scenic views. South Bow sent vacuum trucks and more than 200 workers to aid the cleanup. The pipeline restarted after a six-day shutdown.

State regulators inspected the site several times in the months after the spill, noting in September that “the vegetation is recovering well,” and that it should be checked again in spring 2026, according to an incident report.

Nearly 90% of the spilled oil was recovered, according to the report. Crews removed impacted soil to be disposed of elsewhere.

Local landowner Myron Hammer said South Bow’s cleanup was completed in time for him to plant a soybean crop on the land.

“I’m surprised that they got everything put back in place as quick as they did. It was a big project,” he said.

Roughly 5 acres of land were impacted by the spill, though South Bow utilized 40 acres or more for the entire staging area and access, Hammer said. People and vehicles were on site as recently as Thursday, he said. The area of the spill is in gently rolling farmland.

The company said it has conducted numerous remedial evaluations of the pipeline and found “no injurious issues” so far, with more in-line inspections and integrity digs to come.

The nearly 2,700-mile Keystone Pipeline transports crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas. The pipeline moved an average 580,000 barrels per day from January through September of this year, South Bow said.

CHICAGO (AP) — Authorities arrested 21 protesters Friday outside a Chicago-area federal immigration facility that activists say functions as a de facto detention center and is plagued by inhumane conditions.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said the arrests were made by midday, and that it was working on verifying identities and potential charges.

Just moments before the clash, demonstrators were singing and chanting. Around 10 a.m., a large group, knowing they were going to be arrested, allegedly crossed the protest barrier and attempted to walk up toward the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

Some protesters carried signs reading, “God’s Love Knows No Borders” and “God Demands Freedom.” Some of them prayed. The crowd numbered about 300 before it began to disperse.

The officers included Illinois State Police and Cook County sheriffs’ police.

The facility in Broadview, Illinois, has been the site of frequent protests, particularly on Fridays, against a federal immigration crackdown dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.” It has led to more than 3,200 arrests in the Chicago metropolitan area since September of people suspecting of violating immigration laws.

The aggressive tactics used by agents from Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have repeatedly come under fire through legal challenges as well as street protests.

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By SEUNG MIN KIM and MICHELLE L. PRICE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not an official state visit, but the White House is preparing to host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next week with the pomp and circumstance that is typical of one.

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The crown prince’s day at the White House next Tuesday will begin with an arrival ceremony on the sweeping South Lawn and a subsequent greeting on the South Portico, according to a senior White House official.

Then Trump will host him in the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting, followed by a signing and lunch in the Cabinet Room where the U.S. and Saudi Arabia will formalize multiple economic and defense agreements, said the official, granted anonymity to discuss the administration’s planning.

Later in the evening, the White House will hold an East Room dinner hosted and planned by first lady Melania Trump.

His visit is billed as an official working visit because Prince Mohammed is not technically a head of state, the official said.

On Wednesday, dozens of CEOs are expected to attend a meeting of the U.S.-Saudi Business Council at the Kennedy Center, the fine arts facility that is now led and managed by Trump loyalists. Though the U.S. president’s attendance is not yet confirmed for the business meeting, he is likely to attend, the senior White House official said.

Trump’s relationship with the Gulf nations has been a top foreign policy priority for the president in his second term. His first major trip abroad was a tour of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where Trump was welcomed with an exceptionally rare Air Force One escort by royal Saudi Air Force F-15s and a state dinner at a UNESCO heritage site.

“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said as he met with Prince Mohammed in the royal palace in Riyadh. Later, Trump described Prince Mohammed as an “incredible man” and “my friend.”

It also marks the first trip to the United States by the crown prince since the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018 during Trump’s first term. U.S. intelligence agencies have said Prince Mohammed likely directed the killing, resulting in sanctions against several Saudi officials. He denies his involvement, and both the Trump and Biden administrations have worked to mend ties with Saudi Arabia since.

By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker as it traveled through the narrow Strait of Hormuz on Friday, a U.S. official said, turning the ship into Iranian territorial waters in the first-such interdiction in months in the strategic waterway.

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Iran did not acknowledge the seizure, though it comes as Tehran has been increasingly warning it can strike back after facing a 12-day war in June with Israel that saw the U.S. strike Iranian nuclear sites.

The ship, the Talara, had been traveling from Ajman, United Arab Emirates, onward to Singapore when Iranian forces intercepted it, said the U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. A U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton drone had been circling above the area where the Talara was for hours on Friday observing the seizure, flight-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed.

A private security firm, Ambrey, described the assault as involving three small boats approaching the Talara.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center separately acknowledged the incident, saying a possible “state activity” forced the Talara to turn into Iranian territorial waters. Cyprus-based Columbia Shipmanagement later said in a statement that it had “lost contact” with the tanker, which was carrying high sulphur gasoil.

The company has “notified the relevant authorities and is working closely with all relevant parties — including maritime security agencies and the vessel owner — to restore contact with the vessel,” the firm said. “The safety of the crew remains our foremost priority.”

The Navy has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. Those attacks began after U.S. President Donald Trump in his first term in office unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

In May 2022, Iran took two Greek tankers and held them until November of that year. Iran seized the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship MSC Aries in April 2024.

Those attacks found themselves subsumed by the Iranian-backed Houthis assaults targeting ships during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, which drastically reduced shipping in the crucial Red Sea corridor.

The years of tensions between Iran and the West, coupled with the situation in the Gaza Strip, exploded into a full-scale 12-day war in June.

Iran long has threatened to close off the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil traded passes. The U.S. Navy has long patrolled the Mideast through its Bahrain-based 5th Fleet to keep the waterways open.