In brief: U.S. warship sails into Persian Gulf

WASHINGTON – Amid heightened tensions with Iran, an American aircraft carrier has sailed through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf. The Navy says it’s a routine maneuver.

Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost said the USS Abraham Lincoln entered the Gulf on Sunday without incident to conduct scheduled maritime security operations. Derrick-Frost is a spokeswoman for the Navy’s 5th Fleet, based in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

U.S. warships frequently operate in the Gulf. But when the carrier USS John C. Stennis departed the Gulf in late December, Iranian officials warned the U.S. not to return. On Saturday, however, Iran indicated that it viewed U.S. naval operations in the Gulf as normal.

Iran recently suggested it might use military force to close the strait in retaliation for new international economic sanctions.

Tanker battles ice as it leaves Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A Russian tanker that brought fuel to an iced-in Alaska town is heading back to open water – once it gets through miles of sea ice.

Coast Guard spokesman Adam De Rocher said its icebreaker, Healy, and tanker Renda were about 100 miles south of Nome on Sunday. He said they left the town on Alaska’s western coast on Friday.

The icebreaker led the Renda to Nome by cutting a path through Bering Sea ice, allowing the delivery of 1.3 million gallons of fuel.

Hibernating bear birth shown on Web

ELY, Minn. – A 3-year-old bear in Minnesota has given birth to two cubs before an Internet audience.

Lynn Rogers of the Wildlife Research Institute, affiliated with North American Bear Center, said in a news release that Jewel gave birth in a den near Ely to the first cub at 7:22 a.m. Sunday, and the second at 8:40.

It’s not the first time Rogers and his colleagues have monitored hibernating pregnant black bears.

In 2010, they recorded the birth of a bear named Hope. A hunter killed Hope last year.

Cause of deadly barn fire still unknown

LAFAYETTE, N.J. – Investigators say a fast-moving New Jersey barn fire that killed 22 show horses this weekend does not appear to have been deliberately set.

But it’s still not clear what sparked the blaze at Heritage Acres farm in Lafayette.

Betty Hahn, whose family owns the 20-year-old barn, said the horses were valued at $10,000 to $60,000 apiece. She said no hay or fuel was stored there, so she was baffled about how the blaze began.

State police said the barn was engulfed in flames when troopers arrived around 1:40 a.m. Saturday. The blaze was soon extinguished, but all the horses inside were killed.

Magnitude-5.0 quake shakes Hawaii

HILO, Hawaii – A magnitude-5.0 earthquake and several small aftershocks shook the islands Hawaii on Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries.

The quake struck near Kae’na Point in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at 4:36 p.m. at a depth of five miles, according to a report from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The epicenter was about 25 miles south of Hilo and 220 miles southeast of Honolulu.

The largest of the aftershocks, a magnitude-3.0, came about 10 minutes after the original quake.

Joe Lopez, 70, said he felt a “pretty good jolt” at his home in Hilo.

Lopez told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser the quake sent books and other items tumbling to the floor.