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Nearly one in ten people on board a Princess cruise ship touring the Caribbean became ill with norovirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week.

The total number of people who fell ill was 153, 104 of whom were passengers and 49 of whom were crew members, the CDC said ina report on the outbreak Thursday.

The vessel, the Star Princess, was on a one-week voyage that ended Sunday, the CDC said. Passengers and crew members were stricken with diarrhea and vomiting, it said.

Princess Cruises reported that additional rounds of cleaning and disinfection were done, ill passengers and crew members were isolated until they could disembark, and staff members consulted with the CDC on best practices for eliminating the highly contagious, long-lasting virus, the agency said.

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Princess Cruises did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

The outbreak was reported Wednesday to the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program, whose members went to the ship to investigate, the CDC said.

According to cruise ship tracking siteCruiseMapper, the 4,300-passenger vessel returned to Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday before it embarked on a new voyage that had it headed to Princess Cays in the Bahamas on Sunday evening.

Norovirus is the leading cause of diarrhea and vomiting outbreaks in the United States, according to the CDC. It can spread through direct contact with others, consuming food and liquids contaminated with the virus, and touching contaminated surfaces. Norovirus can be prevented by disinfecting surfaces and washing hands frequently, the CDC says.

The Star Princess, with a clear dome over its concert venue and 30 bars and restaurants, embarked on its maiden voyage, from Europe, in October, and was christened the next month by actor Matthew McConaughey and wife Camila, who were designated its godparents, according to a statement from Princess Cruises last year.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The American flag was raised Saturday over the U.S. Embassy inVenezuelafor the first time since 2019, a move that highlighted the recent shift in relations between the two countries since then PresidentNicolás Madurowas captured by American troops in January.

Venezuela US Flag

Though the flag is now waving, the building is undergoing renovations and it remains unclear when it will fully reopen.

The move comes after several statements from U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpin support of Maduro's successor, actingPresident Delcy Rodríguez, who has tried to keep negotiations open with the American government.

The flag was raised "exactly seven years after it was taken down," the U.S. Embassy team said in a statement published on its social media channels.

The American flag being raised drew immediate attention from local residents.

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"It's a good thing, really, what a joy," said Caracas resident Luz Verónica López. "Other countries must come back too because that's what we need; progress, to move forward with good relations with the rest of the world, as it should be."

Alessandro Di Benedetto, another Caracas resident, noted the positive atmosphere among those witnessing the moment.

"I found several people here surprised and happy because today they raised the U.S. flag at the embassy," he said. "This is positive; this is another step."

Despite the initiative, large chunks of Venezuelan society and the political establishment remain critics of Trump, his decision to forcefully remove Maduro from office and jail him in New York with his wife, and growing U.S. influence in the South American country's oil industry.

Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean athttps://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

WASHINGTON (AP) —The massive sewage pipe that rupturedand leaked millions of gallons of raw waste into the Potomac River returned to operation Saturday after the completion of emergency repairs.

DC Sewage Leak

DC Water, the utility that runs Washington's water and sewage systems, reported that it had completed testing to determine whether the 72-inch diameter pipe could handle the flow.

The Potomac Interceptor ruptured on Jan. 19, sending 250 million gallons of untreated sewage into the river just north of the nation's capital over the first five days.

The utility worked with the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies to repair the leak and monitor the ecological impact on the river. Other work on the pipe and system could take months.

Drinking water was never in jeopardy, but recreational use by anglers, boaters and others on the Potomac has been closely monitored because of concerns over the presence of deadly bacteria that can be passed along through direct contact with the water.

A class action lawsuit was filedMarch 6 in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, accusing DC Water with negligence.

Plaintiff Nicholas Lailas, a Virginia resident and recreational boat user on the Potomac, is seeking compensation for people "whose property interests in and use and enjoyment of the Potomac River ... have been impaired by Defendant's conduct," the lawsuit said. It did not specify a damage amount.

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The spill occurred in Montgomery County, Maryland, along Clara Barton Parkway, which hugs the northern edge of the Potomac River near the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park. It became a serious environmental issue andthe focus of political bickeringbetween Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic-led Maryland.

"Full flow has been restored and the C&O Canal has been fully drained as part of site restoration," DC Water said in a post on X. "Since Jan 19, crews worked around the clock to stabilize the site and protect the Potomac River.

The District of Columbia's mayor, Muriel Bowser,declared an emergencyFeb. 18 and requested that Trump provide federal resources, days after he chided Democratic leaders in Maryland, Washington and Virginia for not requesting help.He approved the emergency assistancequickly to help the city address the emergency.

Betsy Nicholas, president of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, said the situation "could have been so much worse given the vulnerability of our drinking water system" in the district, Montgomery County and Virginia's Arlington County.

Nicholas said the incident highlights the need for ecological assessments and remediation efforts, including natural solutions such as freshwater mussels and native aquatic plants.

"We need assurances that this isn't going to happen again, that there's going to be full inspection of the entire remaining system," Nicholas said.

DC Water is holding a series of meetings with the public to discuss updates on the repair and environmental rehabilitation, including ones next week in Bethesda, Maryland, and Alexandria, Virginia.