KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said Sunday that autopsy results suggested a nerve agent caused “very serious paralysis” that killed the exiled half brother of North Korea’s leader. On the same day, police completed a sweep of the budget terminal where he was poisoned and declared it safe of any toxin.

The investigation has unleashed a diplomatic fight between Malaysia and North Korea, a prime suspect in the Feb. 13 killing of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur’s airport. Friday’s revelation by Malaysian police that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim raised the stakes in a case that has broad geopolitical implications.

The killing of Kim took place amid crowds of travelers at Kuala Lumpur’s airport and appeared to be a well-planned hit. Kim died on the way to a hospital, within hours of the attack.

Tens of thousands of passengers have passed through the airport since the apparent assassination was carried out. No areas were cordoned off, and protective measures were not taken. Subramaniam said there have been no reports so far of anyone else being sickened by the toxin.

The sweep started around 2 a.m. Sunday involving officers from the police’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear teams, as well as the fire department’s hazardous materials unit and the government’s atomic energy board. Although VX is not radioactive, police said the radiological team and the atomic energy board were involved as a precaution.

Sewage spill in Mexico flows north into Calif., officials say

LOS ANGELES — Officials in Southern California are crying foul after more than 140 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Tijuana River in Mexico and flowed north of the border for more than two weeks, according to a report.

The spill was caused Feb. 2 during rehabilitation of a sewage collector pipe and wasn’t contained until Thursday, the International Boundary and Water Commission said in its report Friday. The river drains into the Pacific Ocean on the U.S. side.

Serge Dedina, mayor of Imperial Beach, Calif., said city residents have complained about a growing stench. Dedina criticized federal officials in the U.S. and Mexico for not alerting people to the spill.

Officials with the commission didn’t return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment Saturday.

Merkel: Work must continue

on 2-state solution in Mideast

BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is stressing the need to work for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after President Donald Trump signaled that he could accept a different outcome.

Merkel’s comments in her weekly video message Saturday came ahead of a March 2 visit to regional power Egypt, where she said she will discuss the matter with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Trump said this month that he could accept a one- or two-state solution if it is agreed upon by all sides. His U.N. ambassador then insisted the U.S. supports a two-state solution.

In related news, conservatives nominated the chancellor as her party’s top candidate for the September parliamentary election in the region where she has her political base.

At least 3 dead while repairing Gaza tunnel damaged by Egypt

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Three workers died and several others were injured after inhaling toxic gas in a smuggling tunnel beneath Gaza’s border with Egypt, Palestinian authorities said Saturday.

The Interior Ministry said the trio were working to repair the tunnel a day after the Egyptian military blew it up.

The bodies were recovered and sent to a hospital in the town of Rafah, authorities said. The injured workers also were sent to Rafah.

Egypt has recently resumed cracking down on the few remaining tunnels from Gaza after an increase in smuggling.

Earlier this month, Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers said the resumption of Egyptian tactics along the border, including flooding the tunnels or blowing them up, were “unjustified.”

Buffett: Immigrants help ‘miraculous’ story of U.S.

OMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, wading into the national debate over immigration, said the “miraculous” achievements of the U.S. economy since its founding can be attributed in part to people who had the courage to leave their home countries for the United States.

“From a standing start 240 years ago — a span of time less than triple my days on Earth — Americans have combined human ingenuity, a market system, a tide of talented and ambitious immigrants, and the rule of law to deliver abundance beyond any dreams of our forefathers,” Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., wrote in his annual letter to shareholders posted online Saturday.

Buffett didn’t mention President Donald Trump in the letter, which offered a full-throated defense of the American market system.

Ali’s son held, questioned at Fla. airport, attorney says

Muhammad Ali’s son, who bears the boxing great’s name, was detained by immigration officials at a Florida airport and questioned about his ancestry and religion, attorney Chris Mancini said Saturday.

Returning from a Black History Month event in Jamaica, Muhammad Ali Jr. and his mother, Khalilah Camacho Ali, were pulled aside and separated while going through the immigration checkpoint Feb. 7 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Mancini said.

Ali Jr., 44, who confirmed his Muslim faith, was detained about two hours, despite telling officials that he’s Ali’s son and a native-born U.S. citizen.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said all international travelers are subject to inspection.

Ali, the three-time heavyweight champ, died in June at age 74.

German crash: A man drove a car into a central square in the city of Heidelberg on Saturday, killing one person and injuring two others, then fled and was shot by police. A German man, 73, died at a hospital and an Austrian man, 32, and a Bosnian woman, 29, were injured. The driver was hospitalized, police said.

Bosnia flooding: Flooding from a new lake created by a landslide of mine waste shut down one of Bosnia’s main highways Saturday and raised fears of further flooding. The lake overflowed Saturday after heavy rain overnight, forcing the closure of a highway connecting the capital of Sarajevo with the central town of Zenica.