diff --git a/apis/utils/env.mjs b/apis/utils/env.mjs
index 0b60ee8..1cc7dd9 100644
--- a/apis/utils/env.mjs
+++ b/apis/utils/env.mjs
@@ -20,7 +20,11 @@ function loadEnv(filePath) {
       const eq = trimmed.indexOf('=');
       if (eq === -1) continue;
       const key = trimmed.slice(0, eq).trim();
-      const val = trimmed.slice(eq + 1).trim();
+      let val = trimmed.slice(eq + 1).trim();
+      // Strip surrounding quotes (single or double) — matches dotenv behavior
+      if ((val.startsWith('"') && val.endsWith('"')) || (val.startsWith("'") && val.endsWith("'"))) {
+        val = val.slice(1, -1);
+      }
       if (!process.env[key]) { process.env[key] = val; loaded++; }
     }
     return loaded;
diff --git a/apis/utils/fetch.mjs b/apis/utils/fetch.mjs
index 312859d..515bf9f 100644
--- a/apis/utils/fetch.mjs
+++ b/apis/utils/fetch.mjs
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ export async function safeFetch(url, opts = {}) {
   const { timeout = 15000, retries = 1, headers = {} } = opts;
   let lastError;
   for (let i = 0; i <= retries; i++) {
+    const controller = new AbortController();
+    const timer = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), timeout);
     try {
-      const controller = new AbortController();
-      const timer = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), timeout);
       const res = await fetch(url, {
         signal: controller.signal,
         headers: { 'User-Agent': 'Crucix/1.0', ...headers },
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export async function safeFetch(url, opts = {}) {
       const text = await res.text();
       try { return JSON.parse(text); } catch { return { rawText: text.slice(0, 500) }; }
     } catch (e) {
+      clearTimeout(timer);
       lastError = e;
       // GDELT needs 5s between requests, others are fine with shorter delays
       if (i < retries) await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 2000 * (i + 1)));
diff --git a/server.mjs b/server.mjs
index 157fbc8..8a8978d 100644
--- a/server.mjs
+++ b/server.mjs
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ async function start() {
   console.log(`
   ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗
   ║           CRUCIX INTELLIGENCE ENGINE         ║
-  ║          Local Palantir · 26 Sources         ║
+  ║          Local Palantir · 29 Sources         ║
   ╠══════════════════════════════════════════════╣
   ║  Dashboard:  http://localhost:${port}${' '.repeat(14 - String(port).length)}║
   ║  Health:     http://localhost:${port}/api/health${' '.repeat(4 - String(port).length)}║