USA

Police: Miami mom faked son’s abduction, faces murder charge

MIAMI (AP) — A Miami woman faked her son’s abduction after trying to drown him twice, with witnesses rescuing the boy from a canal the first time, and the second attempt ending in the boy’s death, officials said Saturday.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Patricia Ripley, 45, is facing attempted and premeditated murder charges and being held in jail with no bond.

The boy, Alejandro Ripley, 9, was autistic and nonverbal. He was found floating in a canal Friday.

Fire destroys warehouse on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A fire engulfed a warehouse on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf early Saturday, sending a thick plume of smoke over the waterfront and threatening to spread to a historic World War II-era ship before firefighters brought the flames under control.

One firefighter sustained a hand injury while battling the fire at the warehouse the size of a football field on Pier 45, San Francisco Fire Lt. Jonathan Baxter said.

Baxter said after the fire subsided, investigators scoured the building to determine whether homeless people were inside.

USA: First commercial space taxi a pit stop on Musk’s Mars quest

(AP) --- It all started with the dream of growing a rose on Mars.

That vision, Elon Musk’s vision, morphed into a shake-up of the old space industry, and a fleet of new private rockets. Now, those rockets will launch NASA astronauts from Florida to the International Space Station -- the first time a for-profit company will carry astronauts into the cosmos.

It’s a milestone in the effort to commercialize space. But for Musk’s company, SpaceX, it’s also the latest milestone in a wild ride that began with epic failures and the threat of bankruptcy.

UN chief grieved over PIA crash, expresses condolences to victims’ families

UNITED NATIONS, May 22 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Friday voiced his sorrow over the “horrendous” crash of a Pakistan International Airlines plane near Karachi, killing and injuring a number of people.

“Our condolences to the Government of Pakistan on learning of this horrendous accident, as it also comes on the eve of the Eid holiday,” his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric said in response to a question from APP at the regular noon briefing in New York.

UN chief terms countering Islamophobia his ‘top priority’ after Pakistan highlights concerns

UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (APP): United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a virtual meeting of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states at the United Nations (UN) that countering anti-muslim hatred and Islamophobia was his “top priority”, saying he “fully agreed” with the assessment that it could pose a threat to international peace and security, according to informed sources.

All 50 U.S. states shed jobs in April: Labor Department

(Reuters) - Unemployment rates rose and total employment fell in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia in April as efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic forced businesses to close across the country, the Labor Department said on Friday.

The department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said 43 states set record-high rates of unemployment last month, with the highest being in Nevada, the state with the greatest reliance on the hard-hit food services and hospitality industry.

Dozens of Chinese companies added to U.S. blacklist in latest Beijing rebuke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday it would add 33 Chinese firms and institutions to an economic blacklist for helping Beijing spy on its minority Uighur population or because of ties to weapons of mass destruction and China’s military.

Trump administration did not give 'adequate response' to probe into watchdog's firing: aide

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House and the State Department did not provide an “adequate response” to lawmakers’ requests for documents related to the firing of the department’s inspector general, a congressional aide said on Friday.

“But pressure is building and the truth will come out,” a House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee aide said.

The White House declined to comment. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. accuses China of blocking U.S. flights, demands action

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government late on Friday accused the Chinese government of making it impossible for U.S. airlines to resume service to China and ordered four Chinese air carriers to file flight schedules with the U.S. government.

The administration of President Donald Trump stopped short of imposing restrictions on Chinese air carriers but said talks with China had failed to produce an agreement.

Subscribe to USA