USA

HOUSTON (Texas, US), March 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Three American women who went to Mexico to sell clothes at a market have been missing for more than two weeks, the police chief in a small Texas town said.

Marina Perez Rios, 48, her sister Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, and their friend Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, crossed into Mexico on Feb 24, the chief said.

The women, who live in Texas, had planned to go to a market in Montemorelos in northeastern Mexico, Roel Bermea, the police chief in the border town of Penitas, said.

LOS ANGELES, March 11 (Xinhua) -- NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 astronauts aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splashed down safely off the coast of the southeastern U.S. state of Florida on Saturday, NASA said.

The four-member international crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, returned to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida, at 9:02 p.m. Eastern Time (0202 Sunday GMT).

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s second-largest volcano is not erupting, scientists said in an update to a previous warning.

The U.S. Geological Survey said in a statement late Saturday that seismic activity beneath the summit of Kilauea “has returned to background levels, ground deformation has stabilized, and no lava has been observed at the surface.”

The statement cautioned “another intrusion or resumption may occur in the near future with little or no warning.”

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California agricultural community famous for its strawberry crop was forced to evacuate early Saturday after the Pajaro River’s levee was breached by flooding from a new atmospheric river that pummeled the state.

Across the Central Coast’s Monterey County, more than 8,500 people were under evacuation orders and warnings Saturday, including roughly 1,700 residents — many of them Latino farmworkers — from the unincorporated community of Pajaro.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A child marriage bill is heading to the West Virginia governor’s desk after lawmakers agreed to let 16- and 17-year-olds get married with restrictions.

The House of Delegates passed the bill 83-9 without debate Saturday, a day after the Senate easily endorsed it after making changes to an earlier House version. Republican Gov. Jim Justice hasn’t publicly indicated whether he’ll sign it.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who quickly shot from political newcomer to potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, kicked off his state’s legislative session in January by telling lawmakers that he wanted “to get more done and to get it done faster.”

As the dust settles on his second session working with Virginia’s politically divided General Assembly, the former private equity executive has earned a series of wins, including measures taking a tougher stance against China, that his allies say could help him in a possible White House race.

NEW YORK (AP) — It was called Silicon Valley Bank, but its collapse is causing shockwaves around the world.

From winemakers in California to startups across the Atlantic Ocean, companies are scrambling to figure out how to manage their finances after their bank suddenly shut down Friday. The meltdown means distress not only for businesses but also for all their workers whose paychecks may get tied up in the chaos.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday harshly criticized former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, widening the rift between the two men as they prepare to battle over the Republican nomination in next year’s election.

UNITED NATIONS, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations has released a plan to offload 1 million barrels of oil off a rusting supertanker that has been moored off the coast of Yemen for more than 30 years.

In an attempt to avert what could be one of the worst environmental disasters in history, a very large crude carrier was purchased by the UN to get the oil off the FSO Safer.

UNITED NATIONS, March 11 (NNN-XINHUA) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the elimination of “poison” of anti-Muslim bias at an event marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

“I thank Pakistan and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for focusing attention – and calling for action – to stamp out the poison of Islamophobia,” the top UN official said at the high-level special event marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia at the UN headquarters in New York.