USA

COLORADO SPRINGS, May 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Smoke from several major wildfires ringed Colorado Springs, Colorado’s second-largest city, torching eight homes, closing the city’s airport and causing thousands of evacuations, as dry conditions and heavy winds spread the blazes quickly throughout the area.

As night fell on Colorado Springs, located 112.6 km south of the state capital, Denver, dozens of fire crews from across the region responded to the grass fires, and were “gaining the upper hand,” according to Denver CBS4 News.

WASHINGTON, May 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine when he spoke by telephone to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on Friday for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon said.

Austin has tried multiple times to try and talk with Shoigu since the invasion started nearly three months ago, but officials said Moscow had appeared uninterested.

Austin stressed the importance of maintaining lines of communication, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — A SpaceX rocket carried 53 satellites for the Starlink internet constellation into orbit Friday after blasting off from California.

The Falcon 9 booster lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 3:07 p.m., and minutes later the first stage landed on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean while the second stage continued toward low Earth orbit.

SpaceX later tweeted that the satellites were successfully deployed.

LOS ALAMOS N.M. (AP) — Public schools were closed and evacuation bags packed this week as a stubborn wildfire crept within a few miles of the city of Los Alamos and its companion U.S. national security lab — where assessing apocalyptic threats is a specialty and wildland fire is a beguiling equation.

Lighter winds on Friday allowed for the most intense aerial attack this week on those flames west of Santa Fe as well as the biggest U.S. wildfire burning farther east, south of Taos.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Jan. 6 committee’s remarkable decision to subpoena House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other congressional Republicans over the insurrection at the Capitol is as rare as the deadly riot itself, deepening the acrimony and distrust among lawmakers and raising questions about what comes next.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four cadets at the Air Force Academy may not graduate or be commissioned as military officers this month because they have refused the COVID-19 vaccine, and they may be required to pay back thousands of dollars in tuition costs, according to Air Force officials.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republicans aiming to retake control of Congress have already sharpened a message centering around blaming Democrats for high inflation, expensive gas, migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and violent crime in some cities.

But GOP leaders landed on an issue this week that it hopes could prove even more potent: tying President Joe Biden to a shortage in baby formula.

UNITED NATIONS May 13 (APP): The world has hit a “crossroads” when it comes to managing droughts — which have increased 29 percent in a generation and are only getting worse, according to new United Nations report.

With the duration and number of droughts rising and severe weather increasingly responsible for disasters in developing countries, U.N. officials called for a global commitment to drought preparedness in the report released.

MIAMI, May 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Survivors and families of people who died in last year’s collapse of a beachfront condo building near Miami have reached a settlement of at least $997 million, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said Wednesday.

“The settlement right now is $997 million. There will be approximately another hundred million dollars that we will recover for the victims,” said attorney Carlos Silva.

NEW YORK, May 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Oil prices settled mixed yesterday, as market participants weighed risks, both on the supply and the demand sides.

The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery, added 42 cents, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 106.13 U.S. dollars a barrel, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for July delivery, decreased six cents, or nearly 0.1 percent, to close at 107.45 dollars a barrel, on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The U.S. oil benchmark eked out a gain despite data showing a hefty rise in U.S. crude stockpiles.