3: Probable appliance explosion kills 3 TODAY’S NEWS BRIEFING
1: Man charged for painting crosswalk
VALLEJO, Calif. — A California man is facing vandalism charges after authorities say he painted a crosswalk on a street, allegedly telling officials it was needed.
Anthony Cardenas, 52, was arrested Thursday morning in the Northern California city of Vallejo and booked into jail on suspicion of felony vandalism. Solano County Sheriff’s Lt. Brad DeWall says workers spotted Cardenas committing the vandalism at a city intersection.
The intersection already has three crosswalks.
2: Brawl at elementary graduation event
CLEVELAND — A brawl that started over spilled punch at a kindergarten graduation ceremony Friday resulted in the arrest of eight people, authorities said. Police were called when one participant pulled out a pipe and another a hammer.
Two teenage girls apparently started hitting each other at Michael R. White Elementary School, and their families joined in, Cleveland police Cmdr. Wayne Drummond said.
MANILA, Philippines — A powerful explosion suspected to have been caused by a faulty appliance ripped through a residential building in an upscale district of the Philippine capital on Friday night, killing three people in a passing delivery van that was hit by debris, authorities said.
The explosion punched a large hole in the wall of the apartment building and sent concrete chunks flying onto the street below.
4: Court rules against pot-growing plans
MADRID — Spain’s judiciary on Friday rejected a plan by a small town in northeastern Catalonia to ease its municipal debt and help lift itself out of the financial crisis by growing marijuana.
When the seven-member town council of Rasquera — population 960 — voted in favor of cultivating cannabis just over a year ago to create jobs and shore up its finances, the news flashed around the world.
5: Pakistan may be next for IMF bailout
ISLAMABAD — With foreign reserves diminishing fast, Pakistan is on the brink of an economic crisis that may force its new government to ask for an unpopular bailout from the In- ternational Monetary Fund requiring a sweeping overhaul of the country’s economy.
The troubles could inject a new element of instability into the nucleararmed nation of 180 million people that Washington is relying on to combat Islamic militants at home and to help negotiate an end to the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves stood at just $6.4 billion as of May 17, down from more than $14 billion two years ago. That is only enough to cover about six weeks’ worth of imports.