GIOIA TAURO, Italy

U.S. cargo ship to neutralize last of Syrian chemical arms

A U.S. cargo vessel loaded with hundreds of tons of Syria’s chemical weapons pulled out of an Italian port Wednesday, as part of the final phase of the international effort to rid Syria of its chemical weapons stockpile.

The MV Cape Ray steamed out of the port of Gioia Tauro after a 12-hour operation to transfer the chemicals from a Danish ship, the Ark Futura.

The Cape Ray is expected to head into the open sea where it will neutralize the chemicals with special machinery outfitted in its cargo hole.

LOS ANGELES

Water rains on passengers, forcing flight to turn around

Water flowed down the aisles and rained down on passengers of a double-decker Qantas Airways flight bound for Australia after a leak that forced the plane to return to Los Angeles late Tuesday, airline officials and passengers on the flight said.

The flight to Melbourne landed safely again at Los Angeles International Airport about an hour after takeoff, the company said in a statement.

Qantas said there were no safety concerns with the leak and that the captain decided to turn the Airbus A380 around in the interest of passenger comfort. The company said it was working to determine the cause of the leak.

DENVER

FBI thwarted terror attempt, unsealed documents reveal

Newly unsealed court documents show the FBI thwarted a Denver woman’s attempt to help a terrorist organization by arresting her before she boarded a flight in April.

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered documents unsealed in the case against 19-year-old Shannon Maureen Conley, who was charged with conspiring to help a foreign terrorist organization. The documents say that when agents arrested her at Denver International Airport, she told them she planned to fly to Turkey and then travel to Syria to meet a suitor she met online.

The suitor apparently was a Tunisian man who claimed to be fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

SAN FRANCISCO

Wildfire spreads, forces evacuation of 200 homes

A raging wildfire in rural Northern California has spread over five square miles and forced the evacuation of 200 homes in Napa County.

More than 1,000 firefighters were hoping to get a better handle on the Butts Fire in remote Pope Valley.

NEW ORLEANS

One of 10 shooting victims, woman, 21, dies, police say

One of the 10 victims of a weekend shooting on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street died Wednesday.

Louisiana State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson asked for a moment of silence after announcing the death of the 21-year-old woman from Hammond. A spokesman for the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office confirmed the woman had died but did not release her name.

– From news service reports

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