US news today: Youtuber Myka Stauffer faces backlash for 'rehoming' 4-year-old adopted Chinese son with autism

US news today May 29: Myka Stauffer revelation of "rehoming" her adopted son instantly sparked backlash on social media. Meanwhile, the demanding of investigation after a Pennsylvania lawmaker positive for nCoV, Amazon.com's down, Cameron Boyce's Mom Breaks Down in Tears on the late star birthday, US sends another warship to challenge China also make headlines today (May 29).

Jasmine Le

lehang1997hanu@gmail.com May 29, 2020 | 09:40

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Myka Stauffer and her 4-year-old adopted son (Photo: New York Post)

Youtuber Myka Stauffer faces backlash for 'rehoming' 4-year-old adopted Chinese son with autism

Stauffer, a mother of four other children with over 75 million views and 717,000 subscribers on YouTube, revealed in a video that her son Huxley has a new "forever family" that's better equipped to handle his special needs more than two years after she and her husband adopted him, according to USA Today.

"With international adoption, sometimes there are unknowns and things that are not transparent on files," her husband James Stauffer, 34, said in Tuesday's video. "Once Huxley came home, there was a lot more special needs that we weren't aware of, and that we were not told."

The Stauffers adopted Huxley from China in October 2017, documenting their entire international adoption journey on their YouTube channel. An emotional video of the Stauffers bringing Huxley home from China received over 5.5 million views in 2017.

After his adoption, Stauffer learned that Huxley "was profoundly developmentally delayed," she recalled in a blog post for The Bump in 2019. She claimed the adoption agency only said he was "diagnosed with a brain cyst," but when they first met him "we knew something was terribly off."

Stauffer said she later learned that Huxley "had a stroke in utero" and test results determined he had "autism spectrum disorder level 3." The couple said they placed Huxley in intense therapies to meet his needs but his condition didn't improve.

The Stauffers revelation instantly sparked backlash on social media, with many followers accusing the couple of exploiting Huxley to boost their YouTube career. Despite the overwhelming backlash, the Stauffers also received some support.

Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Brian Sims Irate, Demands Investigation After Claiming Republican Lawmaker Hid Coronavirus Diagnosis

A Pennsylvania lawmaker tested positive for the coronavirus and now, one of his colleagues is demanding an investigation. Republican state Rep. Andrew Lewis tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, but the diagnosis is creating a political back-and-forth with Democrats, as reported by Philadelphia.

Because of this, Democrats, including state Rep. Brian Sims, are looking to change state General Assembly rules by requiring lawmakers to wear a face mask and require notification if a House member tests positive. Sims says not being notified is unacceptable.

Sims, in a Facebook Live, called out Lewis for not telling lawmakers he tested positive for COVID-19.

Lewis, who represents Dauphin County, tested positive for the virus on May 20. He says his last day at the capital was on May 14.

(Photo: CBS Philly)

But Sims says Democrats weren’t notified. The two sit on dual committees with each other, including the State Government Committee, which voted to overturn Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home orders.

Lewis says he didn’t disclose his diagnosis for privacy reasons. Unlike with some sexually transmitted diseases, it’s not illegal to withhold a coronavirus diagnosis. However, therapist Dr. Argie Allen Wilson, who authored Courageous Conversations Connect, says everyone needs to be on the same page.

Eyewitness News reached out to Lewis for additional comment but has not heard back. As for Sims, he’s calling on a full investigation by the state’s attorney general and health secretary, Philadelphia reported.

Amazon.com was briefly down for many in the US

Amazon.com was down for many people in the US for a short while Thursday afternoon. A number of Verge staffers were unable to access the site, and countless user reports of an outage across the country poured in on Downdetector, The Verge reported.

“Some customers may have temporarily experienced issues while shopping, however it has now been resolved,” Amazon said in a statement to The Verge.

(Photo: The Verge)

It’s exceedingly rare for Amazon’s main e-commerce site to have an outage that was as extensive as today’s, but it’s not unprecedented for Amazon’s internet services to go down. In 2017, Amazon’s widely used cloud computing division, AWS, had an outage that took down many other services and websites that relied on it.

It’s unclear exactly how widespread the outage was or how much it may have affected Amazon’s other products and services, but some users did report problems with AWS and Prime Video on Downdetector at around the same time Amazon.com was experiencing issues.

Cameron Boyce's Mom Breaks Down in Tears Over Fan Tributes on Late Star's 21st Birthday

On Thursday, Libby Boyce paid tribute to the late actor, who passed away in July 2019 at the age of 20 after suffering a seizure, with a moving message to fans that have been honoring the Descendants star on what would have been his 21st birthday, Eonline said.

Libby thanked supporters for their donations and continued support in helping the organization reach its goal of raising $50,000.

(Photo: US Weekly)

"Everybody, I'm just reading all the notes on The Cameron Boyce Foundation page of all of the comments with the donations and I am just really blown away—really blown away by all the amazing comments and how many people loved Cameron," she said in the video message, fighting back tears. "You know, I just really wanted to say thank you and it's so appreciated and we really will be doing amazing things so his death is not in vain. Thank you."

Cameron's fellow co-stars helped get the word out about the foundation's fundraiser and took to Instagram with a special tribute post.

US sends another warship to challenge China’s South China Sea claims

A US Navy warship again challenged China's vast South China Sea claims Thursday as US-China tensions run high.

"On May 28 (local time), USS Mustin (DDG 89) asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law," Lt. Anthony Junco, a spokesperson for the US Navy's 7th Fleet, said in a statement.

"By conducting this operation, the United States demonstrated that these waters are beyond what China can lawfully claim as its territorial sea," the statement added.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin sailed within 12 nautical miles of Woody Island and Pyramid Rock in the Parcel Islands during a freedom-of-navigation operation, CNN reported Thursday, citing a defense official.

An MH-60R Seahawk helicopter assigned to the Warlords of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 51 returns to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89) U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class David Flewellyn.

The US Navy has twice sailed warships in a similar effort to challenge Chinese claims to the Paracel and Spratly islands in the last month and carrying out another such operation near the Paracels in March.

The increased operational tempo comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing on a range of issues including the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to exert greater control over Hong Kong and responsibility for the coronavirus, CNN reported.

The Paracel Islands are among the contested territories in the South China Sea where China has built military outposts to support its sweeping sovereignty claims.

The Chinese military dispatched naval and air assets to shadow the Mustin, Senior Col. Li Huamin, a spokesman for the Southern Theater Command, said Thursday, adding that the military issued warnings and expelled the ship from the area, China's Global Times reported.

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