Police say gunmen have kidnapped 15 oil workers near Nigeria's petroleum capital of Port Harcourt in the latest apparent hostage-for-ransom incident.
	A police spokesman, Deputy Superintendent Nnamdi Omoni, said today that all the abducted are Nigerians working for the local oil industry service company Nestoil.
	He says their bus was hijacked yesterday about 100 kilometers southeast of their office in Port Harcourt.
	Kidnappings of Nigerians and foreigners are common all over the country.
	In the oil-rich southern Niger Delta, they are carried out by ordinary criminals as well as militants demanding a greater share of oil riches for locals.
	Hostages are usually released unharmed after ransom payments.
	Last month, 14 passengers seized from a commuter bus near Port Harcourt were released after two days. It was not clear if ransoms were paid.

15 oil workers kidnapped at gunpoint in southern Nigeria

PTI Automatic

Officials at a nuclear power plant in the southeast corner of Nebraska say tremors from the Oklahoma earthquake were felt at the plant.
	Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper Nuclear Station south of Brownville declared an "unusual event" just after 7.00 AM (local time) because of the minor tremors.
	Officials say there was no damage to the plant or equipment, and no threat to the public or plant personnel occurred.
	The plant continued operating today, but station personnel increased monitoring of plant equipment, per the plant's policy.
	Station emergency preparedness manager Jim Stough says the nuclear station was built to withstand some earthquakes and other scenarios that are likely to occur in the region.
	Officials say local, county, state, and federal agencies were notified of the event.

Earthquake felt at Nebraska nuclear power plant

Tropical Storm Hermine lost hurricane strength over land but was intensifying today along the Atlantic Coast, threatening heavy rain, wind and storm surges on its northward march.
	Hermine (her-MEEN) already caused 2 deaths, damaged homes and businesses and left hundreds of thousands without electricity from Florida to Virginia.
	"This is not a beach weekend for anyone in the Mid-Atlantic to the northeast," said Eric Blake, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
	This is a "storm to take seriously" with "life-threatening water levels along the coast," Blake warned.
	At 11 AM (local time) today, Hermine was centered just off North Carolina's Outer Banks, with top sustained winds of 100 kph, moving east-northeast at 24 kph.
	Tropical Storm Warnings were extended as far north as Massachusetts, with dangerous storm surges expected. Governors all along the coast announced emergency preparations.
	Hermine rose up over the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane, .

Hermine kills 2, ruins beach weekends in northward march

The music manager who helped introduce NWA to the masses has died. Jerry Heller was 75 years old.
	Heller's cousin, Gary Ballen, says Heller died yesterday night in Southern California.
	Heller started his career in the 1960s as an agent and promoter, working with such acts as Pink Floyd, Marvin Gaye and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
	He co-founded Ruthless Records with Eazy-E, which released NWA's seminal album "Straight Outta Compton" in 1988, launching the West Coast gangsta rap movement.
	Ruthless was also behind such artists as JJ Fad, Michel'le and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
	Heller released "Ruthless: A Memoir" in 2006.
	Actor Paul Giamatti played Heller in last year's hit film "Straight Outta Compton."
	Heller sued the film's producers for defamation after its release, claiming it portrayed him as a villain.

Former NWA manager Jerry Heller dies at 75

Atlanta's zoo says a 19-year-old giant panda has given birth to a set of twins.
	Zoo Atlanta said in a news release today that giant panda named Lun Lun delivered the twin cubs at 7.20 AM and 8.07 AM (local time) this morning.
	It's Lun Lun's second pair of twins.
	Officials say Lun Lun was artificially inseminated in March. The round-the-clock birth watch started late last month.
	Lun Lun and 18-year-old male panda Yang Yang have seven offspring together, all resulting from artificial insemination.
	The pair's first three cubs live at China's Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Twins Mei Lun and Mei Huan were born in 2013 and live at Zoo Atlanta.
	Officials expect zoo members and guests to meet the cubs in December or early next year in January.

Zoo Atlanta's giant female panda gives birth to twins, again

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards says his state had more than USD 8.7 billion in damage from catastrophic flooding in August, and the figure will increase as officials finish assessing damage to roads and other public infrastructure.
	The governor's office today released a letter Edwards sent yesterday to President Barack Obama.
	Edwards asks that Congress this month approve USD 2 billion in federal aid for Louisiana for housing, economic development and infrastructure.
	He says it's a "very reasonable request," adding to other federal programs assisting in Louisiana's flood recovery.
	Edwards says damage has been documented to more than 55,000 houses, and that could double as aid applications and inspections continue.
	More than 80 per cent of damaged homes lacked flood insurance because most were outside the flood plain. More than 6,000 businesses flooded.

Louisiana flood damage at least USD 8.7 billion

The mother of a Minnesota boy missing since 1989 said today that his remains have been found.
	Patty Wetterling said in a text message to KARE-TV that 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling "has been found and our hearts are broken.
	" She did not immediately respond to calls and text messages from The Associated Press.
	Federal authorities declined to comment.
	Jacob was riding his bicycle with his brother and a friend on Oct 22, 1989, when a masked gunman abducted him from a rural road near his home in St Joseph, about 80 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
	He hasn't been seen since.
	No one has been arrested or charged in his abduction, which led to changes in sex offender registration laws.
	But last year, authorities took another look at the case, and were led to Danny Heinrich, a man they called a "person of interest" in Jacob's kidnapping.
	Heinrich denied any involvement in Jacob's abduction, and was not charged with that crime. But he has pleaded not guilty to several federal child ...

Mother of missing boy: Remains found; no comment from feds

A record-tying earthquake in the edge of Oklahoma's key energy-producing areas rattled the Midwest from Nebraska to North Texas today and likely will focus fresh new attention to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground.
	The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened at 7.02 AM (local time) today in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal.
	That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region.
	People in Kansas City and St Louis, Missouri; Fayetteville and Little Rock, Arkansas; Des Moines, Iowa; and Norman, Oklahoma, all reported feeling the earthquake.
	Dallas TV station WFAA tweeted that the quake shook their studios, too.
	Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell said no buildings collapsed in the town of 2,200 about nine miles southeast of the epicenter, and there were no injuries, either.
	"We've got buildings cracked," ...

Strong Oklahoma earthquake felt from Nebraska to Texas

New Jersey police said a suspect was fatally shot in an exchange of gunfire outside an Atlantic City casino today and one police officer was seriously wounded.
	Atlantic City police Chief Henry White said the shooting happened around 4 am after officers stopped a car with three men near a parking garage of Caesars casino.
	White said at least one of the men in the car opened fire. Police were still looking for two other suspects and closed streets in the area.
	"At this point I don't know what the reason for the initial stop was," White said at an early-morning news conference. "But as the officers were getting out of the car, the males opened fire on our officers, striking one."
	The officer, whose name was not released, was taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center a few blocks from the shooting. He underwent surgery Saturday morning.
	The New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association offered a USD 20,000 reward for information on the remaining suspects in the ...

Officer shot after exchange of gunfire; 1 suspect killed

Police say a bomb has exploded and hit a train in southern Thailand, killing one railroad worker and injuring another.
	Police Capt Pramoj Juichuay says the bomb was placed on the tracks and exploded when the train passed over it as it was passing a station in Pattani province today. The bomb blast blew off the last carriage of the train.
	The train was on its way from Sungai Golak to Hat Yai, near the border with Malaysia.
	Southern Thailand, which has a majority Muslim population in the predominantly Buddhist country, has for years been in the grip of a separatist insurgency. The insurgents regularly carry out bombings and assassinations against government targets.

Bomb blast hits train in southern Thailand, killing 1

SpaceX is scouring computer and video data for clues to the devastating launch pad explosion that destroyed a rocket and satellite.
	Thursday's accident occurred during a prelaunch test, eight minutes before the engines on SpaceX's Falcon rocket were supposed to briefly fire. The rocket was being fueled when a huge fireball erupted.
	Yesterday, SpaceX said it has begun reviewing 3,000 channels of computer and video data, covering a time period of just 35 to 55 milliseconds. The trouble appears to have originated somewhere near the liquid oxygen tank in the upper stage.
	SpaceX said it's unclear how badly the pad was damaged at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. But the company pointed out that it has two other pads, one at neighboring Kennedy Space Center that was formerly used to launch NASA's shuttles, and another in California.
	SpaceX said these two pads can support the company's upcoming launches, until the damaged complex can be fixed.
	The Kennedy pad should be ready to handle ..

SpaceX scouring data for clues to launch pad explosion

For many of the poor and destitute whom Mother Teresa served, the tiny nun was a living saint.
	Many at the Vatican would agree, but the Catholic Church nevertheless has a grueling process to make it official, involving volumes of historical research, the hunt for miracles and teams of experts to weigh the evidence.
	In Mother Teresa's case, the process will come to a formal end tomorrow when Pope Francis declares the church's newest saint.
	Here's a look at the process:
	The process to find a new saint usually begins in the diocese where he or she lived or died; in Mother Teresa's case, Kolkata.
	A postulator - essentially the cheerleader spearheading the project - gathers testimony and documentation and presents the case to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints. If the congregation's experts agree the candidate lived a virtuous life, the case is forwarded to the pope, who signs a decree attesting to the candidate's "heroic virtues."
	If the postulator finds someone was 

Saints, miracles and Mother Teresa

Turkey says eight soldiers were killed and eight wounded in clashes with Kurdish militants in the country's east.
	The governor's office of Van released a statement Saturday on operations against members of the "separatist terror organization," Turkey's description of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK.
	The statement says 11 militants were killed in the Friday operations around Tendurek mountain.
	The three-decade-long conflict between Turkey and the PKK has killed an estimated 40,000 people. The state-run Anadolu news agency says more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed since a fragile cease-fire collapsed.
	Rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also been killed in the clashes.

8 soldiers reported killed in eastern Turkey

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared a "state of lawlessness" today after suspected Abu Sayyaf extremists detonated a bomb that killed 14 people and wounded about 70 in his southern hometown.
	Duterte, who inspected the scene of last night's attack at a night market in downtown Davao city, said his declaration that covers the southern Mindanao region did not amount to an imposition of martial law.
	It would allow troops to be deployed in urban centers to back up the police in setting up checkpoints and increasing patrols, he said.
	An Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Abu Rami, claimed responsibility for the blast near the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao University and a five-star hotel, but Duterte said investigators were looking at other possible suspects, including drug syndicates, which he has targeted in a bloody crackdown.
	"These are extraordinary times and I supposed that I'm authorised to allow the security forces of this country to do searches," Duterte told reporters at the scene ..

Philippine leader declares 'state of lawlessness' after bomb

Thailand's Royal Palace has announced that King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been treated for a severe infection.
	A statement issued by the palace late Friday said the 88-year-old king was observed with a high heart beat and thick mucus. It said a test result of the mucus and blood "indicated a severe infection." It did not elaborate.
	Bhumibol, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has been hospitalized for a large part of the past decade, mostly with ailments associated with aging. He has not made a public appearance since January.
	In the past months, official announcements about his health have increased in frequency, but their narrow and technical focus make it hard to gauge the king's overall condition.

Thai king reported to suffer from 'severe infection'

Opening his final trip to Asia, President Barack Obama is expected to join Chinese leader Xi Jinping in announcing their countries are formally taking part in a historic global climate deal.
	Yet thornier issues like maritime disputes and cybersecurity shadow Obama's visit.
	The president departed yesterday for Hangzhou, China, where he will meet today with Xi ahead of a summit of the Group of 20, a collection of industrial and emerging-market nations.
	Environmental groups and experts tracking global climate policy said they expected the two leaders would jointly enter the sweeping emissions-cutting deal reached last year in Paris. Unlikely partners on addressing global warming, the US and China have sought to use their collaboration to ramp up pressure on other countries to take concrete action as well.
	Entering the climate agreement has been an intricate exercise in diplomatic choreography. The deal was reached in December, and the US, China and many others signed it in April, on .

US, China expected to join climate deal during Obama visit

Former President Dilma Rousseff has slammed the process that led to her ouster this week, promising to provide a strong opposition voice to the new government.
	In comments to foreign media yesterday, Rousseff said next week she would be moving back to her hometown of Porto Alegre in southern Brazil. She has 30 days to vacate the presidential palace.
	On Wednesday, the Senate voted to remove Rousseff for breaking fiscal responsibility laws in her management of the federal budget. Brazil's first female president denies wrongdoing, and has frequently pointed out that previous presidents have used similar accounting measures.
	Rousseff said she had not developed long-term plans for what comes next, but won't shy away from public life. "I don't have political plans for office, but I do have political plans. I'm going to oppose this government," she said.
	Rousseff also had sharp words for Michel Temer, who was her vice president before taking over in the wake of her removal. The two were .

Brazil's ousted president blasts process, talks about future

Governor Susana Martinez says a police officer in a New Mexico town has been killed in what marks the second on-duty death of an officer in the state in less than a month.
	In a statement, the New Mexico governor said she was saddened by the officer's death and that violence against law enforcement in the state must end.
	State and local authorities responded to the shooting in Alamogordo today that happened near a residential area around 8.30 AM, the Alamogordo Daily News reports.
	Authorities have not identified the officer or a suspect. They also haven't released other details stemming from their investigation.
	Later today, mourners were placing flowers outside the police department in the town about 200 miles south of Albuquerque.
	"I am again so very saddened to see that yet another courageous law enforcement officer has been killed in the line of duty," Martinez said.
	"The violence against our police officers has to end, and we must do everything we can to stand up for those ..

Governor: Police officer killed in New Mexico town

President Vladimir Putin says Russia wasn't involved in the hacking of emails of the US Democratic Party, but thinks the release of the information was a benefit.
	Some American officials have claimed that Russian military intelligence was behind the hacking, which provoked a political scandal in the US by revealing apparent prejudice in the Democratic National Committee against Hillary Clinton's challenger for the presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders.
	"At the state level, we certainly weren't involved in this," Putin said in an interview with the Bloomberg news service, according to a transcript released today by the Kremlin.
	Putin said it wasn't important who conducted the hacking, but "what's important is that there was material that was released to the public.

Putin says Russia didn't hack US Democratic Party

Jon Polito, the prolific and raspy-voiced character actor whose more than 200 credits ranged from "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Modern Family" to the Coen Brother films "Barton Fink" and "The Big Lebowski," has died.
	Polito died yesterday at City of Hope Hospital in Duarte California, according to his manager, Maryellen Mulcahy.
	Polito was 65 and was being treated for multiple myeloma, Mulcahy told The Associated Press on today.
	He is survived by his partner, Darryl Armbruster.
	A native of Philadelphia and graduate of Villanova University, the short, mustachioed Polito had loved movies and television since childhood and was inspired by the over-the-top acting he first spotted in old horror films and melodramas.
	With no pretentions to being a leading man, he became one of the busiest TV and movie actors of the past three decades, averaging several projects a year since the mid-1980s.
	He worked in crime stories ("Homicide: Life on the Street," "The Gangster Chronicles"), ...

Jon Polito, prolific character actor, dead at 65

The US Department of Justice is appealing a ruling over whether 911 calls made during a massacre at a Florida gay nightclub can be released.
	The Justice Department said today that it was appealing US District Judge Paul Byron's ruling last week that the federal court lacks jurisdiction.
	Byron sent the case back to state court.
	Two dozen news media groups, including The Associated Press, sued the city of Orlando for the calls' release, saying they will help the public evaluate the police response.
	The city claims the recordings are exempt under Florida's public records law, and that the FBI insists releasing them may disrupt the investigation.
	In June, gunman Omar Mateen opened fire at the Pulse club nightclub in a rampage that left 49 people dead and 53 hospitalised.

AP

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