ABUJA, Nigeria

Ransom for U.S. missionary set at $300,000, police say

Nigerian police say the armed men who abducted an American missionary earlier this week in southern Nigeria have demanded a ransom of nearly $300,000.

Kogi State Police Commissioner Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi said Wednesday that the Rev. Phyllis Sortor, a missionary associated with the Free Methodist Church, was kidnapped from the Hope Academy compound in Emiworo Monday morning.

Ogunjemilusi, along with senior police officers, said police are collaborating with security forces to ensure a secure return for Sortor.

TORONTO

Notorious former mayor auctioning off memorabilia

Anyone interested in buying a piece of Rob Ford history now has the chance to do so.

The notorious former Toronto mayor and now city councilor is auctioning off some of the memorabilia he has collected over the years.

Ford’s term was plagued by scandals involving drinking, crack cocaine use and erratic behavior.

Ten percent of the proceeds will go toward research and care facilities for liposarcoma, the form of cancer Ford was diagnosed with last year.

The first item – a map of Toronto’s port lands dated 1990 – went up on eBay, with bids starting at $50 U.S.

Ford’s assistant has said Ford would be selling some items, but didn’t say how many – or where the rest of the funds raised will end up.

GENEVA

U.N.: Two accounts of torture at U.S. facilities ‘credible’

The United Nations reported Wednesday that it had uncovered two credible accounts of torture at U.S. military facilities in Afghanistan in recent years during an investigation into the treatment of detainees.

The report said the “credible and reliable” accounts came from two detainees who had been held “in a U.S. facility in Maydan Wardak,” a province whose capital of Maidan Shar lies about 20 miles west of Kabul, and “a U.S. special forces facility at Baghlan,” a province that lies north of the Afghan capital.

The report quoted the prisoners as saying the mistreatment in Baghlan occurred in April 2013 and at Maydan Wardak in September 2013.

Torture as part of the U.S. war on terror has been a controversial issue. A recent report by the Senate Intelligence Committee outlined 20 cases of mistreatment of suspected terrorists held in secret CIA prisons.

– From news service reports

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