ISTANBUL (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country supports OPEC’s recent agreement to trim production as a way to support oil prices.

Speaking Monday at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Putin said the current situation required a freeze or cut in oil production to maintain stability in global energy markets.

He said: “We support the recent OPEC initiative to fix limitations on the production. And hope that at the November OPEC meeting this idea will be transformed into real agreements giving a positive signal to markets and investors.” He did not explicitly state that Russia would participate in an output cut or freeze.

Also at the congress, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said it was necessary to find a new mechanism within six months to stabilize markets.

Latest oil prices

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump shook hands after the debate ended, something they refused to do 90 minutes earlier.

The debate was especially icy at the outset, replete with talk of sexual impropriety and Trump threatening to jail Clinton over her erased emails.

But the St. Louis rumble concluded with a voter asking them to say something nice about each other.

Who do you think won? Participate in our poll.

[polldaddy poll=9546073]

 

OLATHE, Kansas (AP) — A Kansas sheriff’s department says it’s investigating after one of its deputies was kidnapped and sexually assaulted.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Department says the deputy was abducted late Friday from a parking lot as she headed into work at the detention center in Olathe. It says the deputy, who has been with the department for about six months, did not know her abductors and was not in uniform at the time.

 

This is a better picture of the vehicle used in the kidnapping & assault of our Deputy last night. Help us find this vehicle! #JCSO pic.twitter.com/2rSk7A5J6c

— Johnson Co. Sheriff (@JOCOSHERIFF) October 8, 2016

The department says the deputy was released about two hours later in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

The Kansas City Star reports that the department on Sunday released video of the car believed to have been used in the abduction, and authorities want to question two men who may have been in the car.

KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City postal clerk pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing gift cards from the mail, according to Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

On Tuesday, Veronica K. Grant, 63, of Kansas City, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to a federal information that charges her with the theft of mail by a postal employee.

Grant was employed as a clerk by the U.S. Postal Service at the processing and distribution center in Kansas City, Mo. Grant’s role was to match any loose contents that became separated from the addressed envelope or container from which it was mailed, then forward the mail to its destination.

On April 3, 2015, the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General received information that a $50 T.J.Maxx gift card had been reported missing from the mail. The gift card had been mailed from the sender in Springfield, Mo., on March 7, 2015, to the recipient in Texas. USPS determined that the gift card went through the process and distribution center where Grant was employed but never reached its intended recipient.

Grant admitted that she used the gift card at the T.J. Maxx store in Blue Springs, Mo., on March 12, 2015. Store surveillance video depicted her at the checkout counter utilizing the stolen gift card.

Following an interview with investigators on October 5, 2015, Grant consented to a search of her belongings. Five additional gift cards were recovered from Grant’s purse. Investigators later determined that these gift cards had been stolen from the mail as well. Investigators have identified 11 victims of Grant’s mail theft.

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, the government agrees it will recommend probation, which could include a combination of home confinement or a half-way house. Grant agrees to pay restitution to any victims identified. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — More than 300 people attended a reunion of former employees of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka.

The clinic, a driving force for mental health care, opened in Topeka in 1925. The clinic aligned with Baylor College of Medicine and moved to Houston in 2012.

Alison Beebe, a registered nurse, worked for Menninger for 20 years and was on the committee that put together the reunion. She said that a 2015 informal reunion drew more than 200. So the group decided a more formal, organized reunion was in order.

She says more than 315 people signed up to attend a dinner Saturday night.

More, including relatives of founder C.F. Menninger, attended a variety of events Friday through Sunday.

HARVEY COUNTY— A Navy seaman’s remains returned to Kansas this weekend, 75 years after he was killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Lewis Lowell Wagoner’s remains were flown Friday to Wichita.

On Saturday, the Patriot Guard and Harvey County Sheriff Deputies escorted Seaman 2nd Class Lewis Lowell Wagoner to his final resting place.

Wagoner was 20 when he was declared missing after the Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack that propelled the United States into World War II.

Wagoner was aboard the USS Oklahoma when it and other U.S. warships were hit by torpedoes.

The battleship Oklahoma capsized quickly. Thirty-two men were rescued, but 14 Marines and 415 sailors were killed and largely were buried as “unknowns” in a Hawaii cemetery.

Many of those remains were disinterred for modern DNA testing that only recently identified Wagoner and roughly 30 others.

– The AP contributed to this report

HUTCHINSON — A Kansas man facing trial for the armed robbery of Dollar General in Hutchinson in October of last year was found in contempt of court on Friday after an outburst in front of Judge Tim Chambers.

The outburst came during a discussion over an attorney for Leroy Randall, 54, Hutchinson.

His attorney had filed a motion to withdraw because he and Randall had disagreements over how to proceed with the case.

Randall had other attorneys assigned to this case and he told this attorney he might file an ethics complaint against him.

Judge Chambers denied that request and that led to an outburst from Randall accusing his attorney of acting like a prosecutor.

Judge Chambers and the defendant were in a shouting match at one point until deputies removed him from the courtroom.

Judge Chambers indicated that he will set a hearing within the next week or so to see how they will proceed.

Randall may want to represent himself. He is charged with two counts of kidnapping, one count of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated assault.

Police say a Dollar General employee reporting that she heard a knock at a back door of the business.

Thinking it was the other employee she opened the door and a black male came in the store, stuck a gun in her face and demanded money.
That employee reportedly screamed, causing another employee to come out of the bathroom of the store.

Randall is then alleged to have pointed the gun at him as well. Both testified to what happened and both admitted to being scared. One thought the gunman was going to shoot them. He also made them give him their cell phones.

During the robbery, Randall allegedly got away with over $5,480.

Randall’s female roommate testified that he told her what he was going to do and then after he came back, she watched him count the money. She also admitted that she cut up a stocking cap they he used as the mask in the robbery.

The trial was scheduled to begin next week. Randall remains jailed on a bond of $125,000.