USA TODAY International Edition
ROYALS ON HAND FOR SPAIN’S NATIONAL DAY
NICOLE POUNDS BERMUDA, CAROLINAS TO SEE HIGH SURF
Howling winds and drenching rain pounded Bermuda on Thursday as Hurricane Nicole swirled directly over the small British territory as an “extremely dangerous” Category 3 storm, the National Weather Service said.
As of 11 a. m. ET, the eye of the 120- mph storm was passing over Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center reported. Large and destructive waves will accompany high storm surge that could raise water levels up to 8 feet above normal, the center warned.
Isolated tornadoes are also possible, and The Royal Gazette reported some islanders said they witnessed small twisters.
The U. S. coast, still suffering flooding issues related to Hurricane Matthew, won’t totally dodge Nicole, the weather service said. Swells associated with Nicole will spread along the U. S. East Coast from the Carolinas northward through the next few days. — John Bacon
WORLD’S LONGEST- REIGNING MONARCH DIES AT 88
Thailand’s much loved King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest- reigning monarch, died Thursday. He was 88.
Thailand’s Royal Palace said Bhumibol died in a “peaceful state” at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok.
U. S.- born Bhumibol, who was on the throne for 70 years, spent the last several of them in the hospital with a variety of ailments, and his poor health has remained a cause of concern as the question of succession has cast a shadow over Thai political and social life.
Bhumibol was the richest monarch in the world, with a 2014 wealth valued at $ 30 billion by Forbes. — Thomas Maresca
21 KIDNAPPED GIRLS FREED FROM BOKO HARAM
Twenty- one of the girls who were kidnapped from their school in northeastern Nigeria by Boko Harammilitants have been freed, the president’s spokesman said Thursday.
The girls were among the 276 students the Islamist extremists kidnapped in the town of Chibok on April 14, 2014, sparking the viral “Bring Back Our Girls” social media campaign.
Some of the girls later escaped and in May, activists said a teenager and her young child had been saved from the group, in what was believed to be the first rescue. Some 197 girls are believed to remain missing.