At least 64 dead in Chinese earthquake
KUNMING, China, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A series of earthquakes in southwest China Friday killed at least 64 people, injured scores more and collapsed or damaged about 40,000 homes, officials said.
About 100,000 people were forced to evacuate after the quakes.
Some Chinese media reports said at least 150 people were injured.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported four earthquakes around the city of Jiaokui in Yunnan province. Two measured 5.6-magnitude and two 4.8.
The quakes also caused damage in neighboring Guizhou province.
President Hu Jintao, who was in the Russian city of Vladivostok for an economic conference, urged Chinese officials to do their utmost to prevent further injuries and property loss, Xinhua, the official government news agency, said.
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was on his way to the quake-stricken area.
Obama: U.S. faces 'clearest choice'
PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama told supporters in New Hampshire the United States faces "the clearest choice, of any time in our generation" in the November election.
During an appearance in Portsmouth on the first day following the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., the president gave credit to former President Bill Clinton for using his convention speech to clarify issues "in the way only he can."
"Somebody e-mailed me after his speech -- they said, 'You need to appoint him secretary of explaining stuff,'" Obama said to laughter and applause. "That was pretty good. I like that -- the secretary of explaining stuff -- 'splainin."
The president said he and Republican nominee Mitt Romney "have made their argument. There's a big choice to make."
"And I honestly believe this is the biggest choice, the clearest choice, of any time in our generation, because it's not just a choice between two candidates or two political parties," he said. "It is a choice between two different paths for America -- two fundamentally different visions for how we move forward."
Obama told the rally the Republicans "want your vote, but they don't want to show you their plan."
"And that's because they know their plan won't sell," he said. "That's because all they've got to offer is the same prescriptions that they've had for the last 30 years -- tax cuts, tax cuts, gut some regulations, oh, and more tax cuts."
During his acceptance speech Thursday, Obama said fixing the country's problems will take time but will be worth the effort.
Police: Father kidnapped kids, stole yacht
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- South San Francisco police are searching for a father who allegedly abducted his children from their home and sailed off with them on a stolen yacht.
The father, Christopher Maffei, 43, allegedly kidnapped his 3-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son from their mother's home Tuesday, CNN reported.
A rental car registered to Maffei was found Wednesday, parked at an Alameda marina from which a 44-foot yacht had been stolen, police said.
"An extensive air and ground search was conducted ... but the vessel was not located," San Francisco police said.
Police said they believe Maffei abducted the children and made off with them on the yacht, which is named "Unleashed," KPIX-TV, San Francisco, reported.
Maffei, who was last seen at 6 p.m. Wednesday, has said in the past that he would like to sail to Monterey or Mexico, police said.
Pussy Riot protesters burn Putin banner
MOSCOW, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Members of the Russian feminist group Pussy Riot burned a large portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin and another government official.
Three of the group's members were sentenced to two years last month for performing a "punk prayer" critical of Putin in a Moscow cathedral.
The women, who credit female singers Madonna and Bjork and the punk band Green Day as influences, can be heard in a video shouting: "These men think it's illegal to call yourself a feminist and to sing punk music. These men think that you can't criticize your government."
The video, timed to coincide with the MTV Video Music Awards, was characterized by the group as, "a gigantic punk feminist thank you to all the musicians, activists, to everyone around the world who stands up together for the fight to our right to be free," the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported.
Judge rules against lawyer restrictions
WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A federal judge blocked the U.S. government from restricting lawyers' access to detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
In his Thursday ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said the government's proposed measure would violate the prisoners' right to challenge their detainment, The Washington Post reported.
"Access to the courts means nothing without access to counsel," Lamberth wrote, adding the government's attempt "to supersede the court's authority is an illegitimate exercise in executive power."
The government was seeking to restrict lawyers' access to six detainees at Guantanamo Bay, as well as block them from obtaining key documents about their cases, CNN said. Four of those detainees had put their cases on hold, but wanted to maintain access to their lawyers, and the other two had already lost legal challenges to their imprisonments.
The new rules could have also led to "lengthy, needless and possibly oppressive delays" in the cases, the judge wrote.
