U.S. & NATIONAL NEWS DIGEST| Hackers target Nasdaq service

Hackers target Nasdaq service

NEW YORK

Hackers broke into a Nasdaq service that handles confidential communications for some 300 corporations, the company said Saturday — the latest vulnerability exposed in the computer systems Wall Street depends on. The intrusions did not affect Nasdaq’s stock-trading systems, and no customer data were compromised, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. said. Nasdaq is the largest electronic securities-trading market in the U.S., with more than 2,800 listed companies.

35 animals freeze to death in Mexico zoo

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico

Thirty-five animals at a zoo in the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua have frozen to death during the region’s coldest weather in six decades. Serengeti Zoo owner Alberto Hernandez says 14 parrots, 13 serpents, five iguanas, two crocodiles and a capuchin monkey died. He said Saturday that power failures cut off electrical heating at the zoo.

Palin: US out of step with Reagan values

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.

America is on a “road to ruin” because of misguided policies in Washington and needs to get back in step with the values of Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin said at an event honoring the former president’s legacy.

The 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee delivered a stinging critique of Washington during her speech Friday, part of the national celebration marking the centennial of Reagan’s birth today.

Revisiting themes familiar from her 2008 campaign, she said the nation was being shackled by high debt and taxes, dense government regulation and rising spending, often for programs that don’t work. She said a rush toward green energy was overlooking the nation’s oil and natural-gas reserves, a choice that will cost jobs and drive up pump prices.

Oregon mulls ban on plastic bags

GRANTS PASS, Ore.

Oregon lawmakers will consider whether the state should become the first to pass a ban on plastic bags, a measure recycling advocates believe would trigger a domino effect among other states.

A bill co-sponsored by two Republicans and two Democrats would outlaw throwaway plastic check-out bags at all retail stores in Oregon, a state that already is a leader in passing green legislation. Shoppers would be forced to bring their own bag or pay a nickel apiece for recycled paper bags under SB536.

A hearing is set for Tuesday on the proposed ban, which is supported by the Northwest Grocers Association and one of the state’s biggest bag users — Fred Meyer stores.

Ky. tourist killed by car in Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica

Authorities in Jamaica say a car has hit and killed a tourist from Lexington, Ky., and injured his girlfriend as they were walking in the resort area of Negril.

Jamaican police say 57-year-old Roy Anthony Stout was pronounced dead at a hospital Friday night. The woman, who hasn’t been identified, was reported in critical condition Saturday.

Police on the Caribbean island say the driver has been detained and is being interviewed.

5 Romanian miners die in explosion

BUCHAREST, Romania

Officials in Romania say that five miners died Saturday in an explosion at a coal mine.

The mayor of the town of Uricani, Dan Buhaescu, told Agerpres news agency the victims ranged in age from 30 to 35.

A labor department inspector in the western county of Hunedoara said the five were servicing an electric transformer when the explosion occurred Saturday.

Associated Press