Nation, world briefs 8/16/2015

FAA: Flight-delays problem resolved

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration says an "automation problem" that snarled air traffic throughout a large swatch of the Northeast stretching from New York to the Carolinas has been resolved. The agency said a computer system at an air traffic center in Leesburg, Virginia, that controllers use to direct high-altitude flights was back in service, and officials were expected to have lifted any remaining order to hold planes on the ground by Saturday afternoon. The FAA said it is investigating the cause of the problem, and was working with the airlines to minimize impacts to travelers. Information posted online by the FAA indicated the problem concerned the En Route Automation Modernization computer system, also known as ERAM.

Wal-Mart evacuated after gun scare

NEW ORLEANS -- A Wal-Mart store in New Orleans re-opened after an apparent armed robbery attempt led to its evacuation. New Orleans police say a gunman entered the Wal-Mart Supercenter in the Gentilly neighborhood about its opening time of 6 a.m. Saturday. Police arrived and made sure all employees were out. Spokesman Gary Flot said in an email a SWAT team searched the store but the suspect was not found. No shots were fired, and nobody was injured. Betsy Harden, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Corp., said employees were back in the store by late Saturday morning, and the store was open again at midday.

Family: ISIS leader raped late hostage

WASHINGTON -- American hostage Kayla Mueller repeatedly was forced to have sex with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State group, U.S. intelligence officials told her family in June. "They told us that he married her, and we all understand what that means," Carl Mueller, Kayla's father, said Friday, which would have been his daughter's 27th birthday. Her death was reported in February. Her mother, Marsha Mueller, added: "Kayla did not marry this man. He took her to his room and he abused her and she came back crying." Mueller was held for a time by Islamic State financier Abu Sayyaf and his wife, known as Umm Sayyaf. Al-Baghdadi took Mueller as a "wife," repeatedly raping her when he visited, according to a Yazidi teenager who was held with Mueller and escaped in October.

Tree branch kills 2 Yosemite campers

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. -- The deaths of two young campers killed when a tree branch fell on their tent cast a pall over California's Yosemite National Park at the height of the summer tourist season. The large limb from a black oak fell on the tent of the two young campers as they slept in the heart of the park Friday, Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said. The campers, described only as younger than 18, were dead when rangers arrived at the Upper Pines Campground in response to 911 calls, he said. What led to the limb falling and its exact size were not revealed. Large fallen limbs are a common occurrence at Yosemite, and they occasionally have led to deaths. The most recent was in 2012, when a park concession employee died when his tent cabin was hit.

-- From wire reports