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Challenger claims win in race to lead United Auto Workers

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:38:23 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — The challenger in the race for the United Auto Workers’ top leadership post claimed victory Saturday in a close election that is likely to give his slate of candidates control of the huge union.In a statement, challenger Shawn Fain’s slate said that a federal court-appointed monitor has declared Fain the winner over incumbent Ray Curry. A message was left Saturday seeking confirmation from monitor Neil Barofsky.It was the 372,000-member union’s first direct election of its 14-member International Executive Board, which came in the wake of a wide-ranging bribery and embezzlement scandal that landed two former presidents in prison. The statement from Fain’s slate said he leads Curry by 483 votes, greater than the number of challenged ballots that remain. The count has been going on since March 1. Curry has filed a protest alleging election irregularities and campaign financing violations. “For too long, the UAW has been unwilling to confront management, and ...

Finnish leadership condemns attack on veteran lawmaker

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:38:23 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s leaders strongly condemned an assault on a Jewish lawmaker who was assaulted and punched in the face Saturday while campaigning for the country’s April 2 general election.President Sauli Niinisto tweeted that Saturday’s physical attack on veteran conservative politician Ben Zyskowicz, 68, was “a cowardly act” that delivered a blow to Finnish democracy. Zyskowicz told Finnish media that a large man who appeared to be between the ages of 30 and 40 confronted him at a metro station in Helsinki, the capital city that he represents. The man started yelling, blaming him for Finland’s decision to join NATO and hurling antisemitic insults, Zyskowicz told Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, adding that the perpetrator also threatened to kill him and to push him onto the subway tracks. The confrontation turned into a scuffle, and Zyskowicz reported he was hit in the face and fell on the ground, suffering bruises, scratches and other minor injuries. Police late...

2 dead in rail car; human smuggling investigation indicated

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:38:23 GMT

Two people found dead in a railroad car in south Texas were Honduran men, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Saturday, indicating it was investigating the case as possible human smuggling.“We will continue to address the serious public safety threat posed by human smuggling organizations and their reckless disregard for the health and safety of those smuggled,” department spokesperson Nina Pruneda said in the statement.Pruneda declined to comment beyond the statement, which said the investigation is ongoing but did not say whether any of the migrants were in custody.The two dead were among 17 people — 15 men and two women — found Friday in what Union Pacific railroad said were two rail cars near Knippa, Texas, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of San Antonio and less than 100 miles (161 kilometers) from the U.S. border with Mexico, according to Pruneda’s statement.Union Pacific said in a statement Saturday that it is working with authorities to determine...

Trump rally falls during anniversary of Waco’s dark past

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:38:23 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Former President Donald Trump picking Waco, Texas, for the first rally of his 2024 campaign Saturday will put him in the middle of a big Republican state that has reliably delivered him big crowds. It will also put him not far from the grassy prairie where a standoff in 1993 between U.S. law enforcement and Branch Davidians infamously resulted in the deaths of more than 80 members of the religious cult and four federal agents. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the siege, which continues to hold deep symbolism and is still viewed by survivors of the compound as an act of unwarranted government intrusion. Trump, who is facing the possibility of becoming the first president in U.S. history to be indicted, hasn’t nodded to Waco’s past since first announcing the rally last week. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said the decision to hold the event at Waco’s regional airport was ideal because the city was “centrally located and close” to s...

Israel: 2 soldiers wounded in West Bank drive-by shooting

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:38:23 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said two soldiers were wounded, one severely, Saturday evening in a drive-by shooting in the occupied West Bank, the latest in months-long violence between Israel and the Palestinians.The attack was the third to take place in the Palestinian town of Huwara in less than a month. One soldier was seriously wounded and the second was in moderate condition, the military said. A manhunt was launched as forces sealed roads leading to Huwara.No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the shooting attack, but Hamas, the militant group ruling the Gaza Strip, praised it. “The resistance in the West Bank can surprise the occupation every time and the occupation cannot enjoy safety,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.Violence has surged in recent months in the West Bank and east Jerusalem amid near-daily Israeli arrest raids in Palestinian-controlled areas and a string of Palestinian attacks.U.S.-backed regional efforts to defuse tensions have led to th...

French police, activists injured at anti-reservoir protest

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:38:23 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French police and environmental activists fought violent pitched battles Saturday around a giant agricultural irrigation reservoir in rural western France. The interior minister reported more than 30 people injured and said police detonated more than 4,000 non-lethal dispersion grenades as they fended off hundreds of protesters, some armed with machetes, axes and gasoline bombs.The clashes around the reservoir being built in the rural community of Sainte-Soline highlighted increasing pressure on precious water resources in the face of climate change.French authorities argue that giant irrigation reservoirs are necessary to allow farmers to continue growing food crops when droughts are becoming more common. Critics say the reservoirs sustain ecologically unsustainable types of industrial farming and imprison water that would otherwise naturally irrigate soils and feed rivers and streams.Video footage showed protesters advancing in clouds of tear gas, police vehicles burn...

1 dead in DuSable Lake Shore Drive hit-and-run crash

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:38:23 GMT

CHICAGO — One person is dead after a hit-and-run crash that took place on DuSable Lake Shore Drive in Lake View East early Saturday morning.According to police, a driver, 36, was traveling southbound in an SUV near the 4300 block of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive when after changing lanes, an unknown driver in a white SUV traveling in the same direction, struck his vehicle and fled the scene. Several thefts, carjackings minutes apart on Back of the Yards street Police say the male passenger, 31, was transported to Illinois Masonic Hospital where he was pronounced dead.The driver was also transported to the hospital with unknown injuries. Police are still investigating the incident.

Winter storm moves out of Chicagoland

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:38:23 GMT

Saturday morning consists of heavy snow at times (N/NW Chicagoland), AM rain to snow elsewhere. NW 15-25, G35 mph. High: 38Saturday night: Mostly cloudy & not as cold. Much less wind. W 5-10 mph. Low: 30Sunday's forecast is looking partly cloudy and milder, except near the lake. NNE 5-10 mph. High: 47 Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Full forecast details at the WGN Weather CenterExtended outlook calls for rain/snow mix on Monday with highs near 40. Chilly weather continues Tuesday with some early showers and highs in the mid to low 40s. Dry for most of Tue and Wed with some showers returning late Wed night. Soggy but milder for the end of the week with highs in the mid to upper 50s. 

1 dead after single-car fiery crash in Downers Grove

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:38:23 GMT

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — A driver is dead after a single-vehicle fiery crash Friday evening in Downers Grove, according to police.Downers Grove Police Department officers and emergency personnel were called to the crash just before 9 p.m. near Finley Road and Lacey Road. Man dead after hit and run crash in West Loop Police said the driver was driving south on Finely Road and crashed on the west side of the intersection at Lacey Road.When officers arrived, the car was on fire and was put out by firefighters, according to police. 1 dead in DuSable Lake Shore Drive hit-and-run crash The driver's name hasn't been released.The crash is still under investigation by Downers Grove police and the MERIT Major Crash Reconstruction Team. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 630-434-5600.

Disconnecting part of the brain helps kids with rare form of epilepsy

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:38:23 GMT

(WGN) -- Disconnecting half the brain to stop seizures sounds unthinkable, but it’s an actual procedure to help children with a rare form of epilepsy. R.J. Walters is one of those kids. He is 8 years old and loves to play basketball. “April 2019, when he was 4 years old, is when he had his first generalized seizure,” said his mother, Jamilah Doyle-Walters.And they kept coming."With focal seizures, you see a kid (and) they are just staring off into space, and you think they are daydreaming,” said his father, Randall Walters, Sr. “And they are still able to respond to you. I wanted to be that dad, the sports dad, ‘let’s go climb a tree’ dad. And that was all taken away." ‘I was too young to die.’ How research and funding can help pediatric cancer patients — and what more can be done The atrophy in RJ’s right brain led to a diagnosis of Rasmussen’s encephalitis, a rare and progressive neurologic condition.“The right side of the brain doesn’t quite look like the left side of the brai...