White House national security adviser meets Saudi prince

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:17:37 GMT

White House national security adviser meets Saudi prince DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden’s top national security aide met Sunday night with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince amid long-standing tensions between the White House and the kingdom. The state-run Saudi Press Agency acknowledged the meeting between Jake Sullivan and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, the Red Sea port city now at the heart of seaborne evacuations from the fighting in Sudan. The state news report said only that the men reviewed “strategic relations” in a meeting that included other American officials. Later, Sullivan took part in a meeting with the crown prince and Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the national security adviser of the neighboring United Arab Emirates. The White House did not immediately acknowledge the meeting or provide a readout about them. Saudi state media did not immediately publish either video or photographs of the meeting as well. Biden campaigned o...

3 critically injured after driver crashes into CTA bus shelter

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:17:37 GMT

3 critically injured after driver crashes into CTA bus shelter CHICAGO — Seven people were injured, three critically, Sunday after a driver crashed into a bus shelter during a crash with another car, according to the Chicago Fire Department.The crash happened around 4:15 p.m. near West 16th Street and South Kedzie Avenue. 7 people shot in overnight shootings on city’s South Side Two cars got into a crash and one car went through the bus shelter, according to the fire department.Three people, including a CTA employee, were critically injured and taken to hospitals, according to the fire department.Four other people were injured and refused treatment at the scene. Additional details haven't been released at this time.

Haitian cuisine highlighted in South Shore as a part of Haitian Heritage Month

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:17:37 GMT

Haitian cuisine highlighted in South Shore as a part of Haitian Heritage Month CHICAGO — The sounds of a good time floated through the streets of South Shore Sunday, as the community came out to enjoy the sunshine at South Merrill Community Garden (SMCG)."It’s really important for us to feel, taste, eat other people’s culture to generate understanding," said Iyonna Rivers, cultural coordinator for the SMCG.Rivers is one of many operating behind the scenes at the SMCG, helping coordinate events like the one seen today, centered around Haitian cuisine as a part of Haitian Heritage Month. ‘We simply have no more shelters:’ Lightfoot implores Abbott to stop sending migrants "There’s about thirty-to-forty thousand Haitian Americans in the city," said Carlos Bossard, director of programs at the Haitian American Museum of Chicago. "And the huge connection is Jean Baptiste [Point] DuSable, the founder [of Chicago] and a Haitian man."The Haitian American Museum of Chicago's goal is to promote Haitian culture throughout the City, which leads then to organize events wi...

South Side sports program brings back beep ball for visually impaired

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:17:37 GMT

South Side sports program brings back beep ball for visually impaired CHICAGO — An adaptive sports program on the Southwest side features athletes who are blind or visually impaired and are preparing for their upcoming season.Beep baseball is in full swing for the Chicago Comets and team captain Bill Landram has been playing for 12 years after a Google search promoted him to call head coach JT Herzog. Working on Womanhood: How a non-profit is giving young women tools to boost their mental health and academic success "I always wanted to be a pitcher for the Cubs and dedicated myself to it. When I went blind and that was taken from me, finding this. This is my major league baseball," Landram said.Herzog can't get enough of it either."I have a blast. I love the sport the athletes and the team we have in Chicago," Herzog said.Herzog started with the Comets more than 20 years ago after his son joined the team. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines"It’s the camaraderie, it’s the learning from each other, it’s the self-discipline, it’s the self-confiden...

Teen dead after being trapped under sand at Outer Banks beach

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:17:37 GMT

Teen dead after being trapped under sand at Outer Banks beach FRISCO, N.C. (WNCT) -- A 17-year-old boy died Saturday after being trapped under several feet of sand at a beach in Frisco, North Carolina, according to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.Officials said law enforcement rangers responded at around 2 p.m. to a 911 call of a male teen trapped in a hole. The hole was dug in a back-dune area behind the primary dune and could not be seen from the beachfront, a press release from the park explained.Family and friends were looking for the teen, who was only identified as being from Chesapeake, Virginia, and found him buried under several feet of sand.Officials said the teen became buried after part of the adjacent dune collapsed into the hole. More than 200 people died in national parks last year: These were the deadliest Rangers worked with family members to get the teen out while also performing CPR. Dare County Emergency Medical Services personnel and Hatteras Island Ocean Rescue staff assisted but the teen died at the scene.“Cape Hat...

Texas mall shooting suspect identified, investigators examining ideology: AP sources

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:17:37 GMT

Texas mall shooting suspect identified, investigators examining ideology: AP sources ALLEN, Texas (AP) — Federal officials are looking into whether the gunman who killed eight people at a Dallas-area mall expressed an interest in white supremacist ideology as they work to try to discern a motive for the attack, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official cautioned the investigation is in its early stages.Federal agents have been reviewing social media accounts they believe Mauricio Garcia, 33, used and posts that expressed interest in white supremacist and neo-Nazi views, said the official, who could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.Garcia also had a patch on his chest when he was killed by police that read “RWDS,” an acronym for the phrase “Right Wing Death Squad,” which is popular among right-wing extremists and white supremacy groups, the official said.In addition to reviewing social media posts, federal agents have interviewed family members and associates of Garcia to ask abou...

Saints’ doubleheader split with Sounds features drama outside the lines

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:17:37 GMT

Saints’ doubleheader split with Sounds features drama outside the lines There were 14 innings of baseball played at CHS Field on Sunday, with the Saints splitting a doubleheader with the Nashville Sounds, but the most compelling events took place outside the white lines.The original lineup handed out for Game 2 had outfielder Trevor Larnach, sent down to the Saints by the Twins on Saturday, hitting third as the designated hitter in Game 2. He was not in the lineup when the game started and wasn’t even at the ballpark.Players have 72 hours to report after being sent down, and Larnach has elected to use that time. Saints manager Toby Gardenhire said he expects Larnach to be available when the Saints open another series at home on Tuesday.“He was playing pretty good up there,” Gardenhire said, “so maybe a little disappointed. But it’s all part of it.”In addition, Saints outfielder Matt Wallner sat out both games. Gardenhire said Wallner stumbled a bit when making a throw home earlier in the series and came up a little sore.“It’s more precautionary as anyth...

Report: Nuggets assistant David Adelman set to interview for Toronto job

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:17:37 GMT

Report: Nuggets assistant David Adelman set to interview for Toronto job As the Nuggets attempt to get past Phoenix and into the Western Conference Finals, coaching search season is heating up among non-playoff teams.According to a report from The Athletic, Denver assistant coach David Adelman is set to interview for Toronto’s head coaching vacancy at some point this week. Adelman, who has been on Michael Malone’s staff for the past six seasons, is an Oregon native and the son of longtime NBA head coach Rick Adelman.Asked about the report before Sunday’s Game 4 in Phoenix, Malone only said, “We’re getting ready to play the Phoenix Suns in Game 4.”David Adelman, 41, spent two years as an assistant in Orlando before coming to Denver.In January, he got a strong endorsement from two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, after Adelman served as Denver’s acting head coach while Malone was in health and safety protocols.“I really think that DA’s a guy who’s gonna be next head coach because he has that, I’m gonna say ‘head’ for a head ...

Newsom blasts Texas Gov. Abbott in wake of Allen shooting

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:17:37 GMT

Newsom blasts Texas Gov. Abbott in wake of Allen shooting In the wake of another deadly mass shooting in the United States, California Governor Gavin Newsom took to social media this weekend to call out Republicans who he believes have stood idly by as lives continue be lost at the hands of armed gunmen."This is freedom?? To be shot at a mall? Shot at school? Shot at church? Shot at the movies? We have become a nation that is more focused on the right to kill than the right to live," Gov. Newsom wrote on Twitter.The comments were made in the hours following a mass shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, in which a gunman opened fire at shoppers, killing eight and wounding seven more. The gunman, 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, was killed by an officer who was at the mall on an unrelated call. SUV driver hits crowd at Texas bus stop near border; 7 dead, 10 hurt Investigators said Garcia used an AR-style rifle in the Dallas suburb shooting and was also believed to have interacted with neo-Nazi and white supremacist posts on social media.T...

Ventura County man gets 34 years to life for child molestation

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:17:37 GMT

Ventura County man gets 34 years to life for child molestation A 27-year-old man from Santa Paula has been sentenced to 34 years to life in prison for child molestation, authorities with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced late last week.  Rodolfo Duran pled guilty in April to sodomy of a child 10 years old or younger, as well as forcible sodomy of a child under the age of 14, related to crimes against two separate victims. “Duran also admitted to the special allegations that the crimes involved great violence, he took advantage of a position of trust, and the victims were vulnerable,” a DA’s Office news release stated. When one of the victims reported the crimes to her Santa Paula schoolteacher in 2018, detectives quickly identified a second victim and learned that Duran had been assaulting the victims for years.  “While being interviewed by detectives from the Santa Paula Police Department, Duran confessed to the allegations,” the release noted.  Deputy District Attorney Benjamin Moreno, a member of the DA’s...