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Mourners in heavily Palestinian Chicago suburb remember Muslim boy killed as kind, energetic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:32 GMT

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Crowds of mourners in a heavily Palestinian Chicago suburb paid respects Monday to a 6-year-old Muslim boy killed in an alleged hate crime, hours after authorities revealed new details about the evidence used to charge the family’s landlord with stabbing the child and his mother.Wadea Al-Fayoume, who had recently had a birthday, died Saturday after being stabbed dozens of times in a brutal attack that drew condemnation from local elected officials to the White House. Authorities said the family’s landlord, Joseph Czuba, was upset over the Israel-Hamas war and attacked them after the boy’s mother proposed they “pray for peace.” In Bridgeview, which is home to a large and established Palestinian community, family and friends remembered Wadea as a kind and energetic boy who loved playing games. His body was carried in a small white casket — which was at times draped with a Palestinian flag — through packed crowds.Mosque Foundation Imam Jamal Sa...

Gunman kills two Swedes in Brussels, prompting terror alert and halt of Belgium-Sweden soccer match

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:32 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — A gunman fatally shot two Swedes in Brussels late Monday, prompting authorities to halt a Sweden-Belgium soccer match and leaving over 35,000 soccer fans holed up in the nearby national stadium for hours as the capital went on its highest terror alert level with the assailant at large. The killings happened some 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the stadium where over 35,000 fans were watching the Belgium-Sweden soccer, Belgium’s anti-terror center said. The match was suspended half way through.“The population needs to be actively vigilant and avoid any unnecessary travel,” anti-terror center spokeswoman Laura Demullier said, adding that the top priority for authorities was to get the thousands of fans safely out of the King Baudouin Stadium.The center said the terror alert for the rest of the country was raised to its second-highest level. Raising the terror level in the capital to the top 4 rating means that a “threat is extremely serious.” It previously stood at 2...

Funeral held for 6-year-old boy killed for being Muslim

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:32 GMT

CHICAGO -- An emotional Monday morning in Bridgeview during the funeral service for 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was brutally stabbed to death over the weekend due to his Muslim faith.Family and community members surrounded Al-Fayoume's casket at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview on Monday to remember the Palestinian boy who recently celebrated his sixth birthday.“I have seen children torn to pieces from war. I never thought I would see this in America,” Dr. Abdul Gany Hamadeh of Council of Islamic Organizations Greater Chicago said.Mosque Foundation Imam Jamal Said reflected on the boy’s death during the janazah, or funeral service, but also the wider loss of life in the war between Israel and Hamas.In Bridgeview, which is home to a large and established Palestinian community, family and friends remembered Wadea as a kind and energetic boy who loved playing games. His body was carried in a small white casket — which was at times draped with a Palestinian flag — through packed...

Argument leads to stabbing on Red Line platform in Grand Crossing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:32 GMT

CHICAGO — A woman was injured on Monday morning after a stabbing on a CTA platform on the city's South Side, police say.According to Chicago Police, the stabbing happened around 10:30 a.m. at the CTA Red Line station in the 0-100 block of West 79th Street in Grand Crossing.Police say a 24-year-old woman and a 21-year-old woman got into an argument on the platform before the younger woman allegedly pulled out a sharp object and stabbed the victim in the head and the left forearm. Woman stabbed while inside Logan Square business Police say the victim was taken to the hospital in good condition.According to police, the 21-year-old woman was taken into custody after receiving treatment for minor injuries. Police have not identified anyone involved and say charges are pending.

The importance of early intervention for behavioral health issues in children — and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:32 GMT

For Monday, Oct. 16, WGN’s Dina Bair has new medical information, including: More Coverage: WGN's Medical Watch Experts recommend early screening and intervention for behavioral health problemsData from more than 150,000 children ages 2-6 reveals significant behavior disruptions that could have been averted with immediate programs to offset the troubling activity. Researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital found what they call alarming evidence of behavioral spirals in families with social stressors living in poverty. They were not surprised at the challenges but say they were shocked at how young the impact manifests itself and how few people sought professional help. Experts say parents cannot wait until school age to seek aid for their children's troubling behaviors. Flesh-eating bacteria detected in Florida waters since Hurricane Ian Beware of what's in the water... A new study confirms flesh-eating and other bacteria in Florida's coastal water after Hurricane Ian. Univer...

Progressive Democrats call for cease-fire in Israel-Hamas conflict

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — About a dozen progressive House Democrats are pressuring the White House to call for a cease-fire as Israel pummels Gaza with airstrikes, saying hundreds of thousands of Palestinians' lives are at stake."Above all else, we must save lives," Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., said.She and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., the only Palestinian-American in Congress, say a humanitarian crisis is growing in Gaza."Entire families are being wiped out," Tlaib said. "50,000 pregnant women are unable to obtain basic health services right now."Israeli forces have killed an estimated 2,500 Palestinians in Gaza since Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis. Israel has cut off electricity, food access and even some water access until Hamas frees nearly 200 hostages."The collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza is war crime," Bush said.Their outcry is the minority opinion in Congress. The Biden administration has argued Israel has the right to defend itself and leaders o...

Checking President Biden's claims over border wall funding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:32 GMT

As campaign season nears, politicians are turning up the volume on campaign rhetoric. To cut through the noise, we’re launching Campaign Context, a weekly series providing clarity on the messages you’re hearing from candidates on the campaign trail. We’re digging past the politics and into the facts to provide you with the transparent, spin-free information you need to make informed decisions this election season.AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Biden Administration recently announced it waived federal laws to allow border wall construction to resume on the Texas-Mexico border.The president argued his hand was forced to make the move because Congress approved the money for wall construction during the Trump Administration. NEXT: Campaign Context "I tried to [members of Congress] to reappropriate, to redirect that money," Biden told reporters earlier this month. "They didn't, they wouldn't."KXAN scanned through documents released by the White House Press Briefing Room and found a proclamat...

Former St. Paul Hebrew instructor killed in Oct. 7 attacks in Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:32 GMT

A former children’s instructor at a Hebrew school in St. Paul was killed when the terrorist group Hamas attacked a music festival in the Israeli community of Nir Oz on Oct. 7, according to his family.Noi Maudi, 29, previously of St. Paul, was most recently living in the Moshav Yated, a community in southern Israel with a population of about 500 people, where he was born and raised, according to an obituary prepared by his family. He and his brother-in-law Moti Elkabetz both died in the Hamas attacks and his 17-year-old nephew is still missing. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.Maudi was a former teacher at Talmud Torah of St. Paul, on Hamline Avenue, and leaves close friends and his ex-wife in Minnesota and his parents and other relations in Israel, according to his obituary, published by Hodroff-Epstein Memorial Chapel.St. Paul City Council Member Rebecca Noecker said Maudi taught her two sons for about a...

Dane Mizutani: Nothing suggests better days are ahead for the Vikings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:32 GMT

It’s been a common refrain for head coach Kevin O’Connell regardless of if the Vikings win or lose.He has talked at length about how “the best performance” is still out there for this group despite the fact it has yet to play a complete game.It certainly wasn’t out there on Sunday at Soldier Field as the Vikings escaped with a 19-13 win over the Chicago Bears to improve to 2-4 this season. To say that particular game was ugly would be disrespectful to the word itself. It was the personification of a dumpster fire.After rightfully acknowledging postgame that there’s a lot of room for improvement moving forward, O’Connell simultaneously tried to put a positive spin on things by noting that the Vikings are 1-0 in the NFC North. Forgive the critics if that doesn’t inspire much confidence.The sobering reality from that game is this might be as good as it gets for this version of the Vikings. Nothing suggests better days are ahead with star ...

COVID made him kill? Opening statements in Patino trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:32 GMT

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Opening statements occurred Monday morning in the case of Nelson D. Patino, the man accused of fatally stabbing his wife and 5-year-old child and injuring his 2-year-old on Dec. 1, 2021 in Duanesburg.Patino was recently deemed competent to stand trial, according to Schenectady County District Attorney Robert M. Carney. After being indicted in January 2022, Patino pleaded not guilty to six charges, including murder, attempted murder, and assault, in Schenectady County Court. The first half of the morning was the prosecution. Schenectady County Assistant District Attorney Christina Tremonte painted for the 12 jurors and 2 alternates a graphic scene. She told them, “this case will take you to a place you don't want to go.” The ADA described investigators finding 5 year old Jacob Patino dead of stab wounds to the chest with a knife next to his body. The mother, Alexandria Bustamante Gomez, alive, also with chest stab wounds, later died on the operating table...