Chicago elects its first black, female, gay mayor

CHICAGO • Chicago made history, electing former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot as its first black, female mayor as the city struggles with gun violence and looming fiscal woes.

Ms Lightfoot, who will also be the first openly gay leader of the city, soundly defeated Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle 74 to 26 per cent.

She had never held elective office and will replace Mr Rahm Emanuel, who chose not to run for a third term.

BLOOMBERG

Germany to deter future militants with new law

BERLIN • Germans with a second nationality who fight abroad for groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will lose their citizenship, the Cabinet agreed in a draft law yesterday intended to deter future militants.

Like other Western countries, Germany faces a conundrum of how to deal with citizens who travel to the Middle East to join violent Islamist causes like ISIS.

The measure, which needs parliamentary approval, would exclude minors, cover only future cases, and not apply to single nationality Germans who could otherwise be left stateless.

REUTERS

3 suspects held over China chemical blast

BEIJING • Police have detained three suspects linked to a chemical plant blast last month in China's Yancheng city in Jiangsu province. The explosion killed 78 people and left hundreds injured, local officials said yesterday.

Three employees from Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical, whose facility was involved in the blast, had "significant responsibility" for the accident, according to a statement on the Yancheng government's Weibo account.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE