Coal mine explosion in China kills 90 people

A gas explosion at a coal mine in China’s northern Shanxi province killed at least 90 people, state media said on Saturday, in the country’s deadliest mining accident in recent years. Official news agency Xinhua said the accident at Changzhi city’s Liushenyu coal mine happened on Friday evening. Around 247 workers were on duty at the time. Nine miners were still unaccounted for as of Saturday afternoon, Xinhua said, and more than 120 people were hospitalized. The cause of the explosion was under investigation, Xinhua reported, and rescue work is pressing on with hundreds of rescuers and medical personnel sent to the site. Among the injured, many were hurt by toxic gas, according to state media CCTV. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing, reported Xinhua. Xi also called for the “proper handling of the aftermath of the accident and urged a thorough investigation into its cause, with accountability pursued in accordance wi...

Spectators gathering for 52nd annual pride parade

Spectators flocked to North Broadway Street and Montrose Avenue late Sunday morning, where the 52nd annual Chicago Pride Parade was scheduled to start at noon.

Many could be seen fanning themselves with signs to stay cool while a marching band played music.

Lex Rybicki, 28, has been attending the parades on and off for 11 years. For her, the parade represents freedom.

“Even though we’re all strangers, it feels like one huge family coming together.”

Lex Rybicki ties a pride flag to her partner near the starting point of the 52nd annual Chicago Pride Parade in Uptown, Sunday, June 25, 2023.

Mohammad Samra / Chicago Sun-Times

The parade, which will run through the Uptown, Northalsted and Lincoln Park communities, commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Riots, the protests in New York that were pivotal in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the United States.

The parade starts at Broadway and Montrose then proceeds south on Broadway to Halsted; south on Halsted; east on Belmont; south on Broadway; and east on Diversey to Cannon Drive.

Interim Chicago Police Supt. Fred Waller outlined safety plans for the parade late last week, saying there will be additional officers and command posts.

More experienced officers will work after the parade and into Sunday night, and undercover officers will be in the crowds throughout the day, Waller said.

Officers’ days off were canceled to ensure the department has enough police to monitor the parade and other activities in the city, and the department’s counterterrorism unit has been monitoring for potential threats toward the parade or the LGBTQ+ community in general.

“We want to be accepted, we want to be welcomed, we want to be loved,” Rybicki said.



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