Chicago

Commuter train derails, injuring at least 100

A commuter train derailed Sunday afternoon on the city’s South Side, injuring as many as 100 people, officials said.

At least 10 people were taken to nearby hospitals, including two passengers with serious injuries, said Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman Molly Sullivan. Most of the injuries were minor.

The derailment on Metra’s Rock Island District line, running between the city and the south suburb of Joliet, involved two train engines and five coach cars carrying about 200 people, authorities said. One of the engines was on its side.

The cause of the derailment was under investigation, Metra spokesman Tom Miller said.

Texas

Lawmakers approve GOP redistricting

A six-month battle in the Texas Legislature ended Sunday when the Senate passed a congressional redistricting plan in a third special legislative session.

The bill now goes to Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to sign it into law.

The new map, approved 17-14 in the Senate, likely will give Republicans the majority in the Texas congressional delegation that is now ruled 17-15 by Democrats.

Democrats have opposed every attempt by Republicans to pass a new plan, saying the current congressional boundaries drawn by a court in 2001 should remain in place. Republicans say current voting trends show Texas should have more GOP representation in Washington.

Republicans have said they could gain as many as six additional seats in the delegation. Democrats said the map would add seven Republicans.

Shaping the bill included two walkouts by Democrats and three special sessions.

San Diego

McDonald’s founder’s billionaire widow dies

Joan Kroc, the billionaire widow of McDonald’s Corp. founder Ray Kroc known for her philanthropy, died Sunday of brain cancer. She was 75.

Kroc was known in recent years as a major donor to organizations working to promote world peace, including namesake think tanks at the University of Notre Dame and the University of San Diego. She inherited the San Diego Padres after her husband died in 1984 and sold the baseball club in 1990 to a group led by Los Angeles television producer Tom Werner.

Kroc died at her home in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe, several months after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, said Dick Starmann, her spokesman.

With an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion, Kroc ranked No. 121 on Forbes magazine’s latest list of the nation’s wealthiest people.

Los Angeles

Grocery clerks strike; stores seek temps

Three major supermarket chains said Sunday they planned to hire temporary workers to keep hundreds of stores open as more than 70,000 grocery clerks in Southern California began a strike.

Clerks at Kroger Co.’s Ralphs, Safeway Inc.’s Vons and Albertsons grocery stores went on strike late Saturday after negotiations between union representatives and store officials broke off, with health care coverage a key sticking point.

Officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers union initially said strikers would only target Vons stores and urged the companies not to lock out workers from the others.

The supermarkets, however, said a strike against one company would be considered a strike against all three. In a joint statement, they said Albertsons and Ralphs would lock out employees during the dispute and seek help from temporary staff.

New York City

Two children killed in house blaze

Two children died in an apparent arson fire early Sunday at their home, and their mother was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.

The fire was intentionally set, but authorities do not know who was responsible, fire department spokesman Sean Johnson said.

Firefighters found the children suffering from smoke inhalation in their illegal basement apartment in the borough of Brooklyn, the fire department said. Justina Mason, 9, and her brother, Justin Brathwaite, 1, were pronounced dead at a hospital.

Their mother, Kim Brathwaite, 35, was arrested later in the day. Police declined to comment further.

No other injuries were reported.

Texas

Car hits, kills teen praying on highway

A car struck a group of high school cross country runners who had gathered to pray on the side of a highway, killing one and injuring at least three others, police said.

The accident happened early Saturday as the 10 Luling High School students were to begin their morning two-mile run, the Austin American-Statesman reported in its Sunday editions.

The driver has not been charged, police said.

One student died at a hospital in Luling. Three others were transported by helicopter to a hospital in Austin, where one was treated and released, and another was listed in good condition Saturday night. Information on the third runner was not available.

Poland

Poles celebrate pope’s 25th year

Troubled by television pictures of a stooped and frail Pope John Paul II, Poles celebrated the 25th anniversary of their native son’s papacy Sunday with prayers for his health and memories of his inspiration for their overthrow of communism.

Throughout this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country, church leaders, former school chums and well-wishers cheered the former Karol Wojtyla, the cardinal from the southern city of Krakow whose Oct. 16, 1978, election as pope strengthened an oppressed nation.

The pope briefly addressed his countrymen in a live television feed from the Vatican. “God allowed me to see the 25th year of the pontificate,” he said in Polish.