Dem. Landrieu of La. loses Senate seat

Dem. Landrieu of La. loses Senate seat

BATON ROUGE, La.

Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy has defeated Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, denying her a fourth term and extending the GOP’s domination of the 2014 midterm elections that put Republicans in charge of Capitol Hill for the final two years of President Barack Obama’s tenure.

With Cassidy’s victory, the GOP will hold 54 seats when the Senate convenes in January, nine more than they have now. Republican victories in two Louisiana House districts Saturday — including the seat Cassidy now holds — ensure at least 246 seats, compared with 188 for Democrats, the largest GOP advantage since the Truman administration after World War II. An Arizona recount leaves one race still outstanding.

At least 1 of missing students identified

MEXICO CITY

At least one of 43 college students missing since September has been identified among charred remains found several weeks ago near a southern Mexico garbage dump, two government officials confirmed Saturday.

The two could not provide more details on how many of the students might have been identified. They agreed to speak about the development only if granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

A family member of a missing student told The Associated Press that the remains were of Alexander Mora. The families were given that information late Friday by an Argentine team of forensic experts working on behalf of the relatives and with the Attorney General’s Office, said the man, who also would speak only on condition of anonymity.

Police: SUV in boy’s death had anti-Muslim message

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

An SUV involved in the death of a Missouri teenager outside a Somali community center had an anti-Muslim message displayed in the rear window at the time of the crash, Kansas City police confirmed Saturday.

Authorities say 34-year-old Ahmed H. Aden deliberately ran the boy over and have charged him with murder in a case that the FBI is investigating as a potential hate crime. Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein, 15, died at a hospital Thursday evening after his legs were nearly severed in the crash.

Protests turn violent in 2 Greek cities

ATHENS, Greece

A march by thousands of people through central Athens to mark the anniversary of the fatal police shooting of an unarmed teenager quickly turned violent Saturday, as marchers damaged storefronts and bus stations and set fire to clothes looted from a shop.

Clashes continued late into the night in the neighborhood of Exarchia, a haven for extreme leftists and anarchists, with youths ambushing police forces with firebombs and rocks thrown from balconies.

Police said they detained 211 people.

Clashes also broke out between police and demonstrators marching in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Typhoon slams into Philippines

LEGAZPI, Philippines

Typhoon Hagupit slammed into the central Philippines’ east coast late Saturday, knocking out power and toppling trees in a region where 650,000 people have fled to safety, still haunted by the massive death and destruction wrought by a monster storm last year.

Packing maximum sustained winds of 109 miles per hour and gusts of 130 mph, Hagupit made landfall in Dolores, a coastal town facing the Pacific in Eastern Samar province, according to the Philippines’ weather agency. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Associated Press