CHICAGO

Emanuel wins mayoral race with 55 percent of the vote

Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor of Chicago, to succeed the retiring Richard Daley.

With 86 percent of the precincts reporting, Emanuel trounced five opponents Tuesday with 55 percent of the vote to avoid an April runoff. Emanuel needed more than 50 percent of the vote to win.

The other major candidates – former Chicago schools president Gery Chico, former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and City Clerk Miguel del Valle – had hoped to force a runoff but were no match for Emanuel.

Chico had 24 percent of the vote compared to 9 percent for both del Valle and Braun. Two other lesser-known candidates each got about 1 percent of the vote.

Emanuel’s win caps a campaign that included an unsuccessful legal challenge to keep him off the ballot.

PHOENIX

Iraqi immigrant convicted of daughter’s ‘honor killing’

A Phoenix jury convicted an Iraqi immigrant of second-degree murder Tuesday for running over and killing his daughter in a case termed an “honor killing” by prosecutors who said the father carried out the attack because he believed his daughter had become too Westernized.

Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, also was convicted of aggravated assault for injuries suffered by the mother of his daughter’s boyfriend during the October 2009 incident in a suburban parking lot, as well as two counts of leaving the scene of an accident.

Maricopa County prosecutors told jurors during the trial that he ran down Noor Almaleki, 20, with his Jeep Cherokee because he believed she brought dishonor to the family. He had wanted her to be a traditional Iraq woman, while she refused an arranged marriage, went to college and had a boyfriend.

BOSTON

Sen. Brown won’t pursue charges against molester

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown defended his decision not to pursue a criminal investigation against the camp counselor he said molested him when he was a child, saying Tuesday that he’s not looking to settle old scores.

Brown details the encounter in his autobiography “Against All Odds,” which tells the story of the Republican’s troubled childhood and his election to the Senate seat held for decades by the late Democrat Edward Kennedy.

In the book, Brown said he was approached by a camp counselor in a bathroom the summer after fourth grade. The counselor made sexual advances, but Brown said he yelled and ran away. He said the counselor later threatened to hurt him if he told anyone.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

Final launch of Discovery set for Thursday afternoon

NASA moved closer Tuesday to sending space shuttle Discovery on its final voyage after a nearly four-month delay.

Shuttle managers said the countdown is going well. What’s more, there’s an 80 percent chance of good flying weather Thursday. Launch time is 4:50 p.m.

This will be the 39th flight for NASA’s oldest surviving shuttle. Discovery first rocketed into orbit in 1984. This time, Discovery is headed back to the International Space Station. It will drop off a humanoid robot as well as an oversize closet full of space station supplies.

A veteran crew of six will be on board.

JERUSALEM

Two Iranian warships makerare Mediterranean voyage

Two Iranian warships sailed from the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Tuesday, the first such trip in at least three decades, eliciting Israeli charges that Tehran is seeking to dominate the Middle East.

The vessels headed toward Syria, but were expected to remain in international waters as they passed the Israeli coast.

The voyage took the frigate Alvand and the supply Kharq close to NATO’s southern flank and could further destabilize a region already reeling from an unprecedented wave of anti-government rebellions.

In Tehran, the deputy commander of the Iranian navy said that Iran has “surprised the Zionist regime” with the journey to the Mediterranean.