Chicago

CHICAGO – Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will announce a $36 million mentoring initiative for thousands of youths from high-crime neighborhoods and ask for the community’s help Thursday in a major speech outlining his plan to fight and prevent violence in the nation’s third-largest city.

Along with recent police reforms and statewide legislation, he’ll highlight a new public-private partnership that’ll help an estimated 7,200 impoverished youths over the next three years, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. The invitation-only speech comes as the city has seen a troubling spike in crime and his police department is under an ongoing U.S. Department of Justice investigation.

California

ESCONDIDO, Calif. – Police on Thursday were investigating reports that a former Uber and Lyft driver charged with assaulting women on the job in California also had inappropriate contact with a 14-year-old girl and another ridesharing customer.

The teen’s parent told police that Jeremy Vague had the contact with the girl while she was on a sports team that he coached, said Lt. Justin Murphy of the Escondido Police Department.

In a separate incident, another woman told authorities she was victimized when Vague was her Lyft driver in Encinitas, north of San Diego. Murphy said investigators would also be meeting with her and a female witness.

Vague, a former college basketball player who is 7 feet tall and weighs 270 pounds, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to sexual assault charges involving three other women, two of whom had requested rides through Uber and Lyft.

San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO – Computer hackers swiped personal information from at least 500 million Yahoo accounts in what is believed to be the biggest digital break-in at an email provider.

The massive security breakdown disclosed Thursday poses new headaches for beleaguered Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer as she scrambles to close a $4.8 billion sale to Verizon .

The breach dates back to late 2014, raising questions about the checks and balances within Yahoo – a fallen internet star that has been laying off staff and trimming expenses to counter a steep drop in revenue during the past eight years.

Poland

WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s lawmakers on Thursday opened a divisive debate on changing the restrictive anti-abortion law, among Europe’s toughest, in this predominantly Catholic nation.

The 10-month-old conservative government considers the current law to be too liberal. The policy of Prime Minister Beata Szydlo’s government focuses on various forms of support for large families in order to boost the country’s sagging birth rate.

Associated Press