Author: chicagoinquirer

ABUJA – Nigerian private sector activity expanded for the second straight month in September as new orders rose, especially for chemical and pharmaceutical products, results of a central bank business survey showed on Friday. The central bank’s purchasing managers index (PMI) of private-sector activity rose to 50.5 points from 50.2 points in August, above the 50 point line that denotes increases in activity. The PMIs are one set of indicators the central bank’s monetary policy committee considers when it sets interest rates. President Bola Tinubu’s reforms to the currency market and cutting of petrol and electricity subsidies have stoked inflation,…

by Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON – Donald Trump on Thursday urged a federal judge to toss out two obstruction charges central to the case that the former U.S. president illegally sought to overturn his 2020 election defeat, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling raising the legal bar for those offenses. Lawyers for Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, argued in a court filing that the Supreme Court’s ruling requires U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss charges accusing Trump of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding – the congressional certification of his loss to Democrat Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021 –…

by Brad Brooks, Daniel Trotta NASHVILLE -A federal jury in Tennessee on Thursday convicted three former Memphis police officers of witness tampering stemming from the beating death of Black motorist Tyre Nichols, but cleared them of the most serious charges that could have resulted in life in prison. The officers still face a potential murder trial in Tennessee state court. The death of Nichols, 29, an avid skateboarder, photographer and father of a young son, provoked outrage and led to police reform after police video showed five Black officers kicked, punched, pepper-sprayed and struck him with a baton on Jan.…

by Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK – Tim Walz, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s running mate, on Thursday promised Muslim Americans an equal role in their administration should they win the election, as Democrats scramble to win back Muslim backing that has eroded over U.S. support for Israel. Vice President Harris and Walz, the governor of Minnesota, are trying to woo Muslim voters furious over President Joe Biden’s administration’s staunch backing of Israel during its year-old war in Gaza against Hamas. Harris has pledged continued support for Israel while emphasizing her push for a ceasefire, words Walz echoed on Thursday, while…

by Alistair Smout, Michael Holden and Villen Anganan LONDON/PORT LOUIS -Britain said on Thursday it would cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal it said secured the future of the UK-U.S. Diego Garcia military base, and which could also pave the way for people displaced decades ago to return home. U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed the deal, saying it would secure the effective operation of Diego Garcia, a strategically important airbase in the Indian Ocean, into the next century. But critics in Britain said it was a capitulation which played into the hands of China, which…

By Steve Holland and Joseph Ax NEW YORK – Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance clashed on Tuesday at a vice presidential debate that was surprisingly civil in the final stretch of an ugly election campaign marred by inflammatory rhetoric and two assassination attempts. The two rivals, who have forcefully attacked each other on the campaign trail, mostly struck a cordial tone, instead saving their fire for the candidates at the top of their tickets, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump. The most tense exchange occurred near the end of the debate, when Vance…

Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and its CEO Jim France on Wednesday. Their lawsuit filed in the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte accuses the stock car series and the France family of using anti-competitive practices to prevent fair competition in the sport. “We share a passion for racing, the thrill of competition, and winning,” the two teams said in a joint statement. “Off the racetrack, we share a belief that change is necessary for the sport we love. Together, we brought this antitrust case so that racing can thrive…

ATLANTA, GA – Nobel laureate Jimmy Carter, who has lived longer than any U.S. president in history, celebrates his 100th birthday on Tuesday. Carter, a Democrat, served a single term as president from January 1977 to January 1981. His decades of humanitarian work after leaving office, including the promotion of human rights and alleviating poverty in countries around the world, earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. His birthday, which comes 19 months after he entered hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, is being marked by the broadcast of a tribute concert by stars of country, rock…

By Bo Erickson CORCORAN, California – California is so heavily Democratic that neither the party’s presidential candidate Kamala Harris nor her Republican rival Donald Trump even bother to campaign here. It is an entirely different matter, however, in the fight for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. The state is home to six of the 38 most competitive House races, according to a Reuters analysis, and five of those seats are held by Republicans. With Democrats seeking to overturn the Republicans’ narrow 220-212 House majority, California is a key battlefield with contested districts stretching in a band from east…

WASHINGTON – Ralph de la Torre will step down as CEO of troubled Steward Health Care next week, the company said on Saturday, after he was held in criminal contempt by the U.S. Senate for refusing to testify about cost-cutting decisions at the group’s 31 hospitals before it filed for bankruptcy. In a statement, the Dallas-based company said de la Torre would no longer serve as its CEO and chairman as of Oct. 1 as part of an agreement in principle reached earlier this month. A spokesperson for de la Torre confirmed that the former heart surgeon “has amicably separated…