Author: chicagoinquirer

by Agency reports WASHINGTON  — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, fell in her home and went to a hospital for a short time, her office said on Wednesday. The 90-year-old California Democrat, who has faced mounting concerns about her health and her ability to perform the duties of a senator, “briefly went to the hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after a minor fall in her home,” her office said in a statement. All of her scans were clear, and she returned home later Tuesday, said her spokesman Adam Russell, who provided no further details. Senate…

by Brendan Farrington and Freida Frisaro TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday suspended the top prosecutor in Orlando, again wielding his executive power over local government in taking on a contentious issue in the 2024 presidential race. It’s the second time DeSantis, a Republican, has removed a Democratic state attorney and follows an investigation that began when a teenager was charged with fatally shooting a television reporter and a 9-year-old girl. “It is my duty as Governor to ensure that the laws enacted by our duly elected Legislature are followed,” DeSantis said during a news conference in…

by Alanna Durkin Richer Special counsel Jack Smith’s team obtained a search warrant in January for records related to former President Donald Trump’sTwitter account, and a judge levied a $350,000 fine on the company for delay in complying, according to court documents released Wednesday. The details were included in a decision from the federal appeals court in Washington stemming from a legal battle over the warrant that has played out under seal and behind closed doors for months. The appeals court rejected Twitter’s claim that it should not have been held in contempt or sanctioned. X, the platform formerly known…

by Sam Mednick NIAMEY, Niger  — Niger’s deposed president is running out of food and experiencing other increasingly dire conditions two weeks after he was ousted in a military coup and put under house arrest, an advisor told The Associated Press on Wednesday. President Mohamed Bazoum, the West African nation’s democratically elected leader, has been held at the presidential palace in Niamey with his wife and son since mutinous soldiersmoved against him on July 26. The family is living without electricity and only has rice and canned goods left to eat, the advisor said. Bazoum remains in good health for…

by Chris Megerian and Josh Boak ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  — Bringing back factory jobs is one of the most popular of White House promises — regardless of who happens to be the president. Donald Trump said he’d do it with tariffs. Barack Obama said companies would start “insourcing.” George W. Bush said tax cutswould do the trick. But factory jobs seemed to struggle to fully return after each recession. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden will make the case in a New Mexico speech that his policies of financial and tax incentives have revived U.S. manufacturing. His claim is supported by a rise in construction spending…

by Sam Mednick NIAMEY, Niger — As a military junta in Niger marked two weeks in power Wednesday, its leaders are appointing a government and rejecting calls for negotiation in what analysts described as an attempt to entrench their power and show that they’re serious about governing the West Africa country in the face of an escalating regional crisis. The junta has named a new prime minister and made a slew of other new cabinet appointments. They also refused to admit meditation teams that planned to come Tuesday from the United Nations, the African Union, and West African regional bloc…

 by Julie Carr Smyth and Samantha Hendrickson COLUMBUS, Ohio  — Ohio voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state’s constitution, setting up a fall campaign that will become the nation’s latest referendum on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nationwide protections last year. The defeat of Issue 1 keeps in place a simple majority threshold for passing future constitutional amendments. It would have raised that to a 60% supermajority, which supporters said would protect the state’s foundational document from outside interest groups. While abortion was not directly…

by Emily Wagster Pettus JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday won the Republican nomination as he seeks a second term, setting up a general election contest against Democrat Brandon Presley in the heavily conservative state. Reeves defeated two first-time candidates: John Witcher, a physician who has criticized COVID-19 vaccinations, and David Hardigree, a military veteran. Presley, a cousin of rock ’n’ roll icon Elvis Presley, ran unopposed. Presley said the Nov. 7 general election would come down to which candidate “has got guts and the backbone to stand up for the people of Mississippi and which candidate…

by Steve LeBlanc BOSTON  — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency Tuesday, citing an influx of migrants seeking shelter at a time when the cost of housing — already in short supply — continues to rise. There are nearly 5,600 families or more than 20,000 people – many of whom are migrants — currently living in state shelters, including infants, young children and pregnant women. That is up from around 3,100 families a year ago, about an 80% increase, Healey said. Many of the migrants are arriving by plane from other states. In the past 48 hours…

by Andrew Dalton LOS ANGELES  — A judge sentenced rapper Tory Lanez to 10 years in prison Tuesday for shooting and wounding hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford handed down the sentence to the 31-year-old Lanez, who was convicted in December of three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. The sentence brings an end to a dramatic trial that created a cultural firestorm in the hip-hop community, churning up issues including the reluctance of Black victims to speak to police, gender politics in hip-hop, online toxicity, protecting…