Author: chicagoinquirer

by Marcia Dunn CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  — A spacecraft around Mars has sent back the most detailed photos yet of the red planet’s little moon. The United Arab Emirates’ Amal spacecraft flew within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of Deimos last month and the close-up shots were released Monday. Amal — Arabic for Hope — got a two-for-one when Mars photobombed some of the images. It was the closest a spacecraft has been to Deimos in almost a half-century. The spacecraft also observed the little explored far side of the odd-shaped, cratered moon, just 9 miles by 7 miles by 7…

by Zeke Miller and Aamer Madhani WASHINGTON  — The United States has begun facilitating the departure of private U.S. citizens who want to leave Sudan, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Sullivan said the U.S. has placed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets over the land evacuation route to help facilitate safe travel by land from Khartoum to the Port of Sudan, but does not have any U.S. troops on the ground. “We have started to see a more regular pattern of convoys begin to arrive, including convoys that have Americans in them,” Sullivan said. “Once at the…

BUTNER, N.C. — Singer R. Kelly was moved from a Chicago correctional center to a medium-security prison in North Carolina last week, according to federal officials. Robert Sylvester Kelly was transferred from the Metropolitan Correctional Center Chicago to the federal correctional institution in Butner, North Carolina, on April 19, Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Benjamin O’Cone said Monday via email. The bureau doesn’t disclose the reasons for inmate transfers due to privacy, safety and security reasons, he wrote. In February, a federal judge in Chicago sentenced the 56-year-old Grammy Award-winning R&B singer to 20 years in prison for child pornography…

by Agency reports ATLANTA  — Giorgos Giakoumakis became just the second player in MLS history to score in each of his first five starts and Atlanta United used an own goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time to beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 Sunday. Atlanta’s Juan José Purata redirected a corner kick off Chicago midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie and into the net for an own goal in stoppage time to seal the win. Giakoumakis, a 28-year-old forward from Greece, opened the scoring in the 13th minute and joined Taylor Twellman, who scored a goal in his first six MLS starts…

by Emeka Obasi Secondary Schools soccer in the old East Central State was dominated by Holy Ghost College  (Hogosco ) Owerri until 1975 when some Protestants from Onitsha stopped the Catholic School. Dennis Memorial Grammar School ( DMGS) came out with a killer squad. Their hitman, Nwachukwu Onyekwelu, better known as Igaliga, was unstoppable. In the grand finale, he roasted Hogosco, forcing coach Sunny ‘Soccer’ Aguta to introduce keeper Kingsley Ufere. It was an unbelievable scoreline. Arugo, champions in 1971 and again in 1974, had never been so humiliated. Igaliga scored three goals and the Anglican school stood 5 -…

by Mae Anderson Fox Corp.’s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation charges is eye-popping, but the ultimate cost to the media company is likely to be much lower. On Tuesday, Fox settled with Dominion over charges that Fox News baselessly accused the company of rigging its voting machines against former President Donald Trump in 2020. It was the most-watched media libel case in decades. Fox had about $4 billion of cash on hand as of December 2022, and MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman expects the company to pay the settlement during the current quarter. How much the lawsuit…

by Edgar H. Clemente TAPACHULA, Mexico  — Around 3,000 migrants set out Sunday on what they call a mass protest procession through southern Mexico to demand the end of detention centers like the one that caught fire last month, killing 40 migrants. The migrants started from the city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border. They say their aim is to reach Mexico City to demand changes in the way migrants are treated. “It could well have been any of us,” Salvadoran migrant Miriam Argueta said of those killed in the fire. “In fact, a lot of our countrymen died. The…

by Greg Beacham LOS ANGELES  — LeBron James and the Lakers came out in front of this franchise’s first sellout playoff crowd in a decade and immediately produced one of the greatest first quarters in team history. Los Angeles leaped to a 35-9 lead amidst one raucous ovation after another from fans eager for a return to the Lakers’ tradition of playoff success. After all those first-quarter fireworks, not even Ja Morant could carry the Memphis Grizzlies all the way back to prevent the Lakers from seizing Game 3. Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds, James finished with…

by Agency reports NAIROBI, Kenya  — Thirty-nine bodies have been found so far on land owned by a pastor in coastal Kenya who was arrested for telling his followers to fast to death. Malindi sub-county police chief John Kemboi said that more shallow graves have yet to be dug up on the land belonging to pastor Paul Makenzi, who was arrested on April 14 over links to cultism. The total death toll is 43, because a further four people died after they and others were discovered starving at the Good News International Church last week. Police have asked a court…

by Joey Cappelletti LANSING, Mich.  — When U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin announced plans to run for a critical Senate seat in Michigan, many Democrats were pleased. The three-term Lansing-area congresswoman was among the stars of last year’s midterm election, handily winning one of the nation’s most expensive contests. The magnitude of her victory in what was expected to be a narrow contest has largely dissuaded other prominent Democrats from challenging her for the Senate nomination and so far, no high-profile Republican has stepped forward. Slotkin’s entry into the race has helped reassure Democrats that in a year when they are defending twice as many…