Author: chicagoinquirer

by Kristie Rieken HOUSTON  — Ime Udoka has been hired as the new coach of the Houston Rockets, a source familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Monday. Udoka led the Celtics to the NBA Finals last season, then was suspended for this season after the disclosure of an inappropriate relationship with a female Celtics employee. The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the team had not officially announced the move. He replaces Stephen Silas, who was fired after three seasons. The Rockets had the worst record in the previous two seasons and…

by Evelyne Musambi NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan President William Ruto on Monday compared the dozens of starvation deaths among the followers of a pastor in the south of the country with the results of terrorist acts, as the new death toll rose to 73. He maintained that the pastor, Paul Makenzi, who is in police custody, should be in prison. “What we are seeing … is akin to terrorism,” Ruto said. “Mr. Makenzi … pretends and postures as a pastor when in fact he is a terrible criminal.” Makenzi was arrested on suspicion of telling his followers to fast to…

by Danica Kirk LONDON (AP) — King Charles III is a man in a hurry. After waiting nearly 74 years to become king, Charles has used his first six months on the throne to meet faith leaders across the country, reshuffle royal residences, stage his first overseas state visit and hold a sleepover at Windsor Castle that included the coach of the England soccer team. Then there was the big news: He opened the royal archives to researchers investigating the crown’s links to slavery. “We are already surprised by the Prince Charles who was turned into King Charles and who…

by Dylan Lovan CARROLLTON, Ky.  — A Louisville police officer who fired the fatal shot that killed Breonna Taylor has a new job in law enforcement in a county northeast of the city. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday confirmed the hiring of Myles Cosgrove, who was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in January 2021 for violating use-of-force procedures and failing to use a body camera during the raid on Taylor’s apartment, according to media reports. About a dozen people showed up in downtown Carrolton Monday morning to protest his hiring, holding signs and chanting “Cosgrove has…

by Dennis Waszak Jr. After six weeks of waiting, Aaron Rodgers is leaving behind his brilliant legacy in Green Bay and heading to the bright lights — and massive expectations — of the Big Apple. The New York Jets agreed on a deal Monday to acquire the four-time NFL MVP from the Packers, according to a person with knowledge of the trade. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the teams have not officially announced the deal. The Jets will receive Rodgers, the No. 15 overall pick and a fifth-rounder this year from the…

by David Bauder NEW YORK  — CNN fired longtime host Don Lemon on Monday following his short and disastrous run as a morning show host, a little over two months after he apologized for on-air comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being past her prime. The move quickly turned nasty. While CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht announced, after Lemon had co-hosted the show Monday, that they had “parted ways,” Lemon characterized it as a firing and said it was surprise to him. “After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have the decency…

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…