by Steve Karnowski MINNEAPOLIS  — The last former Minneapolis police officer to face sentencing in state court for his role in the killing of George Floyd will learn Monday whether he will spend additional time in prison. Tou Thao has testified he merely served as a “human traffic cone”when he held back concerned bystanders who gathered as former Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on May 25, 2020. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s killing touched off protests worldwide and forced a national reckoning…

by Sam Mednick NIAMEY, Niger  — Niger’s mutinous soldiers closed the country’s airspace and accused foreign powers of preparing an attack, as the junta defied a deadline to restore the ousted president and said any attempt to fly over the country will be met with “an energetic and immediate response.” Niger’s state television announced the move Sunday night, hours before a deadline set by West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which demanded the coup leaders reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or face military force. A spokesman for the coup leaders, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, warned of “the threat of intervention being prepared…

by Joseph Omoremi CHICAGO, IL – Fifteen exhibits have been submitted to the U.S District Court of Northern Districts of Illinois in Chicago by erstwhile Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 25th, 2023 Nigeria’s Presidential election,  Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who also subpoenaed the Chicago State University (CSU) for a discovery hearing to authenticate the certificate of President Bola Tinubu who graduated at the school in 1979.  The exhibits includes testimonies, motions, two versions of President Bola Tinubu’s certificates and the disparities between the various evidences Tinubu, PDP, INEC and APC presented at the Nigeria’s…

by Will Graves HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.  — Simone Biles is well aware of how the drill goes. She’s lived it. Multiple times at this point. Whenever the gymnastics star goes to work, the questions about the Olympics come, no matter where the Games fall on the calendar. “It’s just like when you get married (and) they ask when you’re having a baby,” said Biles, who married Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens in April. So it’s telling that while Biles talked for a good 15 minutes on Saturday night after her electric victory at the U.S. Classic — the 26-year-old’s first meet…

by David Klepper WASHINGTON  — Donald Trump’s defense attorney says the former president never asked Mike Pence to overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 election, but only wanted the former vice president to “pause” the certification of votes to allow states to investigate his claims of election fraud. Those baseless claims had already been rejected by numerous courts. Speaking on several Sunday morning news shows, Trump attorney John Lauro said Trump was within his First Amendment rights when he petitioned Pence to delay the certification on Jan. 6, 2021. “The ultimate ask of Vice President Pence was to pause the counts…

by Emeka ObasiLAGOS, NIGERIA -Those who use politics to confuse Nigerians must see the bond created by soccer in the last Naija Super8 Championships. At a time the polity was smeared with bloody interventions, Chief Adewunmi Ogunsanya made a bold statement.His Flykite Promotions is piloted by Jenkins Alumona. Naija Super8 brought compatriots together in Lagos. There was no ethnic colouration to the entertainment offered at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena. Football brought relief to citizens who have been pauperized these past eight years by inept leadership.Ogunsanya, the Odofin Erujaje of Ikorodu, pumped in money to bring back our football. I thought…

by Bruce Schreiner MAYFIELD, Ky.  — U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell received a rousing welcome from the party faithful Saturday at a high-profile home-state political gathering amid renewed scrutiny of his health after the 81-year-old lawmaker froze up midsentence during a recent Capitol Hill news conference. “This is my 28th Fancy Farm, and I want to assure you it’s not my last,” McConnell said at the top of his breakfast speech before the annual picnic that is the traditional jumping off point for the fall campaign season in Kentucky. It was his only reference, however vague, to his health. McConnell, who…

by Sam Mednick NIAMEY, Niger  — The deadline arrived Sunday for Niger’s military junta to reinstate the country’s ousted president, but the West Africa regional bloc that has threatened a military intervention faces prominent appeals to pursue more peaceful means. In the capital, coup leaders appeared at a stadium rally where a chicken decorated in the colors of former colonizer France was beheaded, to cheers. Neighboring Nigeria’s Senate has pushed back against the plan by the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, urging Nigeria’s president, the bloc’s current chair, on Saturday to explore options other than the use of force. ECOWAS…

by Anne M. Peterson MELBOURNE, Australia  — The United States played its best game of this Women’s World Cup and it wasn’t good enough to stop the two-time reigning champions from being eliminated in the round of 16. The Americans’ bid to win an unprecedented third consecutive title ended Sunday on penalty kicks. Megan Rapinoe, Sophia Smith and Kelly O’Hara missed with kicks from the penalty spot before Lina Hurtig converted to clinch the shootout 5-4 on Sunday as Sweden knocked the United States out of the World Cup after a scoreless draw in regulation and extra time. The Americans controlled the…

by Chinedu Asadu ABUJA, Nigeria  — Regional mediation efforts to reverse the coup in Niger and restore its democracy collapsed as soon as they started. Tensions have escalated as the Sunday deadline nears for possible military intervention by other West African countries. As its meeting ended Friday in neighboring Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the region’s defense chiefs finalized a plan to use force against the Niger junta — needing approval by their political leaders — if Mohamed Bazoum is not reinstated as Niger’s president. An Economic Community of West African States delegation to Niger, led by Nigeria’s former head of state…