Author: chicagoinquirer

by Christopher Wills CHICAGO – Early in Barack Obama’s political career in Illinois, Jesse Jackson helped slap him down. Even  now, Jackson’s son is a more vocal Obama advocate than his internationally known father. Obama and the elder Jackson have much in common: The two black men emerged from Chicago’s decayed South Side as champions of poor people. Both have a gift for rhetoric. Both have run to be the nation’s first black president. There are long-standing friendships between some members of their families. Yet the two are not close. Twenty years older, Jackson, the trailblazer, was never Obama’s mentor.…

by Bassem Mroue BEIRUT  — A baby girl born under the rubble of her family’s home in northern Syria after last week’s devastating earthquake was in good health Monday and being breast-fed by the wife of the director of the hospital where she is being cared for, her doctor said. The infant, named Aya — Arabic for “a sign from God” — by hospital workers, may be able to leave the hospital as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday, according to her great-uncle, Saleh al-Badran. He said the baby’s paternal aunt, who recently gave birth and survived the quake, will raise…

by Emeka Obasi Professor Sadiq Abdullahi was one of the kings of Nigerian tennis courts in the 1980s. In those good old days, there were as many tournaments as there were stars. Top players from around the globe  were visible in the country. Abdullahi is a complete homeboy and is driving a huge project to bring tennis back to life. Then Michael Mmoh happened. Suddenly that feeling of yore when Nduka Odizor, David Imonitie, Tony Mmoh and Sadiq reigned, crept back. Michael Mmoh was largely unknown in Nigeria until he sent Number 12 seed, Alexander Zverev of Germany packing in…

by Rob Maaddi by Rob Maaddi GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes shook off an ankle injury, turned back into a magician and pulled out another comeback on the biggest stage to help the Kansas City Chiefs win their second Super Bowl in four years. Mahomes threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and scrambled 26 yards on the go-ahead drive before Harrison Butker kicked a 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to give the Chiefs a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. “He’s the MVP,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said about Mahomes. “That’s all…

by Andrew Dalton Rihanna was above it all. She began and ended the Super Bowl 57 halftime show hovering high above the field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The performance delivered on fan expectations but it included a major surprise — the singer is pregnant with her second child. She wore a puffy, bright red jumpsuit with tight, rubbery garb underneath as she stood on a transparent rectangular platform that raised and lowered as she belted out the lyrics to “Bitch Better Have My Money” over the turf where the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs were battling…

by Emily Wagster Pettus JACKSON, Miss.  — A relative of Emmett Till is suing to try to make a Mississippi sheriff serve a 1955 arrest warrant on a white woman in the kidnapping that led to the Black teenager’s brutal lynching. The torture and killing of Till in the Mississippi Delta became a catalyst for the civil rights movement after his mother insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago and Jet magazine published photos of his mutilated body. Last June, a team doing research at the courthouse in Leflore County, Mississippi, found an unserved 1955 arrest warrant for Carolyn Bryant,…

by Emeka Obasi LAGOS, Nigeria – Overseeing elections in Nigeria is a thankless job. Many decent folks came out of it with life damaging stains. Prof. Mahmood Yakubu is condemned to do a good job and remain an eternal national hero. It is doable and I will support him. Late Ghanaian hero, Jerry Rawlings so much believed in legendary boxer, Azumah Nelson that he ordered him to die for country if need be, during a world title fight. “ Die, Azumah die”, Rawlings shouted from Osu Castle. ‘Zoom Zoom’ Azumah was ready to die. Rawlings’ words gingered him to last…

8 of 769 results by Travis Loller and Adrian Sainz MEMPHIS, Tenn.  — Years before Memphis Police officer Demetrius Haley pulled Tyre Nichols from his car on Jan. 7, setting in motion a deadly confrontation, Haley was accused of taking part in the savage beating of an inmate at a county prison. The 2015 assault of the inmate was so disturbing that 34 others — the entire cellblock — signed a letter to the corrections director. “We are truly asking that this matter gets looked into before someone gets hurt really bad or lose their life because of some unprofessional…

PHOENIX  — The Phoenix Suns pulled a midnight blockbuster on Wednesday, acquiring 13-time All-Star Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets, according to multiple reports. The outlets, citing unnamed sources, said the Suns added Durant to a starting lineup that already includes an All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker, along with center Deandre Ayton. Phoenix sent Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and additional draft compensation to the Nets. The Suns also receive forward T.J. Warren in the deal. The 34-year-old Durant is still playing at an elite level, averaging nearly 30 points per game this…

by Zeke Miller, Seung min Kim and Lisa Mascaro WASHINGTON  — President Joe Biden exhorted Congress Tuesday night to work with him to “finish the job” of rebuilding the economy and uniting the nation as he delivered a State of the Union address aimed at reassuring a country beset by pessimism and fraught political divisions. In his 73-minute speech, Biden sought to portray a nation dramatically improved from the one he took charge of two years ago: from a reeling economy to one prosperous with new jobs; from a crippled, pandemic-weary nation to one that has now reopened, and a…