Author: chicagoinquirer

by Alfonso Nqunjana and Gerald Imray PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Some white South Africans showed support for President Donald Trump on Saturday and gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria to claim they are victims of racism by their own government. Hundreds of protesters held placards that read “Thank God for President Trump” and displayed other messages criticizing what they see as racist laws instituted by the South African government that discriminate against the white minority. Many were from the Afrikaner community that Trump focused on in an executive order a week ago that cut aid and assistance to…

NEW YORK (AP) — The 50th anniversary celebration of “Saturday Night Live” is so big, it’s not even on Saturday. Airing Sunday and spanning three hours, the, yes, live “SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration” will assemble a dream team of stars who have helped the show become an enduring pop culture force, including alumni like Tina Fey and Eddie Murphy, notable hosts like Dave Chappelle and Steve Martin and at least four of the surviving original cast members: Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman. The show will also pack in musical guests, with Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter, Bad…

by Dyepkazah Shibayan ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian lawmakers have approved an additional $200 million for the health sector as part of its 2025 spending plan to offset the shortfall from U.S. aid cuts. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with more than 200 million people, was among the top ten recipients of aid from the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2023. USAID’s funding has been frozen for 90 days by the Trump administration. The Nigerian senate appropriations chair Sen. Adeola Olamilekan said during the parliament’s budget session on Thursday that the country could suffer “adverse effects” from the U.S.…

by Mike Stobble and Carla K. Johnson Department of Health and Human Services officials expect most of the agency’s roughly 5,200 probationary employees to be fired Friday under the Trump administration’s move to get rid of nearly all probationary employees, according to an audio recording of a National Institutes of Health department meeting. In that meeting, an NIH office director told employees that some probationary staff with specialized skills might be spared. Probationary staff being terminated would receive an email Friday afternoon, according to audio shared with The Associated Press. Among those being cut are nearly 1,300 probationary employees at…

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated 12:35 PM CST, February 14, 2025 Share NEW YORK (AP) — Danielle Sassoon had served just three weeks as interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York when she penned a letter to recently confirmed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi saying she could not follow a directive to drop the office’s corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Sassoon wrote in her letter obtained by The Associated Press that the directive to drop the charges issued by Bove would violate her sworn duty to uphold the law. The directive, “raises serious…

by Lisa Mascaro WASHINGTON — No longer in charge, Sen. Mitch McConnell has been speaking his mind, the long-serving GOP leader rejecting President Donald Trump’s more high-profile Cabinet nominees — alone at times, among the Republicans, casting his no votes. When it came to Pete Hegseth, now the defense secretary, who faced allegations of excessive drinking and aggressive behavior toward women, McConnell said the combat veteran had “failed, as yet, to demonstrate” he was ready for the job. The “desire to be a change agent is not enough,” McConnell said. On Tulsi Gabbard, who was sworn in this week as…

by Illia Novikov and Efrem Lukatsky CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER STATION, Ukraine (AP) — A drone armed with a warhead hit the protective outer shell of Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear plant early Friday, punching a hole in the structure and briefly starting a fire, in an attack Kyiv blamed on Russia. The Kremlin denied it was responsible. Radiation levels at the shuttered plant in the Kyiv region — site of the world’s worst nuclear accident — have not increased, according to the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, which said the strike did not breach the plant’s inner containment shell. In this photo…

by Michael R. Sizak and Larry Neumeister NEW YORK — An assistant U.S. attorney involved in prosecuting New York City Mayor Eric Adams became at least the seventh person to resign from the Justice Department in a standoff over the future of the corruption case, telling the department’s second-in-command Friday that it would take a “fool” or a “coward” to meet his demand to drop the charges. Prosecutor Hagan Scotten became the latest casualty in an epic showdown between Justice Department leadership in Washington and its office in New York, which has long prided itself on its independence. Scotten, along…

PHOENIX (AP) — Kevin Durant became the eighth player in NBA history to score 30,000 points, hitting the mark against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night with a free throw late in the third quarter. The 36-year-old Phoenix Suns forward, who recently was voted to his 15th All-Star team, joins LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain in the 30,000-point club. Julius Erving also hit the mark when combining his points scored in the NBA and ABA. “It’s a true honor to be in the same category as those players who helped…

by greg Beacham LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic was the last starter introduced by the Los Angeles Lakers, an honor normally reserved for LeBron James. When Doncic jogged into the spotlight on a darkened court through a cordon of his new teammates, his new fans stood and roared while wearing thousands of gold T-shirts with his name and number. Even a young superstar could feel the magnificence of the moment. “I was a little nervous before,” Doncic said. “I (don’t remember) the last time I was nervous before the game. But once I stepped on the court again, it was…