by Danica Kirka LONDON  — Prince Harry has accused his stepmother, Camilla, the queen consort, of leaking private conversations to the media to burnish her own reputation as he promotes a new book that lays bare his story of his life behind palace walls. In interviews broadcast Sunday and Monday, Harry accused members of the royal family of getting “into bed with the devil” to gain favorable tabloid coverage, singling out Camilla’s efforts to rehabilitate her image with the British people after her longtime affair with his father, now King Charles III. “That made her dangerous because of the connections…

by John O’Connor SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  — J.B. Pritzker, the multibillionaire whose actions over the past year suggest he may be eyeing a run for president, was sworn in Monday as Illinois governor for the second time, an occasion the Democrat used to issue bold proposals for universal preschool and free college tuition. Catapulting off the financial successes of his first term — including the conversion of mounds of state debt into a $3.7 billion surplus — he declared, “It’s time for Illinois to lead.” He called his plans “as ambitious and bold as our people are, thinking not only about…

The arrest of Olukoga Olutayo a.k.a. “Gademi” was a shock to the African community. Quiet, easy going and unassuming. In 1993, he evaded being prose- cuted for dealing in narcotics. He turned back few blocks to where he was to be arrested in a sting op- eration. Many of his friends presume he has learnt his lesson until the news of another arrest filtered out. He spoke to our editor, Joseph Omoremi on his ex- perience in prison,reasons for his re-arrest after leaving the half way home and an opportunity to re- coup loss time and income. “It’s pay back…

by David Biller RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian authorities were picking up pieces and investigating Monday after thousands of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace then trashed the nation’s highest seats of power. The protesters were seeking military intervention to either restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power or oust the newly inaugurated leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in scenes of chaos and destruction reminiscent of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Rioters donning the green and yellow of the national flag on Sunday broke windows, toppled furniture, hurled computers…

by Jay Cohen CHICAGO  — Thanks to an old friend, the Chicago Bears are on the clock for the NFL draft. Chicago will pick No. 1 for the first time since 1947 after it lost 29-13 to the Minnesota Vikings in its season finale on Sunday. It was the 10th straight loss for the Bears (3-14), extending a franchise record, and the 14 losses overall also marked the most in team history. Even with all that misery, the Bears were headed for the No. 2 selection before Lovie Smith coached Houston to a wild 32-31 victory at Indianapolis. Davis Mills…

by Hope Yen and Lisa Mascaro WASHINGTON  — After an epic 15-ballot election to become House speaker, Republican Kevin McCarthy faces his next big test in governing a fractious, slim majority: passing a rules package to govern the House. The drafting and approval of a set of rules is normally a fairly routine legislative affair, but in these times, it’s the next showdown for the embattled McCarthy. To become speaker and win over skeptics, McCarthy had to make concessions to a small group of hard-liners who refused to support his ascension until he yielded to their demands. Now those promises…

by Colleen Long EL PASO, Texas  — President Joe Biden walked a muddy stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border and inspected a busy port of entry Sunday on his first trip to the region after two years in office, a visit shadowed by the fraught politics of immigration as Republicans blame him for record numbers of migrants crossing into the country. At his first stop, the president observed as border officers in El Paso demonstrated how they search vehicles for drugs, money and other contraband. Next, he traveled to a dusty street with abandoned buildings and walked along a metal border…

by John O’Connor SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  — The idea for raising salaries of top Illinois state government officials, which culminated this weekend with the House voting lawmakers an 18% pay hike, began with Gov. J.B. Pritzker. But the Democratic governor said he originally requested that the General Assembly increase pay for his administration’s agency directors to recruit and retain top talent. Pritzker said he wouldn’t presume to tell the General Assembly what its members should be paid. “The Legislature is a coequal branch of government,” Pritzker said Saturday at a preinaugural community service event at Central Illinois Foodbank. “They haven’t had…

Erstwhile World Bank vice president and one-time Nigeria’s finance minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwueala was a guest at Ted, a platform of world’s greatest thinkers and doers recently where she urged the Western world to take advantage of the reform and democratization going on across Africa to invest and help Africa stand on their feet instead of churning aids to the Black continent. Excerpts: Africa: Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwueala: Talk about a different Africa. There are some allusions to Africa you hear about all the time. Africa of AIDS, Africa of malaria, the Africa of poverty and the Africa of disaster. It is…

by Lisa Mascaro WASHINGTON  — Republican Kevin McCarthy is the new House speaker, but as bruising as it was for him to seize the gavel in a history-making election, it may be even more difficult for the embattled leader to do much with the powerful position — or to even keep it. Like the two most recent Republican speakers, John Boehner and Paul Ryan, McCarthy takes the helm of a restive, rebellious majority split in much the same way as the party itself, between what’s left of the Grand Old Party conservatives and a new generation of tea party-to-Donald Trump…