by Brian P. D. Hannon DES MOINES, Iowa  — Maine scored its first Mega Millions jackpot — and someone beat the ill fortune of Friday the 13th — when a ticket purchased in the state matched the winning numbers for the lottery’s estimated $1.35 billion grand prize. The lucky combination of numbers drawn late Friday night were: 30, 43, 45, 46, 61 and gold Mega Ball 14. The winner, whose name is not yet known, overcame steep odds of 1 in 302.6 million, which led to three months of drawings without a claim on the jackpot. “Congratulations to the Maine…

by John O’Connor SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  — To the scores of sheriffs in Illinois who reportedly have vowed not to enforce the ban on semiautomatic weapons that took effect this week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has a succinct answer: Yes, you will. Nine in 10 of the state’s sheriffs, joining with gun-rights advocates in declaring the prohibition unconstitutional, have sworn off zealous enforcement of the law. It prohibits the manufacture or possession of dozens of rapid-fire weapons and attachments and requires registration of those previously owned in response to the massacre at a July 4th parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland…

AP-FBN-Bears-Warren, 2nd Ld-Writethru by Andrew Seligman CHICAGO  — The Chicago Bears hired Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren as their president and CEO on Thursday, bringing him back to the NFL to help lead a founding franchise after three years running one of college athletics’ marquee conferences. Warren, who replaces the retiring Ted Phillips, becomes Chicago’s fifth president and the first from outside the organization. He goes from becoming the first Black president of a Power Five conference to the first for the Bears. He is the team’s second president that was not part of the Halas-McCaskey family tree, joining Phillips.…

by Zeke Miller and Eric Tucker WASHINGTON  — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an unsecured office in Washington dating from his time as vice president. Robert Hur, a onetime U.S. attorney appointed by former President Donald Trump, will lead the investigation and plans to begin his work soon. His appointment marks the second time in a few months that Garland has appointed a special counsel, an extraordinary fact that reflects the Justice Department’s efforts to independently conduct…

by Michelle l. Price NEW YORK — State and local Republican leaders in New York on Wednesday called for the immediate resignation of their new GOP congressman George Santos, who is facing multiple investigations by prosecutors over his personal and campaign finances and lies about his resume and family heritage. “His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives,” Joseph Cairo Jr., chair of the Nassau County Republican Committee, said at a news conference. “He’s not welcome here at Republican headquarters.” Santos, swarmed by reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, flatly rejected the call to resign, saying,…

Naomi Osaka is pregnant and plans to return to competition in 2024, the tennis star announced Wednesday. The former world No. 1 posted what she called “a little life update for 2023” on social media, including a picture of an ultrasound. The 25-year-old Osaka has been dating Cordae, a rapper, for years. “I know that I have so much to look forward to in the future, one thing I’m looking forward to is for my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, ‘that’s my mom,'” Osaka wrote. Osaka hasn’t played a competitive match since September and withdrew…

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…