Author: chicagoinquirer

by Larry Lage DETROIT  — Jared Goff threw for 334 yards and matched a career high with five touchdown passes, including a career-high three scores to Amon-Ra St. Brown, to help the Detroit Lions bounce back with a 52-21 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. The Lions (1-1) dropped the opener at Green Bay and responded as they have consistently under coach Dan Campbell, avoiding consecutive losses in the regular season over the last 2 1/2 years. The Bears (0-2) turned the ball over twice in the first half, leading to a 28-14 deficit that was too large to…

by Nicholas Riccardi A federal judge on Saturday said it appeared the Trump administration was making an “end run” around U.S. court orders prohibiting five African immigrants to be deported to their home countries by sending them first to Ghana, which was poised to then relocate them to countries where they could face torture or death. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered the government to detail Saturday night how it was trying to ensure Ghana would not send the immigrants elsewhere in violation of domestic court orders. One of the plaintiffs has already been shipped from Ghana to his native…

by Eddie Pells TOKYO  — Steeplechaser Tim Van de Velde looked behind him and saw a fellow competitor gingerly crawling over the last barrier on a 3,000-meter journey that went terribly wrong for both. The Belgian’s hopes for a top finish already long crushed, he turned around, put an arm around stumbling Carlos San Martin and helped him limp in to the finish. That show of sportsmanship Saturday between the 10th- and 11th-place finishers in an otherwise routine qualifying race might very well have been the highlight of a busy opening night at track and field world championships, even on…

by Larry Lage DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Lions, favorites to win the last Super Bowl before flopping in the playoffs, are suddenly on shaky ground in the eyes of some NFL observers. Dan Campbell gets it. “That’s where the standards are at now,” said Campbell, who is in his fifth season as Detroit’s coach. “That’s the nature of what we’re in right now. That’s a good thing. That means we’ve risen above what we were at one time. “That’s our world, but I know that if we felt that way and acted that way, we’d be in trouble.” Detroit…

by Misper Apawu ACCRA, Ghana — While fantasy coffins have been common among the Ga people of Accra, Ghana, they are becoming a widespread practice offering a colorful alternative to simple wooden boxes. Each piece is crafted not just to bury the deceased, but to embody the essence of their life. They can be so colorful that they can make dying seem attractive. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

by Sara Cline BATON ROUGE, La.— A series of reported threats toward historically Black colleges and universities across the U.S. on Thursday led to lockdown orders, canceled classes and heightened security. Authorities did not elaborate on the type of threats that were made and no injuries have been reported. The FBI told The Associated Press that they are taking the “hoax threat calls“ seriously and that there is “no information to indicate a credible threat.” Although lockdowns have since been lifted, schools that received the threats continue to act with an abundance of caution. In an era of mass shootings…

by Gene Chamberlain LAKE FOREST, Ill.  — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is doing his best to ward off negative thoughts after a losing start to the season. Williams — 21 of 35 for 210 yards — couldn’t beat the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night and he did more damage at times with his legs during the 27-24 loss in Ben Johnson’s first game as coach of the Bears. “There was a lot of positive that came out of that,” Williams said Wednesday. “Obviously, we had negatives. Within that game, kind of how coach Johnson said, we had more negative…

by Wyatt Grantham-Philips NEW YORK  — Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup is here. The tech giant on Tuesday unveiled four new models that mark the latest editions to its marquee product. That includes the introduction of the iPhone Air, which Apple says is its thinnest smartphone yet. And, as seen in years past, its newest phones boast better cameras, longer lasting batteries and a handful of other upgrades across the board. The latest devices come with a new a A19 chip, which will particularly help power Apple’s artificial intelligence features. Tuesday’s lineup mark the first phones Apple has released since President…

by Rob Maaddi Jalen Carter’s penalty for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott sends a message to the rest of the league. Carter is losing $57,222 for the infraction, the equivalent of his game check for Week 1 because the NFL considers the punishment a one-game suspension with time served. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle didn’t play a snap after he was ejected from Philadelphia’s 24-20 victory over Dallas on Thursday. Carter is expected to be on the field when the Eagles face the Kansas City Chiefs in a Super Bowl rematch on Sunday. The team could impose its own…

by Gene Chamberlain LAKE FOREST, Ill.  — The process of getting to know his quarterback has Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson looking for answers after only one game, along with overall offensive consistency. Losing a 17-6 lead early in the fourth quarter of a 27-24 opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings showed Johnson both the strengths of second-year quarterback Caleb Williams and also problems he’s had since his rookie season. “It was up and down,” Johnson said Tuesday. “We had mixed results. There were some things that he did that were top notch and I would put him up there…