Author: chicagoinquirer

by Gene Chamberlain LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Quarterback Caleb Williams’ confidence has hit a new high in the Chicago Bears offense while the number of interceptions he is throwing in practice is declining. Williams has practiced for a week in new coach Ben Johnson’s offense and after struggling initially with turnovers, the second-year quarterback seems to have stabilized within the attack. “I think as of right now I think I’m rolling,” Williams said. “I’m pretty smooth with it as of right now.” It’s not perfect, as the offense continued Wednesday at practice to have difficulty getting into the end zone…

by Wafaa Shurafa, Sammy Magdy and Sally Abou Aljoud DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 48 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded Wednesday while waiting for food at a crossing in the Gaza Strip, according to a hospital that received the casualties. The latest violence around aid distribution came as the U.S. Mideast envoy was heading to Israel for talks. Israel’s military offensive and blockade have led to the “worst-case scenario of famine”in the coastal territory of some 2 million Palestinians, according to the leading international authority on hunger crises. A breakdown of law and order has…

by Renata Brito MASERU, Lesotho  — The deafening roar of hundreds of sewing machines has gone silent. Spools of thread in every color are covered in dust. The warehouse is dark and empty. In the tiny African nation of Lesotho, clothing manufacturer Tzicc’s business has dried up in the face of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. A few months ago, work was steady. The factory’s 1,300 employees have made and exported sportswear to American stores, including JCPenney, Walmart and Costco. But when Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners in April, Lesotho found…

by Maria Sherman NEW YORK  — For Buddy Guy — a stalwart and staunch defender of the blues — there’s nothing more important than keeping his chosen genre at the forefront of conversation. It comes naturally: Guy is one of America’s greatest guitar players, a singular artist with a thick roster of A-list super fans — Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Gary Clark Jr. among them. The list also includes innovative writer and director Ryan Coogler, who tapped Guy for his critically acclaimed film “Sinners” earlier this year, and artists like Peter Frampton and the Eagles’ Joe Walsh, who feature…

by Dennis Waszak Jr. FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields has a dislocated toe on his right foot and will be evaluated by the team on a daily basis. The team announced the diagnosis a few hours after Fields limped off the practice field Thursday morning and was carted into the facility. It eased some initial concerns that the quarterback, in his first season with the Jets, could miss significant practice time. Fields threw an incomplete pass to Jeremy Ruckert on his fifth play of team drills when he went down. The quarterback sat on…

by Curt Anderson and Ed White CLEARWATER, Fla.  — Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep-busting icon of professional wrestling who turned the sport into a massive business and stretched his influence into TV, pop culture and conservative politics during a long and scandal-plagued second act, died Thursday in Florida at age 71. Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital less than 90 minutes after medics in Clearwater arrived at his home to answer a morning call about a cardiac arrest, police said. “There were no signs of foul play or suspicious activity,” Maj. Nate Burnside told reporters. Hogan, whose real…

by Associated Press Columbia University has reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus, the university announced Wednesday. Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay the $200 million settlement over three years to the federal government, the university said. It will also pay $21 million to settle investigations brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,”…

by Graham Lee Brewer The Muscogee Nation Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that two descendants of people once enslaved by the tribe are entitled to tribal citizenship. The court found that the tribal nation’s citizenship board violated an 1866 treaty when it denied the applications of Rhonda Grayson and Jeffrey Kennedy in 2019 because they could not identify a lineal descendant of the tribe. “Are we, as a Nation, bound to treaty promises made so many years ago? Today, we answer in the affirmative, because this is what Mvskoke law demands,” the court wrote in its opinion. The Muscogee Nation is…

by Gene Chamberlain LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson set a high bar for quarterback Caleb Williams as the two began their first training camp together Tuesday at Halas Hall. It could be the key to how well the Bears bounce back in Johnson’s first season from a 5-12 record and last year’s firing of former coach Matt Eberflus. “We certainly have goals that we strive for, it’s not a secret,” said Johnson, the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator. “I told him I would love for him this season to complete 70% of his balls. “So, you…

by Emeka Obasi General Johnson Aguiyi – Ironsi was firm when he ordered Captain David Laisi Bamigboye to stick to  Beatrice Chinyere Asagwara forever, after their wedding at St. George’s Garrison Church, Point Road Apapa on Saturday February 6, 1965.  Ironsi who was the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Nigeria Army, chaired the wedding reception which held at Headquarters, Nigeria Army Officers Mess, Child Avenue, Apapa. Among officers present were Bamigboye’s Nigeria Army Training College (NMTC) Course One mates, Alani Julius Akinrinade, who served as Bestman and Ignatius Ngwu Obeya who coordinated the wedding. Ironsi’s order came through a letter, on…