Author: chicagoinquirer

by Gebe Chamberlaine CHICAGO (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa saw the value in playing a series in Sunday’s preseason opener even if it didn’t end the way he would have liked. The game itself didn’t end the way Miami or the Chicago Bears would have liked. Tagovailoa had an efficient start to the preseason Sunday and the Dolphins and the Bears finished in a 24-24 tie in Ben Johnson’s Chicago coaching debut. Playing in a preseason opener for the first time since 2021, Tagovailoa completed 5 of 6 for 27 yards in a 15-play drive against Bears backups,…

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins placed Alexander Mattison on injured reserve Monday after the veteran running back suffered a season-ending neck injury in a preseason game against the Chicago Bears. Mattison left Sunday’s game with a neck injury after being tackled on a 21-yard pass play and landing awkwardly on his head in the fourth quarter. Coach Mike McDaniel said afterward that Mattison had some soreness in his neck and shoulder. Mattison was taken to a hospital and had season-ending neck surgery, ESPN reported. The Dolphins signed Mattison to a one-year deal in March to bolster their running…

by Mark Banchereau DAKAR, Senegal  — It’s the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth — a 54-pound (25-kilogram) meteorite that fetched more than $5 million at a New York auction last month, setting a world record. But in the West African nation of Niger, where the rusty-red rock was unearthed in the Sahara Desert, officials have launched an investigation into what they call possible “illicit international trafficking,” claiming it may have been smuggled out of the country. Here’s what to know about the meteorite and the legal dispute: How it was found Sotheby’s said the rock, named NWA…

WASHINGTON  — President Donald Trump said Monday that he’s deploying the National Guard across Washington and taking over the city’s police department in the hopes of reducing crime, even as the city’s mayor has noted that crime is falling in the nation’s capital. The Republican president, who said he was formally declaring a public safety emergency, compared crime in the American capital with that in other major cities, saying Washington performs poorly on safety relative to the capitals of Iraq, Brazil and Colombia, among others. Trump also said at his news briefing that his administration has started removing homeless encampments…

by David Klepper WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he’s deploying the National Guard across Washington and taking over the city’s police department in the hopes of reducing crime, even as the city’s mayor has noted that crime is falling in the nation’s capital. The Republican president, who said he was formally declaring a public safety emergency, compared crime in the American capital with that in other major cities, saying Washington performs poorly on safety relative to the capitals of Iraq, Brazil and Colombia, among others. Trump also said at his news briefing that his administration has…

by Bill Barrow and Jesse Bedayn Texas Republicans were set Monday to try again to convene the state Legislature and redraw congressional districts to satisfy President Donald Trump, as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democrats urged Republicans to stand down and avoid a partisan brawl spanning multiple statehouses. Texas Democratic lawmakers remain outside of Texas after leaving the state to deny their GOP colleagues the quorum necessary to vote on Trump’s unapologetically aggressive redistricting play. The president’s move also spurred Democratic governors, including Newsom, to pledge retaliatory redistricting efforts in their states — setting up the possibility of an…

by Thomas Beaumont DAVENPORT, Iowa  — Hundreds of people cheered Sen. Ruben Gallego at a town hall meeting in eastern Iowa Saturday as the first-term Arizona Democrat assailed the massive, Republican-backed tax bill signed by President Donald Trump as likely to make “America poorer and sicker.” Gallego’s upbeat event struck the opposite tone from Rep. Mike Flood’s town hall meeting earlier in the week, when an even bigger crowd jeered the Nebraska Republican for most of a 90-minute event in his state to promote the bill. Democrats, searching for months after last year’s election defeat for footing in opposing the…

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Haiti’s government announced Saturday that it is implementing a three-month state of emergency in the country’s central region as gang violence surges. The measure will cover Haiti’s West, Artibonite and Center departments “to continue the fight against insecurity and respond to the agricultural and food crisis,” according to a government statement. The region — known as Haiti’s rice basket — has been under attack in recent years, with gangs killing farmers or forcing them to abandon their fields as they raze nearby communities. The United Nations’ human rights office noted that from October 2024 to…

by Alyce Brown The WNBA is still struggling with a string of sex toy disturbances. In the past week and a half, sex toys have been thrown on court during games in Atlanta on July 29, Chicago on Aug. 1, Los Angeles on Aug. 5 and Chicago again on Thursday night, with the most recent object hitting the court in the closing seconds of the Atlanta Dream’s victory over the Sky. The sex toy that landed on the court in Los Angeles nearly hit Fever guard Sophie Cunningham during Indiana’s game against the Sparks. Sex toys were also thrown at…

by Associated Press BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau (AP) — The president of Guinea-Bissau on Thursday sacked the West African country’s prime minister and appointed his successor, the latest move to position President Umaro Sissoco Embalo for a likely second term after elections due in November. According to a presidential decree, Rui Duarte de Barros, who served as prime minister since December 2023, was replaced by Braima Camara, a former coordinator of the Madem G15 opposition party. There has been much controversy over Embalo’s term ahead of the November general elections. The small West African nation has endured multiple coups since gaining independence…