Author: chicagoinquirer

by Ope Adetayo LAGOS, Nigeria  — Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari, who ruled Africa’s most populous nation twice as a military dictator and a democratic president, died on Sunday at age 82 and is being remembered as a divisive figure who oversaw one of the country’s most troubled periods. “He inherited unprecedented goodwill and squandered it,” Olive Chiemerie, a Lagos-based writer, told The Associated Press. “His legacy is one of missed opportunities, deepening inequality and a country left to pick up the pieces.” Here are some highlights of Buhari’s presidency: ‘EndSARS’ protests In October 2020, thousands of youths took to…

by Chris Megerian and Illia Novikov WASHINGTON  — President Donald Trump said Monday he would punish Russia with tariffs if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days, the latest example of his growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump made the announcement during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. “We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” the Republican president said. He said they would be “secondary tariffs,” meaning they would target Russia’s trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow…

by Opr Adetayo and Chinedu Asadu LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who led the country twice as a military head of state and a democratic president, has died aged 82, his press secretary said Sunday. Buhari died Sunday in London, where he had been receiving medical treatment. He first took power in Africa’s most populous nation in 1983, after a military coup, running an authoritarian regime until fellow soldiers ousted him less than 20 months later. When he was elected in 2015 on his fourth attempt, he became the first opposition candidate to win a presidential…

by Sophia Tareen CHICAGO ( — Boeing reached a settlement Friday with a Canadian man whose wife and three children were killed in a deadly 2019 crash in Ethiopia, averting the first trial connected to a devastating event that led to a worldwide grounding of Max jets. The jury trial at Chicago’s federal court had been set to start Monday to determine damages for Paul Njoroge of Canada. His family was heading to their native Kenya in March 2019 aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 when it malfunctioned and plummeted to the ground. The wreck killed all 157 people on board.…

by Jill Colvin WASHINGTON  — President Donald Trump was on stage at the Iowa State Fairgrounds earlier this month, kicking off the country’s 250th anniversary celebration, when he heard what sounded like fireworks in the distance. “Did I hear what I think I heard?” Trump remarked as he spoke from behind a wall of thick, bulletproof glass. “Don’t worry, it’s only fireworks. I hope. Famous last words,” he quipped, drawing laughs and cheers. “You always have to think positive,” he went on. “I didn’t like that sound, either.” The comments, just days before the first anniversary of Trump’s near-assassination in…

by Cutis Yee, Benard Mcghee, Luena Rudriquez-Feo, Nell Clark  and Sam Budette A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to immediately halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in seven California counties, including Los Angeles. The judge’s order comes after immigrant advocacy groups filed a lawsuit last week accusing U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration of systematically targeting brown-skinned people in Southern California during its ongoing immigration crackdown. Advocates also accusedimmigration officials of carrying out warrantless arrests and denying detainees access to legal counsel at a holding facility in downtown LA. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security…

by Aamer Madhan BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he’s levying tariffs of 30% against the European Union and Mexico starting Aug. 1, a move that could cause massive upheaval between the United States and two of its biggest trade partners. Trump detailed the planned tariffs in letters posted to his social media account. They are part of an announcement blitz by Trump of new tariffs aimed at allies and foes alike, a bedrock of his 2024 campaign that he said would set the foundation for reviving a U.S. economy that he claims has been ripped…

by Maria Cheng LONDON  — Years of American-led investment into AIDS programs has reduced the number of people killed by the disease to the lowest levels seen in more than three decades and provided life-saving medicines for some of the world’s most vulnerable. But in the last six months, the sudden withdrawal of U.S. money has caused a “systemic shock,” U.N. officials warned, adding that if the funding isn’t replaced, it could lead to more than 4 million AIDS-related deaths and 6 million more HIV infections by 2029. A new UNAIDS report released Thursday said the funding losses have “already…

by Monika Proncyuk and Darlene Superville WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump promised West African leaders a pivot from aid to trade during a White House meeting Wednesday as the region reels from the impact of sweeping U.S. aid cuts. Trump said he sees “great economic potential in Africa” as the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau boasted of their countries’ natural resources and heaped praise on the U.S. president, including their thanks for his help in settling a long-running conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Trump described the nations represented at the meeting as…

by Christine Fernando CHICAGO  — A son of notorious Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” is expected to plead guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges at a Wednesday hearing. He would be the first of El Chapo’s sons facing similar charges in the U.S. to enter a plea deal. Prosecutors allege Ovidio Guzman Lopez and his brother, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, ran a faction of the Sinaloa cartel. They became known locally as the “Chapitos,” or little Chapos, and federal authorities in 2023 described the operation as a massive effort to send “staggering” quantities of fentanyl into the U.S. Ovidio Guzman Lopez…