Author: chicagoinquirer

LAGOS – Foreign capital inflow into Nigeria more than doubled to $6 billion in the first half of 2024 from last year as portfolio investors returned after the west African nation eased currency controls, official data showed on Tuesday. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said inflows rose to $5.98 billion between January and June this year, up from $2.16 billion during the same period in 2023. The United Kingdom and Netherlands were the biggest sources of capital, with portfolio investors piling into the country’s banking sector. Nigeria’s central bank has allowed the naira currency to freely trade in a…

by Kanishka Singh and Bo Erickson WASHINGTON – Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said Washington will continue to pressure Israel and other players in the Middle East to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza even as advocates say that the United States has not thus far used its leverage over its ally. In an interview with CBS news show “60 Minutes,” Harris said that diplomatic work with Israel is “an ongoing pursuit,” according to a clip released on Sunday. Harris sidestepped a question in the interview on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a “real close…

CHICAGO, IL – DJ Moore caught two touchdowns against his former team as the Chicago Bears blasted the visiting Carolina Panthers 36-10 on Sunday afternoon. Caleb Williams threw both TD passes to Moore and finished with 304 yards on 20-for-29 passing as the Bears (3-2) improved to 3-0 in home games. Moore, in his second season with Chicago following five seasons with the Panthers, finished with 105 yards on five catches. Bears running back D’Andre Swift gained 73 yards on 21 attempts with one touchdown. Roschon Johnson had two touchdown runs. Chuba Hubbard gained 97 rushing yards on 13 carries…

By Francesca Landini MILAN -Italian prosecutors on Saturday accused seven people and two sub-contractors of crimes including fraud and breaching airplane safety rules following an investigation into suspected flawed parts produced by an Italian company for Boeing. The prosecutors launched their investigation in late 2021 after Boeing said some parts for its 787 Dreamliner plane supplied by a company working for Italian aerospace group Leonardo had been improperly manufactured. Investigators found that two Italian sub-contractors used cheaper and non-compliant forms of titanium and aluminium to make certain parts, saving significant sums of money on their raw material costs, the prosecutors…

ABUJA – Nigerian private sector activity expanded for the second straight month in September as new orders rose, especially for chemical and pharmaceutical products, results of a central bank business survey showed on Friday. The central bank’s purchasing managers index (PMI) of private-sector activity rose to 50.5 points from 50.2 points in August, above the 50 point line that denotes increases in activity. The PMIs are one set of indicators the central bank’s monetary policy committee considers when it sets interest rates. President Bola Tinubu’s reforms to the currency market and cutting of petrol and electricity subsidies have stoked inflation,…

by Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON – Donald Trump on Thursday urged a federal judge to toss out two obstruction charges central to the case that the former U.S. president illegally sought to overturn his 2020 election defeat, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling raising the legal bar for those offenses. Lawyers for Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, argued in a court filing that the Supreme Court’s ruling requires U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss charges accusing Trump of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding – the congressional certification of his loss to Democrat Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021 –…

by Brad Brooks, Daniel Trotta NASHVILLE -A federal jury in Tennessee on Thursday convicted three former Memphis police officers of witness tampering stemming from the beating death of Black motorist Tyre Nichols, but cleared them of the most serious charges that could have resulted in life in prison. The officers still face a potential murder trial in Tennessee state court. The death of Nichols, 29, an avid skateboarder, photographer and father of a young son, provoked outrage and led to police reform after police video showed five Black officers kicked, punched, pepper-sprayed and struck him with a baton on Jan.…

by Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK – Tim Walz, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s running mate, on Thursday promised Muslim Americans an equal role in their administration should they win the election, as Democrats scramble to win back Muslim backing that has eroded over U.S. support for Israel. Vice President Harris and Walz, the governor of Minnesota, are trying to woo Muslim voters furious over President Joe Biden’s administration’s staunch backing of Israel during its year-old war in Gaza against Hamas. Harris has pledged continued support for Israel while emphasizing her push for a ceasefire, words Walz echoed on Thursday, while…

by Alistair Smout, Michael Holden and Villen Anganan LONDON/PORT LOUIS -Britain said on Thursday it would cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal it said secured the future of the UK-U.S. Diego Garcia military base, and which could also pave the way for people displaced decades ago to return home. U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed the deal, saying it would secure the effective operation of Diego Garcia, a strategically important airbase in the Indian Ocean, into the next century. But critics in Britain said it was a capitulation which played into the hands of China, which…

By Steve Holland and Joseph Ax NEW YORK – Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance clashed on Tuesday at a vice presidential debate that was surprisingly civil in the final stretch of an ugly election campaign marred by inflammatory rhetoric and two assassination attempts. The two rivals, who have forcefully attacked each other on the campaign trail, mostly struck a cordial tone, instead saving their fire for the candidates at the top of their tickets, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump. The most tense exchange occurred near the end of the debate, when Vance…